Dream World / Subversas: split cassette

Dream World / Subversas: split cassette (self-released) These two Richmond bands team up for one of the most well-matched splits I’ve heard in some time. While Dream World and Subversas sound very different, both make music grounded in the anarcho-punk tradition, but their music doesn’t sound like cosplay. Dream World you know, of course, from their recent debut LP we released on Sorry State, and their four tracks pick up right where the LP left off. The recording is rawer this time with Brendan from Cicada and Hologram (among many others) behind the controls. While the texture of the recording is different than the LP and the vocals are mixed noticeably lower, Dream World still sounds like Dream World: riffy, hythmically dynamic and strangely ethereal. Like their split-mates, Dream World’s lyrics address contemporary social issues like how consumer culture has reshaped our world (“Warehouse”) and the many ways in which social media rots our brains (“Entertainment”), approaching these topics in a way that feels perfectly suited for their powerful, slightly dreamy music. As for Subversas, I missed their earlier tape and haven’t caught them live yet, so this is the first time I’m hearing them. Subversas have a hookier, more traditionally punky take on the anarcho sound with simple, bright-sounding major key riffs and high-pitched shouted vocals that remind me of Naked Aggression or Blatz. The rhythm section keeps things lively with very loose drumming and bass blown out to incomprehensibility. As with a lot of anarcho-punk bands, the lyrics are central. The lyric sheet is worth a read as tracks like “Liberal White Gaze” and “Psychic Death Feed” nail the confrontational tone I want from my political lyrics, while “Disaffected Consent” is more inward-looking, addressing the difficult-to-maintain balance between remaining politically engaged and taking care of yourself. Recommended If you’re looking for contemporary punk that’s honest, vital, and rooted in the genre’s traditions without being beholden to them.