Labels: Miyagi Records/Quiet Records/Whosbrain Records/Zegema Beach Records
Formats: Vinyl/Digital
Release Date: 20 Mar 2014
Tracklist:
1. Adolina - Code 440
2. Adolina - Morbiflette
3. Adolina - Mirador
4. Adolina - Stupid Man Suit
5. The Rabbit Theory - CSI GSCI
6. The Rabbit Theory - It's Only People, They Don't Scare Me
7. The Rabbit Theory - Sheeps, Fishes, Informations
8. The Rabbit Theory - Snowflakes, Trickles
9. The Rabbit Theory - The Denial Of Life And Joy Vs. Everybody's Right To Beautiful Radiant Things
It's come to that point in time where I have to graciously accept that Mr. Norman has overtaken me with his 'Out Past The Rings' video series. I'm still going to press on with my reviews though because A) I'm stubborn and B) because I still want to talk about great bands and music. This split LP was another record released in 2014 (that must have been a great year! Cheap dig at myself there). Adolina is from Belgium and The Rabbit Theory is from Switzerland (at least they were, as they're no longer a band). I got a bit confused while trying to find the correct track order, as some bandcamp pages/sites listed Adolina's songs first and other listen The Rabbit Theory's songs first. I'm going with Adolina's because they come first in the alphabet.
Adolina’s music is made up of lovely post-rock, that’s slightly mathy and twinkly. ‘Code 440’ is instrumental for the most part but semi-spoken/shouted vocals and samples do make an appearance too. ‘Morbiflette’ is a lot more dissonant and heavy, sounding like noisy garage-punk. It sort of reminds me of Primus (I think I’ve used that comparison for a couple of bands recently). Needless to say, it’s really cool!
Their songs here are artsy without being artsy and ‘Mirador’ has flashes of early Irk (the UK band) sound-wise, which is a good thing in my book. There’s a nice chilled technicality going on. I think Belgium has such an underrated scene when it comes to underground music. Adolina’s final song on this split ‘Stupid Man Suit’ has a greater punk feel, though more so in the vocals than the instrumentation. It’s the first time I’ve listened to Adolina from memory. Better late than never, as I like them a lot.
The Rabbit Theory has five songs that are shorter on the whole, but much like Adolina’s, they’re similarly twinkly and melodic. TRT’s opener ‘CSI GSCI’ is post-hardcore that also contains semi-clean/shouted vocals that bring to mind a lot of earlier emo type stuff. Their song titles are clever too, like ’It’s Only People, They Don’t Scare Me’. There’s a real feel-good element to this song and we all need that right now.
‘Sheeps, Fishes, Informations’ contains guitar chords that clash to begin with but go onto help form a song that’s intelligent and enjoyable. It’s also fully instrumental. TRT are back in full post-hardcore mode on ’Snowflakes, Trickles’, though once again the vocals are used sparingly again. Their closer ‘The Denial Of Life And Joy Vs. Everybody’s Right To Beautiful Radiant Things’ takes a lot from TRT’s close proximity (geographically) to Italy and it’s screamo scene and bands like Ojne, without being too chaotic or noisy. They retain the musicality that makes them unique.
I love listening to older releases for the first time and this one is a pleasure to spin. Both Adolina and The Rabbit Theory are quire similar in many respects, but while the former is still releasing music and the latter is long gone, it’s still a beautiful thing being able to enjoy their music on both physical and digital formats. Take the opportunity while you can because life is fleeting.
You can stream and download (name-your-price) Adolina's tracks below:-
The Rabbit Theory's 'The Denial Of Life And Joy Vs. Everybody's Right To Beautiful Radiant Things' can be streamed and downloaded (also name-your-price) below:-
The full split is also streaming (and is downloadable) here:-
Adolina - https://www.facebook.com/adolinaband/
The Rabbit Theory - https://therabbittheory.bandcamp.com/music
Physical copies are available from the labels below:-
Miyagi Records - https://miyagi.bigcartel.com/
Whosbrain Records - http://whosbrain-records.com/
Miyagi Records - https://www.facebook.com/thisismiyagi/
Quiet Records (RIP)
Whosbrain Records - https://www.facebook.com/Whosbrain-Records
Zegema Beach Records - https://www.facebook.com/zegemabeachrecords/
