Let us extend Splashh a warm welcoming to the world of full-length albums. The East London quartet released Comfort, its debut album, on June 4 (in the U.S.; September 2 in the UK and Europe) on Kanine/Luv Luv Luv Records. Comfort reads like a debut album, with all the blooming energy and fresh innovation that will have fans in the future lamenting that they “liked Splashh’s old stuff better.” But until then, we can revel in the present purity of Spalshh’s debutante.
The album opens with “Headspins,” whose coupled bass and drum intro reminisces of pretty much any Pixies tune; actually, when the vocals and guitar hop in it still has that rough but causal Pixies feel while retaining a modern element (perhaps in the later trilled percussion). Splashh admits to Pixies’ influence on their music and their self-awareness and ability to knowingly draw reference from a band but reinvent the sound is refreshing (and much appreciated).
It’s obvious, too, that Splashh isn’t just a group of Pixies fans. While the first song screams of that ’90s alternative mentality, each track on Comfort contributes a unique sound ranging from seriously surf-rock tracks, to more traditional pop-punk hits and even delving a bit into chilled out hypnotic ballads. Comfort’s final song, “Lost Your Cool,” practices the repetition of a simple chord progression that’s occasionally interrupted by, and finally combined with, a slightly psychedelic riff. It slows down, but doesn’t diminish, the album’s energy.
While the sub-genre vibes of Comfort might oscillate, front man Sasha Carlon’s coarse vocals keep the group safely in the greater lo-fi rock picture. From our initial introduction to his voice in “Headspins,” when he first breaks into the clever supposition “We don’t know how to feel, because we don’t know what is real” his lyrics and voice both neglect any obligation to sound clean and, instead, draw on a personal obligation to do what feels right. Sometimes what feels right is sounding a bit like Wavves’ Nathan Williams (particularly in the track “Need It”) which is perfectly fine by me.
With the occasionally surf songs and a track titled “Vacation,” it’d be easy to pigeon hole this an album as an upcoming summer soundtrack but it’s deserving of more than just a season’s worth of listening. Splashh has year-long (multiple years, really) credibility.
Comfort is available for download on iTunes and for hard copy purchase here in the U.S. at Kanine Records.
