{"title":"The Spatulas","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"beehive-mind","title":"Beehive Mind","description":"\u003cp\u003eTo address the weight of the world without speaking of weariness. To march the song to breathlessness but loosen your grip when the band wanders. To tell all your secrets but shield your loved ones from vulnerability. To dress up in the charm and temptation of the pop song but maintain a core of peculiarity, of a single voice trying to navigate this world. This is the project of the Spatulas. Think of the few songwriters who know they’re the only ones in the world who could write their songs. The ones who sing in the confidence that the song couldn’t exist without them: Peter Jefferies, Jenny Mae, Ron House, Heather Lewis. Jonathan Richman? Put Miranda Soileau-Pratt and the Spatulas on this list. All eleven songs on \u003ci\u003eBeehive Mind\u003c\/i\u003e share a percussive, unshadowed presence, a steady, clear-voiced clop. Every note on the record is a little bit sad on its own but then they're organized in a way that you don't actually notice. Credit this to the band’s skill—Jon Grothman, Lila Jarzombek, Kyle Raquipiso and Miranda Soileau-Pratt all play with no limits and they all play with profound ease. The songs breathe in warmth and patience, they are immediate and sweet. And then they start to meander. The guitar skitters with the deliberate unpredictability of a wild animal. Parts repeat and reset with the obsessiveness of an anxious mind. The lyrics open doors to unexpected scenes of lovers, family, and violence. This is all intentional: “I need to play music and listen to music as a form of therapy,” explains Soileau. This means safety, this means encouragement, this means trauma, this means hard questions. Only a band so comfortable at the margins, only a band so capable, only a band so trusting can achieve all this. Miranda Solileau-Pratt wrote the first Spatulas song in 2020, while living in Oregon. Since that time, the band has released two cassettes and toured the United States. Members of the Spatulas have also played in The Blimp, Honey Bucket, Hot Gum, and Meerkaz. The band has shared stages with Helen, Lavender Flu, Debt Rag, Pink Reason, Blues Ambush, and Kath Bloom. \u003ci\u003eBeehive Mind\u003c\/i\u003e is their debut LP. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor fans of Lavender Flu, Sundae Painters, Linda Smith, Cate Lebon, Chronophage.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Post Present Medium","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50422459793739,"sku":"2190762","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/SPATULAS_BEEHIVE-MIND_FRONT_150dd4d6_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1726764289"},{"product_id":"a-blue-dot","title":"A Blue Dot","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe 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 \u003cem\u003eA Blue Dot\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe 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. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA 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. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSince 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! \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Post Present Medium","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":56648262943051,"sku":"R8182-3510","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_df9caa6d-0792-40e9-a706-e304b1d288d1.jpg?v=1772221028"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/the-spatulas.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}