Gleam Garden / Chestnut Road - Split 7" - Green Vinyl (UK Version)

 

Brassneck / Snuffy Smiles (2015)

Now we're really talking.  A split 7" by two bands that I already have a bunch of records by and two bands that I just love.  Plus, with the addition of Brassneck records as a label co-conspirator, we get a rare Snuffy Smiles 7" on green vinyl.  This 7" was made with two covers.  The one is pictured above is of the Brassneck version.  Snuffy Smiles has their own exclusive cover for this record, but I'll post that picture tomorrow.

We'll start up with Gleam Garden.  A wonderful Japanese band that have been cranking out tremendous records for the last few years.  They've managed to pull from the influences of older Japanese pop punk bands like Blew or Husking Bee, but still keep things interesting and fresh.  Both songs on this record are just picture perfect examples what Gleam Garden is capable of.  "Empty Night, Empty Cry" is an upbeat and ultra catchy rocker in the best possible way.  "Stop The World" slows things down just a bit but still maintains the energy that the band is known for.  The closing moments of the song, in particular, are just perfect.

The other band on this record are from France.  They are Chestnut Road and if you've been reading my website for any length of time you know how much I love this band.  Even though they are from a completely different country, they are carrying the torch of my favorite music scenes ever, the mid 90s melodic punk rock of the UK.  The most obvious comparison is to the band Broccoli, but you can certainly hear how the band has been influenced by other bands from that scene as well as some of the great Japanese bands of the 90s like Lovemen or Blew.  Their two songs on this split are just as good as anything the band has ever released.  I just adore this band and encourage you to buy anything of theirs you can get your hands on.

And now an unpaid message from PopKid Records:

Speaking of which, I like Chestnut Road so much, I'm going to help people get their hands on at least one of their records.  There's a little something up on the PopKid Records website as well, but I'm thrilled to announce that PopKid will be releasing the new Chestnut Road full length in a few weeks. It's the first new record we're putting out on PopKid in about ten years.  I couldn't be more excited and I can't wait to tell you more about it and start selling these records.  We're not going to do a preorder because we hate those. Once the records are in hand, they will be for sale.  You will be able to get this new record in the US from PopKid, in Europe from the wonderful Brassneck Records and In Japan from the legendary Snuffy Smiles.  We're streaming one song from the record on our Bandcamp page, so go check it out here: https://popkid.bandcamp.com/album/lp-ii

And publicly, please let me thank Scott from Brassneck, Yoichi from Snuffy Smiles and everyone in Chestnut Road for letting us be a part of this album.  We couldn't be more excited.

Gleam Garden / Chestnut Road - Split 7":
https://brassneckrecords.bandcamp.com/album/gleam-garden-chestnut-road-split-7