For Fans Of: Penpal, Algernon Cadwallader, Empire! Empire!
Genre: Indie / Emo
Website: Sea of Tranquility
Description:
This is Emo Side Project's and Little Kingdom's lastest material: a three song ep (and man do I have some mixed feelings about it). I will start off first by saying that I am incredibly impressed with Emo Side Project; the production quality on this split is really good for a DIY band and all of their songs groove with that signature emo sound without getting too campy or whiny and becoming a complete snore to listen to. To be completely honest, I've never really gotten into Emo Side Project. I've heard about them through a few of my friends and I've seen them on tour a few times with Empire! Empire! but I've never really gotten into them. However, I was wrong; this band delivers in a way that doesn't cross over into becoming too cheesy or immature like most noodly inde/emo bands can sometimes get into (Empire! Empire!). I'm definitely going to put up the rest of their stuff once I find it (even though I'm late as hell getting into this band).
Now - as for Little Kingdoms - I was honestly really disappointed in the ONE song that they put out on this split. Throughout the 5 min track, Little Kingdoms maintains this stagnant/boring tone that never really goes anywhere until the last minute where their noodly guitars kick in and give off some mastabatory riff that barely does the song any justice. I fell in love with their Home ep that they released a while back (Willow fucking sucked) and I really thought they finally harnished their signature sound and were going onto great things, but this track was just a complete snore. I really hope this band improves on their next release (hopefully a full length) because I really think they got lazy on this one.
