If you haven’t seen SPELLS live you’re missing out. It’s a high energy, one-of-a-kind experience -- probably even if you don’t dig the music. Fortunately, I’m into their hook-driven sound that I’ll loosely call pop-structured punk. It gets in your head quickly, but it exactly ain’t crisp and pretty. Sure, the lyrics are often a little light-hearted, but with deeper meaning that isn’t always happy. The band explores the ups-and-downs of life from a happy place, leaving you with a smile on your face without coming across as a jokey novelty band. Think anthemic music without the spike-laden dress code. The tone is understated, everyfolk rock ‘n’ roll to get you moving, regardless what subscene you may or may not gravitate toward.
If the name didn’t already give it away, Loose Change, Vol. 2 is a collection of smaller releases. SPELLS has a lots of singles, flexis, and the like. This LP puts 18 of those tracks together in one place. While it’s a compilation, it’s mostly cohesive over those 18 songs, likely in part because the band issues so many one-offs. It’s not a comp that covers two decades of development, so it feels pretty smooth. Common themes explore day job monotony, relationships (personal and romantic), and the general challenges of adult life, typically stemming from a tongue-in-cheek point of view, such as choosing to vent about Los Angeles in the terms of having no air conditioning, rather than making a direct political statement. They use targets where you’re already in on the joke rather than burying it in pop culture or literary references. I guess I’m saying it’s really accessible, both musically and lyrically. SPELLS are a fun band because they want you to enjoy it without having to study it first. You can sing along on first or second listen and you feel like you know what it’s all about.
And on that note, this record has some hits for sure. The male/female vocal tradeoffs and frequent whoa-ohs give enthusiastic energy, such as “Tom,” “I Don’t Want A Legacy,” or “Deceiver.” But of course they aren’t all call-and-response style bangers. While SPELLS’ songs are rooted in melody, they also have good variety of structures. There are anthemic singalongs, repetitive song-title-as-chorus jams, and some changeups like the overcaffeinated “Big Boring Meeting,” the chunky riffs of “No AC,” alongside the more dramatic turns of “A Failure’s Wake.” Besides the usual punk influences, I pick up on elements of hardcore, glam and subtle power-pop, and a nod to Dillinger Four in “En Vogue.”
The 18 songs aren’t all equally awesome. A few have that “b-side” element of feeling less formed or more repetitive but, speaking to the sum of the parts, Loose Change, Vol. 2 has a “near album” feel that’s generally cohesive and consistent, and it’s definitely not just a bunch of stuff that didn’t make the cut of their last record. It’s a reflection of an active band that releases a lot of material, in a lot of mediums: more a snapshot of the present than an archive of the past.
