Two songs. One per each side. Each a mini-epic. Something’s Wrong: “See You Never” is a long distance love song, full of train yards, backs to dumpsters, and buses; a DIY punk “Fairytale of New York” with a more ambiguous, less “you killed both me and my dreams” ending. If you’re a sucker for stabbed-speaker, ragged-voice singing akin to Allergic To Bullshit, and the great male/female voice interplay of The Measure [SA] as I am, this song’s a treat. Great stuff. Shorebirds: Restraint is a funny thing. Too much restraint and the train never gets out of the station and people start looking at their shoes, wishing you’d just leave. But if the train has a rocket attached, too much, too soon, then you get a two-word situation that starts with “premature” and ends with a noun of disappointment. The Shorebirds squeeze that restraint in “The Movie’s Almost Over” like a huge grapefruit. You know it’s gonna burst because the fingertips are penetrating the flesh. Wait for it. Squeeze harder. A little mist as the rind’s giving out. Then splow! Seeds, pulp, juice everywhere, the sky crashes, and then spent silence. In one song. Via early ‘90s EastBay pop punk music lexicon, but very much using present time and experience. Excellent.
–todd (Rumbletowne / Cookout)