Photo courtesy of The SplitsThe Splits, as legend or old one sheet tell us, took their name by combining their two favorite bands, The Slits and The Spits. Expressing such love for two of the titans of punk, postpunk, and garage is a hell of a thing to live up to, but The Splits, in their short career so far, have managed to do so with aplomb. The first self-titled album by the Helsinki band (released on Germany’s singular and aptly named P Trash label and criminally neglected in the USA) was Pacific Northwest-style sorrow rock at its finest, as emotionally devastating of an exercise in garage primitivism as the first White Stripes album. Now The Splits are back with a collection of streamlined ragers torn straight from the Murder City/Dead Moon/Wipers songbook; these songs are perfect for dumping everyone you’ve ever met. Your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your friends and family—they all have got to go. And here’s the soundtrack.Every song on The Splits II is about bad, bad babies, rotten friends, and broken hearts. At turns trashy and completely earnest in its hurt, it’s perfect for either crying in your cups or, depending on one’s inclination, throwing said cups down the bar at someone who maybe looks like someone you used to make out with. If that doesn’t sound like the best time, I don’t understand you at all.The Splits II is out on the consistently swell Dirtnap Records on April 21. Noisey is pleased as punch to be able to stream it in its entirety now, below:
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