The Matches, Near Miss, Reeve Oliver – Split

Although I had never actually herd the first TakeOver Records 3-way split, I had heard many good things about it. So when they announced the TakeOver Records 3-way Issue #2 featuring three brand new bands with three brand new songs each, I had high hopes. The reason I was most excited for it was due to the fact that The Matches were going to be on it, and them being one of my favorite bands, I was pumped to hear new material. But since they are the final band of the three, I’ll talk about them last. For now, let’s start from the beginning…

TakeOver Records‘ own Near Miss kicks off the three-way with Number 7, At The Seam and Now Rectify – and it seems that they are having an identity crisis at the moment. None of the songs really seem to flow as they open up with a quick punk number in the vein of Bigwig but then start screaming like Comeback Kid in their second track. They seem to find themselves a bit with Now Rectify – a mostly upbeat pop-punk song with slightly annoying vocals.

The next three songs come from The Militia Group‘s Reeve Oliver – and if you’re a fan of this band, then you’ll love these songs. Unlike their predecessors, Reeve Oliver know what they want to do, and they do it well. It’s pretty generic pop-punk with upbeat melodies, boyish vocals and catchy lyrics. Songs like Summer and We’re All Gonna Die bring a smile to your face as you hum it walking down the road. They aren’t anything special or outstanding, just straight forward pop-punk; and their fans will like it.

It’s the final three songs which present me with a conundrum. While I love The Matches, these three songs leave you with less then you would’ve hoped for. While their new acoustic version of Sick Little Suicide is perfect – it now has an eerie feel to it, a much more hollow and melancholy overtone which really goes well with the lyrics and mood of the entire song – the acoustic version o Shoot Me In The Smile fails to live up to expectations. Throughout the entire song they are laughing and breaking stuff in the background, which really distracts the listener. And the overall quality of the song doesn’t just live up to par. And well, A Girl I Know, that just sits somewhere in the middle of the two. Nothing outstanding but still not a bad song.

In reality, that could be said for this entire split. It’s nothing that outstanding but not that bad either. Somewhere between mediocre and decent. And while Matches fan will enjoy Sick Little Suicide, it will really be the Reeve Oliver who will win on this one.