4 out of 5

Label: Electric Human Project

Produced by: Mike Dixon

Man, punker / screamo / hardcore 7″ are, like, a staple of the scenes… but can be so hard to assess if you’re not a fan of the bands. The nature of this stuff sometimes requires it to be cumulative to be effective; also: 7″s tended to be the go-to when you didn’t necessarily have a lot of studio money, so the quality can be… questionable.

Quality is iffy on this 7″ (or 6″, rather; stay strange, kids), but the ‘cumulative’ bit can be solved when you can fit three tracks on one side of a single. That would be Mara’akate – a short-lived Indiana act who are a good pairing for Racebannon: both employ a somewhat atypical vocal style that’s kind of unhinged (not screaming exactly, but not shout-singing either), and each have a distinct but similar approach to punk as well, that’s much more loose-limbed and frantic than the standard fare.

So on their three tracks, the group manages to stuff in sufficient buildup to ‘No U In Accommodate,’ some noisy bridging to ‘The Worst Kind,’ then takes a beat and unleashes slightly more straightforward hardcore on ‘Why and How.’ The lyric sheet added to this impressively-put-together package shows off that the group had a bit to say as well – and it’s rather impressively focused versus Racebannon’s more babbling approach.

…I mean, which I love. Mike Anderson’s “atypical vocal style” is especially so; if Mara-akate’s impact can kind of get lost in the mushy recording, that’s nearly impossible for Racebannon’s attack. ‘Ookie’ also has a very notable groove that’s pretty consistent throughout the track, and only misses from being an all-timer because it kind of lacks a conclusion.

With the unique / obnoxious 6″ cut and the similarly unique (or annoying to deal with) packaging, plus solid outings from two notable screamo acts, this is a worthwhile split to track down.