ately we've come across a new trend in recording records. When bands don't have enough material for a new release, they team up with a similar band in a similar predicament. Dismemberment Plan and Juno did it in 2001, Oneida and The Liars in 2002 and The Dropkick Murphys and Face 2 Face last year and there are countless ?splits' coming out this year. I got sent this one this past week, and I figured I'd see what it was all about.

One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels is the new offering from emo-whiz kid Connor Oberst, or Bright Eyes . It's actually a six song split EP with fellow Omaha , Nebraskans Neva Dinova . Unlike most split EPs, One Jug seems to be a collaboration of sorts. Connor and Neva Dinova split the songwriting duties and the tracks were recorded by Connor and Dinova singer Jake Bellows. Connor can be heard doing some vocals in the Neva Dinova songs and the Bright Eyes tracks on the EP have a vastly different feel to them. Most of the EP has the sad aching feel of a Bright Eyes record, but Neva Dinova gives it a more folky and perhaps more positive feeling than Connor himself usually does. The first song, ?Trapped In A Hole? from Neva Dinova, almost sounds like something off of an old Beck album (pre-Odelay). A slow pace and a twangy guitar with lyrics like ?I'll miss you when you're gone so just get out? makes me feel like ?Mellow Gold? may be in my CD player.

The songs switch back and forth so next up is Bright Eyes, and nothing is new here. ?Black Comedy? has Connor's desperate, cynical voice all over it. In fact, I can almost here it at the end of one of those dark, moody movies (see Donnie Darko ).

As the EP switches back and forth like a battle of the not so happy, it seems more and more that Neva Dinova is winning the battle. Their songs sound fuller and seem to have more purpose than Connor's. Perhaps this is due to more band members in Neva Dinova, or it could be there is a new kid on the Omaha block.

Don't get me wrong, if you are a Bright Eyes fan, you won't be disappointed. But anyone who listens to this may just find a new band to get into, Neva Dinova.