Snocaps sound exactly like the sum of their parts. A new band for fans of headstrong, tender Americana, Alabama twins Katie and Allison Crutchfield (of Waxahatchee and Swearin’ respectively) are in a new band together for the first time since scrappy, beloved PS Eliot retired in 2011. Backed by indie guitar star MJ Lenderman and storied alt-rock producer Brad Cook, Snocaps is a family record in more ways than one: the four have a tangled history of making music together, giving this one-off collection the lived-in feel of a band five albums deep.
With no need for introductions, Snocaps starts with an exercise in trust. We’re in the car, Allison’s at the wheel, and she is daring the rest of the band to close their eyes: “I got a pedal on the floor or I’m slammin’ on the brakes,” she quips, setting the pace for an album about chasing integrity and conviction, told through airborne melodies and unpretentious, freewheeling guitar.
The sisters play outlaws on Over Our Heads (“Don’t bother chasing us, boys!”), echoing their teenage rejection of male-dominated music scenes, while I Don’t Want To’s whispered assertions slowly grow in strength, with glowing acoustic guitar guarding their twinned harmonies like a blanket fort. Combining poetry and pragmatism for songs about flawed self-sufficiency, Wasteland and Cherry Hard Candy are instant Crutchfield classics – now with dusty, aching Lenderman solos. They have promised just a handful of live shows before screeching to a halt, but here’s hoping that a band with such obvious, exhilarating chemistry can’t resist driving a few more miles.
