Seems like our weekly Gigseen Featured Music series is on a trek northwards. New Build from London, Arbor Lights from the Midlands and this week: Wakefield's The Spills. Expect something Scottish next week and then we'll be checking whether the seagulls on Rockall have knocked out any banging tunes recently.
The Spills sound like a band that if they happened to be your local bunch of noisy-types, you'd probably be heartily obsessed by their sounds, follow them around to every gig religiously and sacrifice small, furry animals to the Gods of A&R in the propitious hope they 'make it big' and vindicate your own impeccable musical tastes. As a seriously competent debut, Occam's Razor; their first full length release (out since late last year), firmly advances the probability that the 4-piece could soon be doing just that.
Want an over-simplified soundbite to describe their sound? A bit like Weezing Monkeys. How's that? Structurally the songs are sharp and frequently ramp-up the volume, providing a perfect soundtrack to busting either the speed-limit in the sunshine, or a move in the mosh pit. Production is absolutely spot on, with enough depth and force to get right under your skin and still sound tight as, well, a drum. Lyrically too, the quality on Occam's Razor is a good head-and-shoulders above what you'd normally expect from a first release - there's obviously talent present here that a Cuomo or a Turner would assuredly think twice before sniffing at.
Formed back in 2009, The Spills first put out the I'm Scared I Might/Faux Pas Ha Ha single in the September of that year before following up with a 5-track EP Smoke Signals in 2010. Repeat plays on BBC 6Music Introducing and XFM Xposure followed and last year saw the band head back to Leeds' Greenmount Studios to record Occam's Razor using mainly 'vintage analogue equipment'. A smart move, as the newer sounds feel a little less ragged, richer, warmer and excellently set the backdrop for the well-honed songwriting that surfaces throughout.
No strangers to doing their stuff live, April and May will see the band playing a number of dates close to home in Wakefield and Leeds (see Bandcamp for details) and it can only be hoped that as the year progresses, their gigging territory opens out wider so those of us elsewhere across this suddenly green and pleasant land get a chance to see them.
The sun is shining. The LP is playing out at neighbour-bothering levels. The competition for 'Soundtrack to Summer 2012' now has a confirmed running favourite.