5 out of 5

Label: Head Records

Produced by: ?

If ever there was a better pairing.

Pneu and Don Vito are maestros of the “play it fast and with many notes” school of instrumental math rock, each with doses of silliness – think Oxes like abandon – in their approaches, but also each having a good sense of payoff-per-track so that various indulgences of scales and riffs feel apropos to the tune. (As apropos as a track like ‘Shuffle Your Feet For Guitar Fish’ could be called, at least.)

Alike but different – Pneu tends to do more of a herky-jerk Ex-Models thing; Don Vito leans more on rock – there are also tunes from each band I’d probably confuse with the other. So they chose wisely for this 7″ Don Vito takes on the guitar wizardry portion, basing tracks around scales and complex time changes, with ‘Guitar Fish’ a bit more playful, and ‘Schxxss Schwxxz’ a bit more post-rocky, though both moving fast and stuffed with detail.

On the B-side, Pneu’s ‘Yes To Rise’ doesn’t miss a beat on the denseness front, but the song is absolutely an epic take on this scene, going for arena-sized riffs that build and build. For as much fun as DV’s side is, Pneu’s is epic devil horns and headbanging.