Shoppers/Panzram - Split 7"

Ages ago I reviewed a load of vinyl from Parade of Spectres, including the Beau Navire/Republic of Dream split, which was put out with the help of IFB records. IFB records collaborated on this split with a label called Feeble Minds. Shoppers are a punk band from Syracuse, NY. Panzram are a more hardcore laced punk band from the sunny climbs of Ft. Myers, Florida. It was released earlier this year and contains four tracks, two tracks from each band.

Tracklist:-

1. Born With A Bad Haircut (Panzram)
2. Cause Celebre (Panzram)
3. I (Shoppers)
4. II (Shoppers)

So, starting with Panzram then, Born With A Bad Haircut has a thick sound to. The buzzing of the guitars alongside the drums make it quite a formidable intro. There's subtle melody in the song when the main verse kicks in and the vocals are reminiscent of the kind of screamo/hardcore vocals that you get from bands like early, Casually Dressed.... era Funeral For A Friend (at their most caustic). Sorry for the comparison, it's probably a pale one!

Cause Celebre follows a similar mould. The vocals here seem more crust inspired and sound pretty possessed; yet the rhythm and guitars underneath are really danceable. There are At The Drive-Inisms' on display here when the main verse kicks in, especially in the vocals. It's all chaotic, but really good fun.

Shoppers side of the split starts with I. This song has a more low-fi, garage punk feel to it. The female vocals are less caustic and more audible and it's probably that influence that gives the music a more melodic edge. It's also more experimental as well, dual female/male vocals are used and it all seems catchier.

II has more of a punch too it. The production brings out the immediacy and chaos in the song, as it does with the rest of the split. The instruments are allowed to melt into each other and make one sprawling beast. The live element in the sound is good too, with the production not being overdone allowing you to get immersed in both bands sound. Shoppers favour the garage rock sound less on this song, instead going for more of a straight forward rocky, punky sound.

Overall it's a great split record and does exactly what a split should do, bring two bands with different sounds together, which complement each other. It's a great way to get into new bands and a great way for bands to get noticed. Neither band here is pretentious and they don't try and sound like anybody else. They've got their own sound and they're sticking to it. If you want a record that sounds heavy, but without the macho posturing, that you can dance too, you could do far worse than pick up this split.

To see if you agree with my ramblings above, you can stream this whole split via Feeble Minds' bandcamp page below:-

If you like the record, you can purchase it either digitally or on vinyl from Feeble Minds' page above or from http://feeblexminds.blogspot.co.uk/. You can also pick it up from IFB records at http://ifbrecords.com/pages/main.html.

You can check out more by Shoppers on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages. I can't find anything for Panzram, but if you know of a site let me know and I'll link this page up.