Review by: Joe Caithness
So this is a nice little surprise. Great Canadian postpunkmo and microblogging superstars team on what comes as the best split I have heard so far this year. NB Revolution Winter is a cool little label which resales high quality, trend ignoring DIY bands, check em out.
I recently got into Self Defense Family End of A Tumblr Year because people kept comparing my band to them, and I felt it unfair to not listen. For some reason they totally slipped me by, even though it seems some longtime punkpals of mine are their biggest fans, released their records and even appear to perform in the group sometimes. They appear to have been given a license to fuck about and do all kinds of mad shit release wise, which isn’t a problem when the fruits of this are worth listening to.
This song is very worth listening to. I always kinda compared their big band/experiment with releases thing to be akin to half bearded, socially awkward indie rock experimentalists Joan of Arc, and with this song they actually slip into that kind of musical territory. This is a sweet 4am, accidentally drunk, meandering, half sung / half spoken affair, which brings to mind the contemplative and subtle sounds of the Van Pelt or the Lapse. It’s really good and totally repeat listen-able.
Stalwart Sons came into my life recently, and too late for my liking. They have a sublime blend of Rites of Spring-esque hardcore, Canadian folk rock and Mission of Burma dreamy rowdy punk vibes. Their song on this is a total banger, it’s a tremolo laden desperate punk masterpiece of sorts, cannot recommend this band highly enough right now.
All round a great split, which you can happily flip and keep listening to each side on repeat. Great sound and production all round. So yeah, split of the year so far for me.