Nomos/ The Men Split CS

Album: Nomos/The Men Split CS
Release: 2010
Label: Vinyl Rites

Tracklist:

1. Nomos - Omar Hammami
2. Nomos - Andrew Joseph Stack III
3. Nomos - Dale Nixon (Black Flag)
4. The Men - Twist The Knife
5. The Men - Impish
6. The Men - Walking Out On Love (The Nerves)

Vinyl Rites provides us with a split tape of two of the more exciting Brooklyn bands going at the moment: hometown drunks Nomos and the unpredictable and versatile the Men. Both bands end up each contributing two originals and a cover and this material that far outshines their previously recorded output.

Recorded by Will Dandy along with seven more songs for their upcoming one-sided 12" on Deranged, Nomos' new set of songs blow the old material out of the water. The songs are meaner, faster, and more relentless, all while the production is fuller, lending itself well to their particular brand of wild hardcore. The real star of the show is their vocalist, G-Baby. I felt the vocals on the demo were somewhat affected, but his vocals on this are so much more raw and soul-bearing. The lyrical content is far superior this time around, concerning terrorism, domestic and abroad, with the real-life quote "I am hatred" from "Omar Hammami" being particularly powerful. In the end, their new recordings are exponentially better than the demo, and, believe it or not, the 12" songs even trump this release.

Truth be told, I was expecting Nomos' side to heavily outweigh the Men's side and I couldn't have been more wrong. Don't misunderstand me, I thought the Men were great, but this is their dirtiest and nastiest shit as of yet. These songs, recorded directly to a 4-track, rage just as hard as the Nomos side; "Twist the Knife" is probably my favorite song on the whole split and the instrumental "Impish" is exhilirating throughout. With three prolific songwriters and two new LPs coming out soon, it doesn't look like the Men can be slowed down anytime soon.

Both bands also contribute a cover to the tape and it's hard to decide which is the intercontinental champion. Nomos brings the heaviness with an excellent cover of Black Flag's "Nothing Left Inside." The band really nails it, partially due to a cool guest appearance: The sick Ginn solo comes courtesy of Tony from Aerosols and SQRM. The Men pick something a little different with "Walking Out On Love" by power pop legends the Nerves. I don't really know what to say other than it's incredible.

When it comes down to it, this is exactly what a split should be. Neither band has to carry any dead weight from the other and both bands are stylistically different enough to keep things interesting. Very interesting. Both bands contribute their strongest material thus far and it's definitely one of the best releases of 2010 so far. Nomos and the Men will embark on a mini-tour in support of this tape on April 9-11, stopping in Albany, Boston, and Amherst. The tape is already sold out from the label, so your best chance to pick up a copy is from the bands themselves with the special tour version.

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