Monday, April 21, 2008

Split Lip - Fate's Got a Driver


Though I'm into early Split Lip recordings for what they are, it's not unfair to say the band would have ended up a lost relic of early 90's hardcore had it not been for their decidedly un-hardcore final LP, Fate's Got a Driver. For me, this is one of the cornerstone records of mid-90's emo-core - intricate riffs that are powerful without being heavy, catchy choruses, vocals that are distinct and emotional without being whiny and of course a layout full of obscure photos of old clocks, gumball machines, steps and old 45's.

Shortly after its release, Split Lip changed their name to Chamberlain, rerecorded the vocals and rereleased Fate's Got a Driver under the new name. Vocalist David Moore's vocals are a bit stronger on this version, but aside from that, the name change and the layout are the only recognizable differences. Fate's Got a Driver is definitely a precursor for the direction Chamberlain would take as they progressed. It has always felt distinctly Midwestern in this lonely, small town way not even their Midwestern contemporaries shared and that vibe only increased as they continued to release records as Chamberlain.

Split Lip - Fate's Got a Driver

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm so thankful for this post. i enjoyed fate's got a drive in high school/college, but managed to forget about it/misplace the LP somewhere along the way. then, a few months ago i happend upon a used copy at goodwell. when i listened to it, something felt a little off. i was certain something was different about the vocals, but had no way of confirming it. this post clears all that up. thanks!

c crisis said...

Great band. Yes by the time they wrapped up their career they were a *completely* different band, but there's no denying that David Moore's vocals and lyrics are outstanding, in both versions of the band. I love both incarnations, and accept them for what they are. Excellent post.