Snuggle / No High Fives to Bullshit

Split [7 inch] (2009)

Brian Shultz

Snuggle! and High Fives to Bullshit provide a split 7" of rough-hewn pop-punk for 1-2-3-4 Go! that's decent on one side and slightly more decent on the other.

Snuggle! have two songs here from a recording session for an LP that was scrapped after the recording was fucked up. These two supposedly came out okay, though the guitars seem a little too choppy and the vocals a little low in the mix. Nonetheless, you can tell that this is some adequate, grainy pop-punk in mid-tempo form; I'm thinking early-to-mid-'90s Screeching Weasel. Neither "Commercial" nor "Comin' Up Aces" are too dynamic, but they're worth some head bobs and get by without many rough patches.

The production for the pair of songs by No High Fives to Bullshit is pretty similar, and maybe even a little worse. But the songs themselves are actually better, going in more of a Crimpshrine/Jawbreaker around Unfun direction. There's a fast-tempo, blast-away-who-gives-a-fuck feel to some parts, but both songs are pretty long and constructed with adventurous tempo changes that show promise. The noticeably riffy and reflective second half of "Drawing a Blank" is straight-up 24 Hour Revenge Therapy worship and I'd love to hear the band expand more on that style over the more straightforward parts.

STREAM
Snuggle! - Commercial
No High Fives to Bullshit - Colt 45