Splinter (1979) Stateside Girl - LOST 70s GEMS

Splinter were a great group, an unheard of 70s folk rock duo based on George Harrison's Dark Horse label which also featured he talents of Five Stairsteps guitarist Keni Burke. They had some genuinely breathtaking vocals, supreme harmonies and knack for melodic ballads; Stateside girl is a great example of this with a the gentle piano led verse melody explaining "America is where you want to be", the Beatles-eque nasality of the lead vocal complete with the fluttery vibrato of the duo's harmonies make this pure folk pop perfection. The repeated refrain of "Stateside girl, why now?" is just so memorable it forms the key hook and is repeated with a childlike whine, soon the dramatic blues rock guitars wail, acoustic guitars and drums pound away to lift proceedings to a near power ballad level generating an anthemic furore out of the once restrained melody. This is best in the sweeping bridge as Purvis sings "With the Sun in your Eyes, Have You Finally Arrived?" it almost sounds like a song to themselves as they ultimately failed to achieve the success of their peers and labelmates despite effectively reproducing that California Sound.