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LP
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UNSPLP 003LP
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$38.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 1/31/2025
Drink Ring Jesus, the second album from Nashville based singer-songwriter Stephen Simmons was originally released in 2006 during a period of vast political and social change in America. Post 9/11 the age-old battle between good and evil, God versus Satan if you want to get personal, once again eased into view agitating hearts and minds. Like all songwriters with just their art to carve themselves a foothold in a world becoming less identifiable, Simmons produced an album that is both intimate and deeply inquisitive yet, like all the great folk records, its universal themes of hope, redemption, pain and despair will resonate with all who hear it. Nearly twenty years on from its initial release Drink Ring Jesus feels as relevant now as it did then. From the opening lines of the title track Simmons is clearly caught in a time of intense personal reflection. It's not an unusual pathway to tread for songwriters and artists alike, indeed many have fell by its wayside over the years, yet here the narrator is both looking for a way through and calling on something deeper than just instinct for guidance. There isn't a moment where you feel Simmons is taking the easy way out or shying from titanic confrontation. Anything but. It's in the no-mans land where these songs impact the most, at the very alchemy where despair turns to optimism or defeat.
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UNSPLP 002LP
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Friendship Is Deep, Golden Shoulders' second album. A collection of smartly observed, witty indie pop songs. In 2004, California-based indie band Golden Shoulders followed up their highly acclaimed debut with their second album, Friendship Is Deep. Now, on the twentieth anniversary of its release, the album most requested by their fans for a vinyl release is finally set for one on Unspun Heroes. Described as "one of the great semi-lost albums of the 21st Century", the album showcases singer, songwriter, and band mainstay, Adam Kline's knack for lyrical hooks and penchant for catchy melodies. But, like friendship, this is deeper than its pop sensibilities might suggest. From the moment the opening track "I Will Light You On Fire" opens with its simple piano refrain and vocal harmonies you know you're listening to something worthy of further exploration. From this building of tension between its temporary aural chaos and the beauty that ultimately emerges, you'll be hooked. Yet, scratch beneath the surface and you'll find this is an album that carries with it a political, pro-peace, and pro-humanity message, albeit somewhat more satirical than you might expect of a band hailing from America's West Coast. This is particularly notable on tracks such as "Golden Soldiers" and the "Committee," where Kline's turn of phrase and wit shines through, cleverly weaving words so they create detailed poetic mosaics. Golden Shoulders is a loose and ever-changing lineup of international talent, with Kline as the kingpin and sole songwriter. Given the pedigree of those whose talents grace the album -- among them, Todd Roper and Greg Brown (Cake), Josh Klinghoffer (PJ Harvey, RHCP, Pearl Jam), Neal Morgan (Joanna Newsom, Fleet Foxes), and Dan Elkan (Broken Bells) -- it's no surprise the compositions and attention to detail present in each and every one of the 14 songs is top notch. It's this pleasing mix of accomplished individuals, and their mishmash of influences, which lend a pinball effect to the set of stylistically diverse songs on Friendship Is Deep. Collectively though, the music you'll hear has a focus, one that channels late '90s Brendan Benson, the poppier side of '80s Violent Femmes, and even the mid-'60s flair of the Beatles' Rubber Soul.
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UNSPLP 001LP
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Suffolk-based singer songwriter James Varda's fourth and final album before his death from a long battle with cancer in 2015, Chance And Time, set for a vinyl only reissue on Unspun Heroes is an astonishing aural document of a creative, forward -thinking musician coming to terms with a life slowly evaporating away. There is hubris, melancholy and an undeniable weight of sadness in these ten songs but, miraculously, there is also a stoic realization and acceptance from Varda that is both heart-wrenching and deeply affecting. On Chance And Time, Varda reconnects the human spirit to the land, a heavy, fearful heart to an optimistic soul, and in a beautiful poetic flourish gives a real tangible sense of loving and hope to his family and friends offering genuine reassurance and even, at times, a green light for celebration. Carrying a certain air of mystique of say a Karen Dalton or a Jeff Buckley, Varda's delivery and tone carries huge emotional weight here and a unique ability to add an honest perspective and warmth to the starkest of realities. Chance And Time is both an extraordinary record and poignant study of life and living, of death and what comes after. James Varda released four albums between 1988 and his death in 2015.
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