On this big ol' slab of purple vinyl, Tigershark team up with another cohort, this time for a split LP with Brooklyn's Apeshit.

Tigershark offer up five new songs on Side A, and feature the band at their most raw and unbridled. This is some of their more tuneless, discordant stuff with a fairly rough recording; it's sort of disappointing. The band retain most of their intensity, but effectively turn up the noise, too, resulting in dizzy noodling in dragged out tracks like "Little Betty Thunder Bop." Not all of the songs necessarily dabble in dirty guitars quite as often (despite the namesake of closer "Stoner Flock"), but it still seems like a bit of a departure from their previous mix of crust, metal and D-beat hardcore. The band's demo and Thank God split material just seemed more ferocious and enjoyable. Not terrible songs by any means, but we've heard better from them.

Apeshit still take pride in their economics, however. Of their 12 songs here, 5 from their self-titled demo/full-length/thing are re-recorded. Their production, in total contrast to Tigershark's, is superb; it's loud and confrontational without gloss or overbearingness. The best way to describe them as I continually have is that they simply play spazzy, screamy and chaotic hardcore in the tradition of the harshest Gravity Recs acts. Or, trace Justin Pearson's lineage up until his earliest days in the Locust and you have a good idea what to expect. They even manage to add a bit of diversity to their songs, offering a few different methods of chord thrashing and loading up some songs with cool, on-a-dime tempo changes. Apeshit is definitely on the rise, if their stuff here is any indication.

Again, I'm not entirely stoked on Tigershark's side even after multiple listens, but Apeshit show some nice progression, and possibly make this worth a purchase for their side alone.

STREAM
Tigershark - Rando Commando
Apeshit - Hamster
Apeshit - Penis on a Washcloth
Apeshit - Cocaine Dinner Party
Apeshit - Bruce