The Decline / Sic Waiting – Year Of The Crow / Stay Awake 7″ (Various Labels)

Here’s another terrific split release by two exceptional punk rock groups who’s been active for years. On one side, we have The Decline, a well-known Australian skate punk outlet, while on the other side, we have Sic Waiting, a melodic punk rock group from the United States. The Decline were prolific since their beginnings by releasing outstanding full-lengths like I’m Not Gonna Lie To You, Are You Gonna Eat That, Resister, and Flash Gordon Ramsay Street. Besides these full-length recordings, The Decline also released dozen of singles, extended plays, and split releases during the years. Sic Waiting released three full-length albums, such as Your Name In Lights, Anchors Astray, Derailer, and a Vices EP.

The title of this exceptional split release is pretty much self-explanatory. Both bands contributed with one composition. The Decline offers Year Of The Crow on A-side, while Sic Waiting contributes with Stay Awake on the B-side. However, the digital version of this split release includes some extra songs like Trash Course by The Decline and A Place With A View by Sic Waiting. Year of The Crow commences with pacey beats and nearly quiet chord progressions, but all of a sudden, this composition transits into a full-blown skate punk composition fully stacked with classic maneuvers that define this particular genre. The Decline are famous for their well-balanced combination of melodies and ferocious dynamics, so this number represents their recognizable sound in the brightest light.

On the other side, Stay Awake offers nearly the same articulations as The Decline. Nevertheless, this particular number features Brittany Howell as a guest vocalist. Her beautiful voice decorates the verses, while the male lead vocals support pre-chorus with some backing vocals and completely dominate over the choruses. Stay Awake includes various guitar shreds, mainly hearable during the verses, but these maneuvers are evolving into powerful chord progressions during the choruses. The rhythm section supports these strumming maneuvers with metric stability and warm low-end tones. The entire composition resonates with a nearly cathartic ambiance, mainly because of the variety of notes combined all together in harmony.

Both tunes operate together in harmony like they’re purposely composed for this occasion, but they weren’t. Year Of The Crow is a previously unreleased track, recorded at Underground Studios in Booragoon, Freo, WA by Brody Simpson & Mark McEwen in 2017. Stay Awake is also a previously unreleased track taken from a Derailer B-side sessions, recorded sometime between 2014 and 2015. This split release comes on a limited edition mint pearl translucent/opaque and bone white splatter thanks to Disconnect Disconnect Records, Bearded Punk Records, Pee Records, and Thousand Islands Records. Head over to your preferred record label and grab this eye-peeling piece of plastic.