CUSACK / LASER GEYSER split 7" on Avant! Records

Just heard about this split single that Avant! Records has available in their distro from two straight up power rock bands out of Italy.

Laser geyser, is up first, great name, it's two ridiculous weird words strung together but completely describes this explosion of frantic post-pop. 'Supervacuum' has a frantic power-chord feel, the thin sounding, punchy, big riffs of Hot Snakes. The unabashed, powerful, produced sounds of compressed layers of distortion, abrupt cuts. Equal parts late '90s emo and hardcore energy, they craft these densely guitar driven rock with multiple layers of spoken/yelled vocals that keep the tracks propelled at insane speed.
'Useless Crash', has more of this exhausting guitar, but they break down to a muted chord chorus section, which is one of those great moments when a band can contain themselves to make a bigger impression by holding out for just a second. It's never about sheer volume, but how quiet you get right before everything comes back in at once.

I wonder if Cusack is named for America's sweet boy, John, but then I would guess everything done somewhere else has to be US-centric...sheesh. Meanwhile this gets even closer to that faster/ screamer Hot Snakes aesthetic or that ATDI side project Sparta...for a while that's all I wanted to hear was those guys and be completely blown away by that massive energy over and over. It's addictive to keep this side playing...
'Prayer for a weak', starts off slow, just a lone guitar riff and builds into those layers of simply distorted guitars running as fast as they can. It's an impressive performance conveying this incredible energy and technical craft.
'In a trice', the vocals on this one go almost hardcore, definitely a rougher, raw feel. Not concerned with melody anymore, they want to see how far they can push themselves and keep the poppiest chords in rotation. The guitars are all up front, change the chorus on a dime, it's all about stringing these huge ballsy riffs together, reminiscent of Bleach.
Impressive tracks from both of these bands keeping that Drive like Jehu, Joan of Arc combination of hardcore and headbanging layered production more than alive.

Avant! suggests getting in touch first before placing an order direct and they can work something out with the insane shipping. You can also try from Cusack's bigcartel store. But I'm betting fusetron and SS will carry these as well, so go check there locally in the mean time.