Labels: No Idea Records
Review by: Ian Cavell
I think its one of the biggest testaments to a bands inherent talent when they release what is essentially a compilation of songs stripped from past 7″ and split’s with other bands, and still manage to make it sound like a kick ass full length (shit, that sounds so american). And of course this release has the special incentive of arriving with the much hyped bonus 12″ comprising of demo and instrumental recordings (only available direct from No Idea mailorder…oh and every other distro everywhere – point?). But being No Idea, the whole package looks, smells and tastes fantastic. Coloured vinyl of course, even the bonus 12″ has been pressed on a lovely shade of blue. Song wise you can expect to find pretty much everything that has not been on a full length or Finding the Rhythms. That means great tracks like Tradition (from a little known Snuffy Smile release), Alachua, the songs from the split with Clairmel and, in particular, the awesome ‘Loft’ which I’d never heard before and held me in rapture the first time it rocked forth. The only thing missing is the recent Moonpies stuff (which suits me fine as I always thought they were kinda weak). As you’d expect, there are one or two mediocre moments; a couple of the tracks from the Tomorrow split regrettably edge towards being average, but as a whole this record it everything you’d expect from a band like Hot Water Music.
The bonus LP, however, is nowt to get excited about. Unless you get titillation from a couple of instrumentals and a bunch of demo recordings from past releases, you might begin to wonder what all the fuss was about. However it looks damn cool and perhaps that’s the most important factor.