DIVISION DAY "Beartrap Island"

Let's face it. You either have to a huge sack of balls to name your band after an Elliott Smith song or you have to be plain stupid. The cynic in me wanted to believe this was another misguided California emo band with aspirations of MTV and Warp tours. I mean, shit, it's like naming your band The Nick Drake, isn't it? I'd scanned a few blogs and seen their name mentioned, all positive and nice things, but c'mon, blogs suck! I noticed they were pals of Birdmonster, hmmm. Still, I decided to throw myself into their debut self-released full length, Beartrap Island.

I'm sure when I first set foot on Beartrap Island I ignored the landscape. It just whirled past me as I worked. I didn't notice the very distinct and pretty vocals and melodies. I didn't notice the subtle arrangements of cool electronics bubbling under the noisy guitars. I didn't notice the ebullient pianos, perfectly written bass parts, the slamdunk choruses. But then I did. Like I was hit in the head with a coconut from a falling guitar hook. "Lights Out" came on and I got the goosebumps. Real goosebumps, like I got when I first heard "Change" by Tears For Fears in high school.

Division Day are soft rock. No, they are classic rock, part of the growing scene (Midlake, Margot & Nuclear So N Sos, Earlimart) of Fleetwood Mac worshippers. No, man, they are an 80s alternative band like the Church. Okay, good, I have no idea what they are. That's usually a good sign. Here's two songs that have been in heavy here for months. Division Day make their east coast debut live at Piano's in NYC on October 30. They also play Union Hall in Brooklyn with my 3 other favorite bands currently: The Changes (post coming), The Isles (posted), and Kunek (posted) on Friday, November 3.

You have to admit, it was better than naming your band "Green Day".

TIGERS
LIGHTS OUT