Vancouver art rockers Blessed have joined forces with Winnipeg noise punk trio Tunic to put together an extremely loud, incredibly fast split. Today, we’ve got two killer tracks off their upcoming collab. Completely distinct from one another in virtually every sonic sense, these two songs demonstrate just how broad the umbrella of post-punk can span.

Though they don’t fit neatly into any one genre, Blessed are known for their sprawling, off-kilter tracks. In their seven minute opus, “Sound,” angular math-rocky rhythms spill into zig-zagging guitar riffs, all alongside Drew Riekman’s vocals. On this track, Blessed’s sound feels at once unpredictable and instinctual, similar to their art-rock contemporaries Palm.

Riekman offers some background:

We tracked “Sound” during a session in Montreal with a new producer, Jace Lasek. It evolved from a scratch take we did; wherein the drums came out sounding how we wanted immediately and we were able to use the extra time to experiment sonically and build on top of the initial demo. We invited our friend, Ola Kado, into the session to track violin pizzicato, which we ended up blending into the last half of the track. The song grew into itself over an amalgamation of new ideas we all brought to it, and we’re excited with where it ended up from where it began.

Whereas Blessed’s last EP, II, came in at around 24 minutes, Tunic’s Boss was around 10, if that’s any indication of how much the two bands differ. Tunic’s jagged noise punk comes in like a hammer striking a glass door, shocking but nonetheless satisfying. When you finish listening to a Tunic song, you’ll feel like you’re out of breath. “Teeth Showing” is an apt title for their high-speed, serrated track off the upcoming split. On their Bandcamp, the Winnipeg natives succicntly self-identify as “fast noise and loud shouting,” which is just about right.

Here’s more from Tunic’s David Schellenberg:

“Teeth Showing” was one of the last songs we wrote in 2017. It’s one of those songs that just sort of fell out of us. We had just wrapped up about half a dozen other songs, so we knew what ideas were working, so we just went with it and we created what we jokingly called our “Rock Song”. Lyrically, this song continues to explore my dissatisfaction at the time with some of my more recent life choices. I describe things about a former partner that I miss, and that use to be really important to me.

Blessed and Tunic both have knack for bending time and sound in a way that will make you question what post-punk really even means. Check out the songs below, where you can also find Blessed and Tunic’s tour dates together.

TOUR DATES:
05/15 Edmonton, AB @ The Buckingham**
05/17 Winnipeg, MB @ The Handsome Daughter
05/18 Minneapolis, MN @ Hamm’s Mansion
05/19 Chicago, IL @ Quenchers
05/20 Bloomington, IN @ The Root Cellar
05/22 Kalamazoo, MI @ Rancho Unicorno
05/23 Detroit, MI @ Kelly’s Bar
05/24 Montreal, QC @ Katacombs
05/25 Toronto, ON @ The Baby G
05/26 Brooklyn, NY @ The Glove
05/27 Boston, MA @ O’Briens
05/29 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
05/30 Frederick, MD @ The Laundromat
05/31 Elyria, OH @ Blank Space
06/01 Akron, OH @ It’s A Kling Thing!
06/02 St Louis, MO @ Foam
06/03 Lincoln, NE @ Duffy’s
**Blessed only

The Blessed/Tunic split is out 4/27 on Buzz Records. Pre-order it here.