5 out of 5

Label: Fingerpaint Records

Produced by ?

Radar Bros. is the group I’d often be telling others not to sleep on, and then catch myself doing the same. As Jim Putnam’s slocore group quirkily slumbered on over a couple decades, and began aligning more with the pretty slide guitar folk rockers on eventual label Merge, I allowed my brain to file them, genre-wise, accordingly. Setting aside further discussion on that, we’re here to talk about their first release, an EP, which is all sorts of a reminder of the group I should never have slept on. Yeah they were a different roster at this point, and much closer, soundwise, to Jim’s past in more guitar-centric rockers like Medicine, but nonetheless: all the Radar Bros. elements are here, and narrowed down to some of the most directly catchy melodies (and more accessibly singalongable lyrics) that, frankly, the group has ever committed. It’s a bit simplistic, even, which is why followup albums are arguably greater, but having a the boiled down simple version for an EPs worth of material makes every song memorable, and thus makes it a must-own for the group.

Vaguely breakup material on the first half and material for moving on on the latter, EP gives us two hooky, choruses-for-days openers, before some lighter fare, then closing out with guitar overload on the grand Yukon. This puts us somewhere between the minimalism of the self-titled album and the glowing buzz of The Singing Hatchet, but, as mentioned, the EP has more of a rocking hook to it that, damn, is refreshing.

…But, flashing forward, I relisten to Eight and hear the group amping up the guitars and riffs once more. Damn, don’t sleep on Radar Bros.!