The Spackles

Reviews

The Spackles Music for Blockheads CD

I have no doubt in my mind that the SPACKLES put on a very raucous and unpredictable show, filled with friends and lovers dancing around the room and singing along. These songs would fit very well on a Very Small Records comp, chugging gallons of Olympia beer. All of this is to say that these songs are earworm catchy in a lo-fi, quirky way, and balance on the line of annoying and wonderful. All three tracks together clock in at six-and-a-half minutes, so there isn’t even enough time to wonder if you like it or not until you have to play it again and then again and then again, and now the tunes are stuck with you and there is no going back.

The Spackles Clamaro CD

Interesting album here. Very psych-heavy, as if LED ZEPPELIN and the ALLMAN BROTHERS decided they wanted to start sounding like MINUTEMEN with Hutch Harris of the THERMALS on vocals. This is essentially the reincarnated spirit of FRANK ZAPPA AND THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION, which is always a huge plus for me. If I’m being honest, it took me a minute to start vibing with this album. But the more I understood their direction, the more I started to love it. Not your typical MRR affair, but if you dig garage rock that thinks outside of the box, you’ll want to give this a couple spins.

The Spackles Happy to See You / The Shakes CD

Let me just get this out of the way: this is two songs. That’s not a fucking CD. It’s a single. Musically, this is mid-tempo power pop. It’s catchy, but it’s got a certain herky-jerkiness to it. That can be hit or miss with me. I’m not sure this one’s a hit. I also find the vocals, both the female lead and the male backing, kind of contrived. They’re talented, no doubt, and they’re tight, but there’s something in it that’s missing for me. They don’t remind me of the BOOMTOWN RATS musically, but they do remind me of them in the sense that some of their songs I really liked and other ones I found that they just had too much going on.