Zhenia Golov / Botox Party

Zhenia Golov follow their debut self-titled 7" with two new ones on this split. As last time, these are raw, snotty, unbridled, `80s-inspired and intermittently thrashy hardcore dirges. Mind you, the songwriting isn't terribly brilliant -- both "Corpse" and "Eyesore" have an identical trick where the music stop-starts so their vocalist can spit some lines in clearer air -- and the tunes are somewhat forgettable, but effective in the moment. They rail against mindless pacification -- TV, consumerism -- and immediate gratification in both, essentially ("Try to avoid the ubiquitous bombardment, but I even hear children quoting commercials!"), forgoing both the typical deep-bellowed vocals and that high-pitched scratchy kind for a nice medium in between. Certainly not bad stuff, though it's a few laps behind the sub-subgenre's leaders.

Botox Party play surprisingly scrappy and potentially well-thought out pop-punk songs sort of in the Screeching Weasel vein, only with a more gravelly, forceful vocal style. In fact, their side is so much longer they had to squeeze their first song, "You Want It All," onto ZG's side. There's a few decent hooks in here ("The Sinking of Atlantis") and 'OK, alright' tempo changes to boot, which makes the diverse pairing all the more pleasing.

STREAM
Zhenia Golov - Corpse
Botox Party - Kill the Light