Labels: Disposable Culture
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Having caught End of a Year on their recent tour of the UK, it gave me a new appreciation for their music. The singer has quite a stage presence, looking incredibly spaced out and wrecked but with an incredible repartee and skill for both talking shit and engaging the audience. I was suitably impressed, and although they didn’t play any of their earlier material, it certainly added to their appeal for me. This 3 track 7″ was presumably issued for that tour. First up is “Emanuela Orlandi”, with a thin recording and the sound of a demo. Certainly isn’t lavished with the production that you got on the Deathwish LP. This would be fine by me, but the song is kind of throwaway, although I like how the bass underpins the melody, and the song is over in a hurry. “Mehmet Ali Agca” shows that the band might have some new ideas in them, throwing out a grooving rocker, kind of like the Lapse crossed with Rites of Spring. I think they could be on to something if they push in this direction more. “The Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary” fills a side, and again manages to take things in a fresher direction not far removed from Chris Leo’s past dabblings, hitting smooth grooves and pitching in little kicks of excitement. I am definitely liking where EoaY are headed, if this is indeed a hint of that.
The packaging is ropey mind, with eyestraining yellow print lyrics laid over the top of the pictures, which themselves look like some weird attempt to mimic the Vampire Weekend LP artwork. No idea what they were going for here.