Listen to lead-off track “Mysterious” via The Fader
Tempo No Tempo reviews “Sorry” via The Bay Bridged
The Splinters may have only been a band since 2008, but the girls actually began palling around four years earlier as freshmen at UC Berkeley. In the waning months of their college careers, Ashley Thomas (guitar), Lauren Stern (tambourine), and Caroline Partamian (guitar) began messing around with music and cranked out a few silly, lo-fi garage-pop songs. Quickly realizing that a few of the songs were actually pretty good, they recruited their friend Courtney Gray (whom had previously played with Ashley in a short-lived Misfits cover band called The Skullfuckers) to round out the group on drums.
Within a few months, The Splinters found themselves playing a bevy of shows and writing one insanely catchy song after another, their ramshackle rock n’ roll sound and multipart vocal harmonies earning them comparisons to ’60s girl groups like the Shangri-Las, artsy post-punk outfits like the Raincoats and the lo-fi grrl-pop stylings of early ’90s K Records bands. The band tossed together a limited-edition, hand-decorated CD-R release, which quickly disappeared, and eventually followed that up with the Splintered Bridges 7″ on Double Negative. Splinters’ tracks are also set to appear on upcoming compilations from UK label Germs of Youth (alongside Frankie Rose, Cold Cave, and Veronica Falls) and the hotly tipped YETI magazine.
Listen to “Oranges” as featured by Nylon.TV
In the meantime, the girls have worked hard honing their craft-writing new songs, turning heads at SXSW, and playing shows with the likes of Mika Miko, The Mae Shi, The Coathangers, Explode Into Colors, Ty Segall, Nodzzz, Brilliant Colors, The Fresh & Onlys, The Strange Boys, Yellow Fever, Sleepy Sun, and countless others.
Now Double Negative is dropping the The Splinters’ first full-length, Kick, a 12-track collection of delectable indie-pop tunes recorded and mixed by Maus Haus frontman Jason Kick. Set for release in March, Kick is one of those infectious albums destined to be played again and again.
“Girl-group sounds-meets-90s punk attitude.” – Gorilla Vs. Bear
“Playing a Raincoats-esque brand of shambling post-punk, the four ladies from Oakland rocked a pretty bass-heavy sound that was interspersed with lots of cutely loud yelping.” – Portland Mercury
Related posts:
- The Splinters Premiere “Mysterious” Video On The Fader, Hold Record Release Party In SF Tonight
- Grand Lake Sets Sail with Vinyl Release Date, Premiere New Single
