Brontez Purnell
Jaboukie b/w Aneurysm
scum stats: limited to 835 copies on red vinyl
Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the first Singles Club package of the year is a welcome perennial mail day. Any updates to the classic designs are all fresh to ponder and pore over...and I'm still not sure how I feel about the departure from 2022's vellum-wrapped "classic" sleeve design toward the 2023's trifold option which avails a third tableau of imagery. If I'd been compelled by said third tableau here or in the Margaritas Podridas single that was in the same package, maybe I'd feel differently. I think they still need to dial it in. I've just never been a fan of illustration on a whole, but I've got half a mind that ALL of these tri-fold illustrations may form together in some sort of Transformer-esque conglomeration that equals more than the sum of its parts.
The a-side "Jaboukie" is a groovy exploration of measured restraint. Syncopated simplified drums counterbalanced to a ping-pong guitar figure. It's not bad...I just think I would've preferred it pushed a little harder. The guitar here could rip just a tad more and really drive the contrast home.
But Purnell's cover of Nirvana's "Aneurysm" shows spirit, slightly more frenetic, little less attitude than the original, but all good. I'm happy to file this one away and optimistic for how the rest of this year's stable turns out.
Good find. To me, the vocals are just out there (not bad, but out there). Maybe tone the vocals down a hair and bring the guitar forward to better unit the two. Just me sharing my thoughts :) Keep them coming, I love to hear the ones I have not found yet!!!