The Spatulas

There’s always been a ramshackle grace to The Spatulas, a scabbed ‘n sutured vision of indie as it filtered down through the Kiwi ruckus and the itch of Olympia. Essentially the vision of songwriter Miranda Soileau-Pratt as she hops from city to city, each record finds Miranda searching out like-minded merchants of dented melancholy. Always on the move, this album alone traces seeds back to the Oregon days that dreamed up her last couple of records then slips away to Cambridge, MA for its formation, a city that’s already been left behind for the Midwest calling of Bloomington, IN. Cambridge served well as a crucible, though, fitting out her band with a trio of locals who helped harden the edges of The Spatulas’ sound and mold A Blue Dot into Soileau-Pratt’s hardest hitter yet.

The wobbles and wavers of the New Zealand fray are still swaying in undercurrents, but there must be something in that East Coast water that’s knocked a little rust into the gutters of the new album. A Blue Dot is a proper indie record, hewing to the ’88-’92 model, still chewing on the raw nerves, but with a bump out of the 4-track into a sound that leaves a few deep marks on the listener. The band’s huddled and hurt in familiar ways on “Crude Handler,” but moments later the squelch and snarl of “A Gold Cord” slips a few potent punches in, matching Soileau-Pratt’s vocal quake with an amplifier shake from the band. “Line Assembly” lurches into view with power and purpose, letting the leads curdle in the sun just long enough to grow pungent. The band’s mentioned Rain Parade as an inspiration for this album as well, and the Parade’s balance of jangle and jostle before they tipped towards smoother edges certainly creeps into the corners of the album. I’ve always enjoyed the close-quartered charms of The Spatulas, but here they kick open the doors in ways that were only hinted at before and it sounds great on them. Here’s hoping that Bloomington’s got some backers that can bring this kind of heat too.

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