Labels: self released
Review by: james pacanowski
Quick helping of UK punk that seems well-suited to this rainy jubilee day. First up is City Dweller who for the first two tracks play straight-forward early-00s Dischord punk. Sort of like Calvary if Calvary finally decided to be more snotty, less funky and to go one speed and one speed only. Except then they mix it up with ‘Twirl’ that breaks out some mid-paced jangle and sounds somewhat like a better recorded cut off ‘Metal Circus’. Three pretty good tracks then.
As good as the preceding tracks are though, the split definitely belongs to Plaids the second they peel off (the confusingly named, given that it’s the fourth track) ‘five’; downbeat but fast-paced emocore (fuck you, I’m using it) that brings to mind Ignition and One Last Wish. It’s followed by the equally confusingly-named ‘six’ that lacks a little bit of the face-clawing frenzy of the previous track but is still practically a clinic in how to sound like Embrace without looking like a prick. Plaids are really good.
I do hate to slap the “Dischord-esque” label on both bands because it seems like one that gets rather lazily attached to a lot of UK punk bands nowadays that dare to play something mid-paced “” not that it’s a bad comparison per se, just that sometimes it isn’t really a relevant one nor does it give credit to both the range of bands on Dischord or the UK bands being compared to them. So hopefully both bands actually are influenced by the other bands mentioned because that would make me look less like a double-standard toting arsehole. It would also mean I haven’t misled anyone because this is a fine split that deserves your attention.
Also, mad credit to Al Bailey for the super bleak photo on the cover of this. Totally fitting.