Grey Area / The Reveling / The Copyrights / Luther

4-Way Split (2012)

Joe Pelone

How many bands does it take to turn a split into a compilation? I suppose the turning point, the moment a split achieves critical mass, is four. That's the number of bands featured on a new split between Grey Area, the Reveling, the Copyrights and Luther, who all contribute two tracks each. Add another band, and it might as well just be a comp. But that would require an actual title instead of just 4-Way Split.

Grey Area has seniority here, so that band opens up the split with "Lucky" and "Bad Anything." These two melodic hardcore tracks are very much in the vein of H2O and Lifetime, so everyone should be happy about these songs. But honestly, those upstarts in the Reveling put on a darn good turn with "Trust Me" and "It's Time to Ride." I sort of, kind of, absolutely wrote this band off after drummer/occasional E Street Band member Jay Weinberg bolted for Against Me!, but the Reveling's two tracks are solid Gaslight Anthemy tunes. "Trust Me" is 72 seconds of unstoppable hooks and/or drankin' lullabies. The Reveling should open every show from now on with this song. "It's Time to Ride" nearly pulls off the same trick, but it tacks on an unnecessary guitar solo at the end.

Not to be outdone, the Copyrights turn out two top notch pop-punk tunes. "The New Frontier" and "Straight to the Office" are frills free rockers, less than three in minutes in length combined. That leaves Luther to wrap things up. "Sixty-One" and "The Door is a Penthouse" are more in the pop rock field, so the material feels kind of slow by comparison, but the songs are agreeable alt-rock, and arguably the most mainstream tracks of the split.