This split from Gold Standard Laboratories features the talents of Cleveland's
This Moment in Black History and similarly garage punk-inclined Texans the Fatal Flying Guilloteens (note the spelling change on the latter). Both bands grasp at the manic, sweaty tune of
the Nation of Ulysses for inspiration, crossing that grimy pike of a sound with hyperactivity and a cynical sense of humor. Highlights of
This Moment's set include "Pity the Back Seat" -- jerkier than anything on '04's Midwesterncuttalistick -- as well as a cover of
Devo's "Wiggly World" with a great amplification of the original's Moog squelch breakdowns. As for the Fatal Flying Guilloteens, they're not as angular as their counterparts, as the drunken glee in the raucous, loose guitars of "Tiger vs. Gator" proves. And though the sequencing doesn't make it quite clear, whichever group contributes the rambling studio conversation about "different levels of jam" definitely gets the bigger laugh. ~ Johnny Loftus