I have no idea how I first came to hear about The Nation of Ulysses, but I think it may have just been a product of clicking links on Wikipedia; I was probably reading about a band, then ended up on the Dischord Records page and found them from there. In my mind, it was because of the book Our Band Could Be Your Life, but the dates don't work out - the band doesn't get mentioned until the Beat Happening chapter, which I read in Colorado, but I bought this in New York two weeks before that. But I also remember Ian Svenonius interviewing some bands on ATP TV the first time I went to the festival and his name sounding familiar. Maybe someone just recommended them to me. I'm annoyed I can't remember, but maybe it'll come back to me.
Anyway, I'm reasonably sure I hadn't actually heard them when I bought this LP. I quite enjoy buying records by bands I've not listened to, and record labels sticking to certain types of bands makes that an often safe bet. I'm pretty sure I knew Nation of Ulysses had a trumpet player, and a combination of my love of Black Eyes (who also enjoyed some brass instruments) and Dischord Records probably convinced me to chance £5.50 on them (what a bargain. Buying records in the US can be dangerously cheap). This is the 2008 repress on orange vinyl, which Discogs tells me was limited to 1000 copies.
If you've not listened to The Nation of Ulysses but like your punk a little different, I strongly recommend them. Musically they drift into jazz, but in a less aggressive way than Black Eyes and it works well. I later got the second album Plays Pretty for Baby (on cd), which I think I enjoy more, but I've also probably played it more often. This one still has it's highlights though, and Spectra Sonic Sound, A Kid Who Tells on Another Kid is a Dead Kid and Love is a Bull Market are all excellent and well worth a spin.
Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 13
Cost: £5.42 new
Bought: Generation Records, New York
When: 11/04/08
Colour: Orange
Etching: none
mp3s: no
