genre: Screamo/Emo
year: 2013
tracklist:
1. Flowers Taped To Pens // Ghosts In My Bed
2. Flowers Taped To Pens // That Same Street
3. Nevasca // Leaving (This Northern) Town
4. Nevasca // (My) Memory (always) Fails Me
5. American Memories // Grave
6. DayCare // I don't Wanna Come Home
Alright to start this off i had my friend Alex write up Flowers Taped To Pens' side because i am in that band and it would be weird if i wrote it myself:
"Hailing from San Diego, Flowers pulls a lot of influence from a couple notable bands. Their main influence seems to be Merchant Ships/Midwest Pen Pals, in which they perfectly mix light noodling guitars with raucous screaming vocals. Though Flowers and Merchant Ships are similar, Flowers incorporates a slight amount of post-rock, giving off the impression that they are a more dreamy, spacier Merchant Ships. Also akin to Merchant Ships and Midwest Pen Pals is the clear singing that goes along with the screaming, adding an even bigger abundance of emotion to the band. Another one of their influences is probably (like most emo bands) American Football. The use of trumpet in their first song, Ghosts In My Bed, is soothing and is noticeably comparable to The Summer Ends on American Footballs self titled album. If you’re into the emo/twinkly revival scene that’s popping up, give Flowers Taped to Pens a listen. And if you’re not into the twinkly emo scene, give them a listen anyway, they’re super nice dudes." - Alex
Nevasca's side of the split starts off with " Leaving (This Northern) Town" driven by upbeat riffs and clean singing vocals, you can't help but bob your head along. Scream-y vocals are put towards the end for emphasis and work perfectly. The second and last song on their side is "(My) Memory (always) Fails Me" Which starts out with a riff reminiscent of Mineral. this song goes through a slow evolution that keeps you comfortable through the song. Nevasca definitly brings more of a 90's emo feel to their side of he split and it is greatly appreciated.
Now American Memories only have one song, but it's really all they need. AM brings a more raw straightforward screamo sound, and thats not a bad thing at all. "Grave" has a more unpolished sound in the quality of recording but it works really well and i wouldn't want it other way.
DayCare is the last on the split and has one song as well. They bring out a little bit more of the twinkly emo vibe. With a clean twangy driving the song. Everything is solid the screams are strained, the guitar is twangy, and there is group vocals... what more could you want?
I was so happy to work with all these amazing bands on this split and i hope you enjoy it.
p.s the split is available on tape through Ozona Records here
- Conner and Alex
