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You know The Brokedowns have a new record on the way when songs like “Honk If You’re Horny” and “Osama Van Halen” are afoot. Chicagoland’s best-kept secret has once again emerged to collaborate with producer Joe Gac (Meat Wave, The Reaganomics, etc.) and delivered 14 new bangers. Every few years they surprise us with a batch of aggressive/catchy punk songs (imagine George Carlin fronting a band that sounds like Dillinger Four meets Hot Snakes), and we’re always honored to work with these irreverent rockers. This is their fourth album for Red Scare, and we’re doing “khaki” colored vinyl for the landmark occasion. It was either that or a tiny pair of Dockers inserted into each LP…

Perfect. I’ve been waiting for this record since it was announced last year. It’s a match made in heaven. Take the lyrics of my favorite Brokedowns song, “Done with Funk,” where they sing, “Slow death! We’re all choking on the slow death!” In my humble opinion, the Brokedowns can do no wrong at this point. It’s been three years since their last LP, but they’ve tided us over with splits with a number of fantastic artists. The roster of bands that have done splits with the Brokedowns is better than most modern record labels. The Slow Death provide a nice counterpoint to the heavy hardcore-inspired punk that the Brokedowns lay down, but even The Slow Death seem pulled into the sonic vortex of The Brokedowns, offering three of their heaviest offerings I’ve heard from them. If you are a fan of modern punk and you haven’t checked out either of these bands, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Grade: A.

–Bryan Static (Red Scare)

Alright here's a release from It's Alive Records that I just had to get in. Both bands on this split absolutely rule! The Brokedowns are an insanely underrated band from the mid-west of the United States who play a gruff yet melodic brand of punk rock that is utterly their own! Keep a beer on standby when listening to these dudes. Vacation Bible School have sort of a 90's pop-punk/punk rock sound. It's a little more straight forward than The Brokedowns (who are very difficult to describe as it is) but bloody hell, they do what they do well! Raspy vocals, fast paced, snotty. This split is an awesome match up of two truly overlooked bands.

Release #: IAR-67

Release Date: May  2013

Track Listing:

1. This Future Sucks (The Brokedowns)
2. Sean, Bless This Shit (The Brokedowns)
3. The Same Mistakes Endlessly Repeated (On Repeat) (The Brokedowns)
4. All To Blame (Vacation Bible School)
5. Middle Son(g) (Vacation Bible School)
6. Left Behind (The Kirk Cameron Story) (Vacation Bible School)

Pressing Info: 

300 black vinyl, 200 white vinyl on It's Alive Records.

New Brokedowns songs are always welcome in these parts. You gotta keep up with how they’re gonna turn the gruff punk genre on its head. Song structure? Fuck it. Who shackled us up in these verse / chorus / verse / bridge / double chorus chains anyways? I hear a new album is in the works, but until then check out the three tracks on this 7”. Innovative and catchy, like if D. Boone grew up listening to D4 and Tiltwheel. Wide Angles also know how to hold it down with honest, heartfelt melodic punk that pines but never whines. These songs leave you wanting more, which is good ‘cause it looks like they also have an LP coming out soon.

 –Daryl Gussin (Cassette Deck) - Razorcake

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

Brokedowns: How rad would it be if the Brokedowns got to sing at the funeral of George W. Bush instead of someone like Huey Lewis? And then they got to shoot the M-16s at the end and use a string of flags as a slip’n’slide. I know that’s coming from left field, but I think that’d be great. Maybe it’s that their songs are serious laments—barky and staccato—but in a way that smells in the pits like a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Turkish Techno: Are getting more tightly wound with each release that comes through Razorcake HQ, and when they’re spinning on the turntable, instead of picturing a hula girl on a dashboard, I see one Martin Ploy III, known to many of us as Party Marty, spilling half his beer, smiling his fuckin’ face off, then yelling along to the band while pointing to their heads. They sound exactly like that.

 –todd (Traffic Street)

Three songs by both bands. One cover song by both bands. Millions of brain cells were killed in the making of this record. A split release with our bro label Let’s Pretend Records.

Side A (The Brokedowns): Who Let The Dicks Out? Viking Birthday Party Full On Idle

Side B (Sass Dragons): Bury My Shell At Wounded Knee Don’t Swear To God, Swear To Me Andre Young

Three songs by both bands. One cover song by both bands. Millions of brain cells were killed in the making of this record. A split release with our bro label Let’s Pretend Records.

Side A (The Brokedowns): Who Let The Dicks Out? Viking Birthday Party Full On Idle

Side B (Sass Dragons): Bury My Shell At Wounded Knee Don’t Swear To God, Swear To Me Andre Young

You got peanut butter on my chocolate! You got chocolate on my peanut butter! That pretty much sums up the tasty mesh when you combine these two Chicago-land bands onto one split 7-inch. The last three years have been a major revival for Chicago favorites the Arrivals. Paddy of Dillinger Four took over the reigns on bass guitar for the Arrivals and the band was finally able to churn out what I consider to be my favorite release of 2007, Marvels of Industry, on Recess Records. Last year wasn't too shabby for Elgin locals the Brokedowns, either. They released the hard-hitting New Brains for Everyone on THICK Records and played a relentless amount of great local shows. This split is just further evidence that these two bands right now are unstoppable.

The Arrivals start things off with three powerful songs, two from Lil' Dave and one from Issac. All three songs sound like they would have fit comfortably on Marvels of Industry. "You Make Me a Creep" is my favorite track from their side -- it has a perfect pop-punk melody with melancholy lyrics. And while the Arrivals side is great in itself, it is the Brokedowns side that really shines the brightest on this split. Upon first listen to "Stop Snitchin'," you'll be hooked. I'm still not completely sure on all of the lyrics to "This TV Runs on Diesel" but that hasn't stopped me from singing along to it at the top of my lungs every time I listen to it.

Overall, the person who thought of putting these two bands together for a split 7-inch deserves some kudos. Both bands contribute three great songs and their styles fit perfectly together for a split. If you don't live anywhere near Chicago but want to know what the big deal is about these two bands, this might be the perfect introduction to get you hooked. Before you know it you'll want to hop a train and move to the windy city.

-- PUNKNEWS.ORG

New Brains for Everyone LP: The long overdue vinyl release of one of my favorite records. The Brokedowns take all of the best elements of punk and hardcore to create some of the smartest, most creative, catchy, energetic anthems you could ever hope to hear. I'm not generally excited about the idea of "reissues" but this record is one giant exception. Recommended for fans of Dillinger Four, Off With Their Heads, and Witches With Dicks. (Traffic Street)

New Brains for Everyone LP

Vinyl LP (123 Clear Red, 450 Black) March 13, 2010 Traffic Street Records / Cassette Deck Media (TSt-018, CDMC-19)