PUNK ROCK VETERANS UNITE ON BLISTERING NEW SPLIT EP
EP REVIEW | PULLEY/FIRE SALE – SPLIT PERSONALITY by Craig Harston
You’ve got to love a split record. Like a compilation, it’s generally a great way to showcase new music from a veteran band while at the same time giving newer bands some viable credibility to be in such close proximity to a band they likely grew up idolising. While ‘Split Personality’ is certainly a great display of new music from both bands on offer. Legends of the California skate punk scene Pulley are back with their first new music since 2022’s excellent full-length, ‘The Golden Life’ and they’ve teamed up with some of their friends and peers in punk rock supergroup Fire Sale, the melodic punk band featuring former members from the likes of The Ataris, Darlington and ShotClock, plus a reunion of sorts with ex-Pulley member Matt Riddle, who also served some time with the legendary No Use For A Name and Face To Face.
Bursting into your eardrums from the off, Pulley pack plenty of their signature sound into opener ‘Torn Apart By Time’. It’s an explosive melodic punk song that doesn’t let up for it’s duration as Pulley reminisce on the past and how they’ve kept their focus for the past three decades as a band. Sean Sellers’ thundering drums keep the pace while Scott Radinsky’s distinctive vocals are joined by some great back-up vocals from the rest of the band and it races to its conclusion following the bridge, Pulley cementing why they’ve been such a mainstay of the punk scene for so long. ‘Write A Note If You Leave’, meanwhile, takes on a more heartfelt edge as Pulley tackle the difficult subject of losing a loved one and no longer being able to talk to them. It’s got a great melody throughout and a powerful refrain on the chorus, “I can see now all the things you showed me; through a lifetime of peaks and the deepest valleys”.
It’s a hard act to follow but thankfully Fire Sale are more than up to the task, keeping the momentum going across their brace of songs. First up is ‘An Archaic Construct’ a superfast deconstruction on the way society expects people to behave and that we’re way more than the archetypes many of us are pigeon-holed into. It starts off with a crunching guitar riff before the superb main melody kicks in. It’s a great song with some relentless hooks, plenty of woah’s during the choruses (got to love a good woah!) and an excellent guitar solo over the bridge. Barely pausing for breath, Fire Sale close off the EP with the excellent ‘Call Of The Void’, a song with not a little bit of No Use For A Name within its DNA. Lyrically, it puts its focus on the impulse of acting on intrusive thoughts but it sounds like it could have come straight from the late ‘90s, featuring great guitars from Chris Swinney and Brad Edwards backed up by tight drums courtesy of Matt Morris and some solid bass from Riddle with a truly catchy chorus (“When you here the call of the void; left entranced by that siren song”). It’s a well-grounded couple of entries from the melodic punks following on from the excellent handful of singles they’ve released over the past few years – here’s hoping they gift us with a full length soon!
‘Split Personality’ is an absolutely essential punk rock listen for 2025 – it should please long-time punk rock fans, especially those who grew up with the scene in the 90’s and early 2000’s but is a great entry point for new listeners.
‘Split Personality’ releases on 5 September via Negative Progression Records and the vinyl is available to pre-order here (alongside a choice of shirts featuring the EP artwork by Mark de Salvo)
