Spiral Stairs
After a pair of albums under the group nom de plume Preston School Of Industry, Pavement co-founder Scott Kannberg, aka Spiral Stairs, makes his bona fide solo debut with an October 20 LP/CD/digital album release of ‘The Real Feel’ (OLE 858). Following an extended sojourn in Melbourne, Spiral returned to Seattle rejuvenated at the end of ‘08, and commenced recording with a collection of pals including members of PSOI, the Posies, guitarist Ian Moore, Gersey, and Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew. Mixed by the Posies’ Jon Auer, this album is by far the most crafted and introspective of Spiral’s post-Pavement works. In the words of associate Parker Gibbs, ‘The Real Feel’, “has a vibe similar to classic 70’s albums by Fleetwood Mac (’Then Play On’), Captain Beefhart (’Safe As Milk’), and guitar god Richard Thompson, not to mention Aussie psych rock icons Died Pretty. Comparisons aside, this is 100% Spiral Stairs rock, the same rock that made Pavement the most influential band of the 90″s (take that Hoobastank!) and the same strange, dischordant, playful and melodic Spiral Stairs rock that your parents loved.” “This is indie rock at its best and brightest,” continues Gibbs, “with Spiral Stairs getting back to the basics that have made him a legend in his own mind and to all of the children willing to enter his home.” And on that somewhat troubling note, we’ll add the vinyl edition of ‘The Real Feel’ features a different running order and a limited edition bonus 7″. Live activity throughout the continent of North America is planned for this Autumn, and we’ll surely be letting you know more about that in the days and weeks ahead. The first track we’ve seen fit to leak from ‘The Real Feel’ is “ Maltese Terrier” (MP3). Please note no raccoons were harmed during the making of the album artwork. Not by us, anyway.
Spiral Stairs (Scott Kannberg) has been extremely busy since Pavement’s dissolution, putting out two albums with Preston School Of Industry. The first one, 'All This Sounds Gas,' was everything fans hoped for – an immensely tuneful, memorable album that Mojo called "an album of joyful, desperate and messy songs, as honest and delicious as any on Pavement's 1992 classic, 'Slanted And Enchanted.'"
'Monsoon' continues in the vein of many of Spiral’s classic songs, setting a confident, effortless beat to a literate and mischievous rock sound as informed by Echo and the Bunnymen, the Clean, and the Fall as by Neil Young, Lou Reed, and John Prine. But while 'All This Sounds Gas' was largely an assortment of songs he’d had laying around over time, these songs were written specifically for 'Monsoon', with no baggage or ghosts, and with all the looseness and confidence that suggests.
