Curiosity and Relief

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EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 6   Total Length: 21:56

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Mark Jenkins

eMusic Contributor

04.22.11
Dischord's one and only power-pop band.
Label: Dischord Records

On tour, this sorta-supergroup was sometimes billed as "including former members of Minor Threat and Pussy Galore" — which was absolutely true and entirely immaterial. The quartet was (and probably always will be) Dischord's only power-pop band, equally proficient at earthy attack and airborne harmonies. This filler-free six-song mini-album is unapologetically melodic and often tender, with frontman Peter Hayes 'pleas for understanding cued to folk-rock jangling rather than hardcore thumping. These were the last recordings ever propelled by former Minor Threat drummer Jeff Nelson, whose decision to retire led to the band's unraveling soon after the record's release.

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Dischord Records

By Mark Jenkins, eMusic Contributor

Like many ad hoc labels, Dischord was founded to release a record by a single band. That band, the Teen Idles, didn't last, but the label did. Twenty-five years later, it continues to document its chosen segment of the Washington, D.C. punk and post-punk scene — only one Dischord act, Lungfish, hails from as far away as Baltimore — and its founders 'music and ethic. The label is still owned by ex-Idles Ian MacKaye and… more »

They Say All Music Guide

More pop-oriented fun from the High-Back Chairs on this follow-up EP to Of Two Minds, which, like its predecessor, is a good acid test to find out if a self-proclaimed Dischord obsessive really likes everything on the label. Only the most self-righteous hater of harmonies and just Anglophilic enough arrangements and delivery will find cause to complain, though. Hayes’ summery voice makes for a lovely equivalent to such purveyors of sweet/sour sentiments as the Dentists or the Shoes, while musically everyone riffs along with the panache of Cheap Trick at its prime. Winners like “Share” and “FUJ” hit the right combination of smarts, good performance, and memorable melodies. “Unending” lets the foursome indulge a more melancholic bent, Hayes’ lyrics addressing the need for personal connection like so many fellow labelmates, but delivered with a darker guitar shimmer over its easy groove. – Ned Raggett

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