ORBITER / ROADOG – Split

On the verge of the 100th anniversary of the Roaring Twenties, it doesn’t happen every day to hold a brief and captivating 45rpm disc, such as the mini split by Orbiter and Roadog. The two Finnish bands play a song each on the two sides of the same black, groovy medal.

The two combos already have a bit of experience. Orbiter are a four-piece from Helsinki which, between early 2016 and the end of the next year, published the two singles “Oneironaut” and “Gravity”, while this split features a new song, “Anthropocene”. Roadog, a trio active between Espoo and the capital city, put out the EP Apollean Sands (2015) and Reinventing The Wheels, debut album out in 2018 and from which is taken the eponymous track in the split we’re about to put on the turntable.

Throughout the six minutes spread by Orbiter all over side A, the listener is abducted by a stonerous kind of space rock, well balanced between heaviness and oneirism. The vintage approach doesn’t sound dull at all, instead it allows for a space walk in company of well-known role models among the fans of the genre.

Time to turn the small vinyl upside-down, and the swift three minutes by Roadog get our attention through some rock’n’roll with punk and indie feels to it. The song doesn’t miss the target and intrigues the listener, who will go check the album right away.

It’s definitely not easy to say something relevant, but also to stand out, in a field busy with bands which are too often mediocre. Both songs are convincing and high-quality. A plus, in this case, is definitely the choice of sharing the split with two songs that are of course similar, but also absolutely independent in terms of personal growth.