Labels: Deep Elm
Review by: Mike Whelan
Deep Elm don’t release too many split EP’s, preferring to rely on their Emo Diaries and “Unreleased” series to do the marketing legwork. This split brings together two bands from Texas who occupy opposite ends of the punk spectrum; Slowride, who play a common brand of power-punk/pop, and Red Animal War, who sound so post-hardcore they probably wish they were from Washington DC.
Red Animal War kick off with “77′ “” and I find myself helpless but to compare the band with Fugazi. The track builds in much the same way as Fugazi’s “Facet Squared,’ the opening track from “In On The Killtaker.’ This is probably the best track on the EP, the driving guitars and pounding drums give the song a hardcore feel, but without the screamed lyrics. Their next song “The Electric Kings’ is another good track, it reminds me of early Spy Versus Spy or Braid, with the same stop/start rhythm and quiet bits followed by super-fast loud bits. “Modus Operendi’ is RAW’s third track, and provides a great moody-finish to their portion of the EP, it’s dark bass-line and downbeat lyrics contrast brilliantly with their other two songs.
Slowride are often described as the token pop-punk band on Deep Elm. Although this is definitely their sound it doesn’t quite give the right impression about their content. Midtown or Blink 182 might sing songs about girls and being young but Slowride prefer to take a more mature approach to their songwriting. Slowride are interesting enough on this EP, providing a nice, slick, and catchy response to the driving sound of Red Animal War, but Red Animal War have written three powerful tracks and Slowride suffer in comparison. “Dear John’ is probably their best song on offer, benefiting from the Ed Rose (who has produced albums for The Get Up Kids and The Anniversary) connection.