Any excuse to celebrate Mean Jeans is a good one, especially when discussing their split with Big Eyes. While the bands aren't especially similar (Big Eyes skews towards garage rock while Mean Jeans is more of a Ramonesy pop-punk band), they find a nice middleground in surf rock. This 7-inch split offers two tracsk from each band, with an original and a cover each, plus a sweet The Company of Wolves album cover. Because heck yeah werewolves.

Big Eyes go first with the fuzzy "Losing Touch." It's a nifty little garage rocker with a propulsive energy. The guitars and drums pound 'n' snarl while Kate Eldridge shouts her way through the song. Next up is a cover of Mean Jeans' "2 Twisted 2 Luv U," which Big Eyes handle with aplomb. They actually bring out the bubblegum hooks in the song, making it faithful and their own at the same time.

Mean Jeans finish up with two tasty pop-punk treats. On Mars found them getting ever so slightly away from their comfort zone, but "I Miss Outer Space" strikes a nice balance, upping the pop-punx while also dropping some sweet guitar riffage (and a tribute to Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream," possibly because it's from Full Moon Fever and matches the werewolves theme, but probably because it's a great riff). Their cover of Big Eyes' "Since You Left" is over in seconds, but again, it's the Jeans. Be grateful. Hell, just be grateful for the whole gosh dang split.