Phases and Stages

Same Day Service

Split Christie

The melodic celebration of young love gone awry against a backdrop of gawkiness is a hallmark of American pop-punk, but there’s more than one way to skin a paradigm. Accordingly, Same Day Service and Split Christie start with similar source material but wind up on different roads. Formed in 1998 by twin sisters Sarah (vocals, guitar) and Maggie (drums, vocals) Rimassa, Same Day Service has built a local fan base since moving from Norman, Okla., in 2000. Their sophomore disc is a unique blend of hardcore moralisms and lo-fi tenderness. Endless Adolescence begins with a mash note to motocross boys (“Moto-X”) and follows through with an excoriation of duplicitous boys (“Bobby No Morals”). SDS even pulls off Madonna’s “Crazy for You” without succumbing to the tedium of straining-to-be-clever punk covers. Split Christie takes a less collegiate, more polished approach to pop-punk on Here Comes Lunch! The group’s distinguishing factor is vocalist Amber McCormick, an intimidating cross between Deborah Harry and Kathleen Hanna. On Split Christie’s namesake track, McCormick breaks a girl’s nose with a science book in junior high after being called a hooker, and her conviction sells every word of the story. On “Did I,” she sums up boy/girl gender conflict from a frustrated female perspective, while guitarist Pat Conreaux takes over vocals to give an equally frustrated rebuttal on “Dull Boy.” McCormick’s softer side comes through on the romantic closer “So Loud,” but by then, potential suitors know to play nice if they want to avoid textbook rhinoplasty.

(Both)

This article appears in November 1 • 2002.