...and to Become One

An eight-track split CD, And the Two Become One features four songs each by L.A.'s the Mercy Killers and Belgian quintet Enemy Rose. Batting first, the Mercy Killers' tracks showcase the group's glam-inflected punk (think vampire-era Damned), with its strengths and weaknesses intact. First among those strengths is the band's melodic heft and knack for subtle but effective pop hooks sprinkled within the roaring riffs; every one of these songs is instantly memorable. The band's primary fault is guitarist Craig Fairbaugh's tendency to go over the top vocally, particularly on the urgent, propulsive "End Transmission," Fairbaugh's poor choice to deliver the chorus in a sore-throat screamo wail saps a lot of the energy out of the otherwise exciting song. Rescued from the band's self-released demo EP, these songs feature a promising but flawed young band in an early stage of their development. In comparison, the four tracks by Enemy Rose are vocally far superior, except on the closing "Down in the City," on which singer Tommy X chooses to sing in a distracted, off-key warble reminiscent of the Television Personalities' Dan Treacy during his "off his meds" phase, complete with the vocal being mixed down and subsumed in an ocean of echo. Musically, however, the band lacks the sparkle of the Mercy Killers, instead favoring competent but relatively uninspired takes on '70s punk styles. Overall, the CD ends up a draw.