Adam Nathanson's folksy/bluesy leanings were already becoming evident in the last BORN AGAINST material. Once the unit imploded at the pinnacle of their creativity, they went a lot of separate, weird ways - most notably (to me) MEN'S RECOVERY PROJECT and Nathanson's YOUNG PIONEERS (they didn't add the parenthesis for a little while). The latter expanded on these more rootsy influences through a number of EPs and an LP on Sam McPheeters's illustrious, sadly-defunct VERMIFORM.
This little blast of a single captures the ensemble transitioning to a more coherent, less-sludgy sound than their early material. It came out around the time of the "Crimewave" ten inch and just before their transcendent output on LOOKOUT and subsequent breakup. Musically they are noisy, melodic folk ballads (complete with harmonica) that eschew traditional song structures run through a punk filter. Nathanson's vocals are heavily distorted, as with the entirety of the PIONEERS catalog, but his gift for boiling manifestos down to couplets is entirely clear. Though they are more loathe to repeat hooks than on their later material, it certainly keeps me coming back for more. The b-side, "(It Looks Like He'll Be Joining) The Navy" merely runs through it's brief lament of a "life where swears and curses meet" before immediately and abruptly disintegrating. You can find this and 15 other tunes included on the compact disc release of "Crimewaves", but I always prefer to listen to releases as distinct entities, maybe even moreso with (Y)P. Maybe you do too?
(Postscriptum - I must apologize for the lack of appropriate pictures with some of my updates, I haven't been able to find accompanying pictures anywhere on the internet. Next time I have access to a scanner, I will retroactively rectify these posts)
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