Needful Things is the rather ambitious debut double album by San Diego based Spray Allen who feature former members of Unwritten Law, Sublime and Late Night Episode. The double album has been produced by The Butthole Surfers Paul Leary alongside Stu Brooks from The Dub Trio.
The album fades into Left For Dead a gentle lush modern folk song that suddenly explodes into something altogether harder and rockier a tale of what happens every day in the city that seems to revolve around the central drum pattern.
Heaven on My Shoulders has modern rap sung lyrics and electronic effects on a song that becomes a rocky synth pop song that goes a bit skittery in places as they give thanks to someone who helped them in an hour of darkness.
Worlds End Everybody Dies is a yearning anthem for a post pandemic generation trying to figure out what the world will be like in the after times, musically recalling Rueben as they crawl out of the debris all sorts of weird, odd things happen.
Pretty Power (Featuring Angel Number 8) is sort of a Psych rap pop song that's all kinds of odd in places and somehow feels like it's in-between Jay-Z and Sum 41 but like neither of those acts, this is also quite a catchy song.
Sabotage isn't as good as the Beastie Boys tune let along the John Cale Masterpiece, this feels far too slight for the songs title, too gentle and no matter what goes on lyrically it never feels like anything has been really sabotaged.
One More Song is obviously designed for when they are playing support slots, to be introduced early in the set, to confuse anyone who wants them to finish ASAP. It's a gently strummed acoustic guitar with strings plea to be allowed One More Song like they are at an open mike night expecting to play an hour-long set. About three minutes in, the song starts to sound like something off of Michael Aston’s first solo album and that's no bad thing.
Wormhole Skit is a short comedy link that leads into Bonsall Hills a song that ought to bite like a Ferocious Dog but instead feels like they are aiming at the acoustic end of Led Zeppelin on a slow song, that threatens to go massive at any moment, as they worry about the poison in their veins.
Dirt is another song title that is hard to re-use without comparison to either the Stooges or Lou Reed and this is not in the same league as those two monuments, this is not even close to being dirty enough, as it sounds rather pretty, revolving around a nice acoustic guitar riff and occasionally soaring vocals.
I Work Way Too Fucking Hard Skit feels like it should be the skit either going into or out of the ads on Saturday night Live, it leads into Do Me A Solid an indie rocker with phased vocals and the odd harder edged guitar break. It sounds like three or four songs in one.
Into The Sun sounds like they want to be Soundgarden and is the most straight-ahead rocker on the album, with the right airplay this could be a big summer hit, well until the drum and bass breakdown that goes properly weird, with some nice dubby elements and musical madness.
The Clear has a late night strummed around a fire feel to it as the angels and demons at play do their thing and he looks for a way to stop getting the fear.
Alice In Wonderland thankfully doesn't have any of the grubby undertones of Lewis Carroll and is more in love with the effects of the mushrooms and other potions and feels quite blissed out.
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Crazy Brain needs to sound more demented than it does, this is far too straight ahead for it to really be crazy, although I'd like to hear an audience singing along to the chorus and all singing Crazy Brain together.
Homesick is an almost power ballad for the kid who needs to find his way home to recover from everything he's seen and done since leaving home under a cloud. The guitar solo seems designed to get Lighter's or these days phone lights waving in the air.
Good Ole Soul is an alt rocker with slightly widdly edges too it as he makes sure to be a Good ole Soul, when the guitars go all Pixies on acid it really steps up a level or three.
High Risk Boy sounds like an American Asian Dub Foundation, with the dark dub parts helping to make this one of the best songs on the album, it has that Adrian Sherwood style soundclash feel to it.
Mad World is yet another song suffering from there being better songs with the same title, this one has some great guitars, it goes off just about enough, but I would still rather have heard them cover Tears For Fears but in this style.
The Forgotten Ones Skit is sort of modern music hall intro music. It leads into Judith's Revenge (Featuring Angel Number 8) in which Judith Owens takes revenge on me for that less than kind review of her live album launch show a few years ago, or a full on Alt metal angst driven brain pummeler with an odd slowed down dub part with rap about why Judith is taking her revenge once more and Leland Sklar has nothing to do with it. This could almost be by Architects.
The Innocent is a Nu metal reggae rocker with widdly guitars and a good line or two about the heels she's wearing and it builds and falls among all the strange noises quite effectively.
Illuminate Me starts off all pensive and introspective and starts to build as the snare drum really gets going, when it reaches that zenith it pauses briefly before going back to being quite sparse and gentle as it once again slowly builds to the songs ultimate climax that leads into Thank You Skit wherein the band thank Uncle Tom Cobley and all. For me there is a really good single albums worth of material here and a bunch of b-sides for singles rather than the double album it is.
Find out more at https://www.sprayallen.com/ https://sprayallen.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/sprayalleneverywhere
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