San Francisco’s Sic Alps drop two releases this week: a new, 2-song single (L. Mansion) and a double-LP reissue (A Long Way Around to a Shortcut).  L. Mansion is the band’s first recording as a 3-piece, with Ty Segall on drums, and it’s also their first release on Slumberland.  Would you be prepared to answer the following essay question?  Please elaborate on the existence and nature of the “Slumberland Sound.”  If yes, I’d wager that you can already predict how Sic Alps have evolved during the year that passed between these records. 

Early Sic Alps is a silly phrase, considering that the band is only a few years old.  That said, “early Sic Alps” means something definite–it conjures up a band that reaches for the Beach Boys and comes out Royal Trux.  A Long Way Around to a Shortcut sounds like the Zombies after a hit of nitrus, or Sha Na Na on sizzurp.  Sic Alps have always fallen somewhere within the limited distance between artists like Meth Teeth (at their rowdiest), Fluffy Lumbers (at their twee-est), and Women (at their most harmonized and intelligent).  However, like peers Thee Ohsees, Sic Alps are steadily moving towards a more accessible sound.  This is likely due at least in part to the new presence (live and on record) of Ty Segall, whose own releases are textbook, Coachwhips-style lo-fi garage bangers.

But is the presence of a new drummer and (perhaps) a bigger recording budget sufficient to explain the newfound musical clarity on L. Mansion? Is L. Mansion’s release on Slumberland simply a coincidence of geography and personal friendship, or have Sic Alps been processed through a motown-style machine (think, of late, Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, caUSE co-MOTION, and Crystal Stilts)?  Take a listen to the mp3s below and let me know what you think.  (Bear in mind that the tracks I’ve posted from A Long Way Around to a Shortcut are among that album’s poppiest).

At any rate, the notion of a specific label sound, and how that reputation may effect its artists, brings us right back to last week, and also to the question of who is most invested in the idea of a label’s “sound”–the artists, the label, or the audience.  Pissed Jeans are often described in cynical terms as an act used by Sub Pop (a la The Murder City Devils) to maintain continuity with that label’s early sound and credibility.  As a loss leader.  But who’s using whom and does anyone really lose out with this sort of arrangement? 

Either way, it’s hard to be cynical here.  The new music is great–tight, catchy, and upbeat.  Slumberland has never had credibility issues because it’s never strayed from its trademark reverb and c86 dream-pop.  But I’m sure, on some level, that Sic Alps know they’ve crafted a “Slumberland release” with this single.  It fits perfectly within the label’s mystique.  The group’s older releases?  They sorta fit into the same sound.  Its future releases?  We’ll find out with the next full length, currently being recorded for release in the not-too distant future, label as-yet unspecified.

1. L. MansionL. Mansion
2. Superlungs (My Supergirl)Superlungs (My Supergirl)
3. Dr. Bag and the Pomade Nature GiantsDr. Bag and the Pomade Nature Giants
4. Bells with Tremelo and DestortionBells with Tremelo and Destortion