Indian Summer
Original pressing cover in black ink. The cover was also pressed with other inks such as beige or white.
EP by
Indian Summer
Released1993 (1993)
StudioHouse of Faith, California, United States[1]
Genre
Length14:39
LabelRepercussion Recordings
Indian Summer chronology
Indian Summer
(1993)		 Current / Indian Summer
(1993)

Indian Summer is the debut EP by American emo band Indian Summer, and was released in 1993 through Repercussion Recordings. The band was created after twin brothers Adam and Seth Nanaa's previous band, Sinker, was disbanded. They recruited Eyad Kaileh and Marc Bianchi to create Indian Summer. The band recorded four songs in Bart Thurber's recording studio. They picked three songs to be released on their debut EP (with the other being released on the compilation "Food Not Bombs Benefit LP" on *inchworm. records).[1][2]

The release included very minimalistic packaging. It contains a pitchfork on the root beer-colored front cover and an image of the boy looking onto a field on the back cover with parts of lyrics and gibberish. Notably, there were no titles for each track, with the only official name being hieroglyphs on tour setlists. Thus, many unofficial names for their songs were made by fans.[3]

After the release, the band would release three more splits and appeared in three compilations before breaking up. All three tracks were included in the compilations Science 1994 by Future Recordings and Giving Birth To Thunder by The Numero Group.

Composition

"My brother and I came from dysfunction. That’s what we knew, I didn’t know shit about politics, so why would I sing about that? My old man bailed on us when we were right out of the womb. When you start screaming ‘I am the angry son,’ it’s hard to read that any other way."

—Adam Nanaa, explaining the meaning of the song "Woolworm"[1]

The EP consists of excerpts of Bessie Smith's "See if I'll Care" on all of its tracks and contains intentional vinyl noise.[1][4] The samples and vinyl noise were added because Adam Nanaa said that he wanted to "emulate the nights in Oakland we spent fucked up and passed out."[2] He also felt like both would make it like "the needle dragging the end of the Slint LP."[3] Seth noted how chaotic the performance was, and how they were acting like it was a concert.[1] The signature song, Woolworm, is about coming from a dysfunctional family. Adam and Seth's dad were confronted with the departure of their father before they were even born.[1]

Track listing

All music by Indian Summer and songs were written by Seth Nanaa[1]

The track had no official name at the time of its release.[3] The names are from the compilation Giving Birth To Thunder by The Numero Group

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Aren't You, Angel?"4:44
2."mm."2:28
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Woolworm"7:25

Reception

The release did not see much attention from critics at the time. The track "Woolworm" had moderate airplay a year after its release at Stanford University's radio station KZSU to promote their performance on May 25, 1994, for KZSU's Wednesday Night Live.[lower-alpha 1][5][6] It did receive attention from Mark Pearsall's label, Slave Cut, where the band would record a track for the compilation Ghost Dance which included influential emo bands Cap'n Jazz and Braid. The EP was pressed around 3,000 times in the following years.[1]

Despite the obscurity of the release at the time, the EP, especially the track Woolworm, has generally seen positive reception. The EP's tracks saw more recognition when it was released in the compilations Science 1994 and Giving Birth to Thunder. Pitchfork, in their review of Giving Birth to Thunder, called the excerpts of Bessie Smith's voice "the binding agent" of the EP and how "their defining moments are like a flash flood."[3] Rolling Stone named the compilation Science 1994 as one of the greatest emo albums, saying the band was known "for its striking contrasts," noting how "every minute of calm reaps a subsequent avalanche of havoc." It also noted how Smith's excerpts underpinned "the cathartic swing and crash" of Woolworm.[7] Vulture named Woolworm[lower-alpha 2] as the 19th greatest emo song of all time.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ KZSU named the track I Am The Angry Son instead of Woolworm on their charts
  2. ↑ Vulture uses the unofficial track name Angry Son in their article

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Shipley, Ken (May 2019). "Indian Summer — You Had To Be There". The Numero Group. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Science 1994 (Liner notes). Indian Summer. Future Recordings. 2002.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Cohen, Ian (September 19, 2019). "Indian Summer: Giving Birth to Thunder Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  4. ↑ .Thomas, Fred (September 13, 2019). "Indian Summer – Giving Birth to Thunder". AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  5. ↑ "KZSU – Weekly Chart for May 15, 1994". KZSU. May 15, 1994. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Indian Summer / Live on Kzsu Wnl". KZSU. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  7. ↑ "40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 4, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  8. ↑ "The 100 Greatest Emo Songs of All Time". Vulture. February 13, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.