Toodar & The October Game: Flash Floods & Wildfire

It's a poor reviewer indeed who has too much to drink at a show (particularly in a venue where a simple Jameson's will set you back the better part of a tenner: visitors to Old Street's Favela Chic, you have been warned) but nevertheless I can't be sure if it was overindulgence on my part, or under-rehearsal on the part of the bands involved that resulted in my impression of the track Flash Floods & Wildfire being something of a chaotic mess. At this point I'm inclining toward the former option, as both the bands in question, The October Game, and EbM favourites Toodar were both in fine fettle individually, and the track in question - who's release we were there to celebrate - turns out, on record, to be rather good indeed. In fact, I'd probably go as far as to say it's one of the best new songs I've heard this year thus far (an honour held by Toodar's Ten Paces last year, in fact).

Flash Floods & Wildfire is the lead track from a split-EP by the two bands, which is available now from Scylla records, and is a co-written joint venture for the two bands. It seems the split EP is a much maligned creature, but it's a format I'm particularly fond of. I guess it's because I'm a sucker for an interesting cover, and the A/B comparison provided by most splits is always enough to pique my fascination (check out the Dropkick Murphys/Face to Face split for a fine example of the form at its best). With the introduction of a collaborative track like this one, Toodar and The October Game are upping the ante even further.

Toodar have a new real EP out now too, so I'll save my praise for them until I review that one properly, but I feel I ought to mention The October Game individually at least once. Unlike their name suggests, they're not an emo band from the states, and in fact sound very home grown indeed. While their cover of Toodar's Ten Paces is interesting as a re-imagining of a favourite song, there's something about the TOG-only tracks that doesn't quite sit well with me. They aren't bad songs by any means, but while they were relatively smooth when I saw them live, there's something a little pedestrian - a little dated, even - about their music. They'd probably have been huge five or ten years ago, but I can't help but feel that the public appetite for their very MOR brand of alt. rock has perhaps waned somewhat of late.

Quibbles aside, this is a very assured, very well put together little split EP, with a good original from each band thrown in for good measure alongside the obligatory covers. (Toodar's is the excellent Jack in a Box; a song that previously made an appearance on the band's White Elephant EP last year. There it was eclipsed by the more instantly accessible Ten Paces and Toy, but here it's given a little more room to shine). I'll certainly be talking about Toodar again in the next week or so, but I'm also going to keep an ear to the ground for The October Game, just incase.