Review: Sloppy Seconds / Antiseen – “Split Hits the Fans”

Failure Records and Tapes – 11 Nov 2022

Sloppy Seconds and Antiseen join forces for a record that looks as good as it sounds.

Let’s face it, even without all the bells and whistles this was going to be a pretty cool record. It features two great, old school punk bands with a little bit of shared history, each providing a killer track. That wasn’t enough for the folks at Indiana based Failure Records and Tapes, who really took things to the next level. . 

Sloppy Seconds are actually the newer of the two bands involved. (There is no clear A or B side on the record.) The Dickies and Ramones-inspired quartet started kicking around Indianapolis in the mid ‘80s. “Thanks for the Mammaries” is a great example of both their off color humor and masterful use of melody. This is a remastered version of the song that first appeared on their 2008 LP Endless Bummer. “Mammaries” is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of the great rock and roll tradition of women exposing their breasts to the band. (FYI – I’ve seen Sloppy Seconds about 20 times, and I don’t ever remember this happening.) The artwork is inspired by the obscure 1975 comedy film Sixpack Annie. 

Charlotte, North Carolina’s Antiseen will celebrate four decades as a band next year. The quartet leans more toward the nihilistic stylings of Black Flag or Poison Idea. “Fight Like Apes!” (Sweet GA Brown Remix) is a remixed and remastered version of a song that previously appeared on their 2016 EP We’re # One. The drums on “Apes” propel the action while the guitar attacks like a weapon. It actually feels violent, maybe a bit like a gorilla is pounding on your chest. The artwork on the Antiseen side is vintage Planet of the Apes. While there is a significant distinction between Sloppy Seconds’ pop punk flavored Junk Rock and Antiseen’s chaotic Destructo Rock, the two songs complement each other well. 

Sloppy Seconds/Antiseen continues FRT’s Split Hits the Fans series, which kind of fell to the wayside with Covid. It’s officially the 6th installment. The small but plucky label had previously managed to snag The Dwarves, The Queers, Sloppy Seconds, Ringworm and more. I’ve always been a big fan of the split seven inch, and this thing looks as good as it sounds. It’s printed on both sides, but it doesn’t have the limp sound of picture disks from earlier eras. You’re probably going to want three of them – one to play and two to hang on the wall so you can display both sides. 

For vinyl fiends: This is a seven inch 45 RPM record UV printed on both sides and packaged in a clear plastic sleeve. (Manufactured by the vinyl wizards at Pirates Press.) There are only one thousand pieces available, so don’t sleep on it. The price is higher than a typical seven inch, but the attention to detail justifies the cost.