THIS IS THE MILKY CLEAR VERSION: From the frozen depths of Tucson, AZ Hidden Volume presents the long-awaited vinyl debut of “II” —the appropriately named second full-length album from Freezing Hands. Conceived by one Travis Spillers (guitar, vocals) and recorded at the world-renowned Midtown Island Studio (home of one-man wunderkind Matt Rendon of The Resonars, also their drummer), “II” creates a narrative that begins with the crushing Who-meets-Shins power pop masterpiece, “Comeback Kid” before deliberately shifting down one gear at a time. Up-tempo power pop (“Sees Candy Girl”), breezy melodies (“Born In July”) and the laid-back ear worm (“Jar of Tongues”) take you through side one. Side two opens with the whimsical “King Kelly Kup” before addressing bedtime anxieties (“Cold Pillow”) and crossing hazily into twilight (“Caffeine Dream”) then eventually ending on the epic noise marathon, “The Only Television I Know.” Sonically this record recalls the power of Tommy-era Who with the complexity of Odessey and Oracle-era Zombies. All of this mixed with cheeky lyrics (name checking Arid Extra Dry) and reflective passages (“In the middle of a fairy tale, he dropped an anchor...”) that recall quirk-masters, Andy Partridge and Wreckless Eric. What’s the story here? A day in the life perhaps, condensed down to 12 perfect pop chapters.
Freezing Hands “II” comes in an edition of 300, 100 on milky clear vinyl, 200 black wax. Sleeve by X10 with illustrations by Elena Fox. Includes digital download card.
Includes unlimited streaming of II
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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