Bomb The Music Industry!/O Pioneers!!!!

Split

[4/5]

This split CD/10-inch pairs two of the underground punk scene’s most promising young bands, each contributing four new tracks to plastic/wax (or probably your hard drive, you high-bandwidth pirate, you). As it is with most split records, one band will invariably come out on top (in this case, it’s Bomb The Music Industry! with their highly caffeinated ska-punk), but both bands really give it their all. BTMI!’s “I’m Terrorfied!!!” is a potent look at post-9/11 culture (“I am terrorfied!!!/I didn’t vote for this/I’m gonna die for shit that ain’t my fault”). Guitar-and-drums duo O Pioneers!!! volley back with “Punknews Is Stoked,” a biting critique of current internet/message board culture that musically sounds like the lovechild of early Against Me! and even earlier Hot Water Music. You won’t see videos for these songs on Fuse, but it doesn’t mean they’re not any less important. Plus, where else are you going to find this many exclamation points in one place (outside of an Aquabats album)? (TEAM SCIENCE!/ASBESTOS; teamsciencerecords.com) Scott Heisel