TUNES // Spelling Reform – Tuscaloosa

I’m not sure if anyone’s ever going to do aggressively nasal and adolescent as well as The Mountain Goats (who, full disclosure, are one of my all time favorites) but Spelling Reform come damn close. On their debut full length, No One’s Ever Changed, the Philadelphia four-piece jump meander through sonic influences ranging from lo-fi garage pop-punk to alt-country á la Wilco.
But the thing that really endears me to them is Dan Wisniewski’s voice. It’s full of pain and joy and love and confusion – but in a way that’s thin, brittle, and always so close to breaking.
“Tuscaloosa” is an exuberant character study on a stalker. It sounds a bit likeThe Mountain Goats circa Tallahassee in a polished, power-pop-gem sort of way.
No One’s Ever Changed is out now via Black Rd Records. Find it in all the formats here.