Pretty Matty / Sad Baxter Why Not Be Something That You Are? / Lately split 7″
This is a two-song split with PRETTY MATTY on first. Their track is gritty and their singer is really going for it. You can hear their voice ready to give out but it never does. It’s not exact, but the opening riff on the PRETTY MATTY track really reminds me of the distorted sounds of JESUS AND MARY CHAIN’s “The Living End.” I love this track. It’s raspy, poppy, and quick. They get straight to the point. And the backup vocals are perfect. Now on to side two! SAD BAXTER is quite different than the first band’s track. It’s slower, and has a brighter melody, plus rich, breathy singing that reminds me of the singer of BULLY but with far less rasp. There’s a set of lyrics towards the end of the song that goes as follows: “I blame myself for thinkin’ and feelin’ / Blame myself for hating you / Blame myself for sleepin’ too much / Blame myself like I’m not enough / Blame myself for thinkin’ crazy / I blame myself for all things lately,” and boy is that awfully close to my quarantine experience. So I’m going to stop blaming myself for not knowing this band and instead go listen to all of their songs now. That goes for you too PRETTY MATTY. Both of y’all are fantastic.