5 out of 5

Recorded by: Dave Eringa, Bob Weston, Willie Deans

Label: Odeon / Capitol / Food

Weee for variation.  This is a good find: two album tracks (and two of the best tracks from that album, ‘100 Windows’), one cover, two non-albumers.  The EP is also a nice mini-tour of the Idlewild-y world, as the title track and it’s partner, ‘Roseability’ give you a pretty perfect picture of the bouncy rock from that disc; ‘There’s Glory in Your Story’ offering a less distorted affair that looks years forward to latter-day Idlewild folk-pop leanings; the Dylan cover ‘When The Ship Comes In’ a (at the time for the group) daringly muted and peaceful cover that calls to mind some of Roddy Woomble’s eventual solo stuff; and final Weston-produced ‘Forgot To Follow,’ which sounds like a callback to the group’s more post-punk leaning, snarling debut disc.

All of the songs are quality, though I’ll admit some of the luster of the album tracks (which are the highlights) is perhaps lost on me since I listened to ‘100 Windows’ a million and a half times.  However, it gets the extra nudge to five stars for being a fucking promo disc that actually offers up the goods: none of these feel like B-sides that couldn’t fit elsewhere (though maybe that’s what they are), and it’s pretty funny how this ends up being a picture of different eras of the group that were, at that point, to come.