The new split 7” arriving December 5 via Sweet Cheetah Records and Poptek Records lands like a small time capsule: New York’s Will Romeo on one side, Dayton’s The 1984 Draft on the other, each pulling a ’90s alt-rock classic through their own wiring.
Romeo tackles Sponge’s “Plowed,” while The 1984 Draft take on Jawbreaker’s “Jet Black.” The release comes as a limited lathe-cut 7” (100 copies) along with a digital edition capped at 50 downloads, wrapped in artwork by Nick Hamby, known from Houseghost and The Raging Nathans. Arik Victor of Creep Records handled mastering.
After years in Gameday Regulars, Neckscars, American Thrills and a string of solo work that bends toward Lucero, Chuck Ragan, Jakob Dylan, or Jon Snodgrass territory, a song like “Plowed” fits the way he talks about his own beginnings. “My gateway to punk rock was heavily influenced by the ’90s grunge and punk explosion,” he says.
He remembers grabbing Rotting Piñata at Sam Goody in the Cross County Mall in Yonkers and carrying the song with him ever since. “Naturally, Sponge’s ‘Plowed’ had the punk energy and such an infectious guitar lead… Thirty years later this song still gets me pumped, and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to record my own version. Sponge was such an underrated band from this time period but you can hear the influence on punk rock and alternative music years later.”
On the flip, The 1984 Draft move in a lane shaped by American rock but filtered through ’90s punk and indie. They’ve long pulled comparisons to The Hold Steady, Sugar, and The Replacements, and they’ve shared splits with Todd Farrell Jr., Gordon Withers, and Chris Broach.
Covers aren’t usually their everyday move, but according to vocalist Joe Anderl, the band leans into them when the moment calls for it. “In general, we don’t do a ton of covers but if the show is a special occasion we will bring one out,” he says.
Their live history runs through The Lemonheads, Jawbreaker, and Swearing at Motorists as often as The Replacements, Soul Asylum, Men at Work, or Nada Surf. As he puts it, the selection process is simple: it’s about collective influences, and the goal is to honor the original while giving it “the normal 84 Draft flair.”
Tim Anderl of Sweet Cheetah Records—who’s releasing the split—has his own long-running relationship with reinterpretation. He talks about the first moments certain covers hit him: Cyndi Lauper’s “Money Changes Everything,” Lick The Tins’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and the way those versions stayed with him.
He recalls seeing Afghan Whigs tear into “When Doves Cry” as a teenager, and recently catching Ted Leo and Texas Is The Reason team up on a Sugar cover. “Maybe my devotion to a good, solid cover song should be a guilty pleasure, but the truth is, I don’t feel guilty about it,” he says.
For him, a good cover is also a roadmap—something that can pull you backward into bands you might’ve missed. “I know I owe Elliott a debt of gratitude for covering Chameleons once upon a time.”
The split holds all of that—personal histories, old mall-store discoveries, long-running influences, and the kind of half-nostalgic, half-practical energy that keeps covers circulating in the punk world.
