Spice

Description

Available in CD and vinyl versions, the first self-titled album by Spice offers a voluntary isolation of the pain conveyed through various means. Lasting less than 30 minutes, the record focuses on orchestrating emotional exhaustion in the form of unique impulses—fast, slow, dynamic, simple, and layered—that blend into their machinations. At the heart of the album, guitars that are both powerful and fragile, endless rhythms, and vocals set the mood for each track. Formed in 2018 and scattered across California, each member hails from the San Francisco Bay Area. Composed of Ross Farrar (vocals) and Jake Casarotti (drums), both members of Ceremony, along with Cody Sullivan (bass), Ian Simpson (guitar), and Victoria Skudlarek (violin). The hook lies as much in the connection as in the melody, with each song building its inner narrative and exploration of suffering. Against a backdrop of indie-pop guitar and a call to action, Spice manages to balance the degree of urgency by alternating violin melodies and overlays, creating depth without overloading the compositions. Focusing above all on complex elaboration, Spice shares an authoritative impulse with bands like Jawbreaker, J Church, The Horrors, or Fugazi, in a restless universe. The way each song is approached is a statement that speaks volumes about the album as a whole—stories that can bleed slowly or erupt quickly. In a way, this self-titled album itself is a single song and concludes like a punch before plunging back into meditation. Perfected late into the night at Panda Studios in Fremont, California, with producer Sam Pura (Basement, The Story So Far, Self Defense Family), Spice spent hours refining their album until it became a small world shaped by the power of groupthink. Scattered with field recordings, audio snippets from the members' daily lives, the record takes an intimate turn, leaning on the theme of continuity linked by a common thread, making it a single organism with as much depth as questions.