New Music: Shapes and Sizes: "Alone/Alive" [MP3]
Each new song from Shapes and Sizes seems to illustrate growth from the Asthmatic Kitty group, and "Alone/Alive"-- the first track released from the forthcoming Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner-- is no different. S&S's female lead, Caila Thompson-Hannant, has a more interesting voice than her male counterpart Rory Seydel, and here her bouncy vocals work with the track's surprisingly broad pop hook. The band is usually long on experimental meanderings and short on hummable melodies, so the hook is that much more gratifying; still, the weirder parts fill out the song-- they're not just there to use up the spaces between choruses. Thompson-Hannant tries to imitate the sound of each bent string during the bridge, and clatters and squeals drop in and out of the verses. Some of their choices are odd and dissonant, but I'm glad they made them.
MP3: > Shapes and Sizes: "Alone/Alive"
[from Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner; due 05/22/07 on Asthmatic Kitty] | [PRE-ORDER]