The first thing you hear is a lone clean guitar and a sweet warble singing about "city scenes caught up in the moment" before the drums enter and we're off! Thus begins the stunning power strum elegance of The Spatula's newest album A Blue Dot.

The Spatulas is essentially Miranda Soileau-Pratt and whomever she enlists to bring her vision to fruition. This all began in Oregon, where earlier releases like March Chant and Beehive Mind shimmered with the bedroom ache of Beyond the Implode and the wobble-psych magic of Garbage and the Flowers. But while those elements have not vanished, A Blue Dot is a whole 'nother beast entirely.

A relocation to Cambridge Mass, and a necessary change in personnel, has transformed what was once a steady glimmering looseness with full-bore rock dynamisms. The new lineup (guitarist Luke Einsiedler, bassist Elijah Bodish, and drummer Greg Witz) has tightened their sound into a loud mass of tough and moody jangle explosion. The post-NZ glory pop of Barbara Manning's SF Seals is in here, as is the dense swirl of Rain Parade. Expertly recorded at Suddenly Studio by Emily Robb, mixed by Evan Mersky, and mastered into full cohesion by Sarah Register, the whole thing sounds loud and proud.

Since the completion of this wonderful slab, Miranda and Elijah have moved on to Indiana where a new lineup has fortunately been discovered. But an even happier ending is that this particular crew is not done playing together, and hopefully this miserable world will still exist long enough to witness some east coast tour action in the summer of 2026. Might as well have at least one thing in life of which to look forward! -Max Milgram

1. In Threes
2. Flowers
3. A Blue Dot
4. Crude Handler
5. A Gold Cord
6. Line Assembly
7. To Comfort Them (And All Beings)
8. What Carries Me Through Frozen Blue
9. Close Call
10. Wild Xmas Tree