Down to the band name, everything about local outfit Spirit Hair screams “joke.” Song titles like “Psychopathic Lice” seem designed to warn potential listeners: you’re in for some mild fun and not much more. To some extent, it’s valid; the band operates with tongues in cheek, its members’ musical eccentricities proudly on display.
The surprise is that the songs are so solid. The aforementioned “Psychopathic Lice” packs a punch, shifting gears in under three minutes from driving, hook-laden rock (complete with harpsichord) to weird, bouncy carnival-pop (complete with “ba-ba-ba”s) and back again. “Witch” is unobtrusively psychedelic, rich and swirling and vaguely reminiscent of Pavement circa Terror Twilight.
The record’s second half is a bit of a letdown after the promise of the earlier songs. “GullahBulle” is a languid slab of indulgent oddballism; “Air Force One” falls into the cloying They Might Be Giants-style pseudo-kiddie-pop trap the band skirts elsewhere but successfully manages to avoid. “Fever” is a standout, an unapologetically Floydian trip through hazy guitar clouds and acid keyboard rain that puts the band’s true inner strangeness on display.
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