V/A Beneath the Falls: A Spokane DIY Sampler LP
The last Spokane comp I listened to came out in 1994 on Very Small Records, so the first thing I did was check to see if there were any repeat bands here from that first one. Well, a lot must have happened in the last 32 years because this is a brand new set of underground bands out of Spokane, so let’s dig in! LOOMER, HAYNES NOBLE, HELL MOTEL, and BAD TRIP MOTEL all have the melody and hooks of Salinas, Tiny Engines, and Lauren Records in that they take a pleasant melody, chop it up a little, and tend to darken it lyrically but brighten it aurally. At first, I thought the JANGLED NERVES tune was going to be their version of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” but it wasn’t. Both the JANGLED NERVES and DAIRYBABY fit pleasantly into the flow of this comp and are a bit more ’70s power pop while mixing in SO COW and RADIATOR HOSPITAL influences. DAIRYBABY has great blended distortion and a melodic quality that works very well with this style. BELT OF VAPOR is as hardcore as it gets on this LP. BEN JENNINGS and JUMBOTRON, although they sound completely different, both glow of ’90s Sub Pop in all the best ways. Closing this comp, BLUNT SKULLS deliver a terrific synthwave song that could have been on a Factory Records comp in the ’80s. Beneath the Falls is a rad snapshot that is seemingly of a bunch of friends that happen to be in bands and wanted to show the world that Spokane is much more than just lilacs and BING CROSBY.