Man, this came out so long ago. In fact, nearly 20 years ago. I wasn't even done with high school at that point. I love this EP, everything about it. Been listening to it since I first heard on 105.9 The Lazer nearly 20 years ago. I know every song by heart, so much so, that if a tune pops up on my iPod it feels strange when the next track doesn't follow.
Not going to front though, the vinyl sounds like crap. Pretty sure crank! just took CD master and put on vinyl; the high ends distort and it sounds muddy. CD is superior, but that's usually the case with 90's vinyl. Kind of hoping there's some sort of 20 year anniversary remaster edition in the works. However, if you go to the band's Facebook page, it appears the band is trying to regain their masters and do something to that effect, but are having a difficult time doing so. Apparently, crank! is reluctant to give up the rights. I would be too, but c'mon, there's not a huge market here, let the band do something with their songs. Or, if you're so confident the masters are worth bags of money, put something out...the band and the label both benefit. If it ever happens, I'd really like some sort of retrospective like the Posthumous release, but done up on vinyl.
About this release and band, years ago, when I was working at a grocery store in Lawrence, KS, my co-workers and I were assigned to check out the Community Mercantile. Oddly, the co-workers I went with were both really into music (actually, they were part of a band called the Ample Branches) and I spotted Danny Pound doing work. Jokingly, but half-serious, I told my co-workers that "grocery bagging guitar player" (Regrets reference which went over their heads) is the best musician in Lawrence. They questioned it, but sure enough, I had a copy of this CD in my car to prove it. Played some tunes for them, obvious choices, "She Eats Her Esses" and "Looper". Sadly the first response was not jaw-dropping in awe, but was, "Sounds a lot like Archers of Loaf, but better than I thought."
This incident happened approximately 5 years ago. And, DAMN if my co-worker wasn't right about the Archers sound. I love Archers of Loaf, but I'd never put into the context of Vitreous Humor. For me, Vitreous Humor came first. Groups like Vitreous Humor, Boys Life, Kill Creek, and Shiner being played locally on the radio were a gateway to your Superchunks, Archers of Loafs, and Sunny Day Real Estates of the world. I had literally spent most my adult life thinking Vitreous Humor was the most original thing to come out of Topeka and Lawrence, Kansas...ever. I thought the world of this band and everything Danny Pound did later. But, in one statement I began to question it.
About a day later I came to the conclusion (senses) that despite the obvious North Carolina influence, no one squawks like Danny Pound. Archers weren't this unabashed and out of tune, they weren't as random, and never as emo as Vitreous Humor. Vitreous Humor is amazing and I'm holding to it.
Looper
