3 out of 5

Label: MySpace Records

Produced by: Jonny Polonsky

Word of warning to those of you who, similar to me, got obsessed with Nico Vega’s self-titled album and then scampered to collect past works: you’ll be re-hearing a lot of the same tracks.  And for this early EP, it’s really hard to separate my appreciation of the re-recorded versions of these tracks for ‘No Child’s less-produced takes.  They’re almost note for note, with minor differences, so it’s even difficult to read these as demos are alternate takes.  There is a unique track here – ‘This Too Shall Pass’ – though it seems the band and I are of a shared opinion that this was the weakest track of the bunch and fine to leave behind when it came time for their full-length debut.

So.  What we end up with is a strong but not quite as notable batch of songs that come more across as chick rock than their meatier antecedents.  Proof of how much production can add to something, yes, but also, probably, some lessons learned by the band: Aja ditched some vocal excess (the bridge on ‘Gravity’) and just went for the guttural stuff, and the sounds that ring across the most on the disc – pounding drums, gang vocals, distorted riffs – were all dialed up later on.  The strongest track out of this bunch is the opener, ‘Gravity,’ as its most indicative of the group’s skill at combining head-bobbing pop compositions with those other mentioned anthemic elements.  Take this song away and you have something that comes much closer to college rock in spirit, especially the simplistic ‘This Too Shall Pass,’ which has a catchy chorus but isn’t structurally as notable as the other tracks.

Is it worth it if you’re picking up back catalogue?  Tough call.  Listening to this just makes me want to listen to the s/t album; the versions here aren’t superior in any way except to prove that the roots of the songs were there from the start.  I’m glad I listened to it, but only time will tell if it ends up just being a collector’s piece or a refreshing relisten on occasion.