Local folk-punk wunderkind Davey Dynamite has released a new split EP, titled Brooder.

Why Brooder?

“It’s about the brooding that people know – you’re sad, deep in thought,” Dynamite said. “But it’s also a chicken sitting on an egg.”

Indeed it is. The album artwork, which was designed by Mike Tri, described by Davey as “the best guy in DeKalb,” features a sad little boy perched atop a giant egg while a hen walks away.

The first four songs on the split feature artist Willange, fellow drummer of a new band Davey is starting called No Funeral. Also an acoustic act, this is Willange’s first time releasing his solo work.

“The first song, “Shang Xin”, is my favorite,” Dynamite said. He describes the sound as mellow acoustic, similar in style to the whole ‘90s emo era.

As someone who grew up in that era and still partakes in some Saves the Day and the Promise Ring, he’s right on the mark.

Willange is good and worth your time, but the songs I came for start halfway through. The rousing confession “Baby (I think) I’m an Anarchist” sets it off to a great start, but the star is “Kiss Me Sadly.” At any given Davey Dynamite show, you’re bound to see a banjo strummed and hammered away on in anger, but not so much here. Plucked and picked at with a determined pace, a harmonica joins in for some great harmonies.

“Time Don’t Wait” follows with a guest appearance and poetry reading from Emanuel Vinson. The album wraps up with a cover of the Replacements’ song, “I Will Dare.”

For a full length album, Davey usually goes with a consolidated idea whereas a split is “more of a chance to throw new songs out and see what people think of them.”

And he does want to hear what you have to think. Davey welcomes feedback on his Facebook page or however you choose to send it to him.

What’s astounding is that Davey recorded all of his songs solely on his smartphone. I know technology is always improving at a breakneck pace, but I must’ve missed the point where we’re able to shove an entire recording studio into something that also plays Angry Birds; the audio quality is as crisp as these bitter cold spring mornings, but leaps and bounds more enjoyable.

Just like his last album, you can pay what you want for Brooder. Even nothing, because even if you’re broke you shouldn’t be denied a chance to listen to this music. Any price you pay will be worth the chance to smugly say in five years, “Oh, Davey Dynamite? Yeah, I totally listened to him way back before he became huge.”