Ryan Allen, who has also played with Extra Arms and Thunderbirds Are Now!, released a surprise solo album today that goes by the title of Song Snacks Vol. 1.
The record was recorded at home in Detroit, MI and collects 20 tracks of new material that he put together while social distancing this year.
Speaking to Song Snacks' inspiration, Allen says:
I’m always working on songs. Some of them make it to records. Others get demoed but never fully developed. Others just exist and then seem to disappear as quickly as they arrived. But with no end to the pandemic in sight and an avalanche of songs that seemed to fall out of the sky, I decided to try and capture lightning in a bottle. And since I couldn’t see anybody, the record became an almost completely DIY project, featuring me as writer, performer (I played all the instruments), engineer and mixer (shout out to Andy Reed from Reed Recording Co. for the mastering assist).
Song Snacks Vol. 1 attempts to follow in the tradition of classics like GBV’s Alien Lanes, The Wrens’ The Meadowlands and Olivia Tremor Control’s Black Foliage, turning out to be a genre hopping, home-recorded, fragmented journey that attempts to capture the excitement and magic that surrounds laying every idea you have to tape. I played it for my dad and he called it my White Album. It’s not that good, but I’ll take it.
Check out "Barking Up The Right Tree" below.
