by Nathan Cardiff

I’m always a fan of collaborations and split albums between excellent artists. Here we get the socially conscious punks of Red Kate and The Bad Ideas slaying two tunes a piece for us.

Red Kate’s last release was last summer’s rowdy When The Troubles Come and their side of this record continues their reputation of fast paced, wild as hell rock ’n’ roll. “On My Mind” is a catchy lovelorn song with shredding guitars and those signature gruff vocals (“And love is fickle/When its cruel, it can bring you to your knees/But when it’s true, yeah it’s very simple/This love is yours for you to do with as you please”). Red Kate’s second track is a cover of Naked Raygun’s “New Dreams,” which they keep to true to form by playing it as an all out drag race off a cliff. The band rocks so hard they burst out of your stereo, never stopping until they’ve blown apart into a million pieces.

The Bad Ideas contribute the gnarly “Apocalypse Detroit,” a rough anthem with snarling vocals and squealing guitars. The first lyrics come out as a battle cry (“Detroit has fallen! Apocalypse is upon us!”) with drums slamming like bones breaking. This song absolutely rules and shakes you to make a decision (“Fight! Fight back! You have to choose!”). I’ll tell you right now, I’m on The Bad Ideas’ side. Their second track is the mosh-pit inducing “I’m Stuck” with dizzying guitars and awesome “fuck you to the man” lyrics (with some tongue-in-cheek humor as well).

Red Kate and The Bad Ideas are a perfect match and in an eight minute record, they have more fight in them than some of us could ever hope for. Clench your fists. Time to go.

Favorite Tracks: “On My Mind” & “Apocalypse Detroit”

by Nathan Cardiff

Editor’s note: You can attend the release show for Red Kate and the Bad Ideas’ split on Saturday, May 31st, at Harling’s in Kansas City.