space raft Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Space Raft “Positively Space Raft”

sfilzen — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 17:51:17 +0000

Space Raft “Positively Space Raft” 2020/2017. Dusty Medical Records. Part of the Dusty Medical Records Library Archive/Lost Records series, limited edition (200 copies). Both Space Raft and DMR are based in our Milwaukee neighborhood so we got the extra-special bonus of a personal porch drop-off of this release this past weekend. Space Raft recorded the LP back in the fall of 2017 but for probably a variety of reasons, it’s just been released on vinyl (also available for download from their Bandcamp page). They also just had a successful Kickstarter for their own old-school NES game “Space Raft:The Game,” described as “a mix of obstacle based scrolling stages and early arcade top down action stages making use of many recognizable people and places from the Milwaukee music scene. Featuring the band’s jealous old bass player Srini as the villain of the game who has returned to Milwaukee from California to steal the master tapes of the new record. You’ll need to chase down Srini and eat all the sandwiches in order to retrieve the tapes and finally release Positively Space Raft to the public. Each of the 4 members of Space Raft are represented by unique sprites with unique actions and their own color palette to help build characterization.” Positively Space Raft is a really apt title: their music is sunnily upbeat power pop with hooks galore from guitarist/singer Jordan Davis, with a kick of bright swirling psychedelia courtesy of keyboardist TJ Christenson, and a steady 60′s/70′s pop-inspired rhythm section from bassist Jon Heibler and drummer Tyler Chicorel. The whole LP is excellent, but my top tracks are “Please Be Kind,” “It Used to Be Love,” “Transit Trash” and “Highlighter.”

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Space Raft “Paper Airplanes”

sfilzen — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 19:46:05 +0000

Space Raft “Paper Airplanes” b/w “Iron Eagle” 2016. Dusty Medical Records. Tonight we’re heading to Anodyne to see Space Raft open for another Dusty Medical Records artist, Greg Ashley (his record release show), and Phylums (also on DMR). We’ve seen Space Raft bunches of times – I’m pretty sure all four of the guys in the band live in our neighborhood – and most recently I caught them at Calliope’s record release show a couple of weeks ago where Space Raft’s brand of psychedelic power pop provided a light introductory touch opening for Calliope’s heavier brand of stoner rock.

Both “Paper Airplanes” and “Iron Eagle” have a chill 70′s rock vibe, without sounding old or stale. The guitar, vocals (Jordan Davis) and keys (TJay Christenson) provide a brightness to the solid rhythm section (Tyler Chicorel on drums, Jon Heibler on bass). The sunny sound has me longing for outdoor summer shows (one of the first times I saw Space Raft was up in Appleton at the Mile of Music festival a couple of years ago where they played in the back of an alley, lit by a brilliant patch of sun on a perfect August afternoon).

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Space Raft “Another Holiday Is Here”

sfilzen — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 16:45:41 +0000

Space Raft “Another Holiday Is Here” b/w “New Years Revolution” 2017. Not vinyl but last night we went to WMSE’s Local Live at Club Garibaldi’s to see Space Raft’s holiday spectacular and picked up this hot-off-the-presses CD single (it was released 3 days ago), hear the band members’ Christmas wishes (365 pairs of socks, Nintendo and $100 gift certificate to Spencer Gifts), what Christmas means to them and their favorite holiday movies (Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, Gremlins and Scrooged). Dressed in the same holiday finery as in the hilarious video (starring a few local Bay View musical celebs) for the power pop track “Another Holiday Is Here,” (best line: “filled with Yuletide cheer and cheap Wisconsin beer”) they played that song as well as a few more in between answering audience questions and inviting a couple of other local acts (including Joe Crockett, Testa Rosa) onto stage to perform holiday-inspired songs. Space Raft did not perform the other track on the CD single, “New Years Revolution” but it is an excellently psychedelic and heavy. You can listen to the entire segment here under 12/12/2017.

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