Narrative, on both a personal and societal level, likes to favor the outliers. More often than not we take note of the events and people that seem larger than life, to the things that lean more toward the sensational, to the “special.” We take pictures of our trips to Europe and tweet about celebrity sightings. Yet music, particularly in twee and shoegazer rock, brings us back to the mundane, the to parts that oftentimes remain unseen and forgotten. A lot of indie music reminds us that the meaning in our lives is the joy we experience from the accumulation of what goes on every day. Bands like Of Montreal and The Clientele can sing about anything from a supermarket encounter or heartbreak yet brandish it when a veneer of weightiness. The mundane has a flourish of drama. And regardless of the subject matter, we the listener relish in the music.
The Spires are band that operates along this same vein. And on their latest EP, Curved Space, this Ventura-based three piece manages to masterfully create music that is both complex and palatable while not being too excessively experimental, which can oftentimes result in abysmal, masturbatory music. Instead, the listener is buoyed to more lucid shores, with a distinct, sterling sound.
The Spires are masters of nuance and have a knack for drawing a sleight of hand of sorts, with an unexpected turn in rhythm in and lyrics that linger just so. Much of Curved Space’s appeal is that it’s a record that seems so effortlessly in the making. While it’s apparent that the recording was meticulous, it seems deliberately unperfected and soars as a result. The album is full of swirly guitar hooks steeped in growly reverb and touches of whimsy.
The genuine kicker is “Held,” where singer Jason Bays’ pristine, morose voice and whimsical lyrics (Rain streaks window pane/Christmas lights still flickering/’Cause I’m in this world right now) is a prime example of the narrative threading that gives the these tracks such a potent emotional thrust.
While most EPs offer a slight sampling, a halfway mark toward more ambitious efforts from artists who are eager to release something into the saturated soundsphere, Curved Space, with its songsmithing and distinct style, bears the scope and sophistication of a full-length. While the band has produced quite a robust discography under their belt, I regret not having heard of them sooner.
These songs range from the flightiness of love to the perils of self-absorption and cerebral indulgence. The Spires have a gift for coupling the mundane with the whimsical without second-guessing themselves. The tracks have a magical quality of spilling into one another to give a dreamlike, tableaux effect. It’s as if they were written during spurts of creative spontaneity and scribbled on the back of restaurants at truck stops. I look forward to what’s next for this band.
Curved Space is now out. You can purchase The Spires' music through their label Beehouse Records.
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