Look fellas. Stipplin’ isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel here. They’re just three kids having a good time, kickin’ back, and writin’ some tunes.
While that intro may sound a little generic, rest assured that Stippling does what they can with that premise. And for the most part, they deliver, in the form of short, ear-catching, sometimes infectious punk appetizers that when taken together, make a whole meal. Anybody knows that you can eventually fill up on appetizers (it’s how Applebees stays in business), and on their self-titled debut record, Stippling cooks up 11 finger-lickin’ potstickers of music to tide you over for a brief but well-rounded 18 minutes.
Opening duo “We Are Never Ever Ever Going Back to Sheeleigh Park” and “Quarry” showcases the band’s special brand of “whining-but-it-works” vocal trade-offs between Kevin and Pat. So much comes out the gate at once that it takes a few seconds to acclimate to, which is one of the band’s strong suits. It’s kinda like someone opened a cage and all these guinea pigs started pouring out, and you have to collect them all. You’re trying your best to grab all the little fuzz-balls, but you also have to take a second to appreciate how they are on their own. Stippling’s appeal comes from stuffing songs full of musical guinea pigs, in the form of fast, angular, jagged pieces of punk music. The bass tone, which sounds phat as phuck, sits like a king towards the top of the mix, adding a real weight to the songs without washing over as quasi-heavy. The more straight-forward “I’m Attached” bolsters the listener with a punky refrain of “I hope you notice that I’m lying” before the two vocalists red-vine their voices together, then closing with a gang-vocal chant. Though none of these pieces are too jarring on their own, each elements feels organically assembled without overstaying its welcome. “Best Friends Forever” follows a similar format, before leading into the catchiest song on the record, “Summer Sucks”, which just sounds like a party. While this song lacks the vocal trade-offs the rest of the record boasts (this one’s all Pat), it makes up for it by being a roller-coaster ride of party-emo-deliciousness in its own way. First-side closer “Hell” slows things down a bit on the back-half with dark lyrics about feelings and stuff. Make sure your parents don’t overhear these lyrics, kids.
At 57 seconds, the concise “Stole My Six Pack” features my favorite moments on the record, with Kevin angrily shouting and giving off strong Dr. Manhattan vibes. Next up, “Forty Two Beers” brings back the party, full of catchy-riffing and constantly shifting speeds. Before long, “Old Cassette” turns into a nostalgic anthematic chant about the deep connection between music and the memories, and is touching if a bit trite. The frantic messiness of “Apologies Pointless” lets out a lot of energy and sets up for the lumbering closer “In a Dream…”. This track does a fine job of ending the record, with the two singers alternating vocal duties until the record comes to a close before you even know it.
The record, not even lasting a full twenty minutes, feels complete by the time the last song ends. Stippling is all business, and once they have provided you with just enough to make their case, they split. While not everything is perfect, particularly the vocals over time and the lack of more bangers a la “Summer Sucks”, Stippling is definitely worth a listen for fans of more technical, complex punk music that bleeds youthful energy and is full of serpentine song-structures in a short amount of time. Get down to this.
