William E. Whitmore opens with "Somebody's Been Usin' That Thang", set up as a traditional folk styled acoustic track recorded on a 4-track with nothing but one acoustic guitar and two vocalists. I'm not 100% clear on whether or not it's supposed to be truly serious, but I don't like it. Sure, they've nailed the style 100%, and that's admirable. The playing and singing are fine, I can listen to it, but I do not enjoy this style of music at all. Sorry. Flaccid Trip's "Clique Track" takes side B and is the exact opposite of Whitmore's piece: A simple percussive rhythm with spacious little guitar arpeggios and lots of dense experimental ambient noise hovering underneath. Were it not for some subtle builds in the drums the entire track would sound like it could be based off of loops, but it's actually really nicely done with a thick, clear recording. The record comes in a black and white sleeve with some childlike illustrations and handwritten text (the cover actually looks pretty damn cool somehow), with one small black and white insert listing the song titles and recording information. Simple enough. In the end this is an odd and unique 7", but nothing I'd drop a few bucks on. As stated, I enjoyed Flaccid Trip but not William E. Whitmore. Sorry, I don't buy that whole "folk punk" thing at all. Folk music generally sucks and I couldn't care less about its political activist similarities to certain brands of punk. I'll pass there.
[Scenester Credentials]
Running time - 6:00 (approximately), Tracks: 2
[Notable tracks: Clique Track]
Scenester Credentials - http://www.scenecred.com
