Metal Frames, the sophomore album from Split Single, will see release on November 18th. Fronted by Jason Narducy, bassist in the Bob Mould Band and Superchunk, formerly of seminal Chicago bands Verböten and Verbow, Narducy was joined in the studio for this album by Jon Wurster (The Mountain Goats/Bob Mould Band/Superchunk) on drums and John Stirratt (Wilco) on bass. Today, they share album track “Blank Ribbons.”
Jason says about the song, “The song addresses entitlement in the US. I’m a generally positive person but in an effort to explore new lyrical content I pushed myself to be more vulnerable. Once I peeled away my day to day happiness, I found anger and frustration with some elements of the American consumerism and idolization of public figures. Some give each other trophies and ribbons without necessarily earning them…. Filling their lives with shiny things…Sporting events where adults shove children in order to catch a shitty free T shirt that was dropped from the rafters….I observed a lack of humility, empathy, and self awareness and probably saw myself in there, too.”
“This is probably the most unique mix on the album. We recognized that John Stirratt’s bass part was the engine in the song so, in order to give him space, we stripped away the drums and guitars. I added reverb-drenched ethereal guitar swells and then Tim Remis and I banged on drums in the live room with one microphone on. This created a distant, trashy percussion for the first 2/3 of the song. At the bridge, we opened up Jon Wurster’s drum tracks and he takes the song home.”
