Splitsville
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| Splitsville | |
|---|---|
| Origin |  United States |
| Genre(s) | Alternative Rock |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Label(s) | Big Deal Records CD Baby |
| Associated acts | Greenberry Woods |
| Website | [1] |
| Members | |
| Paul Krysiak Brandt Huseman Matt Huseman Tony Waddy |
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Splitsville is a Baltimore based band born out of the ashes of the critically-acclaimed power pop band Greenberry Woods. Matt Huseman remained on guitar, his twin brother Brandt Huseman made the switch from bass to drums (which he had never previously played), and they joined up with bassist/keyboardist Paul Krysiak to form Splitsville. They have released five albums, one EP and a greatest hits collection.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Splitsville USA
Recording for the bands first album took place in Paul's basement on borrowed equipment and borrowed time. They had three practices to get ready and three days to record the album. Laughing at their power pop roots, Splitsville made up for what they lacked in musical proficiency with fun and tremendous energy.
Splitsville USA sold a few copies, got the band a couple of good reviews, and gave them a reason to go on tour; a whirlwind, super-low budget trip through the smallest towns in the Midwest.
[edit] Amateur Hour
Not six months after Splitsville completed recording the first album, they moved out of the basement and into a friend's garage. Brian Whaley's Whale Tail Studio was the birthplace of Amateur Hour; a seventeen minute concept album that may best be described as "the bastard child of Sergeant Pepper and Tommy with attention deficiency disorder". To date this recording has not been available for sale and was played live in its entirety only once at Fletcher's in Baltimore as a portion of a live webcast.
[edit] Ultrasound & Pet Soul
Splitsville recorded two studio albums for New York based indie label Big Deal Records. The first of these was Ultrasound. The record garnished good reviews and a fantastic tour with the band Shonen Knife. This tour included two stops in Los Angeles for the national pop festival Poptopia. At Poptopia Splitsville also gave away a special four song EP, Pet Soul. "Yearbook", the first single from Ultrasound, also received considerable airplay on various indie radio stations.
[edit] Repeater
Splitsville followed up with their third studio album Repeater, a more crafted and cerebral outing. This time they had the luxury of six weeks to record and their production skills were really put to the test. But the work paid off as Repeater was reviewed as "...a smorgasbord of great pop influenced equally by The Beatles, The Zombies, Queen, and the harder side of The Jam." And Popmatters.com called Repeater, "...a huge leap forward. It's rather like when Radiohead graduated from the mediocre Pablo Honey to The Bends."
To promote the album's release, Splitsville did another national tour and a handful of high profile shows before their label, Big Deal, suddenly dissolved. This, unfortunately, severely hurt the albums distribution.
[edit] The Complete Pet Soul
In 2001 The Complete Pet Soul was released to international critical acclaim. The album featured four songs culled from the Pet Soul plus six new originals and a cover of Burt Bacharach's "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". This cover was later featured in the Kirsten Dunst movie Get Over It. All Music Guide gave the CD a rating of 4 and ½ stars, stating "...the (original) orchestral tracks are nicely balanced with several new songs that recall the low-voltage, almost folk-rock sound that predominated on the original U.S. edition of Rubber Soul."
The CD was released through Air Mail Records in Japan and Houston Party Records in Europe.
Air Mail also released the import album Bulk Rate, which included choice cuts, live tracks, re-mixes, and a previously unreleased cover of The Who's "Our Love Was".
[edit] Incorporated
In the fall of 2001 Splitsville became a four-piece. With the addition of Tony Waddy on lead guitar and vocals, the band was able to add songs previously unperformed in their live set. They made a second trip to Spain, including local and national radio interviews in several cities, numerous print interviews and a live concert taped for Spanish national television. The fifteen-show, thirteen-date tour was a tremendous success.
Throughout 2003 Splitsville was busy recording songs for what would become their fifth full-length album, Incorporated. Licensed to Houston Party Records in Spain, the CD subsequently (via importers) found its way to the US, Europe, the UK, and Japan by the end of the year. Similar to their previous CDs, Incorporated received very favorable reviews. Incorporated, has been called, "a tiny burst of awesomeness" by The Onion, while All Music Guide stated that Splitsville, "...is poised, as ever, between the harmony-drenched sound of Teenage Fanclub and the energetic drive of Weezer, and they have come up with a handful of tracks that either of those bands would have gladly added to an album."
This acclaim has also been reflected by album sales in the US and abroad. Incorporated made it onto several "Best of 2003" lists and promptly sold out in the US within the first month of release.
2004 meant another long-awaited trip to Spain. This time the band performed twelve dates in various cities in Spain. More national television, print and radio followed, with overwhelming response.
[edit] Let's Go! The Best of Splitsville
In the Spring of 2008, Splitsville will release Let's Go! The Best of Splitsville, a greatest hits collection. The CD will be released on Popboomerang Records in Australia and Zip Records in the United States.
With tracks hand-picked by the band, Let's Go! is a 25-song overview of Splitsville's entire career. Among the tracks included are "Yearbook", "Manna", "Day Job", "Forever", "White Dwarf" and "Headache".
[edit] Unreleased and Obscure
Splitsville has recorded numerous covers of such artists as Teenage Fanclub and others, which have made it onto compilations and tribute albums. However, they have also recorded some as of the time of this writing unreleased recordings such as "Leather Makes Me Crazy", "Renae's Boots", and "I Can't Believe I'm Falling For This One". These 3 recordings along with "Amateur Hour" may or may not be released as part of a collection titled "Strum und Drang".
