I first heard Waiting 12 years ago after getting the cd for Christmas. I'd bought a copy of Full Collapse from Hugh earlier that year and loved it; I think everyone would agree that Full Collapse is Thursday at their very finest. In comparison, Waiting was the messier younger sibling. I still remember being amazed at the difference - Geoff's vocals on the opener, Porcelain, warbled in this endearing way that somehow made me feel closer to the band. I guess Full Collapse was the polished, proper album, but Waiting made me realise that they had once been a scrappy local band (for some people) like the scrappy local punk bands we were starting to get into.
For me, Waiting had two truly great moments: Ian Curtis with its layered vocals and gradual build-up and Streaks in the Sky, which explodes onto the record full of angst after the gentle Intro (halfway through the record). In fact, for a long time, I considered Streaks in the Sky one of the finest examples of post-hardcore. It's a song I still love now. I have very fond memories of it coming up on shuffle during my first marathon and giving the extra boost I needed towards the end. Like a lot of songs, I wonder how it would stand up if I was hearing it for the first time now, rather than 12 years ago, but luckily I have nothing but fond memories of it.
However, a few months ago I began to wonder if I never actually listened to Waiting properly. I read an interview with Geoff about the record and he was talking about how Dying in New Brunswick was about the time his girlfriend got raped in a city she'd just moved to. I was amazed that for so many years I'd been listening to a song with an absolutely horrible back-story and I'd never once picked up on it (listening, but not hearing, it seems). Reading the lyrics now it seems so clear. I wonder how many other songs in my record collection have meanings I'm completely ignorant to (probably quite a lot). It was a strange feeling, but it's funny how something like that can change music you know so well.
I was pretty excited when Geoff's new label, Collect Records, announced they'd be reissuing Waiting on vinyl as I was pretty keen to add it to my collection. When it arrived in the post I was even more excited; they'd done such a lovely job with it - the pictures below don't quite do it justice. The small details, like the pouch for the 7" to live in, just show the level of attention that went into it. In a way, I kind of miss the old artwork that was on the cd; I quite liked the simplicity of it. However it's worth mentioning that the original issues of Full Collapse and Five Stories Falling had completely different artwork on vinyl too.
The 7" itself deserves a mention - the demos of This Side of Brightness and Dying in New Brunswick are fascinating. There's something missing from This Side of Brightness that I can't quite describe (a more musical person would have a better idea) and without it the song sounds naked. Maybe it's from 12 years of listening to it. On the final side is Mass as Shadows, an unreleased song from the era, making the reissue even more essential. It's a nice little song - slow and brooding but when it hits it certainly does the job - in fact it reminds me more of Slint than it does Thursday.
All in all, an excellent package of an album I've enjoyed for a long time. I definitely wish all vinyl reissues had the care and attention that this one had.
Format: 12", 7", picture sleeve, insert
Tracks: 12
Cost: £20 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 04/04/15
Colour: Red
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code
