Splitsville - Ultrasound (1997)

It would probably be unfairly pejorative to use the word "cute" when describing Splitsville's brand of vaguely punky power-pop, but there's something of a twee appeal to Ultra Sound -- the band's charmingly sunny and largely disposable tunes come off like Material Issue in most places, although without the unassuming earnestness that made that band so wonderful. There's an element of Superdrag-style pop on the record too, but this reference fails as well -- the defining quality of Ultra Sound lies in the fact that it's unpolished, somewhat adolescent, and utterly undistinguished, and this is what makes it, in some strange sense, just a bit fun.~Ultrasound Review by Nitsuh Abebe