Labels: Endnote – Galt House – The Ghost Is Clear
Review by: James Williams
This 12″ features two post-hardcore bands “” Regret, The Informer from Kansas City and Districts from Lowell, Massachusetts, spread over eight tracks. I’ve not heard of either of these bands until now. Regret, The Informer have a garage-punk slant to their sound. The vocals are kind of screamed and kind of sung, a bit like At The Drive-In. The guitars are semi-melodic, with some nice indie influences. They keep their songs quite short too, each less three minutes so they sound more crazed. It’s a good ploy because inspite of their shortness, there’s plenty going on musically to make them seem longer than they are. The standout track on their side of the split is “If You Have To Ask You’ll Never Know”. The music seems grander here and the vocals are delivered with a lot of passion. Districts sound similar but feature more melody, which is actually more engaging. Where Regret, The Informer were more urgent and chaotic, Districts seem to be slightly more considered. They put forward four longer songs, which feature plenty of introspective moments that help build atmosphere. As soon as opening track “Better Places Than Here” kicks off, you get a sense of their song-writing skills. The feedback at the end of “Devils” is pretty shrill, but don’t worry because the rest of the song is pretty good. The Giver has a tremendously powerful end to it, where Districts seem to be at their most cathartic. For me, Districts are the better band on this split musically, but both bands give equal energy and effort. This is well worth picking up.