Electric Chair and Physique have both been very active bands within the punk scene in Olympia, Washington as well as regulars on Iron Lung Records, so it makes sense that they would come together for a split. In just under fifteen minutes each group contributes five tracks that capture a different side of the punk spectrum and build upon their previous releases from the last few years, but no matter which side you’re on there’s plenty of noise and intensity. Whether you’ve heard of either of these bands before or not, if you like fast and noisy punk and D-Beat there’s plenty here in this short run that will make the chaotic ride worth it.
The first five songs are new ones from Electric Chair, and they’ve continued refining some of the ideas from 2023’s Act of Aggression while also slowing things down a bit. For those that were expecting the sheer speed of that album or 2021’s Social Capital, you might be surprised that to hear that “Weed the Rat Out” opts for a slower tempo where the bass line lumbers forward with purpose and the guitars hit hard with the occasional wild freak-out. The speed does come back on “Caught on Tape” and “Can’t Quit Drinking”, but the tempos shift a bit more often on this split and give Electric Chair a slightly different feel than before. Stylistically it gives me hints of Poison Idea and Rudimentary Peni, but some of the guitar freak-outs and crunchier tone on songs like “Barbed Wire Fence” also channel some of the rawer garage rock out there. The biggest change comes on the vocal front, as where Act of Aggression pushed the singing/screaming into the background a bit here it’s one of the most prominent elements. There’s still quite a bit of variety, as you get cleaner singing/spoken sections alongside the much harsher high-pitched screams. It does come off as just a bit less weird and quirky than in the past, instead opting for a bit more intensity all the way through, but this approach still suits Electric Chair well.
Electric Chair certainly has their share of rawer tones and harsher vocals, but as soon as the Physique side of the split begins the noise levels shoot through the roof. The five songs here are D-Beat in its loudest and most weaponized form, and each note from the guitar aims to be as ear piercing as possibly. It’s a familiar approach that falls somewhere between the European and Scandinavian takes on the genre, with the noisiness also bringing more recent acts like Napalm Raid and 偏執症者 Paranoid to mind. Songwriting wise Physique continues the same path forged by Again and Overcome by Pain, opting for a steamroll approach that has some uniformity between each of the songs but creates the maximum impact possible. The sound is not just noisy but very bottom heavy as well, creating a density that is hard to match for bands of this type and that’s something that’s continued to draw me to Physique’s material. The vocals are also worth mentioning as they are extremely low and downright inhuman sounding, which is where some of the additional Napalm Raid comparisons are likely to come from. It is worth noting that even with the uniform approach, there are some unexpected riffs on songs like “Drowning in Debt” that bring in some slight melodies and that makes things less one-dimensional.
The two bands on this split may pull from very different sides of the hardcore punk spectrum, but they complement each other well and give listeners high energy material from beginning to end. Electric Chair skews more towards the driving bass lines and scathing hardcore punk of the 80s with some rock ‘n roll thrown in for good measure, while Physique hits you with ear piercing D-Beat that doesn’t let up for its entirety. I do think that the albums from each band are just a bit better and would send newcomers to check those out first, but if you’re familiar with each one this is a worthy pick-up as it showcases that they continue to refine and evolve their writing.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg