thedonproject
"Braid / Corm"
◉ ◉ ◉ ○ ○(3/5: decent)
Emo 7" vinyl
Polyvinyl PRC-015 (1997)
I paid $4.5 for this record.
One of my favorite 90's tricks is the use of samples from movies in songs. I don't know what it is, maybe the instant familiarity, the melodrama, or the contrast, but I really enjoy that simple addition. Braid starts this split 7" with a sample from a Woody Allen film I've never seen called Crimes and Misdemeanors. I only know this because it's credited on the back. I also read on the internet that this was the last release with the original Braid drummer. It's a bit of a shame because it's not the drumming that stands out on this track, it's the very nice twinkly guitar work. This really seems like when Braid got their sound together, right before the release of Frame and Canvas. It has a good build and some nice breaks on the choruses. The lyrics are a hint at a bittersweet love song or maybe a longing song of loss of love. It's a nice song, but not amazing.

Corm bring a clear hardcore background to the split. They start with some deep quiet vocals over a slightly too hardcore drum beat. The chorus breaks and the vocals get almost screamy, but the guitar stays atmospheric. The drums are still too hardcore. It's sort of like this video. Everything seems sort of out of place with this one, actually. There's a dramatic decrescendo that's supposed to blow up and be awesome, but the song just fades and falters and then stumbles into a vocal solo that is just too melodramatic. "To see the face of my son" is shouted into the room and is just kind of weird instead. The faster part at the end is great, but the surrounding song is a bummer.

If you like this review, you can buy me a coffee.

Tracks:
A: (Strawberryann) SwitzerlandBraid
B: Traded Green TreesCorm
Last updated: 05/03/2020
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