This split has been known about for quite some time now. It's finally come out and it's just like I expected it to be. It's not anything close to a classic, but a completely solid release, on behalf of both bands. Each band does four songs: Against All Authority on the first half, and Common Rider closing the record. Tracks 5-8 are the last songs Common Rider will ever release, so one can't help but be the slightest bit warm to the material, but let's not let that become a bias to the way this review plays out!

Against All Authority's half of the split is really good. The songs are no change of pace to what they've been doing since the beginning: fast street/skate punk, ska, and a mouthful of politics and opinions in every beat and fist pump! There's hardly any trumpet to speak of. Personally, I don't mind that one bit, and critically it's not a bad thing either (though it's just as much not a good thing I suppose). Whatever floats your boat, I guess. If you've liked AAA in the past, you'll like the shit they've put down for this record. They aren't reinventing the wheel, but for some that's the beauty of it. They keep it simple, punk, and pissed off.

Common Rider's half is almost as good...but not quite, considering the last four songs on this split are outtakes from the This Is Unity Music sessions (not that I'm ripping on This Is Unity Music, rather the fact that the songs are outtakes). Though, don't let that fact mislead you. It's Common Rider all the way on each of the four tracks. It's more rocksteady like This Is Unity Music, as opposed to the more ska grooves of Last Wave Rockers. The track "Dogtown" sounds like it could have been an LWR leftover, though (my personal favourite of the Common Rider songs here). All the songs on the second half of this split are solid. Nothing sounds out of place or inconsistent with each other.

All in all it's a good mix of punk and ska, be it a clenched fist in the air or the sudden urge to get those dancing shoes on and go out on the skanking floor; this split will do you good and is recommended for fans of either band. On one last note, I got it for $9.99 brand new at my local indie record shop, so that's a pretty rad price, hey? If you've got some spare cash, pick this up now. It's fucking good.