Tiny Stills Take on Odd Robot’s “Schadenfreude” on New Split EP (premiere)

Los Angeles power pop unit Tiny Stills offers up a cover of Odd Robot‘s “Schadenfreude” from a new split EP that finds the two groups rendering their own renditions of a tune by the other and issuing a brand-new self-penned tune. Said release arrives 20 September via Wiretap Records.

With clanging, clattering guitars and percussion the Odd Robot’s-penned piece announces itself as a slab of classic power pop, filled with more than a dab of humor and 2000 percent punk attitude. Influenced by the casual/nihilistic observations of Courtney Barnett and the casual cool of the recently resurrected That Dog, Tiny Stills taps into our collective inner child with its disconnect between sunshiney playing and cloudy moods.

Pre-save the tune, available 23 August, and Odd Robot’s cover of the Tiny Stills masterclass, “15-17 Months”.

Kailynn West of Tiny Stills says about the impending release, “We’re huge fans of Odd Robot, and the idea of this split was born the day we played together for the first time last year. It was hard to pick a song because we love so many, but we ended up choosing ‘Schadenfreude’ because there is such an attitude behind the lyrics and we felt like we could really put our own spin on it.”

She adds, “This was the first time we went into the studio without having all our parts planned out in advance, so it left room for us to experiment. It’s also the first time I didn’t play guitar on a song; Zach played them all. Working with Paul Miner was great too because he recorded and mixed the Odd Robot version of this song, so I feel like he had a very intimate relationship with this song by the time we were done with it, too.”

West also edited the video for the song, with footage shot by Abel Magaña and featuring the inimitable Cloud and Cup.