by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Everyone's favorite hyper-prolific New Orleans based synth pop mutants, Sharks' Teeth, are getting ready to release Juniper Branches 1: Greatest Hits, Demos, B-Sides, Experiments, & Unreleased Material 2010 - 2016 via Land Animal Tapes on February 24th. If the title isn't painfully clear, Juniper Branches is a collection of hits, odds & ends, and all the Sharks' Teeth rarities one could hope for. When we last checked in with the band they were sharing the slick warped pop of "Lost In The Cosmos" but "Unpack" (Juniper Branches' lead single) takes a look back to a less polished time when Sharks' Teeth was still the solo bedroom project of Tyler Scurlock. The project has continuously evolved since 2010 and Juniper Branches is a fantastic snapshot of the past six years and all the sonic territory that has since been explored. Marking the first time any of this material has been physically released (including two It Transfers & Grows-era exclusive hidden tracks), the collection is as essential as any album Sharks' Teeth has released yet.
Speaking about the collection, Land Animal Tapes shared:
"...since its conception in 2010, Scurlock has generated a prodigious amount of material envious of only the Robert Pollard or possibly Merzbow discographies. The annals of Bandcamp, however, did not constitute a sufficient enough showcase for the fifteen back-catalog tracks presented here. Flushed out by four never-before-heard demos from the It Transfers & Grows sessions, as well as their first post-IT&G offering, this is a chronological celebration of the past, present, and future of Sharks’ Teeth. All tracks were mastered for this project, and this is the first time for any of them to see physical release."
We're excited to share the premiere of "Unpack," an early cut that has long since been unheard. The track is downright lo-fi compared the band's currently boisterous sound, but Scurlock's songwriting is as vibrant as ever. The track trickles forward with soft electronics, warm guitars, and a clattering rhythm, pulling together a sense of raw, stumbling honesty and dreamy psych vibes. The song floats by as layers of sound are manipulated, bursting without warning and fading just as quickly. "Unpack" is a fantastic look into the early days of Sharks' Teeth's ongoing metamorphosis, built on a vivid blend of indie rock melancholy and glitchy noise pop that continues at the heart of their sound today.
Sharks' Teeth's Juniper Branches 1: Greatest Hits, Demos, B-Sides, Experiments, & Unreleased Material 2010 - 2016 is out February 24th via Land Animal Tapes.