October 18, 2009

Album review: Spiral Stairs - 'The Real Feel' (Domino)

Pavement guitarist shows there's more than a reunion up his sleeve

7 / 10 A lot can happen to a musician in five years. Often they’ll return ploughing a different musical furrow. Or, if they’re Spiral Stairs, they’ll have simply changed their name. Not that we’re complaining – former (and soon to be again, come the reunion) [a]Pavement[/b] guitarist Scott Kannberg has dropped his Preston Of School Industry moniker, but the ramshackle guitars are still present, especially on opener ‘True Love’, while his shaky voice still tells us tales of relationship trauma. He sometimes takes the long road to Weirdsville, as on the sublime ‘Subiaco Shuffle’, which sounds like a distant cousin of his old band. No surprises here, but it’s hard to fault Kannberg’s strongest solo album yet.

Tom Pinnock

Click here to get your copy of Spiral Stairs' 'The Real Feel' from the Rough Trade shop.

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