Lay It On The Line/Arizona - Split 7"

Tracklist:-

1. Lay It On The Line - Therapia Lane

2. Lay It On The Line - ...And Now I Own His Washing Machine

3. Arizona - I Knew A Girl In High School Called Pandora. Never Got To See Her Box Though

4. Arizona - I'm Not A Superhero, I'm A Latter Day Saint (Acoustic Version)

Here's another band who've just released a new record and here's another review of something that's a few years old. Lay It On The Line are a melodic hardcore band from South London, while Arizona is (was?) a hardcore band from Aarschot, Belgium. This four song split was released in 2013 via Fire Engine Red Records. Once again I'm sorry for not being conventional with my reviewing; however, I write about what I want to write about.

The opening half of this split belongs to Lay It On The Line and their portrayal of what happened to their friend Ben Gardner in Sutton in 2009. Therapia Lane is heavy melodic hardcore with a dark undertone to it (not surprising give the subject matter). The screams are heavy and the guitars fly between abrasive and melodic, while the drum keep the pace from getting away too much. …And Now I Own His Washing Machine (a seemingly sinister title) is a real mix of punk and hardcore but with an obvious British slant. It’s hard to fault their music. Arizona like long song titles and I Knew A Girl At School Called Pandora… is a Belgian take on American melodic hardcore/punk. It’s catchy and quite upbeat with a mix of clean and screamed vocals, with instrumentation that’s equally as strong. The acoustic version of I’m Not A Superhero… is a strange one after the momentum of the previous song, but it works well and has a weird jazz-lounge feel to it at times. I like Arizona too but they could do with laying off the Americanisms a bit. Both bands really compliment each other on this split. Lay It On The Line present that British grittiness that I love, while Arizona’s melody and clean singing presents a more sensitive side. Really good.

You can stream and purchase the split digitally below:-

The 7" is still on sale via Lay It On The Line's webstore here - http://layitonthelinehc.bigcartel.com.

Lay It On The Line - https://www.facebook.com/layitontheline/
Arizona - http://vi.be/arizona