Mio - Duct Hearts - Split - 7

Labels: Broken Glasses – canot pneumatique – Lala – Russian Folk Stories – time as a color
Review by: Oli Saunders

This split 7” contains two bands who I have only recently found out about. Both are from Germany and the record has been released by five European labels. Nicely put together with lots of little inserts inside, the main one being a neat threaded mini booklet.

Mio are up first, they have a fairly long but upbeat intro and appear to be influenced mainly by contemporary European emo bands. It’s pretty driven and has a good groove to it. I can’t think right now who best to compare it to. If you like bands such as Mr. Willis Of Ohio you should be into this. Vocals finally make their way in and are shouted over the top. They are pretty brief though, with the song then returning to being instrumental after this, albeit with different riffs and some changes in tempo. It’s good stuff, though personally I prefer more vocals. Maybe a song to go with other ones rather than fill a whole side on a 7”.

Duct Hearts are on the other side. They also have a fairly long introduction, which is far more twinkly than Mio’s track. Vocals come in at a similar time but are now sung. It’s quite beautiful. I rarely listen to music like this but I like it. The vocals continue from this point on, the song being about the feeling of being home and the lyrics are in English. A really nice song.

Overall, Germany continues to be pretty productive in the genre of emo. This is definitely worth checking out and I’ll be keeping an eye on both band’s future releases.

11th April 2010