Adventures/Run Forever

Split EP

This split features two bands' slightly varied takes on blisteringly earnest, rough-hewn, punky indie emo, setting the table for something great to come from both. Adventures kick it off with two new songs that follow a pair of EPs, the most recent being last year's quite promising Clear My Head With You. “Call Me At Night” is a logical extension of that EP's sound: scrappy, but melodic and sort of sounding like a Rainer Maria demo, with distorted twinkling and vocalist/guitarist Reba Meyers (also of Code Orange Kids) unfortunately buried six feet deep in the mix. The too-short bridge where everything but a single guitar drops out is an irrepressibly sad moment; it's dynamic success through isolation, something they'll hopefully explore further on their eventual full-length. They could also go the route of “Thin,” though: a churning, paradoxical mix of shadow and light that sounds sinister at its start and finish and lets in rays of sunshine in between. Meanwhile, Run Forever, already with a couple full-lengths and EPs under their collective belt, nearly keep the pace, certainly fitting in as far as style and mood go. “Headlights” and “Lost The Feeling” are equally sappy gestures that wouldn't be out of place on a Tigers Jaw record. “Lost The Feeling,” while the shortest track on the EP and ending a little abruptly, has a couple of enjoyably confident moments that showcase a focused band arguably locked in more than they ever have been. 

No Sleep http://www.nosleeprecords.com

Adventures’ “Thin”