SoloS – ‘Unsolved Mysteries’

Aaron Ross and Spencer Seim were once upon a time in the massively popular group, Hella. The pair have been friends, and fans of each other’s music, since their teens, going all the way back to the 1990s. Coming together as SoloS, the duo released their debut album ‘Beast Of Both Worlds’ in 2012, which they then immediately followed up by recording a 6 track EP of demos. For whatever reason, the EP was never released…until now. ‘SoloS’ will be released on April 17 through Dowd Records.

‘Unsolved Mysteries’, first track from ‘SoloS’, calls to mind They Might Be Giants, particularly their song, ‘Birdhouse In Your Soul’. It’s a punk pop style song with a deceptive vocal which although quite languid in tempo feels somewhat faster because of the rapid fire instrumental. Every segment of the instrumental is working to their own pace – guitars slashing as if they’re the only musicians in the room; bass undulating, up down up down the fretboard; drums keeping a marching beat; synth and keyboard rhythms darting in and out – all in all it sounds a seeming disparity yet nonetheless all the separate elements work together in a cohesive whole: the result is rather splendid.

Production is kept to a minimum, allowing the rawness of the track to shine through, and it’s brilliant. ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ is a track that deserves to be turned up to eleven and listened to through headphones so you can pull apart the different layers.

You can find out more about SoloS online on their Bandcamp page, and Facebook.

Listen to ‘Unsolved Mysteries’:

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com