Wolverines and The Sibling Project are two indie rock bands that joined their forces to create a split album made of ten powerful anthems of true indie experimentations.

Wolverines deliver six songs of intense indie rock devastation, where the pop melodies are fused with the rock and roll guitar rhythms. The vocal lines they deliver are absolutely incredible and sometimes are too original to get into them. Someone might label this guys as “post rock” or something, but I just believe songs like “Jubilation” and “Summers” are the best side that independent American music can show today.

The Sibling Project is an indie band that puts the strongest element of rock and fuses them with electronic orchestrations and pop elements, as catchy choruses and the vocals of singer Lindsey Ranck. This duo, made of Lindsey Ranck and her brother Danny, is able to stress pop elements in songs where structures are simple and easy listening, but with a very intricated and original mix of sounds, atmospheres and sunny melodies.

This self - released split album is the perfect release to discover two young, fresh and original acts in the indie rock music world: they deliver two different sides of indie rock, and this is one more reason to enjoy their efforts.

Tracklist

Wolverines (myspace)
1. Jubilation     
2. Xavier     
3. Remy     
4. Rasputin     
5. Summers     
6. Contest     

The Sibling Project (myspace)
7. The Old Glow     
8. Facin’ It     
9. Soft Spot     
10. Propeller and Merriment     

Buy “Wolverines And The Sibling Project Split Album” here.

The third split album of the series of the Jade Tree splits come from two one-man artists, even tough they have these namds that make you think they are a band. This EP is very different from the previous ones with Good Riddance/Kill Your Idols and Alkaline Trio/Hot Water Music, because these two artists are not usually listened to by the same people who listen the bands of the previous split albums, but I think this is a good idea from the folks at Jade Tree, so My Morning Jacket and Songs:Ohia can get some more attention from people who usually don’t listen to them.

My Morning Jacket start the EP, and he remined me a lot of Pedro the Lion, not only because of the soft rock music, but also because of lyrics and attitude. My Morning Jacket is possibly as good as PDL, and songs like “O Is The One That Is Real” and “Come Closer” show how he can put together emotion, feelings and music all in one songs. Songs:Ohia give us only one song, “Transaltion”, which is 10 minutes long, and I think that this track is a good previow of his new album “Didn’t It Rain” - and I think this artist is very interesting, but listening to a full length made of all this kind of songs could be boring if you like fastest songs; anyway I believe that these artist make the rock music real.

If you never heard these two rock bands and want to find out more, I think this split album is the best way, even tough it has only five songs, but this thing is at the same a positive one, as you will not surely get bored with My Morning Jacket and Songs:Ohia on the same record. |carlo@staff.truepunk.com

The second release in Deep Elm’s Split Series is the one between two labelmates, they both come from Dallas, Texas, and they are also friends: Red Animal War and Slowride. They both play 3 songs, and they show how you can play emo influenced rock music in two different ways, yet, both ways sound unique, melodic, and at their best, because both bands can do their job damn well.

Red Animal War is the band that starts the split album with their song “77″, and it is quite clear how these guys are talented musicians: their songs ( see “Modus Operandi” ) are built with difficult structures, the band is techincal, the instruments are played with power and on such song like “The Electric Kings” they are able to put elements of surprise in a song: who would expect the fast moments among the slow parts of the tune?

Slowride instead play rock music with a different attitude: they have youth’s passion, they play their fast and loud punk straight in your face, they are aggressive, energetic and at the same time melodic with a lot of catchy harmonies and smooth vocals; their sound is influenced by pop-punk music, and their song “Jesus Candle” is my favorite off the whole split album: easy melodies, fast riffs and smart lyric that goes on like “She’s got issues, and I’ve read them all, got them laid out on the table, but I want her, more than ever”. “Dear John” and “Freeway” remind me of Jawbreaker, they have some smooth vocals and some slow parts that make you think the song is going to stop, instead it goes on stronger than ever.

I think that Slowride impressed me because of their energy and aggression, while Red Animal War because of their style and unique way of playing what a lot of people call “emo” in a different and original way - most of all, I think that both bands should be kept under lock and key by Deep Elm, because I am pretty sure in a short time some major label will come up asking to put out their records. |carlo@staff.truepunk.com

When you put two good bands on one disc, you are sure to get some good quality music, even tough the two bands are pretty under rated and not very famous. The two bands I am talking about are Jetlag and The Lonely Kings, and this last one is more famous for being a band that release discs on Fearless Records than for their music. Jetlag plays the first four tracks on the record, and the sound of these five guys is somewhat a mix of heavy and fast hardcore in the vein of Good Riddance, Fury66 and Strike Anywhere (as in the song “Standardized”) but they also play some slower ballads as “Answer” or some melodic hardcore like “Left On Center”. The last four songs are by The Lonely Kings, and they do not sound different from the usual music that this power rock trio proponed in the past, or even on their new record on Fearless: great played pop-punk with a lot of rock influences and melodies. Songs like “These Wars”, “Words Like Swords” and “Black Dahlia” will surely make happy any fan of this band. The 27 minutes of this CD are very enjoyable, and the positive/negative note comes from the fact that although these two bands keep playing good music, not a lot of people are able to notice them. Also, I’d like to see bands like these doing this kind of split album, they are a very easy way to discover new music and new bands. |carlo@staff.truepunk.com