This EP was my introduction to The Twilight Sad. My housemate Nicky had been telling me about them and shortly later I found this record in Spillers during the Tuesday-Record-From-Spillers year. I figured it was certainly worth chancing £8 on it. I'd always assumed the EP came first and the songs were re-worked for the debut LP, Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, but it turns out it was the other way around (evidently in the 7 years since I bought it I've never once read their Wikipedia page). I've never consciously listened out for the differences, but there's certainly a different feel to the songs - somehow quieter and moodier.
The two new songs are both pretty nice. The second is a cover of Some Things Last a Long Time by Daniel Johnston, an artist I'm yet to write about on here. I have a couple of his albums and they rarely get played - it doesn't make for very easy listening (so it's appropriate that The Twilight Sad would cover him). Some Things Last a Long Time was one of the Daniel Johnston songs I always enjoyed more, mostly for the simple play on words around "Your picture is still / Still on my wall"; everyone talks about the simple naivety in his songs and that's great example. The cover here is particularly nice.
I became a fan of the band from hearing this EP (partly thanks to Nicky, partly thanks to Spillers for stocking it around the time he mentioned it) and it's been pretty rewarding; their albums are dense and dark and I feel like I have to make a real effort to get into them, but I like that and it's always a rewarding process. I've also seen them live a bunch of times since, which is always a great experience. A good introduction to a great band.
Format: 12"
Tracks: 6
Cost: £8 new
Bought: Spillers, Cardiff
When: 05/08/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
