“I’d been making recordings on my dad’s Portastudio for years,” says Raccoon Fighter bassist Gabe Wilhelm. “And we’ve always loved the sound of the early records from bands like Guided By Voices, Ween, Beck.” But “15 Minutes,” from the Brooklyn trio’s Spiral Flag EP, is hardly a basement goof. Wilhelm and his bandmates—guitarist Sean Gavigan and drummer Zac Ciancaglini—power through three-and-a-half minutes of T. Rex-sized glam, cramming campy harmonies and redlined guitars into a tiny 4-track recorder. When Wilhelm rounds down the chorus’ final line (“15 minutes ain’t got nothin’ on you”), he does so with a flirting pout that would make Marc Bolan blush.
The EP was recorded in South Jersey and mixed by Brian Thorn, who engineered the similarly trashy glam of Smith Westerns’ Dye It Blonde. “He has a way of smoothing edges without making something sound posh,” Wilhelm says. “He took it from an uneven, somewhat messy thing to a big, bad record with relative ease.”
Grab a comb, find a mirror, and get ready to pout along with “15 Minutes” below.
Spiral Flag track list
“15 Minutes” 
“Mr. Cool”
“Hotwire”
“I’m So Proud”
“Glass Eye”
Spiral Flag is out July 24 on PaperCup Music.
