I, along with the other members of Ovrld, have worked really hard these last few months to seek out great local music in Austin that we want to feature on this blog. One of the benefits of having a blog, though, is that great music can just fall into your lap. Over the weekend, we got our first unsolicited e-mail from a PR guy representing Sad Accordions. They have a new EP coming out, he said, and might you be interested in hearing it? A free, advanced copy of something?! Of course!
Fortunately, my zeal was rewarded on this one. The Colors and The Kill EP, which is coming out on March 1st and will be available only in hard copy for the first couple of months (i.e., go to one of their shows and get it!), isn’t the most consistent thing I’ve heard this year, but it is jam-packed with different ideas. The PR guy was saying they hadn’t settled on a single that represented the album, and I totally understand that. The obvious single is “Inside Out,” with its late-Replacements vibe with jangly guitars and barely concealed sexual frustration/passion. However, nothing else on the album has the same feel.
Sad Accordions seem to have focused their songwriting since their 2006 debut A Bad Year for the Sharons. There (based on the couple of tracks I’ve heard from it), songs sprawled and shifted endlessly. Here, a song like the ballad-y “You Can’t Hide From It” will suddenly introduce heavy guitars towards its end, but maintains a tight 4.5 minutes. “The Holy Desert Blooms” stretches out at 7 minutes, but is built around a solid, consistent groove, like a mid- to late-90s Britpop song (think “Champagne Supernova” or tracks from the Verve or Spiritualized).
The song I want to share with you all, though, is “Sacrificial Chumpsucker Diatribe.” Don’t be misled by its ska-punk title. It’s a tom-heavy distorted-guitar pounder with a catchy falsetto chorus that would be at home on 90s alt-rock radio or on the latest Modest Mouse album. It may not be representative of the album as a whole, but that’s not really the point.
Check this out, and then be at the Mohawk on Saturday, March 5th to catch their CD release party and grab the full thing.
Sad Accordions - Sacrificial Chumpsucker DiatribeRight Click to Download: Sad Accordions – Sacrificial Chumpsucker Diatribe
–Carter