While it’s undeniable that

[mp3] Sic Alps- “Message to the Law” (via the FMA!)

is a great song, but other than that song so far I have been uninspired by Sic Alps both on recording and at live shows….up until now.  The other week Bill mentioned that the new single on Slumberland sounded a bit “Spoon-ish.”  While I have been a fan of Spoon for a while (more so when I was in college, but still) saying something is Spoon-ish isn’t necessarily a good thing for a band…so when I was at Academy this weekend I picked up the new Sic Alps single “L Mansion” if for no other reason to hear what Sic Alps sound like tinged with Spoon.

I don’t know if you have recently bought (or seen), a Slumberland single recently, but if you haven’t I highly recommend doing so.  This is my second 7″ from the label in the past two or three weeks, and I have to say they do singles right.  The record comes in a full color jacket, black dust jacket, colored vinyl, and are limited edition.  For a slightly larger record label they really put a unique personal touch on their singles.

“L Mansion” is a short track, and unlike their records in the past it has a much cleaner indie rock sound.  Maybe this is a change in production value, or something but like the b side “Superlungs (My Supergirl)” both tracks show growth and departure from previous releases.  Slumberland has made “L Mansion” available for download…so you be the judge:

[mp3] Sic Alps- “L Mansion”
(via Slumberland. Buy it here!)

In the case of this single, I think the production and the slightly more up beat sound brings Sic Alps into a new light.  Up until this single Sic Alps seemed to get lost in the massive amount of lo-fi garage rock/shit-gaze that has been going on, but I think now I’m going to be following their releases a little more closely…it actually makes me really want to hear more, and even see them live again.  It’s not just the cleaner sound, but even better song writing.  I think I am correct in saying that “L Mansion” is the first Sic Alps recording with Ty Segall on drum, and so far Segall seems to do no wrong (he has released several singles and three LPs under his own name in recent memory).  I am excited to hear more from this new line up.

Although it appears to be older material Drag City just released a massive 2xLP collection of what appears to be older songs…you can pick that up here (this collection contains “Message from the Law”).