Release Info:
RLSDATE: 2024/04/21 RTLDATE: 2004/08/21
GENRE: Rock SiZE: 387 MB
SOURCE: CD RUNTiME: 40:24
RELEASE: Vagrant Records VICP-62815
ORiGiN: Japan ENCODER: FLAC 1.43
MATRiX: VICP-62815-1 XIA V IFPI L245
with log/cue/nfo/m3u/sfv/300 dpi scans.
The All Music Guide adds. . .
Originally from Auburn, AL, Hot Rod Circuit comprised Andy Jackson (vocal,
rhythm guitar), Casey Prestwood (lead guitar, vocals), Jay Russel (bass,
vocals), and Wes Cross (drums), and could be compared to other post-grunge emo
rock bands such as Jawbox and the Get Up Kids. In their earlier days, Hot Rod
Circuit was known as Antidote, under which name they released the album Mr.
Glenbowski. The album earned the group a 1998 Best Unsigned Band Award from
Musician magazine. Shortly after the award, they named themselves Hot Rod
Circuit, and with the change in name came a change in scenery, as the band
relocated to Connecticut. There they released their debut album, 1999's If I
Knew Now What I Knew Then, through New York-based Triple Crown under their new
moniker. To promote the album the group toured with the Get Up Kids, Jazz
June, and At the Drive-In before following up with If It's Cool with You It's
Cool with Me in fall 2000. In spring 2002, Hot Rod Circuit released Sorry
About Tomorrow, their first for Vagrant, while that fall Triple Crown issued
Been There, Smoked That, a compilation of sorts that contained an out of print
self-titled EP from 1999 along with other previously unreleased early
material. Tours with acts like Dashboard Confessional and Saves the Day
supported their records on the road, as the guys began writing new material
inspired by the college rock they grew up on, like the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr.,
and the Lemonheads. Their resulting more matured Vagrant follow-up, Reality's
Coming Through, was produced by Tim O'Heir and surfaced in August 2004. Tour
dates with Straylight Run, Piebald, and the Snake the Cross the Crown
followed, along with a spot on 2005's Bamboozle Festival. Russel exited the
band that June, forcing the guys to drop off the Get Up Kids' farewell tour.
By fall 2006, Hot Rod Circuit had found a new label home at Immortal Records
and released The Underground Is a Dying Breed in March 2007. By then, the
quartet comprised Jackson and Prestwood alongside bassist Joe Balaro and
drummer Dan Duggins.
Though they reside on Vagrant and have matured at a rate and in a manner
similar to the Get Up Kids, there's something...East Coast about Hot Rod
Circuit that cordons them off from the dreaded emo-pop tag. While Reality's
Coming Through has its share of pleading choruses and heartstring-tug power-
chord changes (and genre spokesman Chris Carrabba guests on the rousing
"Unfaithful"), this effort mostly suggests the resigned, flinty rock of
Buffalo Tom, or vaguely the later Barlow/Loewenstein axis of Sebadoh. "Fear
the Sound"'s wrangled guitars and struggling half-time, "Cheap Trick"'s clever
musical references, the achy, pedal steel-tinged "Best You Ever Knew" -- these
songs don't deserve to be corralled behind the invisible fence of a
meaningless genre. The presence of old-hand East Coast producer Tim O'Heir
might have something to do with the blue-gray vibe of Reality's Coming
Through, but there's that title, too, which suggests Hot Rod Circuit
themselves know this album is the one. It might be the Let Me Come Over of
this decade.
Ripper's Notes:
"I Won't Back Down" and "Try And Understand" are both Japanese bonus tracks. "I Won't Back Down" is a Tom Petty cover, and "Try And Understand" is straight up country music.
Is this what we listened to in the early 2000s? I must admit, I'd still spin Emotion Is Dead or The Moon Is Down, but I only blew the dust off of this one because I was reminded that Face To Face's Trever Keith co-wrote "Save You" and provided backing vocals.
If you chose to share this, or any other release, elsewhere, please give the original ripper/uploader the respect they deserve by leaving it intact and giving credit where credit is due.
As always, that just about covers it!
Enjoy, and SEED!
Your friendly neighborhood Zoloft
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