Photo by Nedda Afsari
Viv — the second LP by California rock n roll unit SPICE— expands their palette of damaged anthems and addiction poetics with a more bristling, visceral sound, distilled from years in the trenches of bands, break-ups, and breakdowns. Album opener “Recovery” captures SPICE at their stormy, weathered best, booming drums and East Bay riffs skidding out in a rockslide of rapture, regret, and bruised melody (“You sacrifice perfect days to laugh through the night / you have to get out of bed / and it’s hard / and it’s hard / it’s so hard to admit”). The single premieres alongside a music video.
Set for release on May 20th via Dais Records, Viv continues the upward trajectory set for SPICE from their self-titled debut and 2021’s “A Better Treatment b/w Everyone Gets In” 7inch. The album’s first single, “Any Day Now,” embraces the group’s shredded pop potential. But what unites and ignites these songs across different energies and arrangements is their specific sense of emotion. Rawness refined into reckonings, approaching truth, born of cold mornings, bad luck, and too many wrong turns. Waking up where you’re not supposed to be, living a life you don’t recognize. Engineered by Jack Shirley and mixed/mastered by Sam Pura in Oakland, the mix achieves that rare balance of every element being elevated but distinct, with voices, strings, and drums each given space to blaze parallel paths. Viv is available for pre-order here.
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