The Infested / Officer Down split 7''

I recently got a hold of this album, and upon first listen I began to assume it was some sort of sequel to the Citizen Fish/Leftover crack split from a few years back, but I guess since the bands are different dudes, this is unlikely. I mean, the second half of the split is The Infested, and not only is their name something in the crack rock variety, but they also sound like a crack rock band. Actually, this can be said about both sides of the split. The bands sound really similar to eachother, and I don't know how I feel about it. Where's the Citizen Fish imitator for this split? It would at least make it more interesting to review.

The Infested are a band from Leeds UK and have a history of playing in Crack Rock Steady Seven and Leftover Crack during a tour or something, and I guess this is where they got infested with the need to release B-Side crack rock material. The songs on this side are kind of fast, and kind of forgettable. There's a lot of energy behind the songs, and the instrumentals sound pretty solid, but it's still just bringing nothing new to the table. It kind of reminds me of when this band The Dumpers existed. Maybe they still exist, but I hope not. Regardless, the guy singing sounds like Stza in a very much intentional way. It may or may not be ridiculous. There's also an acoustic song on this side out of nowhere, and it's probably the only thing worth noting on their half of the split. I mean, it'd be just another samesounding song if it were electric, but it has more character when played over a poorly recorded acoustic. It sounds kind of pretty, actually. I like it.

For the second half of this release, you're introduced to another British hardcore punk band, Officer Down. I will forever just think of the Stuck Lucky song when I hear this band name, but that's only because Stuck Lucky rule the world and there's nothing we can do about it. The instrumentals on this side starts off sounding pretty similar to the first half, but the vocalist has his own voice that wasn't influenced heavily by being a hardcore fan of the C-Squat boys. I mean, you could argue that he could be the Ezra of the ordeal, but that's just pointless and rude. But also funny.

Okay...the second song comes on and I wonder what happened to the Ezra of the split, because clearly the Stza of the group has returned to sing. The bass guitar is the only interesting part of this band...it's not like some super special bass, it just sounds really nice. Kudos, bassist. The last song on the split is titled "Blood For Oil". I'm being completely serious. There is a song called Blood For Oil still in 2011. I wonder how many bands have used this song title already. I'm going to have to guess hundreds have used it by now. This song features a return of the better sounding vocalist, I think. His voice sounds really drowned out in it. This song also has a lead guitar part that kind of sounds like a solo, but is supposed to be the repeating lead part of the song, but it sounds pretty cool. I don't know, I'm kind of glad the split is over now. It's not that bad, to be honest. But it's not something I'm into, and it's not my job to speak in place of all the 17-year-olds in the world who love Leftover Crack and would love this album. I was 17 once, so I do know I would've loved this album at the time, so I get it. If you're under 18, buy this album and jam out. If you're over 18, you can always listen to indie music and think you're cool.

You can get your hands on the album over at this site here. Do your homework first, high school comes first. Trust me, as a drop out I would know.

-Idle