Splendora-In The Grass(1995)

New York's Splendora understand a very important artistic element: economy. Nothing on In The Grass is superfluous or unnecessary-the band is one of the few from the nineties that incorporated a cello and a violin into their ensemble and did so indispensably, exemplifying the post-grunge carriage that is this 1995 release. In The Grass is an essential as it almost transcends genre and only refers to the structure of the nineties, yet gives the listener this otherwise unattainable nostalgia that could only exist for the said decade. Janet Wygal is like a Kathleen Hannah who isn't on her period, and shows us that the female voice can sound angry-moreover, emotive-without screaming "Suck my left one!"(that's not to say Bikini Kill isn't great). In fact, Wygal's nonchalant, yet deliberate vocals accentuate the overall emphasis on craftsmanship that this album is epitomal of; there exists this controlled sound throughout the record that manages to retain some sense of organic texture. Splendora provides odd little subtleties(relative to the genre, or lack thereof) such as exhibiting their penchant for putting major chords everywhere you think you're going to hear a minor chord and sampling here and there. Consequently, there isn't a single track on this entire record that isn't worth reiterating to yourself over and over again, which brings me to the peculiarity of this album-it's a record which informs grunge but doesn't get redundant. At all. Simply stated, every song on this thing is absolutely beautiful and interesting. You cannot get what Splendora gives you from another record, ergo that is why you must get their only release, In The Grass here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?milzjtz3zyj

Oh, and they made the theme song for Daria.

Track Listing:
1. Bee Stung Lips
2. Rat Fink
3. Breeze
4. Rocker
5. Beautiful
6. Pollyanna
7. Reanimator
8. Shirt On
9. Sever
10. Rattle
11. Cover The River
12. No Place
13. It's Great
14. Busted


Personnel:
Janet Wygal-guitar/vocals
Tricia Wygal-bass/vocals
Delissa Santos-percussion
Cindy Brolsma-cello
Jennifer Richardson-violin