Two of the midwest’s finest current bands team up to knock one out of the park.
Rating: 
Sweet Cobra/Get Rad – Split 7″
Underground Communique Records
The midwest has always been a hot spot for great punk rock bands dating back to the early days of hardcore. It must be either something in Lake Michigan or the fact that we are pretty much stuck inside half the year during winter that makes people creative musically but either way it’s a great place to live if you like the punk rock music. While the face and generations of midwest punk rock have changed over the years the quality has never suffered and currently we have some great bands around. Two of them, Sweet Cobra and Get Rad, have teamed up for a split 7″.
Get Rad formed out of the ashes of Since By Man, a band that just happened to be the best midwest hardcore band of the 2000s. They were something pretty special and it is nice to see that the end of that band led to at least one good newer one. Get Rad is a pretty straight-forward hardcore band with really thick and powerful guitars and a fast tempo. Mostly shouted vocals top off the energetic tunes and the two songs they contribute to this split are top-notch hardcore. It is a little reminiscent of later 1980’s hardcore. Great production, great energy, and great presentation. It both takes me back to some of my youth without feeling too retro. A more modern comparison would be they share some similarity to From Ashes Rise.
Sweet Cobra really surprised me with their three songs on this record. The stuff I’m familiar with (mostly their first album) was a little slower and heavier and a little more metal than the songs included here. They picked up the pace a bit for this material but it still has that great low-end they had on their earlier stuff. The vocals are a little more melodic and less aggressive. They have a great wall of guitar sound too, nice and thick. Sweet Cobra has three songs on this, one of which is a short instrumental number.
The two bands on this release have a nice contrast in sound but also compliment each other nicely. It’s hard to pick a winner because both bands are really high-caliber and different enough that you would be comparing apples to oranges. Pairing them on this record just seems to work and I found myself just constantly flipping it over and playing both sides over and over. These are definitely two of the best modern bands in the area currently and hopefully this split is a sign of more new material from both in the future.
The record comes in colored vinyl (my copy was clear) and is housed in a full color fold-over sleeve that has printing on both the inside and outside. The record also comes with a download code so you can get the mp3s for your iPod. If you have never heard of these bands this split is a great place to start. Those of you who like hardcore and heavier punk music will find a lot of enjoyment out of both of these bands and would be wise to pick this single up as it offers a lot of quality for a very small price.
