It can be difficult to view a split release as a singular piece of work, and in some sense, it’s much more common and appropriate to view each artist’s contribution of songs as an individual creation. Comfy and Skirts’ latest joint EP release from Miscreant and Dadstache Records seems way more accessible as one harmonious album than usual. These two bands work well on their own, but are also incredibly compatible with one another. To me, Comfy is the unkempt, rebel of a sibling and Skirts is the slightly more ordered, quirk-ridden one. Both are deliberate in their sound. Both are equally expressive.

I saw Comfy, a lo-fi garage pop band out of Utica, for the first time at Nietzsche’s not too long ago. Their live performance involved swaddling a fake baby fashioned from a blanket full of red string and disassembling it in a frenzied manner (the fake baby was later revealed to be some sort of electric steel lap guitar, if my memory serves me correctly). You can hear this willful chaos in Comfy’s recorded music as well, and that’s the beauty of it. It’s a thrashy, feel-good mess that can make your heart pang even if you’re not heartbroken or longing for anything in the slightest.

I have yet to have the pleasure of seeing Skirts live, but I’m consistently impressed with their music. This Rochester group tastefully experiments with male/female harmonies and unique guitar tones and riffs (listen to “Fort Kochi” for a great example of this). At times, I’m reminded of early Vampire Weekend, with their punctuated rhythms, graceful melody lines, and the propellant upbeat nature of each song.

To say the least, this is probably one of my favorite (semi) local splits of the summer. It’s a well coordinated, must-listen-to-in-its-entirety type of release and it’s a solid testament to what each band’s music scene has to offer.