I think I just got this record. I've had it for months, played it quite a lot and thought it was good, but I put the needle on the record this afternoon and was suddenly struck by how excellent it is (in fact, I'm now listening to it for the third time today). Might have something to do with the fact that I'm playing louder than usual - Bear Vs. Shark sound very good loud.
I'm reasonably sure the name Bear Vs. Shark had never passed my ears (or eyes) until I got a Friction Records sampler at Fest last year (a cd I got free when I bought the first two Shores albums). I still didn't know anything about them for a few weeks afterwards, but that cd put me on the path to finding out about them. As we drove from Gainesville to Orlando, Sarah dug out the two cds she'd got that weekend (just try buying music on any format but vinyl at Fest. I love how difficult it is!) and we listened to them in the car. The second was the Friction Records sampler and the second song - The Hustle by Bars of Gold - was excellent. When I got home I played it again, and it was still excellent. I had a Google, read all about them and made good intentions to ship their album over. The piece of information I took in was that two of the band's members used to be in Bear Vs. Shark and that Big Scary Monsters had re-pressed their debut album. Always keen to avoid being shafted by customs fees, I figured I'd pick up the Bear Vs. Shark album on BSM and save Bars of Gold for later.
The album, as I've only just realised, is incredible. The music is a perfect mix of punk-rock and endless amounts of energy. Evidently, I had to turn the volume up to realise this, but the opener Ma Jolie is huge, and so are the 13 songs that follow it. Songs like The Employee is Not Afraid show an indie side to the band and it's a pretty upbeat record too; play it on a day when you're in a good mood and it'll take some effort to shift the smile off your face.
This reissue is pretty lovely too. The sleeve is entirely different to that of the original, it's numbered (/250) and the colour of the vinyl is lovely (despite a friend pointing out it looks a little like a scab). When mine arrived the record itself was strangely dirty and had slightly knifed the sleeve, but these things don't affect how enjoyable the music is. BSM has now sold out of these, but Banquet has at least one copy which I notice every time I go in there since it has a lower number than mine.
I still haven't bought the Bars of Gold record. I've listened to it on Bandcamp and it's every bit as excellent as the song I heard. You can hear the similarities to Bear Vs. Shark, so much so I think this album may have quenched my desire a little; I still want to buy the Bars of Gold LP, but then I just play Bear Vs. Shark instead and that kind of suffices. I also quite fancy picking up the second BVS album, but copies in the UK are few and far between. On the off chance Kevin is reading this, could BSM please put out those two records? I'd definitely buy them both, and I can't be the only one.
Nearly wrote a whole post about this album without mentioning that it holds the record for the longest album title in my collection.
Format: 12", numbered (225/250)
Tracks: 14
Cost: £12.50 new
Bought: Big Scary Monsters website
When: 03/05/12
Colour: Red with black haze
Etching: none
mp3s: no
