The Manix - Van Activities 7" and Arms Aloft Split 7"

I'm at least somewhat 100% sure (what?) that they're putting something in the water in Minneapolis to turn the residents of their city into pop punk miracle workers. I support this scientific experimentation more and more each time I hear another band from the area. I mean, this Van Activities by The Manix came out in 2010, but I haven't heard it until now, so it's new to me. It's basically one of the best ways you can spend $5 over at Woah-Oh Records, promise.

So, with band members from Banner Pilot and Apocalypse Meow, you already expect this EP to impregnate your mom or closest female friends. So with the first song "Madmartigan" being more boss than Tony Danza or his TV daughter, you're expecting some awesome things from this EP. Well, mostly awesome. What the hell is with the second song? Everyone at home, do me a favor:

1. Go to the bandcamp page for this release.
2. Turn on the song "Reach For the Sky".
3. Start singing, "Friday night we'll be drinking Manishcewitz, going out to terrorize Goyim!
4. Be confused.
5. Wait for the song to change into something more original towards the end.
6. Realize the remaining songs "Awake & Up" and "Metal Endings" are fucking awesome songs, the former in vein of The Copyrights, the latter in vein of Dear Landlord.
7. Move on to the next 7", which is a split with Arms Aloft from Wisconsin.

The Manix are back with more ability to kick than there are asses around for this ability to be used on. It's more of the same awesome we've come to expect from this band in the previous like 15 minutes, and we are definitely grateful listeners. This is some rough/dirty sounding, pop punk. The dirtiness of it has to be a contributing factor in the fact that it's most certainly infectious. I'm pretty sure you'll get a disease from singing along too much, but it's yet to be officially proven. 

So, before hearing the Arms Aloft side of the split, I was already on some sort of Manix kick, and didn't expect whoever was on the other side of this split to have the upper hand...but Arms Aloft definitely make this split their bitch. Seriously, the two songs on their side are probably the catchiest fucking things out in 2011 so far. I think if I were to be stuck listening to only two 7"s for the rest of the year, I would make it this one, and the Portrait Parle one by Dear Landlord/Dopamines. These songs are so fucking good. The songs kind of remind me of an anxiety-ridden Dopamines with vocals more from the realm of some sort of folk punk abyss, and an ambiance more from the realm of Latterman.

In short, this split is fucking awesome.

And you can buy it at Kiss of Death Records.

Now I'm done.

-Idle

P.S. Arms Aloft have a fucking amazing EP from 2010 called Comfort at Any Cost. You can listen to it and enjoy life over at bandcamp.

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