The Samps

Trackimage Playbut Trackname Playbut Trackname
F.X.N.C. 00:00 Tools
Peppergood 00:00 Tools
Yellow Jacket 00:00 Tools
Wizard's Sleeve 00:00 Tools
Hyperbolic 00:00 Tools
Let Me Down 00:00 Tools
Thys 00:00 Tools
Fxnc 00:00 Tools
Hit n Run 00:00 Tools
Understanding 00:00 Tools
Slime Pit 00:00 Tools
02 FXNC 00:00 Tools
Owe You 00:00 Tools
Where You From 00:00 Tools
Mangler 00:00 Tools
Plans 00:00 Tools
Ancient Times 00:00 Tools
Head 00:00 Tools
04 Thys 00:00 Tools
YellowJacket 00:00 Tools
Recovery 00:00 Tools
Spice Ship 00:00 Tools
World Keeps Burning 00:00 Tools
Try Two Move 00:00 Tools
Backstabbers 00:00 Tools
Twice High 00:00 Tools
Mashed Skins 00:00 Tools
Windows '69 Edition (On TV) 00:00 Tools
Magnetic Thys 00:00 Tools
Train's Coming (Edit) 00:00 Tools
Cosmic Bacon 00:00 Tools
Gusto [unreleased] 00:00 Tools
hyberbolic 00:00 Tools
Overnight Lo 00:00 Tools
Overnight Lo [unreleased] 00:00 Tools
Frail Life [unreleased] 00:00 Tools
trainCUMMINGS050508888 00:00 Tools
Magnetic Thy052008 00:00 Tools
Gusto 00:00 Tools
Best of 2010 00:00 Tools
Mashed Skins 062108 00:00 Tools
Frail Life 00:00 Tools
Train's Coming 00:00 Tools
TrainCUMMINGS a litl more 00:00 Tools
F.X.N.C 00:00 Tools
Train Cumming 00:00 Tools
Train CUMMINGS 00:00 Tools
trainCUMMINGS 00:00 Tools
The Samps - F.X.N.C. 00:00 Tools
吀栀礀猀 00:00 Tools
Mexican Summer MEX 050, F.X.N.C. 00:00 Tools
Disney MAN 00:00 Tools
Peppergood (Unofficial Fan-made Music Video) 00:00 Tools
Oh, Don't Qwote Me... 00:00 Tools
Plans _Original Mix 00:00 Tools
Wizard Sleeve 00:00 Tools
Train's Coming. 00:00 Tools
倀攀瀀瀀攀爀最漀漀搀 00:00 Tools
圀椀稀愀爀搀猀 匀氀攀攀瘀攀 00:00 Tools
Oh don’t qwoat me 00:00 Tools
䘀堀一䌀 00:00 Tools
LONRG SIDE A 00:00 Tools
Fxnc022608 00:00 Tools
Probabaly drinkin spurm! 121208 00:00 Tools
  • 112,486
    plays
  • 12,641
    listners
  • 112486
    top track count

Last year, Cole M. Greif-Neill (the sometimes-guitarist for Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and one-third of the Samps) made a simple admission in an interview with Vice about his sample-based collective: "I can tell you that we have no idea what we're doing." On the surface, we could take him at his word. Here are three Californians taking time out from their other bands to put together a little EP, often via web, with no desire to play any of the material in a live setting. Often, this sort of homemade pleasure project can be a little too indulgent, and as long as the day job is working out, there's really little risk. But The Samps is a tight, wonderfully nuanced little outing where all that pleasure really shines through. Each experimental element here is firmly supported by genuine grooves and an ability to distill a variety of pop genres-- from cartoonish electronics to hammy disco boogie-- to their gratifying essences. And even if the result is sometimes unrefined, it's anything but uninformed. For a debut that packs such a punch, it's a little surprising that it runs for all of about 15 minutes, including two schizoid interludes that work as intros to each side. But with the four tracks that remain-- complete with retrograded funk and R&B, chintzy video game noises, and the occasional glam rock pose-- it feels as if the guys have hand-picked the highlights from some non-existent long player. Each of these tracks could be a standout single. So instead of faulting The Samps for being a too short, you could also look at it like the weeding has already been done for you. Though these songs are accessible, there's still room for a little tinkering and some full-blown left turns into the strange. Take "Hyperbolic", which starts as a springy, robotic B-boy jam and pulls a U-turn right into a blippy lite-rave track. These head-turning shifts provide some insight into how these tracks were crafted. Sometimes this interplay obstructs the groove, as a perfectly hooky concoction is hijacked and reworked as a result of another member taking the reigns and reinterpreting the sounds and ideas. While this kind of collaborative process might not make for a terribly smooth listen, it surely creates a more dynamic-- and ultimately more engaging-- space for these tripped-out grooves to incubate in. — Zach Kelly for Pitchfork, May 25, 2010 Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.