Labels: canot pneumatique – Russian Folk Stories
Review by: Andy Malcolm
The split LP is a format that can work really well for emo bands, you can cram two or three lengthier songs on it and if you’re emoting heavily then you won’t out-stay your welcome either. Handy! Bail kick this one off, and wow, you can count me in as really impressed. They are a German band and they do a grand job over the course of these four songs. They rather bring to mind Native Nod at times, with urgent, spoken vocals and relentless guitar that just pushes things along at a steady (but not breakneck) pace. I really enjoy the rumbling melodies that they pile into the songs, with those aforementioned vocals also being a key highlight. I think they would appeal to folk that enjoy Chris Leo (at least up until the first Lapse LP) or Reiziger.
Kids Return do a mere three songs on their side, these are long, heart-not-just-on-the-sleeve-but-all-over-the-bloody-shirt, emo gubbins. You know with these guys that you are in for several minutes of intense emoting, and they don’t let you down on these three. The bass and drums boom, the singer sobs, and it’s all very Saddest Landscape. If pushed, I would say I prefer the stuff on the LP but that’s not to say this is a write-off, it just feels a little more rote than the LP did. Regardless of the music though, the personal / political lyrics are rather good, and you would be a bit daft to not bother giving them a read.
Good split right here.