Division Day “Beartrap Island” Review
Division Day is a delightful quartet from California which, with Beartrap Island, puts together a great selection of tracks ranging from a hazy low-tempo rock to a variety of high-toned songs with fluttering guitars. This full length album comes as a sequel to 2004′s The Mean Way In EP which was terrific album and a success at finding the band a lot of much deserved online exposure. Beartrap Island is a smoother extension to the band’s last effort, and in general, as The Mean Way In teased at a sonic rock sound, Beartrap Island melts together effortlessly throughout.
“Catch Your Death” flows out of the album’s brooding introduction and serves as a fine lead off track for the Beartrap Island. One of the greatest characteristics that separates the band from others is that lead singer Rohner Segnitz actually sings. In the current rock scene it’s wonderfully refreshing to find a band that utilizes a singer that sings without eternally submerging itself into the depths of lo-fi. But the band isn’t soundly focused on the Segnitz’s talents. The rapid guitar on tracks such as “Lights Out” brings focus to how fast the band can be, though my description is far more caustic than the song actually sounds. In it the guitar blends nicely into the background and allows for an equal stage for each musician.
“Hand to the Sound,” with its eerie keyboard and backbeat, plays itself off as a quiet space-funk. The song represents a handful of tracks that veer away from the strict use of guitar to maintain the melody. “Tigers” does much the same thing, only in an entirely different way as it bases much of the sound and is a highly driven symbol & drum track. Division Day has a way with utilizing every band member without alienating a single song on the album. This diversity forces me to question what the band would sound like if it were more of a guitar based band however. As mentioned earlier with The Mean Way In, Beartrap Island plays a consistent multi-instrument flavored rock but teases at what could be if the band stressed a harder sound. This in no way reflects the purity of the album, but merely questions what if…?
