The Dukes of Hillsborough and Altaira - Sometimes You Eat The Bar, Sometimes the Bar Eats You / 2004 A.D.D. Records / http://www.altairamusic.com / http://www.dukeboys.net / http://www.addwreckedkids.com / Reviewed 07 October 2004
The Dukes of Hillsborough play a Pulley/Rise Against style of sped-up emo/punk that recalls the best days of The Replacements and Husker Du. �Beerito� starts off their section of the split, and Jeff�s vocals are just as responsible for pushing the tracks to a whole new tempo, matching well with the equally scratchy guitars. Continuing their break-neck style for �Danica McKeller�, the Dukes of Hillsborough are the golden children, incapable of making anything in the way of errors on the disc. The track lengths found are optimum � long enough to get a feel for the band but not long enough to bore listeners with repetitive riffs. Changing up their style enough to allow some introspection in �Whoa! To You Oh Earth and Sea�, The Dukes of Hillsborough have a Corrosion of Conformity-esque break down, a true crash through the speeding vehicle that was the rest of their section of the disc. The Dukes of Hillsborough put together a very solid side of this split, slapping together a very innovative type of punk that is radically different from anything that is currently being overhyped by Fearless, Epitaph, or Drive-Thru. Finishing off their side of the split with the chaos of �Naugahyde�, the band creates something beautiful out of something beautiful, a statement that can be used to cover the band in toto.
Continuing the killer tempo of The Dukes of Hillsborough, Altaira infuses a larger amount of pop-punk into their style. Now, they aren�t the next Blink 182, but the infusion of that style of music with the same take-no-prisoners style of The Dukes of Hillsborough makes an entirely different entity. True melody is found during �Warhurst� where the smooth yet scratchy vocals of the band run alongside the omnipresent bass. �Opportuna� is hands down the best track on the CD, as it mixes the everyone-on-the-mic nature of Operation: Cliff Clavin and Against Me! with an oi-sputtered out style of lyrics. The double-barreled lyrics during �Billy�s Song� has two distinct currents, and make it immediately a classic, continuing the same style that Altaira has culled together through the CD and infuses a little Ten Foot Pole to the mix. To further drive the point hope, the band chooses to end �Billy�s Song� with the same repeating guitar line. ADD has two killer bands that I�m sure they will be sad to see go after they are picked up by a larger label � it really is only a matter of time before these bands get the recognition they deserve.
Top Tracks � Naugahyde (Dukes of Hillsborough), Billy�s Song � Altaira
Rating: 8.6/10