Sleeper Horse / Echoes of Harper's Ferry

Sleeper Horse is up first on this split 7”. You might remember the troublesome Blackout Pact, whose singer, Mike Herrera (not to be confused with the MxPx frontman) has a co-vocalist role here. Sleeper Horse is way less rambunctious than the Blackout Pact; I mean, it’s basically punk rock, but Sleeper Horse are somewhat jangly and much more restrained. It vaguely resembles Fugazi (aside from the earnest singing in “For Your Health”), in part because of the vocal interplay and in part because “Business Is a Gamble” has an oddly danceable strut about it (à la Q and Not U, maybe? Eh, probably a stretch.). It’s sort of weird stuff and way harder to pin down TBP. Except for the Thin Lizzy cover, “Jail Break,” and its thick bass dirges.

Echoes of Harper’s Ferry is on the flipside (though oddly, their tracks are first if you take advantage of the free digital download that comes with the 7”), with raggedy, hard-charging punk rock. It would be nice if the singer coughed out a bit of the gravel and sang a bit more comprehensibly, because damn, Echoes have a strong political and social conscious. As you might guess, “Chile, 9/11/73” references the 9/11 of Chile, a complicated event that resulted in allegations of state terrorism against the United States for their role in the military coup d’etat that caused the assassination of Socalist President Salvador Allende. The band then throw in the fast number “Delmar” for good measure.

Overall, the songs could be better but this is an interesting and thought-provoking split.

STREAM
Sleeper Horse - For Your Health
Echoes of Harper's Ferry - Chile, 9/11/73