4 out of 5

Label: The Self-starter Foundation

Produced by: Enon (?)

Remember when Enon was a mix of John Schmersal noise experiments and funky-ass post rock weirdness?

Consider me an Enon “purist” of sorts, because this is the era I adore. Not that the later pop stuff isn’t solid, but had I heard the first, I doubt I would’ve been hooked in the way that Believo! made me initially, and is the style / approach from whence 7″ singles like Listen While You Talk was borne. (Meaning, if the rating wasn’t indicative, that I’m a built-in fan.)

The A-side title track is of the punkier Believo! fare: raw, all energy, drums pumping a catchy beat while that funky melody and John’s enthused yelps sing rhymes at you. It’s fun and edgy and a little skewed from any single genre.

B-side By-ways and oddities is a sample with static and noise blended together, a pretty bold (but fitting for this era) flip to something some toe-tapping on the A-side. It’s starts out as its most blustery and then kind of fades out, which is perhaps my only criticism – it would’ve been nice to have an experimental track that winds you up a bit; leaving you on a high note – By-ways instead becomes more and more background noise as it goes along. Still, a totally interesting contribution.

I miss you, Enon.