A stunning release, they do an awful lot over the span of 5 songs. Been waiting for this to drop ever since I caught them supporting Personal Trainer. A tremendous band with a real bright energy when playing live. Am about to see them at Green Man and I couldn’t be more excited. I really hope this EP propels them to bigger things, they really deserve it.

Just wow. I already loved Carrie & Lowell, but hearing the demos and alternate takes of these songs is breathing new life into this album for me. Getting to hear the bones of these tracks has given them a whole new level of intimacy. That 13 minute version of Fourth of July is breathtakingly beautiful. When I used to work early morning shifts, C&L was one of the few albums I could manage at the 5am drive into work, so the album has carried around this weird sleepy dread for me all these ... read more

Craig Finn’s writing on his solo albums has come such a far way since his debut. I’ve loved all his output going back to Lifter Puller and his weird BrokerDealer project, but was disappointed by his first handful of solo records, feeling they wore too big of an influence on their sleeve. As the Hold Steady have left behind the prominence of recurring characters in their songs, Finn has really honed the storytelling of his solo work to an incredibly sharp edge. Among these tracks are ... read more

TMR have done a wonderful job on this remaster; the instruments sound so punchy compared to the ‘96 release, and they’ve made sure not to turn this into an Elliott Smith solo record. Finally having all of the demos and extra tracks in one place is a joy as well - some of the instrumentals were new to me, making this a real treat of a reissue for me.