Atheists, Reconsider

Split releases often tend toward the lackluster — whether LP, EP, or single — because although it may seem like a good way to put out two bands' material when each group doesn't have enough to sustain a full-length, it's more likely they just had leftover tracks that never needed to see the light of day at all. Not true with the 2002 split EP by Brooklyn sister bands Oneida and Liars called Atheists, Reconsider, where both bands contribute three tracks, two of their own and the third being a cover of one of the other band's songs. These two units have less in common in style than in ethos, as both are uncompromisingly artistic and sonically ballistic. Liars are known for their conceptualist tendencies and arty no wave revivalism, where Oneida meld the driving propulsion of Krautrock with the bombast and pretension of '70s hard rock. "Rose and Licorice" starts off with what surely must be Oneida, but no, it's Liars doing their Oneida cover in faithful homage. Then "Privilege" is obviously Oneida ripping through a typical frenetic headbanger in under two minutes. Back to Liars, then, and the minimalist organ and percussion workout "All in All a Careful Party," with its stoned mantra "Living and working and laughing with ease." Next comes a return to Oneida and their Steppenwolf-meets-Can barnburner "Fantastic Morgue." Just to throw the listener off, the fifth track is again Oneida, but this time doing their Liars cover, "Every Day Is a Child with Teeth" — a take on the song even more ridiculously over the top than Liars' own version on their Fins to Make Us More Fish-Like EP, this one eventually implodes into a junkyard percussion sequence straight out of Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones. And the last track swings back to Liars with "Dorothy Taps the Toe of the Tinman," which is little more than eerie drone, static blasts, childlike percussion, snippets of dialog, and singer Angus Andrew calling out "Hello...?" over and over into the darkness. The symbiotic relationship between these two outfits makes this EP a coherent whole, and it easily ranks among both bands' best releases.