New Junk City/Robot (Re)pair

Split [7-inch] (2016)

Johnathon1069

                The

split between New Junk City and robot (re)pair bring together two bands hailing

from different parts of the country, Atlanta and Tempe respectively. While they

may not share much in the way of geography, they share an ability to produce

great, albeit very different, punk songs.

                Like

many bands playing under the umbrella of punk rock today, New Junk City has a

sound that pays homage to pieces of heartland and roots rock. Luckily, instead

of falling into the pitfalls of being constantly compared to Gaslight Anthem,

the band digs a little deeper than that. With a sound that brings to mind the

louder moments of both Uncle Tupelo and The Bottle Rockets the band succeeds at

creating a sound that shows their own voice as musicians while still sounding

familiar. Where the band steps away from those influences though, is with their

lyrics.

On the first of two tracks New Junk

City has on the split “Everything Good” lead vocalist John’s whiskey soaked

voice laments the realities of depression as he sings, “All my limbs get stuck together

in the weird physic tether that keeps me from feeling good. And on the days I

feel the worst about my broken brain, pornography and coffee keep me sane.”

While our coping mechanisms may not be the same, there are few among us who

haven’t been at this point at one time or another. No, it’s not the most

sophisticated lyric ever; but there’s so much to be said for someone knowing

that a lyric is relateable and knowing not to dress it up too much.  Their next track follows in much the same

vein, great heartland punk with a penchant for simple, related, and honest

lyrics.

Robot (re)pair’s sound is very

different, whereas New Junk City had a big sound, the production of these songs

is more lo-fi and works wonderfully for the band. The band sounds a lot like

mid-era Bouncing Souls musically, which presents an awesome upbeat contrast to

their lyrics. The exception to this, is the first track “Pixie Fairy Dust

(smash huemon patriarchal ownership relationships)” deviates slightly by  almost sounding like some The Feelies would

have recorded at some point. This, surprisingly, works just as well or even a

little bit better for the band given the production value.

A big part of this band’s appeal,

is their lyrics. While many lyricists write in more traditional song

structures, working out verses and lyrics. This doesn’t happen here, as the

lyrics come off as journal entries that happened to become songs. This approach

almost harkens back to the first two Jawbreaker albums, as you feel like lines

such as, “I know I can change. But not today,” weren’t meant for the public to

hear but as a private confession. Matt Dobbins vocal delivery helps make a lot of

this work, as he is able to easily transition from the delivery on “Pixie Fairy

Angel Dust (Smash huemon patriarchal ownership relationships) that brings to

mind “The Boy With Perpetual Nervousness” by The Feelies to the other tracks

where he could be singing lead vocals on the Bouncing Souls' Maniacal Laughter.

These two bands couldn’t be further

apart musically speaking, but the two sides work together really well. Which

can prove to be the difficult  part of a

split, getting two bands together who don’t sound too identical but also not

making the bands so different there wouldn’t be any overlap in their fan bases.

This is a solid split, from two bands that’ve been making noise for several

years now. And it’s very likely to get each band a number of new fans as well.