The split record is a chance for bands to unite fan-bases, reduce album costs, and produce one-off collaborations.
Sometimes it’s a chance for well-known groups to support lesser known acts.
The “split” began as a split 7” vinyl record, an EP shared by two bands. Each band got a side of the record, which frequently gave each act a chance to showcase two songs.
As music formats changed, the concept of the split record was adapted and applied to cassettes and CDs (even though CDs, of course, do not have sides).
The format has remained popular with punk, noise, DIY and underground musicians over the years. Several local record labels such as Acid Kat, Boxing Clever, Eat Tapes and other St. Louis labels have all embraced and released split records over the years.
So, here we go again, offering some digital samples of vinyl, from contemporary St. Louis bands.
Bruiser Queen: Rock duo Bruiser Queen have released a number of albums and are strongly supported in St. Louis. Here they shared the bill with Ohio band The Girls!
Skin Tags: Skin Tags are an up-and-coming St. Louis act that’s gotten a lot of love on Cherokee Street this year. Jagged riffs mix with heavy drums and yawps galore. Last year they released a split with relatively new act Hardbody.
Tone Rodent: Tone Rodent is a little less garage rock than Bruiser Queen. This group has played around St. Louis for a number of years and counts more experimental acts like Sonic Youth and The Warlocks among their influences. Here's a selection of songs from two different split albums they've released.
Audio Agitation is a recurring six-song playlist culled from recent releases or shaped by events in St. Louis' ever-changing music scene. If you're from the STL area or Missouri and you're putting out a record you think we should hear, send a heads' up to warnold@stlpublicradio.org.
