Olehole/Tigon – Split 7″

San Franciscan natives Olehole and Tigon have banded together for a four-song split 7”.  An odd pairing stylistically, the split makes for a unique eleven minutes, starting with the spastic voiced cries of Olehole(pronounced “olay holay”), and quickly moving into the tightly controlled chaos of Tigon.

Placing Olehole’s contributions first is a smart choice, because they certainly make for an inviting first few minutes. “Euphamism” (mind the spelling) opens Olehole’s side with a vocal showcase that finds the band propelled by the strength of their lead vocalist’s quivering, sometimes squeaky – but always unhinged – verbal propulsion.  Along with a steady group of guitars, the whole display sounds like it would make for one hell of an energetic live performance.  “Yay, For This, More Aloneness” follows up, scaling back the tempo for a much darker, harder, and more rock oriented song.  The first – and to a lesser extent the second – track make for a good presence, which is essential when making an impression with such a limited space.

But when listeners hit Tigon’s next couple tracks, they’re confronted with a considerable learning curve.  In fact, Olehole’s tracks sound like a sweet, softly sung opera compared with Tigon, which – depending on who you are – will either give reason for applause or to cut listening short.  Tigon is what you might call experimental hardcore, which focuses on creating patterns from unconventional and underused chords.  First up, “Flower Mouth,” which plays like an aggressively backed poetry reading yelled at a conversation level and backed by a guitarist intent on playing as out of tune, and randomly as possible.  As the final track, “Populist Noise Culture” makes clear, this is noise rock with little regard for convention.  They do have a tight sense about them though, landing every note with a fantastic sense of precision – even if together they stand to drive some to insanity.

When all is said and done, Tigon and Olehole make for a very reasonable split.  Each band showcases a few good tricks, offering an accurate first impression to newcomers like myself.  Still, I can’t help but think that the marriage of harmony and dissonance feels at times arranged, and I suspect that a good portion of those enjoying Olehole’s side won’t take as kindly to Tigon’s juxtaposed style.  I for one definitely favour Olehole, but will admit that Tigon has been slowly growing on me.  A good outing, if a little stylistically confused.