I Excuse kick off the prime time side of this split with two tracks of fast-paced melodic hardcore punk sounding like a Japanese incarnation of Leatherface. Choppy and urgent, blasting through their songs with an air of something barely in control and vocals that manage to be on the high side of gruff, all taut and strained and only just shy of breaking point. Utterly fantastic. Manifesto Jukebox share the flipside with good grace and play two songs as good as anything on their awesome ‘Desire’ album, more tuneful gruff-yet-melodic hardcore that brings to mind Husker Du and Leatherface, with a smattering of Sarah Kirsch-related projects such as Fuel or Torches To Rome. No brave new sounds, just perfectly executed melodic hardcore that rages just as hard live as it does on record. Corking. Two thumbs up and a playful nudge toward the checkout…
