As mentioned, spacey post-hardcore vets Shiner are reissuing their classic, long-out-of-print ’90s/early 2000s on Spartan Records this August, and we’ve got exclusive color vinyl variants of all four, 1995’s Splay (opaque red), 1997’s Lula Divinia (sea blue), 2000’s Starless (milky clear), and 2001’s The Egg (transparent orange). Splay, which hasn’t been available on vinyl since the album’s original release in 1995, has been remixed from the original tapes by Shiner’s own Paul Malinowski and remastered by Mike Nolte, and we’re now premiering one of the remixed/remastered tracks, “Brooks.” Remixing a classic record is always a toss-up, but this sounds great. Everything just sounds bigger and more modern, and it sonically fits right in with the current crop of post-hardcore/grunge/shoegaze bands that Shiner helped inspire in the first place.
Singer/guitarist Allen Epley says:
Splay was our very first recording ever, and we recorded with Bob Weston of Shellac at Steve Albini’s (RIP) old studio in his house before he had opened Electrical, in the first 5 days of ’95. We always cherished this document but felt like it needed an update sonically so we found the 2” reels and let Shiner bassist Paul Malinowski work some remix magic on it at his studio Massive Sound in KC. The bass guitar presence is probably the biggest change but it all became so much more after he dusted it up. J Robbins of Jawbox had created the original artwork but we also felt like this deserved another look and the new design builds on J’s earlier work.
Paul adds:
Splay was recorded before I was in the band. I was a huge fan of what they were doing. We were very close friends and had seen the songs performed countless times before they recorded the album. The whole thing was recorded and mixed very quickly by Bob Weston at Steve Albini’s home studio. It was great to have the opportunity to transfer the 2 inch tapes and remix the tracks with a little more time to spend getting the mix together. The sounds were all great! Especially the drums. It sounds much more like the live band that I loved.
Listen to the remastered “Brooks” below and pre-order the reissues in the BV shop.
