Radon / Shallow Cuts

Split 7 Inch (2015)

haborym

On this release, Radon contributes one song “Volume 1 Brooklyn” to Shallow Cuts’ two “Winter Song” and “Ocean.”

Even though I love Radon and I had never heard of Shallow Cuts before, I have to admit that I was more impressed with Shallow Cuts on this record. The Radon song sounds about what you would expect from a Radon song, but it’s missing a little something. The subject matter of the song, however, is pretty creative/original/amusing. On their insert (there are two separate inserts with the record, one for each band) they reference their inspiration for the song. Originally, Aaron Cometbus and Travis Fristoe wrote a book about Radon entitled Radon which was then reviewed by Volume 1 Brooklyn. On their Facebook, they posted that if Radon wished to write a song about their review and complete the circle, that would be fine by them. So, although the song itself is a little slow and weak by Radon standards and the lyrics leave a little to be desired, this song should be taken as a concept song as opposed to Radon getting overcome with the creative bug and jumping into the studio to record their biggest hit ever.

The Shallow Cuts side starts off with “Winter Song” which reminds me of the kind of punk-tinged alternative rock I used to listen to in the mid 1990’s on the radio. It’s mid-tempo and has so/so lyrics about the end of winter. “Ocean” on the other hand is fast and catchy (all forty-four seconds of it) and is about how lucky/fortunate they are to live by the ocean in California. Listening to the song not only made me want to sing along with the harmonies of the chorus, but it really made me wish I lived by the ocean. It was legitimately one of those feel-good songs that single-handedly pushed this release to the next level.