Monday 11/16: Spring Silver—"Pleading Insanity" (Feat. Sad13 and Bartees Strange)
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song by the Maryland indie artist Spring Silver, which features Sad13 and Bartees Strange.
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him) and Eric Bennett (they/them). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. Now we’re, also a M-F newsletter about songs. Our format is simple: a link to a song and a short take from each of us about what we think of it. Each day of the week has a corresponding genre: Monday is indie, Tuesday is punk, Wednesday is hip-hop, Thursday is pop, and Friday is misc.
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song by the Maryland indie artist Spring Silver, which features Sad13 and Bartees Strange.
Spring Silver—"Pleading Insanity"
Eric Bennett:
This year, both Bartees Strange and Sad13 released phenomenal records that established the former as a figure of influence in indie rock, and further cemented the latter in that same role. I had recently seen Spring Silver’s K Nkanza tweet several teases to this upcoming collaboration with the two, and I made a mental note of it. Well, it’s here now and it's fantastic. Nkanza describes their project as “they/themcore”, which as a they/them myself, I find delightful as a concept. Falling somewhere between indie rock and indie pop, it builds up to a forceful hook, verses dusted with bright synths and wire sharp-guitar riffs. I especially love that Dupuis and Strange remain fleshing in the harmonies. This is Nkanza’s time to shine, and while big names draw attention to it, they don’t draw attention from the finished work. It’s nice, and I hope to hear more from Spring Silver.
Eli Enis:
In addition to they/themcore, Spring Silver also calls their music “queer metal” and post-emo.” I was particularly intrigued by the metal tag because I didn’t hear that influence coming through on “Plead Insanity”, but it turns out that their 2019 album The Natural World sounds kind of like Mastodon crossed with Circa Survive—and like a million other things. Knowing that Spring Silver has a knack for riffage makes “Plead Insanity” even more interesting to me, especially since its B-side is a cover of the brand new Oneohtrix Point Never song “Long Road Home” (Nkanza is all over the map). I also really love that the guests are treated as such and don’t interrupt what’s otherwise a pleasantly brisk, jangly, math-rock song. If the Minus the Bear-core revival is gonna be boosted by venerable indie artists like Bartees and Sad13, then I’m here for it.