With their debut, Save it for the Birds, the Richmond, Virginia straightedge outfit turned quite a few heads with their high-octane approach to hardcore. The furious noise assault was teamed with vocalist David Wood's straight-to-the-point lyrical approach - I recall the episode of The Simpson's where everyone 'tells it like it is.' With a combination like that, the recipe for success was in sight.
On their follow-up full-length, Splitting Headache, Down to Nothing mixes things up slightly as they branch out from their Count Me Out meets Gorilla Biscuits twist on hardcore. The band chose to incorporate elements from the heavier side of hardcore. And while many might fear change, it's something that works well for Down to Nothing. From the get-go of the first track 'Go Ahead Wit Yo' Fake Ass' to the album's closer 'I'm So Lucky,' the band blends their influences into an album filled with fun hardcore songs.
If you're one of those fearing the change in styles, worry not, you can still enjoy tracks like 'Us vs. Each Other' and 'We're on the Run.' These songs are classic Down to Nothing, hardcore/punk moving at breakneck speeds with plenty of blunt lyrics from Woods, who can vary between yelled-words, which at times reminded me of Gorilla Biscuits frontman CIV, and the occasional use of slightly more throaty screams.
But as I mentioned above, Down to Nothing has starting taking liberties with their music and occasionally lean towards the heavier side of things. Included among the songs of this style is a cover of Murder Weapon's 'Unbreakable' during which Woods trades off verses with guest vocalist Scott Eckert. The two play off each other as Eckert opts for coarse screams juxtaposed by Woods yelling approach. And while the other songs may not be as obvious, they do contain moments of the more aggressive Down to Nothing, the breakdown in 'I Can't Believe My Eyes' and Ryan Groat's chunky guitar riffs on 'Risk It' are good examples.
Splitting Headache is a pretty solid album. Unfortunately, the majority of the songs have already been released on splits with Kids Like Us and On Thin Ice respectively. So what we have here really isn't exactly a 'new' record, just a grab-bag of material previously unavailable in CD format. Also factoring into the album's replay value is its length - a mere twenty minutes for eleven songs and its understandable to feel somewhat shorted.
