Cassette Review: Conceptus/Strawberries Split Cassingle

[$4 // https://therightovers.bandcamp.com/album/conceptus-strawberries-split-cassingle]

The first piece of trivia for this cassette is that when you buy this cassingle for four bucks you also get a free Conceptus t-shirt which they sell (dig it) for $15.    The deal with the name though, which I was kind of wondering, is that this band is now called The Rightovers but they *used* to be called Conceptus, which might be why they're seemingly giving away these t-shirts at a huge loss but I don't know.   I feel like the t-shirt still has some value to it in the places of music history, especially if you like the band, right?    When you think of bands that have changed their names you think it must be kind of neat to have a t-shirt of what the band used to be called, though the name is also on the cassette and a CD.    I'm just saying years from now after several releases by The Rightovers this shirt is going to make me look cool.

While not a true cassingle this is at least a split as both bands take on two songs per side.    The tongue in cheek quality to Conceptus makes me instantly like them (and you will too with notions of being so famous that you're fucked when perhaps you're not really famous at all) and the music portion of it is unique enough that you can be a fan without someone bringing you down by saying "Oh, they're just ripping off ___".  

I do want to kind of think of Conceptus as twee, or at least there being some hints of it in there, as they also have elements of pop and "That Thing You Do!", but mostly the biggest influence I can hear is Tom Petty's "American Girl" and that is never a bad thing.   (Note: Everclear covered "American Girl", yet Conceptus doesn't really sound like Everclear to me)    They're just bringing their own guitar note driven sound and that's what every band should do, really: have a pleasant sound that is easily likeable without being easy to place.

On the flip side we have The Strawberries who do sound a little like The Cherry Wave, even if it only feels like I'm referring to them because of the fruit connection.    With points of The Penguins' "Earth Angel" and Modern English this could be something from Saint Marie Records as it does tend to have that classic shoegaze feel to it.  

Though their first song moves along slower like a hypnotic drone, the second has more of a ballad feel to it and really I've got it pegged as having that sound of any of the slower numbers on Local H's "As Good As Dead" album, which is mainly "Eddie Vedder", "OK" and "No Problem".    Regardless, these are still two great songs.

I'm not really sure how well these two bands go together other than the whole rocking quality they share, as yes they could share a stage as well, but they still have these different sort of feels to them, perhaps they even could go so far as to run with different crowds.   Nonetheless, this is still a great cassingle and if you don't buy it for the t-shirt then do buy it for the music.