In Rotation: Death of Self/Bad Timing - Bomb the Burbs

Two Chicago area punk bands match up on the Bomb the Burbs split. The release features two new songs from Death of Self and Bad Timing, along with each band covering one of the other band's songs. Death of Self kicks it off with fast hardcore tracks laced with furious guitar solos. The vocals on Death of Self's songs here remind me of the singer from the Worcester, Massachusetts folk punk collective Speaker for the Dead. Their voices have something in common, but here that sound runs over guitar driven hardcore instead of brassy folk punk.

Bad Timing's opening track, "Rant," is exactly what it sounds like. The song is a tirade against the system, starting over deliberate, funky bass and careening off into hardcore punches before swinging back to the slower pace. "Kill Your TV" occupies the ska punk territory that is more typical of Bad Timing songs. These songs fit well together with Death of Self's half of the split to make this well worth listening to for fans of ska, punk and hardcore.

Death of Self and Bad Timing both play at the Weenie Hut in Chicago on April 29 along with Chasing Chimera, Lever, The Audio Dead and Habitats. More information on that show here. Stream Bomb the Burbs below.