Cheap Girls and Lemuria have offered no shortage of material in the past year: The former recently served up a Belle & Sebastian cover for Suburban Home's Under the Influence series, as well as pair of tracks on a split with Above Them last September. The latter have Chautauqua County, a teaser 7" released late last year, and it was for the Pebble full-length that dropped in early 2011.

Seeing how Lemuria are churning out material in this time period faster than Cheap Girls, maybe that's why they have two tracks here to Cheap Girls' one. (Then again, these were recorded about a full year before this 7" was released, so maybe not.) Is it quantity over quality? While I like Lemuria best when they're carrying an almost chilling, restrained tension ("Mechanical", Ozzy), their lighter numbers can be lovingly gripping in their own ways. And that's more or less the case here. "Single Mother" is an incredibly simple but sweet panicking penned by Alex Kerns about his love for...well...you figure it out. Despite the "so fucking terrified" line, it's quite bright and sprightly. The most subtle alt-country twang invades the Sheena Ozzella-commanded "Lemons"; it's so unusually confident and full-sounding for Lemuria one could almost mistake it for an older Rilo Kiley track. Almost. It's a cool detour for them, though.

Cheap Girls' lone contribution, "Pure Hate" dates from May 2010. The Counting Crows-isms are definitely pulled way back, as are the '90s alternative vibes in general, really. There's something newly timeless about the band's approach here, with straightforward easy rocking over its 3:46, like a punkier, distortion-peddling Tom Petty. Bitter, approvable hook to boot.

Overall, Cheap Girls' side might be perhaps slightly better than the sum average of Lemuria's pair of cuts. But both bands definitely put something forth here that's worthwhile complements to their respectively ever-growing catalogs.

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Cheap Girls - Pure Hate