I've made no secret about my feelings for Philly rock quartet Alex G, their tunefully melodic brand of guitar pop is straight up my alley and they release songs on a consistent enough basis for me to be reasonably content. The songs may not be there when return for them (a little diddy called "Joy" for example) but if you pay close enough attention to Alex G, you'll get a new song every whenever they feel like it. And that's essentially how I found out about this split 7" featuring Alex G and R.L. Kelly.
Despite my obvious love of Alex G, I found myself far more impressed by the continuing melancholic pop stylings of R.L. Kelly and her side of the split. It's also a bit of incredibly strong songwriting and it's a joy to be able to hear new songs from her to add alongside her fantastically sad Life's A Bummer EP/cassette. "Fake Out", the split's closing track and the last of R.L. Kelly's three new songs happens to be, in my humble opinion, one of the best. The vocal delivery is stronger, especially in her higher register; the lyrics properly balanced between moments of poetic lyricism and simple yet delightfully endearing narrative of Rachel's trademark sadness. Despite it being the most accessibly presented of R.L. Kelly's songs on the split's it's also the most open to interpretation while also being ear-catching and wonderfully entertaining despite it's sense of hopelessness. R.L. Kelly's "Fake Out" awakens its listeners latent schadenfreude in a far more healthy and socially acceptable way that's a way better use of your time than Youtube videos of people falling down.
You can purchase Alex G and R.L. Kelly's split 7" digitally on Bandcamp or on limited edition mint/purple vinyl from Birdtapes.
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