I really want to know if there is any part of these songs that were maybe like holdovers from back in the day? The riffs or melodies… anything at all. I know I said it before but it’s borderline unheard of for a band to come back after this long and sound exactly like they used to. You could sneak this song onto Stop Doing Bad Things and I might not even notice
well, it is 3 out of 4 members from those days, next time i see mark I'll ask him if they are entirely brand new or just old songs never released and reworked or something.
I second everyone saying it's crazy how familiar these songs feel. So far they're reminding me most of Better Than Knowing Where You Are. It feels less like discovering old b-sides and more like realizing I was skipping an album track all this time, and I love it. Can't think of another reunion that's managed that, for me. They also inspired me to do an album run and I remembered how important the bass is to this band, which is super unusual (in this genre). Practically every song on the first two albums has a bass line that is one of the most memorable/critical parts. Their producer was really smart to lean into that.
yah the two new songs have no TJ Minich basslines that cut through, as a bassist i was super bummed even though the songs are good, you are absolutely right they cut through, he left by the third album and its noticeable. Sean O'Keefe (FOB) produced RRN and Ed Rose (TGUK) produced SDBT and both did an excellent job letting TJ shine. He was the reason i picked up a bass, in 2013 when they played the 10 yr RRN annv show i got up the nerve to tell him that and he couldn't have been cooler, truly an underrated musician and an awesome dude in general!
Love love love this EP. "The Big Hurt" is a bit of an outlier — feels more like Mark's solo stuff than most Spitalfield songs — but it's still great. "Real" is so sweet.
Agree that "The Big Hurt" kind of feels like its own thing, and the first two songs released are my favorites, but that's just how EP releases go these days. One of the best returns from hiatus of any bands in this scene, for sure. Hope it sparks them into writing another album!
Yeah this EP is really good! And if Mark’s solo stuff sounds like The Big Hurt then it’s time I finally check that out.
Here’s “I Can’t Stop” from Wednesday. You can find The Only Thing That Matters and Make My Heart Attack on my channel, too.