Split Single frontman Jason Narducy is a universally beloved lifer, having first appeared on the scene at age 11 in the ‘80s Chicago punk band Verböten. He fronted Epic/Sony alt-rockers Verbow during the ‘90s alt-rock bubble, then spent nearly a decade as the bassist and backup vocalist for folks like Bob Mould, Robert Pollard, Telekinesis and Superchunk. Split Single’s Metal Frames was released in 2016.
In place of a more traditional year-end best-of list, Talkhouse has asked some of our favorite artists to choose their favorite album of 2018 and tell us all about it.
—The Talkhouse Team
A lot of times when I try to make a top 10, I only get to about seven. And that’s not because I don’t listen to and buy a lot of music—I do. But this year I started making a list, and what an incredible year. There are at least 15 records that I love-love. But I picked Deeper.
I saw them in a record store with my 8-year-old daughter and they were great. Over the summer I went and saw them at the Hideout and they were even better. They remind me of Television, a little bit of post-punk. It flies by. It’s a short record, but when every song is that good, there’s just no fat. And I think it resonated with me because when I see a young band, I go through this process in my mind of questions that I don’t want answered but I find fascinating.
I do this a lot. I’m just fascinated that they found each other. You know how hard that is, to find four people who want to make the same kind of music? And then how do they write the songs? Where do they practice? Finding a practice space is not easy for a rock band, because you usually don’t have any money. Does somebody have a basement? What turned them on to music? All those things I think are so cool, but I will probably never ask them. But it’s something that I think about when I see a young band play. And how fortunate I feel to see what they did, and how fortunate they are to have found people where it works. You can find people that you get along with, but maybe there’s no spark. But Deeper are really good. The songs are great.
It snuck up on me and it stayed. Sometimes I’ll get really into a record and then two months later, eh. But this record, for the last six months, has been in constant rotation.
As told to Josh Modell.
(Photo Credit: Left, Josh Mellin)
