One
day, I’m going to sit down and write out all of the probable scenarios for
split cassettes and then assign them names.
Really though, there are only three ways that splits can sound, aren’t
there? On one side of the spectrum, you
have two artists who sound so close in genre they could be the same artist if
you didn’t know better. In the middle
somewhere is the artists who sound similar yet are different enough to be
individuals. Then on the other side of
the spectrum of course you get two artists who are just completely different,
as is the case with Water Bullet and Tween Heat.
(I’m
thinking of something like “same/same”, “same yet different” and “different”
for my split categories, but nothing is finalized yet and, well, next time I go
to review a split I will most likely have forgotten about this part so it won’t
stick)
Water
Bullet is the sharp feedback combined with noise. It is the sound of a balloon being
scratched. Bass synth notes come out
with little sort of beeps and beats. There
is reverb and distortion. It is a
symphony of glass breaking robots.
Something out of Wall-E, something like a space shuttle launch. There are somewhat demonic vocals trying to
come through, but only ever so slightly.
Then, deep modified vocals come out like Jigsaw (the killer in the Saw
movie franchise)
The
best way perhaps to describe Water Bullet in the simple form is to say that
they sound like a garbage disposal malfunction. In the long way though, they sound like
something that comes on at the beginning of a record and then gives way to a
hardcore band such as Glassjaw. There
are a number of heavier bands that have this type of sound, if only for thirty
seconds, before kicking into a full on assault, but Water Bullet seems to
thrive on that anticipation.
And
why not? Sometimes anticipation is the
best thing we have. What do you
anticipate? Because I can almost guarantee
you that whatever you’re anticipating is not going to be nearly as good once it
happens. From past experience with
women to getting a job to anything really… that moment of anticipation is key because
once it happens, then it’s over and all you have is the memory—the experience. But the build is so awesome because things
like a first kiss, well, you only get one.
On
the flip side of this we have Tween Heat, who is a one man rock band with
drums, guitars and bass. It begins like
a dreamy version of R.E.M. or Joe Cocker, then goes into an audio clip from
Fahrenheit 451 about firemen, which is really quite interesting because firemen
really did used to put out fires once and not just burn books. (It’s also funny how as soon as I heard that
clip I knew exactly what it was, though I’ve only seen that particular movie
once yet have read the book countless times)
The
sound eventually turns into something bordering FNL or from the realm of Rok
Lok Records before just coming full on out with the thrash rock. It’s melodic and heavy on the drum
beats. For some strange reason it also
reminds me of a lighter version of P.O.D., in the commercial sense, but on the
whole this just has it all together and all in the right places.
While
Water Bullet and Tween Heat are different in sound, I do enjoy them both and
appreciate their differences. I’m not
sure everyone who is a fan of one of the sounds would also be a fan of the
other, but I just enjoy good music and both these artists offer up good
music.
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