Frank & the Can I Speaklys / Soul of Condemned Ape – split 7” EP (Farmer Frontier / Rivulet of Spores)
New projects debut in this cross-continental split. SF’s Frank & the Can I Speaklys is a hometaper duo, employing all the aspects of the modern hometaper/release everything we record set, down to the watery vocals, preponderance of synths, and drum machine. So how come their take sounds better to me than most of this junk that floats my way? A certain restlessness in their songwriting and performance helps – their first song, “You Shout Minus Blood,” has the same sort of frantic energy employed by one of my favorite bands ever, the Party of Helicopters, and though the volume and force of that band is rolled back to that of their first single, it works well enough. Closer “Three Legs” rides a killer, cylindrical bass riff and lifts its weary singer up onto the next wave. One of these guys is in promising new SF band Rank/Xerox, and it’ll be a hoot to see how far this one can go. Perth, Australia’s Soul of Condemned Ape (seriously a lot of bands coming out of Perth these days, which is great, because geographically it’s so far removed from anything) goes at some polite, strummy pop, somewhat reminiscent of fellow countrymates of yore, Ninetynine. “Holiday” features atonal, shouted vocals and a tool chest full of the stock moves you expect to hear on an indie pop record these days, but for some reason it squeaks by on charm. The instrumental “Symmetrical” is even better, laying a broody mood against strident post-punk disco drumming, and it hangs together very well. Excellent first attempts here, and I’m eager to hear more – such novice attempts, when they have heart, never wear me out. Only 150 copies were pressed, so if you’re interested, hurry up. (http://www.etherichymns.bigcartel.com) (frankatcis@gmail.com)
(Doug Mosurock)
