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The Cardinal Sin / Small Towns Burn a Little Slower

There Is No Place Like MPLS [7 inch] (2005)
Grey Flight Records

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Contributed by: Matt Whelihan
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Published on February 3rd 2006

Here we go again, yet another split to employ the cover song gimmick. This time around the bands do not cover each other however, but instead have opted for the Wedding Present and Rocky Votolato.

The Cardinal Sin start things off with a song that might as well be a cover considering that its high-pitched vocal lines and post-hardcore music sound eerily familiar, while the chorus is a near perfect Hot Rod Circuit rip-off. The dark power-pop of the Wedding Present’s “Brassneck” seems to suit the Cardinal Sin a bit better and acts as a pretty faithful rendition of the original, except of course for the emo vocal delivery.

Small Towns Burn a Little Slower’s new track is much like their debut, generic sounding emo that has been done many times before with small striking moments. This time it is the chorus, with its super catchy chant, that keeps the song from being a total throwaway.

Yes, their cover does take an all-acoustic Rocky Votolato track and “rock it out,” but it works well considering that “Suicide Medicine” is full of palm muting and big breakouts. What doesn’t work here is the vocal delivery. If you were to simply read lines from “Suicide Medicine” such as, “Oh God, I love you, yeah I mean forever,” you would probably cringe, but when you hear them sung through Votolato’s scratchy and desperate voice they take on a much more convincing tone. Sadly, the same can not be said for Small Towns Burn a Little Slower, who make the lines sound merely like another emo cliché.

What is interesting about this seven inch is that it comes packaged with a CD version of its contents, making it easy for the owner to add the tracks to an MP3 player or blast the seven inch in the car. Also, written on the disc is “don’t let vinyl die, buy a turntable,” a phrase that at first struck me as endearing -- a battle cry for collectors, audiophiles, and traditionalists -- but ultimately came off a bit odd considering the two bands on the split seem more concerned with current trends than musical tradition.

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Anonymous (June 21, 2006)

Small towns pretty much is the minneapolis music scene right now.

Anonymous (February 6, 2006)

i hope that people don't think of small towns when they think of the minneapolis music scene.

ick.

fritobandito (February 6, 2006)

I know nothing about the band, but every time I see Small Towns' name, I think "man that's a cool name."

psychoos231 (February 4, 2006)

No thanks

pabstboy (February 4, 2006)

Cardinal Sin would of been better off splitting with Dillinger Four to rep Mpls. Small Towns just doesn't have that Minnesota feel to it. Then again Prince was from Mpls.

gregs (February 4, 2006)

"Am I the only one who thinks that 7 inches don't sound so hot? "

I own thousands of records and I've never heard any difference between the two. The pros and cons are consistent between the formats as far as I'm concerned.

I think there's a few factors involved including the quality of the vinyl and also the quality of the recording. I've got thick, heavy singles that sound crappy and I've got thin ones that sound great.

kenjamin (February 4, 2006)

Am I the only one who thinks that 7 inches don't sound so hot? I really like the way lps sound but 7 inches usually sound really thin and grainy to me. It might just be my needle though, it's really old and I am too stingy to replace it.

lou (February 3, 2006)

i enjoy the cardinal sin, and have for quite some time. it's good to see their finally putting stuff out as i've had the demo of whatever they titled their ep for a few years now.

as far as the vinyl thing goes, i give them credit regardless of the style of music they play.

which leads to the point about the style of music small towns plays. i've never liked this band, or many of the bands like them. but reading the on the outside review right before this i can't help but think the entire genre is no less derivative than lots of other styles, with a few legitimate bands thrown into the mix with the 1,000s of dime a dozen mediocre acts. ...just my $.02

gregs (February 3, 2006)

The Cardinal Sin songs on this are very good. I tracked down the Wedding Present's version of 'Brassneck' because of this and it is phenomenal. Well, the single version is. The version on their LP wasn't as good.

For the vinyl nerds, this 7" is available in white, black, or black & white vinyl