3 out of 5

Label: Witching Hour / Troufion

Produced by: Jeff Lewis (recorded by)

Two cuts from short-lived OH screamo group To Dream Of Autumn, and two early works from the longer-lived Racebannon of Indiana.

Such is the singing style of screamo that I admittedly didn’t realize TDoA had a female singer; that doesn’t plus or minus the effectiveness of their contributions here – both of which hit hard and fast, with some good breakdowns. That said, besides the relative tightness of the presentation (and an surprisingly clean, punchy recording for an indie 7″!) by Jeff Lewis, TDoA admittedly sound somewhat indistinguishable from bands in this vein of yelly, speedy punk rock.

That’s less true of Racebannon, in part – as always – thanks to Mike Anderson’s noteworthy rambly madman vocal style, but also due to, even at this stage, the band’s experimentation with ambience and noise as part of their dynamic, creating an interesting segue between their two tracks. But I’ll admit I’m looking for that stuff because I love the group; if I entered this unawares, I’d say something similar to the TDoA songs – Anderson’s performance aside, the music is mostly straight-ahead hardcore punk.