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For most musicians, making the music that they want to make while trying to make enough money to survive isn’t the easiest undertaking. Perhaps that’s why Tony Skalicky (from the Beatings) and Mike Ingenthron (from Strikes Again!) decided to try their hand at writing advertising jingles to cover the costs of recording the "real” songs that came out of their collaboration. And for the most part, it’s hard to believe that making The End of the New Century wasn’t their original intention because it’s a solid debut effort. The two different vocalists on alternating tracks can be a little jarring, especially because Skalicky’s voice (reminiscent of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis) carries with it an apt bleakness mirrored in the lyrics. The music, while not dated, tips its hat to the birth of college radio and it isn’t difficult to hear the band’s acknowledgement of early R.E.M. as an influence. The overall mood is mellow and even the more upbeat songs continue the sombreness in a way that suggests it might be time for the duo to finally quit their day jobs.