Spills Out

by Pterodactyl

Overview

Pterodactyl's third album demonstrates two key things off the bat. First, they're perfectly at home in the world of indie-as-huge-sounding-singalongs with guitar lines that are part shoegaze and part Wall of Sound. Second, they're so at home that it's nearly impossible to separate this from its larger context, after a decade-plus of popular successes such as the Flaming Lips in their 21st century guise, the Arcade Fire, and many other bands besides. It's not that there's something inherently wrong with songs like "Searchers" and "The Break"; it's just that there's something so done to death in their approach that there's little one can do with most of Spills Out except nod and maybe sigh a bit at how paint-by-numbers it feels. As a result, one relishes those moments that are somewhat more of an exception to the rule, such as the slower and dirtier-sounding "Allergy Shots," where the contrast with the softer, calmer vocals provides the album's first truly strong moment. The even slower, doom-tinged trudge of "Thorn" and the increasingly noisy, frenetic melodrama of "Zombies" show that if the bandmembers let themselves go a little more -- and sooner, in the course of an album -- they might have something more to offer with the end results. But a few strong moments don't make a full release succeed. ~ Ned Raggett

Product Details

Release Date:	11/15/2011
Label:	Brah Records / Jagjaguwar
UPC:	0656605421919
Rank:	143265

Tracks

1. School Glue
2. Searchers
3. Hold Still
4. Nerds
5. Spills In
6. Allergy Shots
7. The Hole Night
8. Thorn
9. The Break
10. Spills Out
11. Zombies
12. White Water
13. Aphasia

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Pterodactyl   Primary Artist
Joe Kremer   Guitar,Drums,Keyboards,Percussion,Electronics,Vocals
Zach Lehrhoff   Featured Artist,Guitar
Amy Cimini   Viola,Featured Artist
Dan Friel   Electronics,Featured Artist
Jesse Hodges   Drums,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Percussion,Electronics
Michael Gallope   Organ,Featured Artist
Frank Musarra   Electronics,Featured Artist
Matt Marlin   Drums,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Percussion,Electronics

Technical Credits

Joe Kremer   Group Member
Jonathan Schenke   Mixing,Engineer,Mastering
Pterodactyl   Composer,Engineer
Jesse Hodges   Group Member
Frank Musarra   Mixing
Matt Marlin   Group Member
Otecki   Artwork