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| Photo Credit: Bob Fitch Photo Archive ©Stanford University Libraries Design by: Ian Anderson |
Split Red, from notoriously hard-hitting Philadelphia, PA, graciously endow you with Serious Heft. Over the course of their six song debut, this quintet conflates spades of punk rock aggression, Beefheart-ian vocal abstractions, and twin guitar skronk to offer a head-spinning and progressive diversion from the dreck of the herd. The band was conceived as a collective, mining disparate veins of inspirational ore throughout the city’s vibrant creative underground. Members of Many Arms, Cuddle Magic, Deleted Scenes, Joe Lally Trio (of Fugazi), and Make A Rising have identified as Split Red during the unit’s evolution. Accordingly, the group’s sonics are a continuum, forever flourishing into new spaces to manifest the underlying ethos of the unit. In every incarnation, the band exemplifies the tireless work ethic and raucous aural aesthetic of the storied SST Records roster, while harnessing the dissonance and tension of the avant-garde.
Serious Heft was mostly composed during various trips to El Salvador. Inspired by the witness of heroic liberation theologians and freedom fighters, the record is informed by domestic oppression, injustice, and cultural repression. Fittingly, the medium here is punk rock that is unfiltered and untarnished by mainstream contrivances and compromises… Expertly captured to tape by Colin Marston (of Krallice),the record is bursting with searing feedback and the saturated, harmonically-rich sound of power tubes buckling. This creative space is punk rock, in both polemics and practice. Lumbering, thunderous rhythms are nimbly imbued with polyrhythmic propulsion. Massively articulate shredder, and New Atlantis veteran, Brandon Seabrook makes a dizzying appearance on the album’s opener…
In spite of its brevity, Serious Heft makes a weighty impression. If you grab your copy on October 14, you can run the voodoo down with us. Split Red have shared the stage with Mike Watt, Nels Cline, Marc Ribot, Trevor Dunn, Stinking Lizaveta and many more… Now, with this record in your stereo, they’ll practically be playing just for you, inside of your very own house. Fans of Black Flag, Funkadelic, Amphetamine Reptile, Swiz, Saint Vitus, the Melvins, the Jesus Lizard, and Shellac take note. Let’s do the damn thang. (New Atlantis Records)
"...punk with an unbridled, avant-garde antagonism. It's unexpected, like seeing a hungry coyote running through a block of track homes. Notice received: Split Red do what they want." - Brooklyn Vegan
