Four bands on a singular record here, a benefit 7″ for a theatre program in an Indiana school. As one of the bands writes – “Please support art in education”. Oh, and I got a five cent piece with my record. I’m not sure if it fell in there by mistake, of if it’s an actual insert. Pretty weird really!
The opening band is “Quatro”, who scream a lot over some hard hitting drumming and lots of buzzing and chugging guitars. The screams are very effective, but the music isn’t really doing much, apart from some cool time changes. Neither here nor there.
Sharing side A are, well, it’s Twelve Hour Turn. What more can you say? Quite a bit really. This is an old song (“Two”), it says here it’s the second one they ever wrote. Lead vocals are sung at times, though the familiar scratchy screamy vocals and backups feature prominently. Musically it’s quite far removed from the split LP and the 12″, taking a more straight forward punkier route, yet still packed with a groove and pretty twinkle parts. Pretty basic compared with how they are now, but packs a punch. If you like their really early songs, you’ll like this one too.
Side two gives you the Vida Blue. And if you aren’t old / American / nerdy enough to spot the baseball reference with their name, they call the song “Eighty Seven Yankees”. Which I presume is another baseball reference anyway. Their track is desperate, pleading, almost incoherent vocals over some slightly mathy indie rock with old school emo influences. Ragged production is something all the tracks on here suffer from in some degree, and that’s most true of this song. But a good track nonetheless.
Finally we get a song from the Lazarus Plot. Who are kinda beautiful. Dreamy girl vocals over pure twinkle, slow paced indie rock. This song is sad to listen to, even though it is so pretty. Very melancholy. They have split up now. I am even sadder.
Good record. Not knockmedown amazing, but a good record. And my cover comes on an acetate which is placed over a piece of card cut from a box of cherry coke cans. Davey would be proud.