The new 2023 album from Shplang on CD in a Jewel Case.
SHPLANG (Los Angeles, CA)
SHPLANG may have first come to the attention of many on the global pop community fairly recently with the release of Los Grandes Excritos 1994 to 2019 , but as that anthology's title makes abundantly clear, they've been around honing their singular psych-pop-rock sensibilities for much longer. Longtime observers of the LA indie and power pop scene will be eager to tell you just what's fueled Shplang's longevity: the core duo of Peter Marston and John Krause are able to blend rock solid pop instincts with humor, intelligence and imaginative quirk in a way that sets them apart. It's an invigorating organic balance that rarely occurs, and only genuine alchemists like XTC, They Might Be Giants, Sparks and Robyn Hitchcock have been able to build artistic identities on such foundations. Shplang has most certainly earned their place on that short but venerable list.
In 1994, Peter Marston, a veteran of the LA pop scene with the Phlaix, The Onlys and The Corsairs, met up with John Krause, a visual artist and designer best-known for his work on The Simpsons. John was also a musician, so they got together to see what would happen and what happened was Shplang’s first album Journey to the Center of Mirth, a mix of psychedelia, power pop, and primitive folk that Improvijazzation described as “A shining example of just what can be done with rock when it’s played from the heart and not the format.” Three additional albums followed -- Self Made Monk, American Cream, and My Big Three Wheeler --each refining the band’s signature psych-pop and offbeat humor. In 2019, Big Stir Records released an anthology album, Los Grandes Excritos, to commemorate Shplang’s 25th Anniversary. The album received widespread rave reviews, with The Big Takeover calling it “a tour-de-force that sizzles as if the sunshine oozes from the disc when the laser engages,” and babysue concurring, “an uplifting spin, chock full of memorable songs which in a perfect world would be hugely popular hits.”
And that brings us to the waning months of 2023 and Shplang’s sixth album, THANK YOU, VALUED CUSTOMER: a set of wildly varied, sometimes quirky, but always warm psych-pop. “Keep It Hot” offers a wah-fueled slow burn, while the lead single “Understood” is horn-powered power-pop. Blue-eyed funk meets theological nonsense in the absurd “Buddha (What Was That?).” “Little Mushroom Men from Mars” is a sci-fi tale of the perils of interplanetary diversity. Shplang even goes international with the French swamp-rock of “À Son Son” and the curious pidgin German of “Das Diddley.” “Baby Hobo” and “She, the Fair Bag Girl” are, well, who knows exactly? One thing’s for sure, if you happen not to like one track, you’ll find something quite different coming right up. But odds are you'll feel like it's the band who deserves your thanks, and find yourself delighted by ever item in your bag.
This t-shirt is everything you've dreamed of and more. It feels soft and lightweight, with the right amount of stretch. It's comfortable and flattering for all.
• 100% combed and ring-spun cotton (Heather colors contain polyester)
• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz./yd.² (142 g/m²)
• Pre-shrunk fabric
• Side-seamed construction
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping
• Blank product sourced from Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, or the US
This t-shirt is everything you've dreamed of and more. It feels soft and lightweight, with the right amount of stretch. It's comfortable and flattering for all.
• 100% combed and ring-spun cotton (Heather colors contain polyester)
• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz./yd.² (142 g/m²)
• Pre-shrunk fabric
• Side-seamed construction
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping
• Blank product sourced from Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, or the US
TRACK LIST: 1. Spanish Galleons 2. Come Love 3. I Don’t Know I Don’t Care 4. Sucker 5. I Don’t Know Love 6. Delacroix 7. Little Star 8. No One Knows 9. Another Child Lost 10. That Word Is Love 11. Tokyo Go-Go 12. Birds Go ‘Round 13. Sway 14. Mommie’s Pie ...plus hidden tracks... maybe...
BIG STIR RECORDS and SHPLANG are proud to announce the release of LOS GRANDES EXCRITOS (1995 To 2019), a new anthology celebrating 25 years of sterling silver pop rock from one of the LA scene's leading lights. The compilation, which includes previously unheard material along with classics from all four of the band's full length records (and a few surprises) will be released Friday, December 6 on CD and digital download, and is available for pre-order at www.BigStirRecords.com now!
Shplang is an alternapop band offering an eclectic mix of psychedelia, pop and folk with emphasis on melody, inventive arrangements and a wry sense of humor. Here’s their story so far:
In 1994, singer-songwriter Peter Marston, a veteran of the LA pop scene with The Phlaix, The Onlys and The Corsairs, met up with John Krause, a visual artist and designer best-known for his work on The Simpsons. John also dabbled in music, so the two met up to see what would happen, and what happened was Shplang’s first CD release Journey to the Center of Mirth, described by Improvijazzation as “a shining example of what can be done with rock and roll when it’s played from the heart and not from the format.” To bring the music to the stage drummers Brian Cannizzaro and Paul Angers were enlisted and three more CDs followed: Self Made Monk, American Cream and My Big Three Wheeler (see below for review excerpts). All four discs are now available on the Big Stir Records website.
Now, to commemorate their quarter-century in power pop, Big Stir Records is releasing Los Grandes Excritos (1994 to 2019), a collection of fan favorites and select unreleased gems from the vaults. Songs from all four albums are represented, from the DIY boys-with-four-track grunge-pop of “Sway” to the swirling psychedelia of “Spanish Galleons” and the Kaiju-surf masterpiece, “Tokyo Go-Go.” Tin Pan Alley and the talking soul of O.C. Smith collide in “That Word is Love,” while “No One Knows” suggests what might have happened if Sopwith Camel or Herman’s Hermits had tackled the subject matter of “Lola” rather than the Kinks. Forays into lounge-schmaltz (“Sucker”), mountaintop folk (“Birds Go ’Round”), and straight-ahead power-pop (“Come Love”) help round out the collection.
Acolytes and devotees will especially appreciate three previously unreleased recordings. “Delacroix” offers tribute to the great French painter in what seems to be an impression of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin fronting The Banana Splits. “Little Star” imagines Wolfgang Mozart’s Plastic Ono Band period, while “Mommie’s Pie” is the harrowing tale of a boy who imprudently consumed the last slice (the less said, the better, perhaps).
Shplang are now at work commencing their second 25 years of music making and can be heard regularly performing live at Big Stir events in the LA area as they have since the concert series' inception. Meanwhile, Los Grandes Excritos is here to initiate the novices and remind the faithful just how lucky we are to have them around.
SHPLANG's latest full-length album! Track List:
1 Spanish Galleons
2 Pound Cake
3 Right On Time
4 Tokyo Go-Go
5 Let's Get High (And I Could Be Your Man)
6 Glitter
7 That Word Is Love
8 No One Knows
9 Keep It Down
10 Last Match In The Tinderbox
11 When Jesus Looked In The Eyes Of God
The band's third studio album from 2000. featuring:
1 I Don't Know Love
2 All Of Her Life
3 That's The Way
4 Fancy Restaurant
5 Daddy Knows It's Me
6 Birds Go 'Round
7 Funk Me Up
8 Holy Roman Empire
9 Comme Ci Comme Ca
10 La La Song
11 Someone's Looking For Me
12 Long Way Down
SHPLANG's critically acclaimed second album from 1997, featuring:
1 I Don't Wanna Be Here
2 Here Comes The Truth
3 Come Love
4 Sucker
5 Slow Burn
6 Soft And Clean
7 Another Child Lost
8 I Wanna Know
9 Mr. Milo
10 Tomorrow
11 Can't Change A Thing
The 1995 debut album from SHPLANG! Featuring: 1. Orange Shake Mistake Experience 2. Sway 3. Tomorrow's Rail 4. Deep Wet 5. Down 6. Animal 7. Two-Bit Manchild 8. Feel 9. Didn't I 10. Love Chain 11. I Don't Know I Don't Care 12. Animals 13. Chocolate Covered Glove 14. Wrestle With It 15. Can't Change a Thing 16. Breathe 17. Shiite 18. Prima Donnas 19. Opposite 20. Hang Ben
Big Stir Records is delighted to announce an all-new album from some true hometown heroes: celebrated LA guitar pop scene stalwarts SHPLANG. THANK YOU, VALUED CUSTOMER, the new full-length collection from the acclaimed keepers of the flame of literate psych-pop, sees worldwide release December 1 on CD and all streaming services. It features the
Big Stir Records is delighted to announce an all-new album from some true hometown heroes: celebrated LA guitar pop scene stalwarts SHPLANG. THANK YOU, VALUED CUSTOMER, the new full-length collection from the acclaimed keepers of the flame of literate psych-pop, sees worldwide release December 1 on CD and all streaming services. It features the new single “Understood” – already being heard across the global pop rock airwaves – along with “Little Mushroom Men From Mars” (the breakout hit from this year's BSR Halloween collection Stir The Cauldron) and future single “Look Me Over.”
SHPLANG may have first come to the attention of many in the worldwide pop-rock community fairly recently with the release of LOS GRANDES EXCRITOS 1994 to 2019, an essential collection which The Big Takeover Magazine called “a tour-de-force that sizzles as if the sunshine oozes from the disc when the laser engages.” But as that anthology's title makes abundantly clear, they've been around honing their singular psych-pop-rock sensibilities for much longer. Longtime observers of the LA indie and power pop scene will be eager to tell you just what's fueled Shplang's longevity: the core duo of Peter Marston and John Krause are able to blend rock-solid pop instincts with humor, intelligence and imaginative quirk in a way that sets them apart. It's an invigorating organic balance that rarely occurs, and only genuine alchemists like XTC, They Might Be Giants, Sparks and Robyn Hitchcock have been able to build artistic identities on such foundations. Shplang has most certainly earned their place on that short but venerable list, and the new record is perhaps the best distillation of their ethos yet.
THANK YOU, VALUED CUSTOMER, the band's sixth full-length release, represents SHPLANG at both the height of their considerable melodic and instrumental powers and at their most playful. There are hooks aplenty to be heard on the horn-propelled Cheap Trick-like shuffle of “Understood,” the loping “Look Me Over” with its mutual shades of The Plimsouls and Teenage Fanclub, and the disarmingly tender psychedelia-tinged ballad “Everyone Can Change.” And lead singer Marston can pen and deliver classic surreal couplets for the ages: “If you’d like, I’ll be your wig-a-wam, underneath calico skies,” he intones at the start of “Lay A Little Love On Me,” setting the stage for a killer chorus and some strikingly swirling instrumental passages. Elsewhere, “Little Mushroom Men From Mars” is just a delight, as slashing guitars frame B-movie sci-fi imagery on the way to yet another irresistible chorus. For all the pitch-perfect popcraft on display, some of CUSTOMER's most endearing moments come from its playfulness in pushing the boundaries of Shplang's chosen form. That cheeky experimentalism has always been part of the band's DNA, and here they not only stretch it further but integrate it into the pop idiom more fully than ever before. “One of the reviewers of our last record characterized it as 'Beatles meet Zappa in Sumo love-fest,'” notes Marston. “This time around, perhaps Zappa is winning the match.” Maybe, but there's a light touch and effortless tunefulness to those detours, which include songs sung entirely in German (“Das Diddley”) and French (“À Son Son”), a pair of of partly-spoken-word dream narratives (“Baby Hobo” and the as-sweetly-touching-as-it-is-funny closing track “She, The Fair Bag Girl”) and “Buddha (What Was That?)” which the band call “an irreverent study in comparative religion, but mostly Shplang’s interpretation of slow-burn funk.” Testing the limits of the pop-rock form is admirable in itself on a scene that's too often mired in formally conservative nostalgia, and as Shplang deliver it on TYVC it's the farthest thing thing from esoteric. The band's just too melodically adroit, and they're having too much fun, for the songs to be anything other than inviting and instantly memorable.
And THANK YOU, VALUED CUSTOMER simply sounds great. Produced and recorded by the band and mixed by Marc Greene, it possesses a profound sense of time and place. Marston's voice is remarkably flexible and able to communicate warmth and empathy regardless of what accent, idiom or even language he's employing. Swirling around it is a compelling stew of sound that evokes psychedelia without sounding dated: burbling synths, classic horn lines, and outer-space sound effects complement genuinely striking lead guitar work from Marston and guests like Scott Goldbaum (whose over-the-top leads kick “Mushroom Men” into hyperdrive) and Paul Lewolt, the band's live guitarist whose psych-blues lines shine on the opener “Keep It Hot.” The band's tight and funky when the songs call for it, loosely lumbering when it's time to stretch out, and always utterly committed whether the tune calls for heartbreak, absurdity, or (as is often the case) both in equal measures.
There's a sense in which THANK YOU, VALUED CUSTOMER sounds like a fresh start for SHPLANG after the career summary of the anthology. But it's also the sound of a truly original guitar pop band leaning into and delivering exactly what they've always done best. The cover image (a grocery bag bearing the band's logo) and title may be an arch dig at consumerism, but like everything the band does, there's an underlying sincerity to them, too. Here, all the ingredients – sharp melodies, indelible hooks, slyly literate wit, instrumental firepower and a dash of psychedelic surrealism – are ready for home delivery in the form of eleven fresh tracks, each displaying exactly what makes the band so valuable today. And their gratitude for nearly 30 years of support is genuine. The time has come for valued customers new and old to offer their thanks in turn to SHPLANG.
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Keep It Hot 3:290:00/3:29
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Understood 3:480:00/3:48
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Look Me Over 3:480:00/3:48
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Das Diddley 3:210:00/3:21
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Everyone Can Change 3:330:00/3:33
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Baby Hobo 3:020:00/3:02
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0:00/3:42
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0:00/4:01
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À Son Son 3:460:00/3:46
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0:00/3:38
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0:00/3:07
Big Stir Records would like to be perfectly clear: SHPLANG will be “Understood.” The veteran LA psych-pop-rock band returns with a brand new single by that title, out Friday, November 3 and serving notice of a forthcoming album – their first since the 2019 career-summarizing anthology LOS GRANDES EXCRITOS – due before the year's end.
There have
Big Stir Records would like to be perfectly clear: SHPLANG will be “Understood.” The veteran LA psych-pop-rock band returns with a brand new single by that title, out Friday, November 3 and serving notice of a forthcoming album – their first since the 2019 career-summarizing anthology LOS GRANDES EXCRITOS – due before the year's end.
There have been rumblings in recent weeks of SHPLANG's return with new material, particularly with the appearance of an all-new track on BSR's Halloween collection STIR THE CAULDRON, but “Understood” represents the first standalone preview of the forthcoming album. It's a good sign indeed, an instant toe-tapper with one of main man Peter Marston's characteristically appealing melodies and the surprise inclusion of a full horn section pushing the beat along. It's also a rare positive message for today's world, as Marston explains, quoting British novelist Winifred Holtby: “The crown of life is not happiness; it is understanding.” Marston continues: “When I came across this quote, I thought it really captured the triumphal nature of the song. I don’t know if there is any higher currency in a relationship than to be understood!” The listener can sense the sheer joy in that simple feeling on the track: it's both positively invigorating and invigoratingly positive.
The wonderful horn arrangement that puts the song over the top occurred almost by accident, according to Marston. “This song features Lee Thornburg on trumpet, flugelhorn, and trombone. Lee is an alumnus of the Tonight Show Band and has toured with Supertramp and Tower of Power. I had written a simple trombone theme for the instrumental turnaround and connected with Lee through a mutual friend. I sent Lee a rough mix of the track in progress and the trombone part (which I had written out), but Lee came in with the complete horn arrangement you hear on the track and played all the parts.” The result is unlike anything else on guitar-pop radio today, but calls back to the days of the British Invasion and the swinging '60s while still sounding completely fresh and bearing all the earmarks of Shplang's playful, experiment ethos.
News on the full album is soon to follow single's release, and fans can expect the kinds of surprises that are, paradoxically, unsurprising on a SHPLANG record: memorable melodies, psychedelic touches and the rare humor and warmth that's underpinned nearly thirty years of work from the band. It starts here, and the reasons for our anticipation can be easily “Understood.”
BIG STIR RECORDS and SHPLANG are proud to announce the release of LOS GRANDES EXCRITOS (1995 To 2019), a new anthology celebrating 25 years of sterling silver pop rock from one of the LA scene's leading lights. The compilation, which includes previously unheard material along with classics from all four of the band's full length records (and a few
BIG STIR RECORDS and SHPLANG are proud to announce the release of LOS GRANDES EXCRITOS (1995 To 2019), a new anthology celebrating 25 years of sterling silver pop rock from one of the LA scene's leading lights. The compilation, which includes previously unheard material along with classics from all four of the band's full length records (and a few surprises) will be released Friday, December 6 on CD and digital download, and is available for pre-order at www.BigStirRecords.com now!
Shplang is an alternapop band offering an eclectic mix of psychedelia, pop and folk with emphasis on melody, inventive arrangements and a wry sense of humor. Here’s their story so far:
In 1994, singer-songwriter Peter Marston, a veteran of the LA pop scene with The Phlaix, The Onlys and The Corsairs, met up with John Krause, a visual artist and designer best-known for his work on The Simpsons. John also dabbled in music, so the two met up to see what would happen, and what happened was Shplang’s first CD release Journey to the Center of Mirth, described by Improvijazzation as “a shining example of what can be done with rock and roll when it’s played from the heart and not from the format.” To bring the music to the stage drummers Brian Cannizzaro and Paul Angers were enlisted and three more CDs followed: Self Made Monk, American Cream and My Big Three Wheeler (see below for review excerpts). All four discs are now available on the Big Stir Records website.
Now, to commemorate their quarter-century in power pop, Big Stir Records is releasing Los Grandes Excritos (1994 to 2019), a collection of fan favorites and select unreleased gems from the vaults. Songs from all four albums are represented, from the DIY boys-with-four-track grunge-pop of “Sway” to the swirling psychedelia of “Spanish Galleons” and the Kaiju-surf masterpiece, “Tokyo Go-Go.” Tin Pan Alley and the talking soul of O.C. Smith collide in “That Word is Love,” while “No One Knows” suggests what might have happened if Sopwith Camel or Herman’s Hermits had tackled the subject matter of “Lola” rather than the Kinks. Forays into lounge-schmaltz (“Sucker”), mountaintop folk (“Birds Go ’Round”), and straight-ahead power-pop (“Come Love”) help round out the collection.
Acolytes and devotees will especially appreciate three previously unreleased recordings. “Delacroix” offers tribute to the great French painter in what seems to be an impression of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin fronting The Banana Splits. “Little Star” imagines Wolfgang Mozart’s Plastic Ono Band period, while “Mommie’s Pie” is the harrowing tale of a boy who imprudently consumed the last slice (the less said, the better, perhaps).
Shplang are now at work commencing their second 25 years of music making and can be heard regularly performing live at Big Stir events in the LA area as they have since the concert series' inception. Meanwhile, Los Grandes Excritos is here to initiate the novices and remind the faithful just how lucky we are to have them around.
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Spanish Galleons 3:520:00/3:52
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Come Love 3:090:00/3:09
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0:00/2:24
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Sucker 2:190:00/2:19
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I Don't Know Love 3:110:00/3:11
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Delacroix 2:350:00/2:35
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Little Star 3:220:00/3:22
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No One Knows 2:460:00/2:46
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Another Child Lost 2:420:00/2:42
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That Word Is Love 3:350:00/3:35
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Tokyo Go-Go 2:210:00/2:21
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Birds Go 'Round 3:100:00/3:10
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Sway 3:400:00/3:40
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Mommie's Pie 0:560:00/0:56
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(Silence) 0:500:00/0:50
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0:00/0:09
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Holy Roman Empire 2:150:00/2:15