PUTTING OUT and GIVING UP are two bands who have recently joined forces to release a split cassette. We have here a diverse and provocative handful of songs with aggressive and intelligent lyrics. These three tracks from GIVING UP and four heavy hitters from PUTTING OUT will have you roaming the emotional gamut, from wallowing in heartbreak to hanging upside down from the rafters, immersed in positive vibes.

Listening to PUTTING OUT is like communing with the inner demons of a 'tween mourning the loss of his or her dog. Simple, melodic, yet dark and heavy. These four songs taste of the extracted, boiled essence of humanity; a little bitter and sweaty, but truthful and undeniable. Meghan Dowd and Patrick Rios (also of MEAH!) are two best friends from Chicago, currently spending their court-mandated vacation time in the Coastal Bend region of south Texas, where they fish, write music, and walk the dog.

The sound of GIVING UP is like being trapped in The Phantom of the Operas stairwell. Half hearing the haunting organ of a brooding, ghouling, headbanging basement dweller, and half hearing the exalting chorus of the choir jitterbugging upstairs. Jenny Rose, Sean Roth, and Mikie Poland (also of STATE CHAMPION) are accompanied on these recordings by longtime friend Dustin Van Ness on drums. They all grew up in the state of Iowa and return there to write music. They currently are split between Louisville, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

This hand-screened cassette is 24 minutes in total running time. It comes with a 4 x 6 ft. screen-printed poster of the cover, as well as a digital download of all the songs. We invite you to put up with having to hook your tape deck back up to your stereo and give out to these charming songs of dodging the bad vibes and embracing the good ones. PUTTING OUT and GIVING UP.