Skimmer / The Hum Hums - Split CD

Fixing A Hole (2016)

This split CD pairs up one of my long time favorite UK punk rockers, Skimmer, with one of my more recent favorites from Japan, The Hum Hums.  It's a perfect match as both bands are attacking the same types of pop sounds, but they're approaching it from two different directions.

Skimmer has been kicking around since the 90's and all of these years later they are still churning our their brand of ragged pop punk.  The tunes are rough and powerful and the band has always been able to capture a real palpable energy with their fast buzzsaw guitars and high pitched vocals.  All three songs on their portion of the split are short, fast and insanely catchy.  It's comforting that all of these years later, you can still count on Skimmer to deliver the goods.

The Hum Hums take a different take.  Their sound is more of a mix of mid 90's Lookout records meets the Beach Boys.  It's a bit more melodic than Skimmer and boy oh boy can these guys crank out some incredible vocal harmonies.  The guitars are loud and crunchy and everything the band does is tight and precise, forgoing the rough around the edges approach and instead relying on their ability to write absolutely perfect pop tunes.

While they each have their own take on punk rock, both Skimmer and The Hum Hums are incredible.  They each take punk rock and cram in pop hooks and killer songwriting.  The only thing I wish was that this split EP was even longer, three songs by each band just isn't enough.

The Hum Hums - Split CD:

https://thehumhums.bandcamp.com/album/skimmer-the-hum-hums

I couldn't find the Skimmer songs anywhere online.