Weird Headspace

Tiny Empires are, in many ways, a very logical progression from Fest favorite O Pioneers!!!, who vocalist/guitarist Eric Solomon fronted a few years back. They retain his old band's loose, throaty, shouted, melodic-punk vibe, but perhaps thanks to the involvement of other experienced players (members of New Bruises, Senders and others), they're much more willing to stray outside the lines—and with three guitarists, more patient and dynamic in that area. The opener of this mini-album debut, the Hum-ish “Wide Open Spaces” begins with a familiar murmur for at least a few seconds before slinging into a stomping, burly, mid-tempo anthem (anyone who lost their voice barking along to OP!!!'s 2009 album Neon Creeps will greatly appreciate it). But let's try to at least momentarily quell those parallels: The stop-and-start chugs of “What's The Plan, Phil” are segmented nicely by a squiggly riff; “Just Imagine” (reappearing from a 2013 single on Kiss Of Death) and “Tired Hearts And Livers” hint at ’90s post-hardcore while maintaining TE's scrappy character; though Solomon's vocals seem a little low, “Air Conditioning, Full Blast” is an excellent, late standout, vaguely culling both Say Anything and Built To Spill in a weird way; and the length of nearly 10-minute closer “Blurry Photos, Dead Leaves, Decomposed” throws back to the multi-part epic the band contributed to a 2012 split with Tigers Jaw. Sure, OP!!! were on the verge of seriously mastering straightforward, gravelly, shout-along punk, but Tiny Empires are certainly making up for their abrupt end well with this more ambitious release.

Self-released http://destroytinyempires.bandcamp.com/

“Wide Open Spaces”

Split EP

There are a handful of special tidbits concerning Tigers Jaw's latest split EP. For one, it showcases the recorded debut of Tiny Empires (formerly Black Clouds), the newest project from ex-O Pioneers!!! mastermind Eric Solomon. For another, despite the tracklisting only listing three actual tracks, there are technically six individual songs on the split. (Tiny Empires’ contribution is an eight-minute, three-part suite.)

Tigers Jaw remain fuzzy, playful and heartbroken (and still a little off-key) on their two contributions. But these songs feel like a minor evolution: With “My Friend Morrissey” and the half-acoustic “No Mask/Haze Coffin,” they channel the decade-old era of coed emo, when bands such as Rainer Maria and the Anniversary owned the club circuit with a creative, earnest fire. (To deviate ever so slightly from that scene, the tense second half of “No Mask/Haze Coffin” actually resembles a far more spare answer to Dntel's “Last Songs.”)

Solomon's prior band, O Pioneers!!!, specialized in relatively straightforward, folk-tinged punk executed with fiery joy and passion. That's why it might be somewhat of a surprise to hear his new act conduct a sweeping, eight-minute-long, three-part composition. Sure, “Check Out My Boneyard/Interview With A Jampire/The Dream Is Still Dead” is a punk-rock song, but it's also brash, dynamic and cathartic. Solomon sounds more vulnerable than he has in the past, and that fits the track’s shifts from melodic, hopeful strumming to a sadder, mid-tempo beat. It‘s definitely an ambitious and promising debut for Tiny Empires.

Run For Cover http://www.runforcoverrecords.com

Tigers Jaw’s “My Friend Morrissey”

Split EP

If both Pulp Fiction-inspired cover art and the idea of a 9-inch record (you read that right) isn't incentive enough to pick up this Andrew Jackson Jihad and O Pioneers!!! split, then the music should hopefully do the trick.

Andrew Jackson Jihad are appearing on roughly their fifth split in two years(!), but they're not running out of ideas quite yet. The folk-punk duo kick off the instantly hooky opener “This Is Why I'm Hot” with the self-defeating admission, “Sometimes I feel like a dead man.” Like many of the band's jams, it's a hard-jangled acoustic number with some extra elements (a playful little solo, some vocal “ooo”s, vague rolling noise below the surface). “¡Esto Es Lo Quiero!” is indeed a Spanish-language, fast-paced intermission with retro production that could have come out of a Mexican restaurant in the '60s. The stripped-down “We're All Gonna Die” is a bit of a musical and lyrical throwback for the band themselves, sounding like it could have come from their bare-bones Plan-It-X scene of yore.

O Pioneers!!! (on this recording, featuring AP scribe Sam Sutherland on percussion) kick up the ruckus with their more raucous brand of scorched-vocal punk rock, propelled forth with their usual jagged melodies. “Get Rich or Die Trying Part 2: Forever” adds another 50 Cent reference to the proceedings, and has a sick, unexpected tempo change near its beginning that brings everything to a screeching halt. Frontman Eric Solomon snarls his reflections of friendship fallouts on the hooky “Oak Island,” while “Party Time, Yeah” makes its case with slammed, sludgy stop-starts. These tracks are less immediately catchy than their other material, but they're just as insistent and driving, and retain the band's gravelly, As The Eternal Cowboy flair they've vibed on since 2009's Neon Creeps.

No Idea http://www.noidearecords.com

O Pioneers!!!’s “Oak Island”