About this item

Ace new split single and the second release on the Jodie & Victor label.

The Sleeping Bags are a band based in Long Beach, California. Their's is a post-shoegaze sound influenced equally by guitar bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Ride as well as proto German avant-rock projects like Harmonia, Neu! and Ash Ra Tempel. Sonically, the songs bleed into one another - overlap, repeat, disorient and return with missing structural pieces. The musical complexity is complimented by a visceral, overwhelmingly loud live sound that translates to their recorded work.

Mystery Claws is a Los Angeles-based duo, consisting of Matt Kivel, music critic and co-songwriter for symphonic indie rock band Princeton, and filmmaker/musician Julia Bembenek. Largely influenced by the country-folk tradition of Southern California - albeit the frayed edges of that tradition more than its mellow middlebrow - the pair are just as keen to explore unexpected turns of melody and crashes of distortion, paying just as much attention to the sudden eruptions as the steady grooves. "Phony Checks" is a propulsive pop tune that owes as much to The Replacements as The Gun Club.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: A cracking split single this! Sleeping Bags play a sort of mangled shoegazey afro-pop, with overlapping layers and odd time changes. Mystery Claws "Phoney Checks" rattles along on a propulsive rhythm of snare drum and hand claps. Fits nicely alongside the likes of Best Coast and The Soft Pack.

TRACK LISTING