In early 2001, Seb Bailey, Rohner Segnitz, Ryan Wilson and Kevin Lenhart, had never played a note together. That same year, however, they did move into a house, convert one of the rooms into a studio, and lay down the foundation of what would become Division Day. Now, five years later, with an EP and a bunch of West Coast dates opening for big acts under their belt, Division Day is offering up their first long player, Beartrap Island. The album is as diverse and unique as the names of the first two band members mentioned above (Rohner Segnitz??? That sounds like he should be the head of security on the Starship Enterprise…).
Anyway, Beartrap Island is basically just a really great pop record. It’s filled with catchy hooks (nice), smart lyrics (bonus) and sing-a-long choruses (double bonus). While each song is sonically different than the next – album opener, “Tigers,” is a driving, swirling, bouncy, indie rock back flip of excitement, while the next track, “Beartrap Island,” is a slow, organ-filled, feedback-infused, collage of sound – they all seem to make sense when collected together and presented as a whole. Segnitz’ voice is breathy and passionate and kind of angsty and sounds just like Davey from The Promise Ring/Maritime. In fact, I’m fairly confident that any Maritime fan will love Division Day (and vice versa), though Beartrap Island is a bit more lush and spacious and Earlimart-esque than Maritime’s latest, We, The Vehicles.
Well produced, well thought out, well written and soon to be very well received by the press, it’s hard to believe that Division Day remains unsigned. Though, with bands like SF’s Birdmonster, Minneapolis’ Tapes N’ Tapes, and Chicago’s Office all on the open market still, the fact that a band this good has decided to go ahead and self-release an album before signing a deal is becoming less and less surprising every day.
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