Matt Skiba & Kevin Seconds
Split
Asianman Records
Grade: A-
This amazing release features five songs from Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio and five from Kevin Seconds of 7 Seconds (duh). The ten tracks are mostly of an acoustic nature with the two playing almost all of the instruments on the recording.
Matt Skiba kicks it off with probably the best song on the album "Good Fucking Bye," reminiscent of some of the best Alkaline Trio songs. Following it up is "The City That Day," which is great story of circling lives with catchy harmonies and chorus. "Next to You" starts off as a lo-fi acoustic sleeper before moving to a full-layered lo-fi treasure. Rounding out Skiba's songs are "In Your Wake" and a cover of 7 Seconds' "Soul to Keep." "In Your Wake" has one of the best lines you will hear in modern-era music; "so with a broken stick in dirt we scrawled 'here lies our dreams come true - here lies Xs for eyes on me and you'" before moving to the catchy chorus. A top-quality show.
Kevin Seconds has a different view of writing songs than Skiba and it becomes starkly evident. Except in one substantial case, Seconds' songs pale in comparison to Skiba's songwriting breadth. This is not to say that Seconds' five songs are bad; in fact, they are all catchy and poppy. But the anchoring effect of have Seconds after Skiba is hard to disavow or dislodge. The one substantial diamond in the rough is "Ugly Mouth." The song is noticeably more mature and thought out than the rest and one can envision some serious mileage of Seconds on this one.
This split is another demonstration of how Asianman Records is redefining what a split should consist of (e.g., last year's Lawrence Arms/Chinkees split). Moreover, Skiba illustrates that he is among the best songwriters in rock today. After initially poo-pooing the Alkaline Trio after a few live shows, their latest material (e.g., the Hot Water Music split) has righted my frame of reference into seeing their invincibility. This split is certainly up there as one of the best of the year.
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