LACKING

While grabbing the previous subject matter, the Hailgun 7", last week when they were up here playing shows, again, on a whim I grabbed this split 7" between the two other bands that were along for the tour, Idle Minds and Aids. Black wax pressed by Unwound Records. Pretty cool Pettibon-esque artwork by Ahmad Oka. Again, both of these bands play a pretty straight forward, break neck thrash very much akin to Hailgun. Idle Mind manage though to do a reasonably cool job of it, with their recording maintaining that perfect balance of fidelity and fuzz. They also break it up a little with a pretty low/mid tempo stomper later in the track list. The song in question actually reminds me considerably of the Intro track on the 3" CD that the mighty Faux Hawks released years ago. Just that driving, harsh stomp.
On the flip, Aids, having committed their side of this record to analogue with the same engineer in the same recording spot (presumably around the same time), don't quite hit the quality that their split-mates have managed to. Again, they play a very singular, up tempo style of hardcore, but their songs just don't carry the weight that Idle Minds have managed to develop with theirs. The singer also at times seems to utilise a rather high pitch vocal style, and at times while jamming their side, I've found myself questioning wether I'm actually listening to a bit of a manly sounding woman, or a womanly sounding man.