Broadway Calls / Teenage Bottlerocket

Two of contemporary pop-punk's best bands offer up two new songs each--one original, one cover--on this split 7" that's quick, tidy fun built for multiple listens.

Broadway Calls original "Get At Me" is more of the mid-tempo, Keep Your Heart-era Loved Ones fare that largely comprised the band's 2007 self-titled full-length. And the band keeps the general spirit of Billy Bragg's "She's Got A New Spell" intact, expectantly giving their version a more electric feel. The feedback in the refrain and the lead guitar playing towards the end of the song are both utilized well.

Teenage Bottlerocket pick up right where Warning Device left off with "Bitchface", a song with tight musicianship and great vocal harmonies. The muted guitar employed in the song reminds me a bit of "Crashing" from Total, although "Bitchface" is far more up-tempo. For their cover the band tackles Dead Milkmen's "Dean's Dream," and sonically they punk the song up quite a bit. The cover sounds much thicker as a whole than the original, largely due to the distorted guitar playing. And few bands play faster than The Dead Milkmen, but Teenage Bottlerocket come awfully close here.

And for the vinyl nerds in the audience, the variant of the record I got is a clear/black/red splatter and it looks really cool. The cover artwork by Chrisy C. Road is also pretty neat.

All in all, a quality release that doubles as a nice addition to any vinyl collection.