Alright, I'm back. Who remembers the band The Anniversary? Those ex-pals of The Get Up Kids who in my eyes seemed to either be hailed as better than their Vagrant Records brethren or bashed for blatantly ripping them off. At least amongst my circle of friends. I am in neither crowd, as I love The Anniversary, but will embarrassingly admit that Something to Write Home About takes the cake for emo/post-emo/whatever records not titled Frame and Canvas.
Anywho, I was surprised to find that the band partnered up with the very label that shunned and erased them from memory back in 2003 (Vagrant, I'm not even going to get into it) to release their two-disc b-sides and rarities collection, Devil On Our Side at the end of June. The first disc captures them pre-Designing a Nervous Breakdown, when they played messy emo-pop with an 80s new wave twist. These particular tunes lean a little more to the emo side of things though.
The second disc is where the true jams are. The first few tracks represent the awkward in-between stage, before the band made the jump into 70s stoner-pop territory. Some of these songs are their absolute best. The second half of the disc is pretty much all post-Your Majesty (their second and final full length) tracks, and these are pretty hit or miss. There are some hidden gems, namely the song in focus here, "Let It Slip." If I had to take a guess these dudes and lady-dude got a little more playful, drank deeper of the drugs, and got WAY into dub music. "Let It Slip" isn't dominated by the dub, but just check out that middle section. There are two other songs where it is more prominent. They are all demos too, and they sound great.
I'm pretty stoked these songs have been officially released now, and "Let It Slip," with its great tempo and melodies, mature grasp of subtlety (sans that crazy freakout in the middle) and overall spirit of fun, was the most pleasant of surprises.
Check it:
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