I was psyched to receive the Split 7" from Jonah Matranga and Kevin Seconds, I had reviewed Jonah Matranga's album "And" and fallen in desperate love with it, so to hear something new from him was totally exciting, and I have held my own love for Kevin Seconds from his split EP with Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio!

The first song on the EP is Matranga's "I've Always Wanted To Write A Song Commanding People to Dance!". Now obnoxious title aside, I was shocked to turn the song on and hear this pop-tronica song. It's so completely different than the last record of Matranga's that I'd heard. Once my shock wore off I put all thoughts of the last record "And" out of my head and listened to the song as it was, and I just don't like it! It's not my style of jam, unfortunately.

The second song is Matranga's "Daylight" which reverts back to the hollowed out sweet music that I heard from "And". It's a gorgeous song, and nearly brought me to tears with the haunting vocals and lyrics. My only complain about it is that the echo effect is a touch overdone, but I'm officially in love with this song!

The third song is Kevin Seconds' "Grip On Yr Own", which is a fast paced, catchy tune in Seconds' acoustic punk vibe that borrows every good aspect from Dylan and an unplugged Nolita and mashes it all up into something that is so easily listened to and so much fun to rock out in your room, belting the words at the top of your lungs to.

The fourth and final song of the split 7" is Seconds' "Life Unknown" which is just as amazing as the last song, and really lets the listener fall in love with Kevin seconds. Now I will say this, Kevin Seconds is one of those black or white artists. You either love him, or it's not your cup of tea. So for those who adore Kevin Seconds, these two songs are amazing, and so much fun!

The four tracks as a whole fall just short of 10 minutes, which makes it difficult for the listener. Just when we're starting to give the first track an unbiased try, the entire thing takes a swing in the complete opposite direction which only allows us three songs to immerse ourselves into the acoustic folky vibe to the record. For those reasons, I'm going to have to give the Split 7" a score of 3/5, but I highly recommend grabbing the record to add to your mellow-jams collection!

Ive always wanted to write a song commanding people to dance.
I’ll admit, Im not liking this one. It just sounds too much like "Much Music Top 10" material to me. I’d hate to bash the song, but it honestly pained me to listen to it. I really couldn’t take it. In my opinion it really lacked in the "music" part. Maybe the song would be better if it was a little busier and didn’t sound like one of those really washed out club mixes that I hate so much. That’s all I really have to say about this one.

Daylight.
Out of the four tracks, this one is my ultimate favorite. Daylight is very soft and gentle, and the lyrics are extremely self-reflective, not to mention curious. I could literally fall asleep to it. In a good way, of course. The vocals are so hauntingly beautiful; increasingly with the faint acoustic guitar in the background. It sends some serious shivers down my spine. Everything about this song is magnificent. There isn’t anything I could fairly compare it to, because I don’t think Ive heard anything this pretty before now.

It really holds you. I don’t think you could listen to Daylight just once in a select period of time. When you hear it once, I don’t think you really have the option of not listening to it again.

Grip On Yr Own
Grip On Yr Own is one of those songs that you will find yourself dancing around your living room to. Or singing to constantly. Or memorizing completely. It rates as my second favorite song in this review. Im actually really shocked that you don’t hear this song on the radio. Its fun, its got that delicious acoustic thing going on! Is that not good enough? How could someone not like that?

Even still, I think the best part about this song is that it doesn’t drag on. If it were say, a minute longer; I would probably find myself getting sick of it and finding something else to listen to. But it’s just that right speed; You wont be falling asleep in your chair when it’s finally over!

Life Unknown
Life Unknown sounds a lot like Grip On Yr Own, I just don’t like it quite as much. A lot of the lyrics are really repetitive. It makes the song seem a whole lot longer than it actually is, almost painfully. Then the way the vocals are sung, I don’t care very much for that either. If you’re a fan of country music, I think you might really like it, but I am not, therefore; I dont. End of story.

In the end, Id give this album a 3/5 rating. It was good, sure. I enjoyed most of it. Just could be better.

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