Numbers/Erase Errata - Split EP

Much like their male counterparts in the Rapture and Gogogo Airheart in their respective gender, Erase Errata and Numbers are [predominately] feminine mainstays in the tumultuous environment of lo-fi post-punk. Dabbling in electronics, chunky fills of white noise guitar and toy drummer-like beats, these two Californian outfits unite for a split EP to show why their underground culture of noise concoctions are supremely better than the glamorized mainstream music that also floods their home state. A certain type of cohesion and camaraderie is usually expected when a split EP is released, but these two artists coexist in seamless harmony. In fact, a passive listener may have to lend a bit of concentration to this disc or they might not even be able to hear the differences in aesthetics between Numbers and Erase Errata. But beyond this, both of these divinely indie bands offer killer tunes that could resound from your friend’s four track if you could only harness the energy these bands perpetually exude in eight recorded minutes. Numbers open this four song EP with “Goin’ Insane,” an ultra-lo-fi ditty that strings together analog keyboard bleeps and bloops, spastic treble guitar shocks and scratchy female vocals that crinkle beneath the sonic schizophrenia. While it seems that Numbers barely get their blood pumping and engines revved before they hand this EP over to Erase Errata, their less than four minutes of jerky, minimalist post-punk gurgles with comparisons to !!!, the Seconds and the Contortions’ similar indie dance-wave rock. Through heavy jazz bass lines, brittle drumbeats and squeaky shards of guitar that bubble with spastic energy, Erase Errata also plaster their name into your mind with music that smothers the lo-fi end of the punk-wave spectrum with songs like “Retreat, the Most Familiar, Extensive, I Bet!” However, as elaborate and expanded their song titles may be, the four women of Erase Errata practice near-mechanical punk sprawls in a few succinct minutes that should be diagnosed with Riddelin. With less than ten minutes of material to work with, it would be hard for one band – let alone two – to purvey their message and compact their signature stitched music in a correct manner. However, both Numbers and Erase Errata clearly solidify themselves in the rampant undertow of indie post-punk with enough sharp guitars, jagged rhythms and lo-fi eclecticism to keep any child with ADD firmly attached to this 3” CD. [www.tigerbeat6.com]