Make Your Own Snowboard is the second album by Harriet Records band The Ekphrastics a band name that is easier to mis-spell than get right. The Ekphrastics came together online during Lockdown and then in real life afterwards. They are Frank Boscoe, Paul Coleman, Johnny Lancia and Mark Wolfe who recorded the album in a old dis-used church in the Catskills, in a similar fashion to how Nero Kane record in a disused Church just outside Venice, although this lot are a lot less gothic in sound and approach.
The album opens with the how to guide of the title song Make Your Own Snowboard, they don't have any double-sided sticky tape, but this goes the full Blue Peter, create your own Snowboard over the gentle jangly indie pop. You rush to complete the project before the snow melts, it all ends in triumph or disaster listen and find out.
Keys To My Heart is down at heart, glum reflections, he's not getting the action he craves, thinking he will get it if he can re-create his favourite guitar solo, he can play all the notes, but doesn't have the right amps and guitar, or volume to sound like Nirvana.
Buy A House in Italy For One Euro is shockingly a true story, about an Italian village that had suffered so much from de-population they launched a lottery to bring new blood into the village, they tell this tale over spare drumming and laid back guitar, they dream of what they would do if they re-located to the Italian alps, even singing a verse in Italian to prove they are worthy.
Amy And Jens are memorialized in this sweet song full of desire not quite realized. He hears them on the radio and can't wait for the DJ to tell him whose playing, hopefully he is listening to the sort of station that announces the songs, so he can see them live in Cleveland up in Shaker Heights while dreaming of the glory days at the Pirates Cove.
Graf Zeppelin is another vignette for a kid being picked up from school, they go off to see the Graf Zeppelin in 1928 just before it all goes awry.
Intrepid Concessionaire is ready to sell you all sorts while you listen to radio hits that you hear over and over, you sell them some more Mallomars, the punters complain about how loud the muzak is, when you're not allowed to turn it down. I feel the pain from the days working in a shop with an ever repeating 8 track muzak player that had one 8-track in it for 3 months at a time.
A Good Day For Sailing is the opposite of current news stories from Italy, in this case they traded some Mountain goat records for a sail boat, what could possibly go wrong, with or without tornadoes. You better find a lake and go learn the ropes as Michelle Shocked put it, all you need is Luff.
Searching For Lillian Gatlin who disappeared in 1922 may be difficult, this intrepid voyager's plane went down, never to be seen again, they are deep diving trying to find out exactly what happened over the gentle jangle pop backing.
Small Craft Advisory is one of those notes you get with kits, warning of the perils of too much glue, hitting thumbs with nails, that parts shouldn't be eaten etc, the guitar goes a bit wonky, you've misread the instructions and made something else entirely.
A Word From Morris is obviously in a minor key, hopefully he is still trading bootleg tapes, while confessing to what was revealed in the papers, can you live down the shame, the warm pacific breeze blows through your hair and that cigar you enjoyed so much, should have been stubbed out properly, it burnt the play house down, tragic consequences discussed. Could this be about the fire at William Morris school in 1993.
Whatsoever Thy Hand Findeth is a brief coda leading into the transactional indie tale of album closer Superbarista, who makes coffee smoother than a Luna album's production sheen, how can someone complain about such perfect coffee as this.
Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559927811145 https://harrietrecords.bandcamp.com/album/make-your-own-snowboard
