slumberland records

keeping it foolish since 1989

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Thrashed out in the basement on a slow Sunday afternoon, the brand new 'Bad Design' has the lazy drive of a 'tougher' Bats -- hungover with a shot voice and a negative attitude. It's also notable for being the recording debut of newest Mantle, key-tickler Matt Kallman (also of Magic Bullets). Though the 'P' word gets tossed around too loosely in Mantles descriptions, 'Rachel' is inescapably psychedelic, and the song most accurately deserving of the term. Recorded during the comparatively hi-fi album session with Greg Ashley, 'Rachel' is zoned-out and dreary with a sinister hook.

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What's been said about The Mantles

"... a vibe somewhere between the crisp gauze of Midwest groups associated with the early-'80s garage revival (Vertebrats, Plasticland, etc.) and the mysto-stroke of late-'80s New Zealand." --Byron Coley, The Wire

"... really stokes the node in its uncanny similarity to old-school Paisley Underground--you know, before it had been so sadly tagged. The strains, strums, and streams that permeate so lost and wonderfully ... remind my tired soul of early Leaving Trains, The Last, as well as the roster that made up Steve Wynn's Down There label." (Siltblog)

"The cool thing about having a throwback band in this day in age is that we're far out enough to absorb both the primary influence and any sort of tangential outcroppings that could have happened in between then and now. So when the Mantles play trebly, manicured garage-psych downers, they're able to pay indirect but recognizable homage to dour British goth and darker rock bands. The combination of these styles is really killer, too, as the reverb-soaked, mannered songs drip with acid-tainted distress. I like them when they're stiffer ("Burden") but I can't complain about the rest. Great band, great sound, great single." (Doug Mosurak, Still Single)