“There may come a day when we both may disagree / You can go your way / I’ll go mine respectfully” Our rule of thumb with Part Time records is generally just to head straight for the songs with girls’ names in the titles, so after dropping the needle on “Silent Francine” I was overcome with emotions recalling their 2011 debut What Would You Say. But after a straight top-down listen, it’s clear Davida Loca & crew are on to something bigger and better with Spell #6, a sprawling epic of unrequited love encapsulating decades of two lovers’ ups, downs, highs and lows on the west coast in just forty five minutes. Spell #6 is their sixth album, natch, but only the first one recorded in a proper studio, and it exhibits a sea change similar to Ariel Pink’s Before Today in that regard. And much like Haunted Graffiti’s studio debut, it coincides as some of the band’s finest pop songcraft to date. Every song is a would-be hit, from the Breakfast Club-ish opener “Before You Fall Apart” to the sparkling “Hide” and Ocasek-indebted “Shattered Love” and “The Boys That Make Her Cry,” all loaded with steamy sax and shimmering synth chords. Pink himself shows up on “I Can Treat You Better,” but mostly plays it cool, lending some ad-libbed shrieks to the chorus (he also plays guitar on “Before You Fall Apart”). While most of Part Time’s brightest moments to date have been terminally-feelgood poolside pop snacks, Loca really manages to wrangle the inevitable defeat and dejection that are the byproducts of any meaningful affair on Spell #6. We’re talking specifically about the title track, “I Didn’t Know,” and the superbly maudlin “It’s Alright With Me” - possibly our favorite PT tune yet. This is the Burger Records pressing on colored wax, with printed inner and download code, recommended.
- colored vinyl pressing - NOTE: color may differ from shown in photos
- full color printed inner sleeve
- limited edition
- digital download included
- music label: Burger Records 2018
reviewed by tom violence 11/2018
