Nag / Lip – Split 7″ – Styrofoam Drone

nag lip split 7 space taker sounds 2018 Sarah Mason, who used to run the Pelican Pow Wow label in New Orleans, is now the mind behind Space Taker Sounds. This new split 7″ is one of her latest projects for the young label, putting two trashy, like-minded garage punk bands on what is still the best sized wax platter on the planet.

Really though. We’re going to endorse Space Taker Sounds here. Is there any better format than split 7″ vinyl? Two bands, cramming as much material as they can on their side of 7″ wax. Sometimes it’s done to boast similarities between the two bands, or to display their differences from one another, or simply because they toured together, became friends, and wanted to release music together. That all said, there are almost too many good reasons why a split 7″ is so unique.

Here we have Nag from Atlanta and Lip from Baltimore. For Lip, this is their debut release of any sort. On the flipside, Nag has been around for a little while now, having previous releases on Total Punk, Chunklet and Third Uncle Records, to name a few. Both come with a sincerely succinct garage punk delivery, stuffing these grooves full with lick after lick of can-opening guitar crunches. It’s all driven by crashing percussion and an undying sense of pent-up aggression, which becomes clear as soon as this thing takes off.

Lip’s “Road” does the trick, laced with these grungy and sinister guitars. There’s an overarching beam of melodic guitar fuzz scattered through the track, driven by bruising percussion and a generally hardened approach to punk rock. There’s this undying sense of a gaping void sweeping you in as the track unravels. Nag’s “Surfer” is a melodic, fast-paced squealer that splits off into a warbled, synth driven arrangement. It’s fueled by static and a dizzying buzz, eventually fading away into the black hole that Lip tore into the universe two tracks prior.

Despite all that, you’ve got nothing to fear. Get an earfull with these two tracks below, and prepare yourself for whatever comes next from either group.