Josh Dobbs and His Deficit of Dreams/Ghost Aquarium - split 7"EP (Ripping)

Floridian punk rock has a tendency to be ignored – a real shame considering the great bands that hail from “The Sunshine State.” Well, two of those bands, or rather two offshoots of one of those bands, i.e., The Runnamucks come together for this split to scream from the swamps that there’s more to Florida than Disney, golf, retirement and Miami.

Josh Dobbs, leader of The Runnamucks, opens with “Deficit of Dreams,” a marked departure from his signature Runnamucks sound, being somewhere between The Replacements and early Dinosaur Jr. He closes the EP with “Dial Tone,” a rampage against the cell phone generation that’s similar in sound and feel, though more MC5-y in the guitars. Both songs feature keyboards, adding a new wave texture to songs that were already a step ahead of the cookie-cutter punk that is, unfortunately, all the rage these days.

Ghost Aquarium have grown quite a bit since their first release on Ripping. Rather than focusing on an early Christian Death death rock sound, they now write songs akin to The Wipers, e.g., songs that are slower but angst-ridden with a full, minor-driven guitar sound. The two songs here, “Despite the Vices” and “Enough Time to Live,” have Greg Sage written all over them – in a good way, of course.

Perhaps the best thing about of these songs is how much they could pass for tracks on a Killed By Death comp, though as more of the John Berenzy Group variety than The Mentally Ill, meaning tinny production but virtuoso musicianship – the kind you don’t usually hear in today’s punk rock. This kind of individualistic songcraft is desperately needed right now, and it fits that bands from a pariah state such as Florida would be the ones to do it.

Take note fashion punks – your mohawks will never replace exemplary songwriting.