Along Came A Test Press

Back in 202o when the world got turned upside down, Tim Singer re-emerged onto the scene with a band called Bitter Branches. I picked up their debut 12" EP and really enjoyed it at the time, but not too long after it was announced that one of Tim Singer's older bands, No Escape, were going to release new material, so I wasn't sure that Bitter Branches would stay the course.

Well anyway, at some point last year it became clear that they weren't going anywhere fast, when a new 7" EP was released by Equal Vision Records. When I saw it, I ordered one instantly, because it looked so damn cool.

This two song 7" was clearly made to look just like one of the classic Sub Pop 7"s. From the bar at the top of the sleeve with the band name and song titles, the EVR logo on the front cover, the layout of the labels and the big hole in the record, this is a really well designed rip off / homage to the classic Sub Pop 7" design. I listened to a podcast about this and they mentioned that apparently Kiss It Goodbye were supposed to released a 7" on Sub Pop back in the late 90s, but then it ended up not happening. So this layout pays tribute to that.

The first song on here, 'Along Came A Bastard', is also the first song on the band's debut album, which has recently been released and which I will no doubt get around to picking up at some point in the future, whereas the song on the flipside is exclusive to this 7". And there is also a pink vinyl pressing which also looks great and which I want.

Well anyway, at some point at the end of last year Atomic Action Records also sold off a couple of test pressings of the band's debut 12" EP, 'This May Hurt A Bit', via their webstore. The price was very reasonable, so I had to grab one. It's always mildly disappointing when the label doesn't bother to make or provide any kind of sleeve for the record, but it's still a great record to have.

I listened to both of these records today in advance of writing this post, and it's made me pretty excited for the full length. I may even break my own rule and download it before I get a physical copy.