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The Bandana Splits can be perfunctorily described as a side project for alt-country musician Dawn Landes, but it’s hard to think of it a side project, simply because she doesn’t stand out alongside her band mates Annie Nero and Lauren Balthrop—the wonderful music they make extracts all essence of ego, and instead replace with with a big-toothed grin and a charm that will give you what-for to those melancholy moments. Yes, this is a girl group, specializing in fun pop music.
Okay, but I know what you’re thinking. You’ve been burned by that combination, by the likes of Kitty, Daisy, and Lewis, Tilly and the Wall, and The Pipettes, all of whom started out as one-trick-ponies, and then only got worse when they decided to break from the novelty that made them famous. But stay with me here; there’s something different about the songs found on Mr. Sam Presents The Bandana Splits. Though the music is charmingly novel, there is no novelty in their act; the baker’s dozen songs found here are some pleasant, enjoyable pop tarts that have no irony content.
As they are a vocal group, their strongest virtue is, you guessed it, the three-part harmony. Whether they are doing something that’s hillbilly music like “You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Cry” and “Choo Choo,” a chilled-out jazzy number like “Hold On,” a vintage pop song like “Baby Talkin’” or “RIcky Dee,” or a more modern-sounding song like “Sometimes”—the ladies’ voices fit together quite wonderfully, creating a vibe that’s perhaps more like Dolly Mixtures and Blast Off Country Style than The Andrews Sisters.
Mr. Sam Presents The Bandana Splits is a fun record, enjoyable and short, so the style doesn’t grow old. Will there be three or four more Bandana Split albums? Who knows. Who cares? We’ve got a perfect little record here right now.
