condition (record/cover): EX / VG+

Fiery Jack feels like a song I'd be much more in love with if it was sitting on an album, but somehow just doesn't quite ignite as much as a single. Let alone the a-side. Something about it sounds like supporting material, like highly valued mortar in a greater sum. Grotesque definitely would have welcomed in a song like this, shame it didn't make it on there. Second Dark Age. Cool mini song, but yes definitely it sounds too short. Like Fiery Jack this one feels like it would have been better served crammed into a greater whole. Where its cool chorus melody would have been a nice moment in a big show. Unlike Jack though I would say this one coulda shoulda made it onto Dragnet rather than Grotesque. But hey what can you do. Psykick Dancehall #2. An alternate mix of the lead off track from Dragnet, and lucky for me because Psykick Dancehall is one my personal fave spots in their discography. Something about its funk meets rockabilly meets skeletal rustbelt punk thing really works for me. I think its the essentially upbeat melody that somehow still sounds deranged and screwed in the head, paired with a danceable beat in the verse. Hell its almost a kind of Dance Punk track! This mix pushes all the elements in opposite directions. So we get the bass amped up into a undeniable disco punk groove, while the guitar and vocals are pushed into an even starker simpler sound. Resulting in an absurd contrast that highlights what a mutant hybrid it all is. And yeah it still kicks ass, in fact it might kick more ass. Partly because (like all songs on Dragnet) the album version sounds pretty muddy. Something about making the groove heavier, and the guitars more wire like makes it even better. I guess you'd have to love the original to care about an alternate mix, but I sure as hell do so essential this is!