Place Called Home/Southtowne Lanes – Split 12″

Putting a sheet over your head does not make you a ghost. Injuring and drinking yourself away will not hide your despair and self-loathing either – and west-coast based Southtowne Lanes’ and Place Called Home’s split EP is painfully aware of that. The balance in tone and feel between the two halves – the difficult part of a split – is spot on. Southtowne Lanes and Place Called home both offer a variety of emo without straying off focus. Take Southtowne Lane’s side alone: melodic, almost-catchy guitar parts which border on pop punk break away to slower, bass-led or lo-fi guitar build-ups, and then further hammering riffs – all whilst remaining a consistent and accessible style. I’d almost call it ‘fun’ if the frustration in the half-spoken, half-screaming vocals weren’t so utterly miserable (and fantastically done, I might add). Place Called Home similarly shift between tempo and texture with ease, warm chords and melodic punk are broken up by solemn words and/or screams, and it’s easily equal the first half. It’s a really great split – and a note to anyone living in the south/south-west US.