Release Date: October 12, 2010
Genre: Acoustic, folk, gypsy, punk
Label: Rodent Popsicle
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/absintherose
http://www.myspace.com/humanwine

Absinthe Rose and HUMANWINE’s split record fits into the category of an almost outstanding rebel yell among an infusion of  folk and punk. Here is a near perfect collection of songs from a travelling circus, a dark concoction of passion and rage and mischief unbound. It invokes in the listener every wish to join a ragtag bunch of bohemian misfits and cause unyielding havoc among opposing camps. This whole album is a clamoring rumpus of dramatic drums, seductive guitars and purring vocals calling rag and bone to anyone with a free spirit to their name.

Theatricality makes itself known in the album’s opening track, “Pile O’ Bones”, a building of wild old country guitars, twanging on the vocals provided in a tone that is unmistakably reflected by that of PJ Harvey. Kimbo Rose’s throaty vocal whoops and hollers among the rhythm that oh-so warrants an infectious bout of hand clapping. Played anywhere at any time, it acts as the flirty finger beckoning toward objects of desire, edged playfully by quirky lyrics.

While “Pile O’ Bones” certainly did win my attention as an outstanding track, it’s follower, “Consistency in Skepticism and Awareness”, failed to impress. ‘Consistency’ is the key word here – this song sounded like the demanded encore to Pile O’ Bones. It is like taking a crowd pleaser and using the same method of attraction, as in basically the same guitar riff, the same vocals and different lyrics, hoping to create the same hysteria. In fact, they sounded so similar, I had to check if track one had finished already.

Unfortunately, the same reaction comes with the third track, “Upon a Drift”. It opens the same way, with a huge gong of a drum strike and mellows out into a heel-clicking acoustic ditty. The only slight difference is the use of an electric lick in the flood of a solely wooden sound. The vocal sounds exactly the same and interest in the album begins to ebb away slowly…

Until! We, the listeners are delivered an entire switch in the situation in the fifth composition, “When I Was A Little Girl”. It scans a dark tone; we hear the building of a snare followed by a much gentler plucking of guitar, the occasional thunderous bang! It tells us that something wicked this way comes – and so it does. Inherent witchery occupies the tragic lyrics, as Rose loudly proclaims, “When I was a little girl, I only dressed in black.” The black magic of “When I Was A Little Girl” supplies all the ingredients needed to give a formerly disappointed listener, such as myself, a new hope. It’s only unfortunate that such renewal arrives only on the second to last track of theirs.

However, “East Coast Stars is fresh”. It is reminiscent of an early White Stripes acoustic track, in its relaxation still a hearty bout of attitude. Here we get to experience the softer tone of Kimbo Rose’s voice, and it cannot be described as anything else but beautiful. It soars above the simplicity of the snare’s beat, before the song transforms into a rampaging chaos with strings breaking, hands clapping, ankles cracking.

HUMANWINE, or Humans Underground Making Anagrams Nightly While Imperial Not-Mes Enslave, arrive onto the scene with a slow-burning track. However, “1st Amendment” is not to be regarded as anything in the way of tedious. Nerves are pulled tight as a gentle riff is plucked in an icy silence. The unmistakably angelic (that with a Bostonian inflection, of course) voice of Holly Brewer chimes that, “The world’s insane – don’t look away. The world’s insane… Get it on tape!” She talks about the melting state of the world in its whole and the human beings “right to report.” A post-mod Radio Dept. drumming frames the picture.

“Breathe” sounds like the kind of tune that was recorded in a tin can – in all the good ways fathomable. Its introduction is an ominous tone of taut plucking sounds,  followed by Brewer’s now distorted echoing vocals. She tells you, warns you in her black magic way, “It’s not safe out there.” Never have I heard such a song as truly bewitching at first listen as “Breathe”. It casts a visceral Wiccan spell over whoever may be listening, striking them wide-eyed at the pews of HUMANWINE’s church, gong-like drums striking loud and Brewer’s ghostly moans diffusing in and around the Gothic structures of such a temple of worship.

“Death Wish for The Imposter” is a slightly cheerier, playful toned track, introducing the new use of a grizzly choir composed of Brewer, band mate M@ McNiss, and others. The throaty composition is instantly reminiscent of works from Tom Waits – the Big Bad Wolf stalking Little Red through a Dutch forestland, with curiosity bettering the both of them.

Strings make a triumphant entrance in the mixing pot of “Our Devolution is Televised”. Once again, Brewer is joined by vocals of other half M@ McNiss, creating a cadaverous and mischievous bottle rocket from the starting line. “Our spineless leaders – oops, sorry, I mean cheaters! Hide behind illegal policies,” they both twitter, a statement executed in such a cute fashion it could almost be called twee. The drums flicker in a way best seen in a marching band, and the strings are a triumph in creating the most perfectly cabaret-like measure for such a strong statement of a song. If it was ever doubted that HUMANWINE had a message, the closing lines of “Our Devolution” will have them retracting that statement.

“So racist retort and corporate blood sport, lock down and frame your kin!”

The ultimate closer of the album is called “You Are Free”. This song personifies simplicity. Composed entirely of Brewer’s voice and a single acoustic guitar,  it reflects folk, but only that with a HUMANWINE personalized spin.

“You Are Free” is the kind of song that speaks to people, which is a real rarity. People spend their time looking for songs that empathize with those trapped in the concrete institution of the city. The lyrics of “You Are Free” match the majesty of Brewer’s voice – “I am a sailor on these waves – embrace the choices that I’ve made. To live outside of a cage. I get to live the open waves.” HUMANWINE, who thus far have made a name for themselves by being triumphantly loud and flamboyant, have decided to let the screen fade to black with a vulnerable, delicate track that weaves in and out and around the listener’s ears. A track that is the last flickering ember of their black magic ceremony, where the makeup begins to fade and the costumes hit the daylight to be revealed as solitary creatures once more.

Absinthe Rose’s claimed half of the split record may have been doubtful in the middle, but it certainly holds its own as somethingdifferent. The repetition aside, it is a true example of a very organic punk/folk sound without the raucous image. HUMANWINE, however, are the clear standouts of the split EP. It’s obvious to anyone that HUMANWINE’s style really does exist on an edge – it’s almost too dark for folk, to smart for punk rock and not fatalistic enough to be classified as anything near Gothic.

The album is something utterly fantastic that soars above the bounds of anything truly classifiable within the restrictions of the genres we have been given.