Album Review

Splashh – Comfort

• 3rd Sep 2013

Anglo-Antipodean’s Splashh specialise in the kind of trippy garage rock that made a household name of Tame Impala, and new album ‘Comfort’ does exactly what it says on the box.

There’s nothing revolutionary here but Sasha Carlson’s whacked out vocals combine with heady, distorted bass and a pedal-board full of guitar effects (mostly reverb and phase) to create a cushioning and dreamy listen. The production is impressive considering it’s an entirely DIY recording and the songs swell with a hazy summer shine that reflects their Australian and New Zealand origins.

Opener ‘Headpins’ is probably the strongest track with the remainder of the album feeling somewhat wishy-washy. Splashh aren’t best described as a band with Songs, but they wear their vibe well. ‘All I Wanna Do’ is a fairly tame and mediocre offering that thankfully gives way into the excellent ‘Need It’ which sounds like The Strokes colliding with Grandaddy and Dinosaur Jr. It would be unfair to say that they’re style over substance, but by the mid-section of the album it would be nice to have some variance from the fairly one dimension and flat sound, even though ‘So Young’ does kick the tempo up a gear.

There aren’t any anthems here that you’ll be playing for years to come, but there’s promise in their tentative steps and with a bit more hard work and craftsmanship Splashh could well be contenders crawling out of the garage swamp and onto bigger and better things.

– Jamie Otsa

Venue: Comfort
Support Band: Luv Luv Luv Records