State of Mine
1. Opening Sequence
2. Conspiracy Earth
3. Burnout
4. How to Survive Emocore
5. Last Chance to Dance
The Octopussys
1. Burger Kiing
2. Succubus
3. Burning Calories is Bad for Business
4. State of Emergency
5. I Fucked Up Again

Once the dull instrumental of the “Opening Sequence” is out the way, we’re actually onto some fun skatepunk provided by Belgium’s State of Mine, hitting us with decent political lyrics over a tight backing with plenty of jumps and syncopations. The single-string lead guitar over a lot of the chord sequences sounds very No Use For a Name-like and really rings of the 90s, and is maybe a little overdone as the lack of a second guitar leaves the sound a bit thin in places. The vocals have a great edge to them, like early Guttermouth or Jughead’s Revenge and even the backing harmonies sound raw without too much shine and polish.

The Octopussys (also from Belgium) take the second half of the album with something a lot more poppy, a bit like the Donots or Vanilla Pod, but with slightly more self-depreciative lyrics despite the superficial jollity of the overall sound of most of the tracks. I must admit though, their tracks were washing over me somewhat until I heard “State of Emergency” which really blew me away, with its different mood and technical soloing not unlike A Wilhelm Scream.

A good fun split album, to compare the bands would be like apples and oranges because they’re both pretty different, but I’m sure if you like one, you’ll like the other. There’s a lot of promise from both bands and still a fabulously raw feel to it all.

www.myspace.com/stateofminebe
www.myspace.com/theoctopussys