The second LP by California rock n roll unit Spice expands their palette of damaged anthems and addiction poetics with a more bristling, visceral sound, distilled from years in the trenches of bands, break-ups, and breakdowns. Singer Ross Farrar explains their chemistry succinctly: "We all got in a room and this is what came out." Viv is named for a precursor project of bassist Cody Sullivan and violinist Victoria Skudlarek, but also alludes to broader notions of vividness, sonic, visual, and otherwise. Engineered by Jack Shirley and mixed/mastered by Sam Pura in Oakland, the mix achieves that rare balance of every element being elevated but distinct, with voices, strings, and drums each given space to blaze parallel paths. Opener "Recovery" captures Spice at their stormy, weathered best, booming drums and East Bay riffs skidding out in a rockslide of rapture, regret, and bruised melody ("You sacrifice perfect days to laugh through the night / you have to get out of bed / and it's hard / and it's hard / it's so hard to admit"), peaking in Ian Simpson's poignant single-note vibrato guitar solo; Farrar agrees: "The guitar says what we cannot." Other tracks embrace the group's shredded pop potential ("Any Day Now," "Dining Out," "Live Scene") and their speedway ripper mode ("Threnody"), with detours into oblique instrumentals ("Melody Drive") and orchestral balladeering ("Ashes In The Birdbath"). But what unites and ignites these songs across different energies and arrangements is their specific sense of emotion. Rawness refined into reckonings, approaching truth, born of cold mornings, bad luck, and too many wrong turns. Waking up where you're not supposed to be, living a life you don't recognize. The album ends with no end to it's narrative, still fighting, still slipping. Farrar calls "Climbing Down The Ladder" a "relapse song - telling people you're okay but you're still fucking up." Heartbeat drums march under heartbroken guitars in an elegant downward spiral of defeat, delusion, and desperate hope, dreamed more than believed: "I said it was the last time / but I was up so high / 100 miles / 1000 miles / no me in sight / I saw into the next life / I wasn't dead / I felt so vivid in the next life."
Release date:
June 17, 2022
Label:
Install our app to receive notifications when new upcoming releases are added.
Recommended equipment and accessories
Featured Upcoming Vinyl
-
Riot V Mean Streets Seal
Atomic Fire Records
May 10, 2024 -
RJD2 Visions Out Of Limelight
Rjd2
June 14, 2024 -
Thom Yorke Confidenza Soundtrack
Xl Recordings
July 12, 2024 -
Carb on Carb Take Time
Salinas Records
May 17, 2024 -
Bette Smith Goodthing
Bette Smith
May 3, 2024 -
Finom Not God
Joyful Noise Records
May 24, 2024 -
Umbra Vitae Light Of Death
Deathwish Inc
June 7, 2024 -
Dua Lipa Radical Optimism (Clear Blue)
Warner Records
May 3, 2024 -
Sega Bodega Dennis
Ambient Tweets
June 7, 2024 -
Lionlimb Limbo
Bayonet Records
May 24, 2024 -
Mick Harvey Five Ways to Say Goodbye
Mute
May 10, 2024 -
Isobel Campbell Bow To Love
Cooking Vinyl
May 24, 2024 -
Natanael Cano Nata Montana [2xLP]
Warner Music Latina
May 24, 2024 -
The FMs Pink + Black [2xLP]
Invasion Merch
June 7, 2024