Thursday 31 July 2008

Review - Various - Piskie Sits/The Spills - Dogs Are Faithful, Cats Are Clever (Split EP)

Various - Piskie Sits/The Spills - Dogs Are Faithful, Cats Are Clever (Split EP)

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7 out of 10

Following in the footsteps of their American alt. rock influences, this split EP from Wakefield residents The Spills and Piskie Sits is an excellent DIY release that also upkeeps Yorkshire's indie rock reputation. It's unsurprising that the latter have played the Leeds Festival and won the approval of the New Steve Lamaq, Huw Stevens, while the former are one the most popular bands among their peers, members of The Cribs, The Pigeon Detectives, Duels and The Research are all fans. Ryan Jarman wouldn't do his fledgling production career any harm by working with them in the future either; The Spills and The Cribs are definitely kindred spirits.

Going off 'Ghost Of The Day', The Spills have the potential to follow the Jarmans into indie's big time as well. The first song here is on the scale of Editors but with the rough & ready spirit of Kings Of Leon and a riff that could have been on 'Absolution'. 'Testing' is more rawk but owes as much to the Pixies (The breathy, scary-seduction deliver of Black Francis) as The Pigeon Detectives (A catchy, shouting chorus).

Piskie Sits are more obviously influenced by revered US bands such as Pavement and Sebadoh and are a contrast to The Spills slickness. 'Sonic Oof' is a spot on and brilliantly named Sonic Youth pastiche/homage, with singer Craig Hale sounding just like Thurston Moore. He sounds more like J. Mascis on 'Out', highlighted by the use of Dinosaur Jr. fuzziness, but this feels like the real Piskie Sits, it's too warm and lovely not to be. There are potential stars and cult heroes on display here.

Listen: www.myspace.com/piskiesitstheband, www.myspace.com/bumthespills

Tracklist:
1. The Spills - Ghost Of The Day
2. Piskie Sits - Sonic Oof
3. The Spills - Testing
4. Piskie Sits - Out

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