Straw Hats | Photo by Jeremy Zimmerman for WXPN | http://jeremy-zim.com/
Tangiers and Straw Hats team up on new split
Is This Split is a new collaborative effort from local acts Tangiers and Straw Hats, running around 15 minutes but packing in a lot of punch. The bands contributed three songs each to the record, cross-pollinating upbeat pop with lo-fi indie rock for a nice balance of personalities.
The EP opens breezily enough, with Tangiers’ “Home Invasion” setting up a Mac DeMarco vibe. The slacker pop sound gets quickly abandoned with follow-up “Hey Mama,” but they land somewhere in the middle with “Marijuana USA,” pairing a quick tempo with bright, beachy guitar riffs.
On the flipside, Straw Hats play around with tempos and pedals on “Salmon” before getting into grunge-punk on “Neighborhood Watch.” Their closer “Drones” is a highlight, though catchy melodies run through all of the tracks making them accessible in their heaviness.
Listen to Is This Split below and stay tuned for a new EP from Tangiers soon.