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Review:
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Chatterton are a band from Oxnard,
California. That is a small town north along
the coast from LA, for those of you wondering.
I'm not sure I have ever heard of this place
before. But then again, I live in on the other
side of the country.
The band has been around since 2017 or so,
and have released two EPs, including this one,
and an LP. So not a whole lot of content from
this act. And that is a shame, because Tiny
Empire is tremendous fun.
The EP starts off with the just over two
minute long Source 2. It’s a pleasant
instrumental of strummed guitar and tapped
drums. Eventually, a xylophone or something
similar joins, bouncing along happily, like a
poppier Tortoise.
Things veer into jangle-pop territory for Explainin’.
It starts with a jangly guitar in shades of
Neutral Milk Hotel, then rumbling keys comes
in and a male voice sings lightly. The voice
here reminds me, slightly, of SSLYBY,
but the song is almost spacey with keyboards.
Bite Down is catchy, the guitars
chiming like something from a mid 90s shoegaze
band. And then a faint vocal sample floats by
in the background. The cheery, just skipping
along with a great rhythm.
Chatterton give us a lovely pop tune next. On
Punching Bag vocalist Brock Pierce
sings "This weeks been a bad one / which it
always is", a hint of Morrissey melancholy
peering through the happy little tune. The
bass is a nice rumbling here, the drums
tapped, and a sax sounds in the background
then explodes in the middle. Lovely.
And finally the EP ends with Blouse.
This has the sax, a really groovy beat, and
strummed guitar. In a way, this song reminds me
of what American
Analog Set might have been like if they
were a mid 80s pop band. The keys drone, and the
horn meanders around. What fun.
This ep is over too fast. I want Chatterton
to keep recording and crank out all kind of
stuff. This is just fun, and exactly what i
like: indie, sloppy, lo-fi, quiet, catchy.
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