Two of the best pop-punk bands Illinois has to offer team up for this split 7", and both the Copyrights and the Brokedowns do the Land of Lincoln proud.

The Copyrights, who had better release a new full-length in 2010, pack their side with a pair of two-minute bursts of energy. "I'd Rather Die or Something" has the sort of gang yelling and jagged guitar work akin to much of the material on the band's last LP, Learn the Hard Way; the song kicks off with a ruckus, then the band draws it back for a tick (courtesy of said jagged guitar) before returning to the loud part established at the song's beginning. The good ol' loud/quiet/loud dynamic -- when it's on, it's on. "Get Got," on the other hand, is delightfully stupid; it's a more mid-tempo affair that incorporates what sounds like a combination of space-age lasers and police sirens into an anthemic base with positive results.

The Brokedowns are decidedly more gruff and less conventional than their fellow statesmen, and their side of this split is a solid representation of that. "A People's History of the Ironic Haircut" is anchored by bouncy, almost angular chords and throaty yells; it's awfully original, a term not often associated with this brand of pop-punk. "Friendship? Again?" is a quicker track, with some solid drum fills and surprisingly visceral verses; it doesn't hit as quite as hard as "Haircut" but it's decent enough.

This being a No Idea release, one can expect that the cover art will be awesome and/or ridiculous (in this case, a gorilla shooting pink lasers from its eyes) and that the vinyl will be on some sort of muddy amalgamation of neutral colors (my copy is a nice shade of light brown). Top-notch all around.

---- Punknews.org