After experiencing the dismal new Dune firsthand I have concluded that the only spice needed in my life should come from Penzeys’s or from the Los Angeles-based outfit that we’re talking about in this post you’re currently reading. You read that right, folks! I didn’t like the new Dune! No, wait. The only SPICE being mentioned in these pages from now on concerns the killer band who put out one of our most favorite records of 2020 and who has an equally killer new EP slated for release soon.
The EP in question is A Better Treatment and, while only consisting of two new tracks, still slays a lot of the full-lengths currently out there from contemporaries in the modern Alt world. Amplifying the vibes already mastered on SPICE, the title track was initially spurred on by the death of a friend but evolved into something else. Something more. Then there’s “Everyone Gets In” which captures all that magic that made SPICE’s debut so compelling and manages to wrap it all into a stunning 4:44 minute package.
Getting back to “A Better Treatment”, the track adds some Sunny Day Real Estate feels into the already established Sugar ambiance with Cody Sullivan’s bass humming along like “A Good Idea” but instead going all somber like while Victoria Skudlarek’s vibrant violin lines gorgeously accent it all. Rumbling drums from Jake Casarotti drive the momentum with Ian Simpson and Michael Bingham’s guitars building an atmosphere while Ross Farrar’s vocal performance is seemingly seething in sadness but still offering glimmers of hope.
Not to sound cliche, but “Everyone Gets In” really is that kind of song that’s the sound of a band firing on all cylinders and definitely what fans would expect when looking to what’s next for SPICE. Filled with wailing guitars from Bingham and Simpson, Casarotti’s controlled and steady beats rhythmically at the ready alongside Sullivan’s bass, the general air that Skudlarek conjures with the violin, and Farrar’s impassioned delivery, “Everyone Gets In” is a B-side track that easily belongs on a future greatest hits package.
A Better Treatment arrives on November 19th from Dais Records. Pre-order and pre-save yours now digitally and physically by heading here and for more on SPICE, follow them across the information superhighway when you click here, here, or here.