Santa Sprees - Keep Still
by Andrew Carver
published: 17 / 12 / 2001
Label:
Dreamy
Format: CD
intro
Santa Sprees are Anthony Dolphin and Katherine Marshall. Their latest effort,'Keep Still' is an album of lo-fi, keyboard driven pop music, accented by an armoury of the cheapest instruments money ca
Santa Sprees are Anthony Dolphin and Katherine Marshall. Their latest effort,'Keep Still' is an album of lo-fi, keyboard driven pop music, accented by an armoury of the cheapest instruments money can buy (kazoo, anyone?). Currently residing in Japan Dolphin and Marshall are aided by some local friends, Makiko Nakao, Hiromi Shimonuma and Toshio Dazai. Santa Sprees apparently started off with a simple cheap keyboard, then added instruments as they went on. Fortunately, Santa Sprees doesn't rely on the grab bag quality of their gear. They get a lot of mileage out of their instruments (including "percussive lemons," according to their record company bio), and keep things varied: 'Keep Still' gets off to a promising start with 'Kitten Come Home', a minute of wobbly keyboards and strings. 'Alcoholic Gunslingers are Cool' is complemented by what sounds like video game shooting noises — and it works. The riff that starts off 'Petrified' could come out of a GBV album, while 'Old Sage' starts off with with a loping bass line and ends with harmonica. 'Customized Luv' sounds like something Bill Callahan of Smog might have composed. (I like the lyrical nod to the New York Dolls — "You'd best believe I'm in love, L-U-V" — at the end). Further afield there's the almost a cappella (barring some minimal percussion) 'Ra is Rising'. Unfortunately, that brings us to the one stumbling block to total enjoyment of this album: the vocals. The backing harmonies are pleasant enough, but Anthony Dolphin's voice ranges from the bearable to the grating. Since many of the songs seem to focus on the strains and pains of adolescence (for example 'Late Teens in the Clinic', the album's most energetic track, is about acne) Dolphin might at least deserve credit for adding a bit of verisimilitude by sounding like a tortured adolescent himself. In fact, after a listen or two, it's hard to imagine the music accompanying another voice. But when it first pops up in the second track, 'Wasted On You', it's like an unwelcome party crasher. Things do look up from there until the last track,' Free Inside (Worldes Bis Ne Last)', where once again it takes a turn for the worse. Still, the quality of the music and the lyrics overwhelms the vocal shortcomings on most of the tracks. Overall, this is a charming, intelligent album that hides its sadness under a playful exterior. Fans of the Music Tapes' 'First Imaginary Symphony for Nomad', for one, will certainly want to take a listen.
Track Listing:-
1 Kitten Come Home2 Wasted On You
3 Alchoholic Gunslingers Are Cool
4 Petrified
5 Old Sage
6 Customised
7 Our Charity (pt 1)
8 Late Teens In The Clinic
9 Ra Is Rising
10 Making A Row Man
11 Back There
12 Roll Out The Beds
13 Our Charity (pt 2)
14 Pockets Of Snow
15 Start Again
16 Someone Watches Over Me
17 Umarekawaru
18 Make Up Dust
19 Fireworks For Guido
20 240 Volts Of Home Fire
21 Our Charity (pt 3)
22 My Past Collapses Behind Me
23 If You're In Town (Look Me Up)
24 Free Inside (Worldes Bis Ne Last)
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Banter - Heroes
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart