Slick Shoes/Cooter -- Split EP

6/10

One day in 2001, I thought, how can I get some more Slick Shoes? A visit to FYE answered that question. Apparently, the SoCal punk band had recently recorded a split EP with East Coast punk rockers, Cooter. There's also a band in Mississippi called Cooter who did not enjoy sharing the name, and after a lawsuit, the Cooter on this E.P. changed their name to Autopilot Off. This EP can also be found as Slick Shoes/Autopilot Off, but in those heady, early GWB days, it was Slick Shoes/Cooter.
The E.P. offers four songs from Slick Shoes, then four from Cooter.
Slick Shoes first offering, "Crooked," is a fast, determined song about self-improvement with gang vocals, and an aggressive bass line. "Hope Against Hope" follows suit. These two songs present an angrier, more aggressive version of Slick Shoes than any of their other work. The liquid metal bass-tone is particularly unique among their work. Then comes "Ten Ways To Stay Out of Debt," the proto-version of "Ten Ways" from the band's upcoming 2002 self-titled opus. Here it is more of a stark love song, missing the harmonies and more polished vocals of the future full-length album version. "Work It" finalizes Slick Shoes half of the E.P. with three minutes of goofing off, a goofy electronic beat bouncing off loops of the band misquoting Austin Powers and talking about farting. It's weird, yet strangely befits their more relaxed, West Coast vibe in light of Cooter's dead-serious New York stylings.
Cooter comes out on fire for their half, the high-energy "Clockwork" featuring a driving beat, a killer chorus, and an electric outro. It bests anything Slick Shoes offers on this E.P. However, as the following three tracks unfold, a weakness shows in Cooter's armor. The nasally vocals eventually blur into a whiny haze that gives their half a bit of a monochromatic feel. None of the songs are bad, and on their own, they're all actually quite good, but stacked on top of each other, they fade. The E.P. would have worked better if the producers sequenced it to where each band offered every other song. This way, Cooter's vocals never become offensive, and the goofy "Work It" would feel more like a fun, light-hearted closer, instead of a mid-E.P. distraction.

As such, this split isn't awful by any means, but I recommended it to fans of these bands only.

2000 Fueled by Ramen
1. Slick Shoes--Crooked 2:37
2. Slick Shoes--Hope Against Hope 1:57
3. Slick Shoes--Ten Ways To Stay Out Of Debt 2:24
4. Slick Shoes--Work It 3:05
5. Cooter--Clockwork 2:31
6. Cooter--The Silver Star 2:24
7. Cooter--Pin The Tail On The Donkey 3:26
8. Cooter--Spring Training 2:22