Child Bite / Stationary Odyssey

Stationary Odyssey provide the followup to their Head! Foot! And the Pink Axe with this, a split EP with Ferndale, MI's Child Bite, packaged in a neat, limited edition round tin. Unfortunately, Physical Education's appeal lies a little more in its aesthetic than the actual content, but it's still got some interesting things going on.

Stationary Odyssey claim responsibility to tracks 1 and 3, "Your Sex Is Pet" and "Education Breakdown," respectively, virtually sounding very little like the material on Pink Axe. "Your Sex Is Pet" starts with off a strange, pseudo-jazz vibe, eventually morphing into a slurred, uncomfortable sing-along. "Education Breakdown" is a somewhat noisy, mid-tempo dirge, with snarling vocals buried under methodically crashing instruments. Neither are the easiest songs to get behind, but they also dodge easy labeling -- I can give them that much.

"Beef Up" and "Do the Physical" are handled by Child Bite, and I think I actually prefer their contributions a bit. "Beef Up" comes off vaguely like early Pixies, where "Do the Physical" is a bizarre, upbeat rock'n'roll rave-up replete with a bouncy keyboard line and some sassy singing to boot.

All things considered, Physical Education is a weird, relatively intriguing listen. That, and it should definitely alter the perceptions of people who believed they were familiar with one band's stylings in particular.

STREAM
Child Bite - Beef Up
Stationary Odyssey - Education Breakdown
Child Bite - Do the Physical