Cutman - Big Deal EP

As I mentioned in my post about Cutman's No Trick Pony 7", I'd been given the 7" of the Big Deal EP instead of No Trick Pony when I bought it. All Ages refunded me, but I did of course play the wrong 7" before taking it back. I was very keen to hear some more Cutman and there were two songs on vinyl in front of me, just they weren't the songs I was supposed to be hearing.

What I heard was excellent - both songs were brilliant. They sounded somehow more clean and punky than the LP, but still sounded exactly like what I'd come to love from Cutman. And huge; two monsters of songs. The Itch might be my favourite Cutman song (it's almost impossible not to slow-head-bang when the first chorus breaks) and Bulldozer Blues is probably in the top 5. If you want to get an idea of what Cutman sound like, this 7" would be an excellent place to start.

The problem I had was that I'd returned the record to All Ages only to discover that the Different Kitchen distro only had No Trick Pony available. I'd fallen in love with these two songs and I had nowhere I could find them in the UK. The worse thing about it was that I preferred Big Deal to No Trick Pony (although the latter is still very good). When we finally made it back to Fest in 2013, I was very excited to find a copy of the Big Deal EP at one of the stalls at registration (in fact we found two, so Sarah bought one as well). I was pretty pleased to finally have the 7" again and even more pleased to find that the songs were even better than I remembered.

Format: 7", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 2
Cost: £3.15 new
Bought: Pre-Fest registration, Tampa
When: 29/10/13
Colour: Marbled grey
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Cutman - No Trick Pony

The story of Cutman's No Trick Pony 7" is thoroughly entwined with the story of their Big Deal 7" for reasons that will become clear. Cutman were one of the bands we accidentally discovered at Fest and thought were awesome. Both Sarah and I both bought their album Universal Laws and thought it was excellent. Nearly a year later I stumbled across a copy of No Trick Pony in All Ages in London and was very excited to hear some more Cutman. I bought a bunch of records that day but Cutman was the one I was most looking forward to hearing when I got home.

However when I got home I was a bit confused because the record in the sleeve only had two songs on it, neither of which were supposed to be. It became clear that I had the 7" from the Big Deal EP and not No Trick Pony. I dropped All Ages an email saying that they'd given me the wrong 7", but they'd never had the Big Deal 7" in stock, so wherever the mistake happened, it happened before it arrived at All Ages. They kindly offered to refund me and pointed me towards the Different Kitchen distro as somewhere I might be able to get a copy with the right record inside.

A few weeks later I ordered a bunch of stuff from them (which wouldn't have happened if it weren't for that mishap, so silver linings). They had No Trick Pony (but not Big Deal) so I got one for myself and one for Sarah as it was her birthday soon afterwards. I picked up one of the first press on "grape" coloured vinyl (/125). They had some more limited runs of the second press for a pound or two more, so I got Sarah one on yellow vinyl (/27). I think the highlight might be the third song, the sludgy Tied to the Wheel but the whole 7" is great. I was after more Cutman songs and that was exactly what I got, which is a pretty awesome thing.

Format: 7", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 3
Cost: £3.10 new
Bought: Different Kitchen distro
When: 14/11/12
Colour: Grape
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Cutman - Universal Laws

Cutman were another one of the excellent discoveries I made at Fest in 2011. A year and a half later and I'm still working to catch up with all the awesome bands we saw that weekend. I was really keen to see Run, Forever on the Friday, because I'd just started listening to them and thought they were ace (more on that here) and thought it might be worth getting there a little early (I had no idea what size venue they were playing and queues at Fest can be killer). As it happens, there was no need to get there early at all, but it did mean we had the pleasant surprise of seeing Cutman.

The description on the Fest app compared them to Quicksand and probably mentioned something about riffs. Not a lot of bands that weekend were big on riffs, so it was nice to hear some. Sarah and I were both equally impressed by Cutman and both picked up copies of their LP afterwards (which they were throwing in free t-shirts with too). We then watched Run, Forever and I had a great time. Sarah thought they were quite good, but left before the end to catch some other band she was keen to see and I stuck around to watch The Great Explainer. All in all, it had been a pretty good couple of hours in The Laboratory (I also saw Small Brown Bike, Samiam, Bouncing Souls and Hot Water Music that day. Friday was a good one).

Anyway, this record was one of the first I played when we got back from Florida (I think Restorations was the very first one) and it's as great as they were live. Heavy, riffy, aggressive but with some huge tunes. You can see the Quicksand comparison, but I'd say they're heavier on the most part. Personal favourites are Bad Party, The Clinic and The Universal Law of Tonnage.

The record itself is pretty nice too. I can't begin to describe the colour (partly because I'm colour-blind, partly because there's a lot going on on that disc) but I'd guess at sea-green/turquoise/blue? The descriptions of the colours on the record label website are equally vague. I can't remember what colour Sarah got, but I remember she was jealous of this one. The sleeve is also strange - the front is simply the wrench, and the card with the album title on sits behind it. The pictures below might help explain this.

I find it funny sometimes to think about the coincidences that lead to you discovering some bands. If Cutman hadn't been playing immediately before Run, Forever I may have never heard them, which would have been a shame. But you can go back further: if I hadn't met Sarah at that Walter Schreifels gig, I probably wouldn't have been at Fest in the first place, and if I'd not gone back to university I wouldn't have even been in Kingston to go to that show. I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make here, but it's nice sometimes to appreciate that these coincidences did work out the way they did. Maybe there are other bands I've missed out on because of various choices but, fuck 'em, I'm very happy with the bands I have heard. And, hopefully, if they're any good I'll come across them one day.


Format: 12", insert, a4 insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £6.20 new
Bought: Fest
When: 28/10/11
Colour: Blue/green?
Etching: none
mp3s: Download