Labels: Ô”debygd – Lilla Himmel – Protagonist
Review by: MH
This is another split from Norway featuring Wits End who are back with two new tunes named after seasons. The first one is called “Summer” – it is mid-paced and finds them in unusually calmer mood. It is an absolute gem of a song and exactly the type of emo that gets me excited, recalling Mainspring and that first Baby Harp Seal 7inch in the pretty, melodic guitars, and vocals veering between spoken and yelled without completely flying out of control. The ending descends into more desperate sobs and the riff absolutely kills me. This song is a little less dark than those on last year’s split with Tjuvjakt and although it is reminiscing about days gone by, I can almost sense a little hope in its nature. However, “Winter” is a slower track and the more hoarse vocals lead this one. It is lyrically bleak and crushingly sad – lyrically it could be a long lost relative of Bob Tilton’s “Lilac”. This one drifts along until everything comes to a head and ends with “To shower me with pain/To end it all”. I’m ready for a full length from Wits End. If these two songs are anything to go by I really cannot wait to hear it.
Trembling Hands are Gothenburgers or whatever the correct word is and feature folk from Suis La Lune and Tjuvjakt. They are well-matched to Wits End – a little slower but still desperate and very intense. It goes a bit post rock towards the end and is followed by everything falling apart and end of the world crying – excellent. I’ve only heard a couple of their other songs previously and I really need to rectify that.
Full marks again for the cover art and packaging with the cardboard butterfly design – spectacular and infinitely emo. Killer 7inch in every way. It is not quite mid-February yet – if that first Wits End song is not in my top 5 songs at the end of this year I will be shocked. The second one won’t be too far behind either.