Two bands from the greater Los Angeles area have pooled their resources for a true god-tier hardcore split here that shall one day be regarded as one of the great roaring '20s split releases in a leage with, say, last year's Stunted Youth & Save Our Children LP. Naturally, the Animated Violence tunes garner most of my initial attention for not only did these dudes already catch my ear with two kickass tapes since 2022 but also considerably upped their craft and insanity on here with a sound as eclectic, playful and inventive as it's catchy, melodic and noisy-as-fuck nonetheless, making for a wild and bumpy unpredictable ride. But as much as this shit is right up my alley, that should by no means lead me to discount the Total Vacation tracks here which on the surface revel in a simpler early '80s oldschool direction yet are in no way less thrilling and packed with bright ideas and weird flourishes, only these tend to be more spread out here over roughly double the amount of shorter tunes and there's absolutely no arguing with instant hits like Chimera and Perspective / For Once.
