Reviews

Engineer Records previously released two three-way splits, one of which I reviewed. The last one was ok; this one is better. Despite the decent showing from Memorial, Elemae and Soon, the aspect that left this three-way with a meager two stars is the format itself. For well-established bands, a split can give fans new material or expose them to a new/relatively unknown band. But let's be honest, all three of these bands are relatively unknown, so the split basically acts as a glorified MySpace page.

Now I'm aware of the limitations of the MySpace player - it's streaming, the sound quality is bad, etc. - but for bands you've never heard, it provides a taste of their music. Since each band only inhabits a three-track space, the EP provides the same taste, only it costs nine bucks. With CD sales gasping for air, I'm not sure producing, packaging and distributing this type of EP makes sense for consumer or label.

Perspectives on the music industry aside, here's the actual music review:

Elemae, now defunct, act as the anchor for the split, considering they have two full-lengths previously released on Engineer. I don't know why, exactly, but Elemae sounds like Blur's Think Tank collided with Bush. They even have a little Hot Water Music sound (who doesn't?), especially around the chorus of "Hospitals & Mazes." Elemae pulls the weight of the split with their rough, emotional, slightly sonic tracks.

Memorial is the middle child: not as mature as the preceding act and not as much fun as the following, which leaves it kind of lost. The less-seasoned band continues the sonic trend with a bit more emphasis on an alternative-friendly sound.

Belgian-natives Soon's first track, "There Go The Boys," is pure 80s pop. Everything has a weird repeat-echo and everything is radical. Seriously: "Everything, everything, radical, radical, every day, every day, waiting for a miracle." Their entire section is so heavily coated in reverb that should-be clear bass lines and guitar sections wash into the song. Basically, Soon sounds like a poorly recorded Hot Hot Heat. And you know, I've never found myself wanting more Hot Hot Heat, only less crisp. At least they wake up the end of a somewhat sleepy sounding split.