5 out of 5

Label: Bulbous Monocle

Produced by: Mark Gergis (vinyl remaster)

One of my favorite TFUL albums, back on affordable vinyl and with excellent touches to the packaging and a worthwhile remaster.

The above link should serve as a review of the contents; I’m mainly focused on what makes the reissue worthwhile, besides potentially giving you a new format through which to experience the material – I know, for me, used copies of the CD were plenty, but I don’t recall ever seeing an LP in the wild (and I certainly wasn’t cool enough in ’89 to have grabbed one).

Firstly: I’ll be a format jerk and say that vinyl seems right for TFUL. If you’re familiar with their hodgepodge sound, the generally warmer nature of wax is perfect for capturing their kitchen sink eccentricities, while also supporting their punkier / rockier moments. So I am so happy that Bulbous Monocle has been rereleasing these things.

Nextly: the packaging. Bulbous went with a black and white scheme versus the brownish of the original, and used the main image without the little inset. It’s very classy looking. We get some different band photos, cutely ‘zine cropped for LP size, and the liner notes use – I think – the undistorted shots of the band members vs. the smeared headshots. Another classed-up choice that maintains the vibe but does something new. Inner artwork and labels are maintained; something I thought was cute was censoring / crossing out the old contact info / mailing label – I don’t think I’ve ever seen that on a rerelease before, versus either omitting it or just leaving it in, and I kinda love it.

Lastly, maybe your make or break: Mark Gergis’ remaster. My ears could definitely be deceiving me, but this sounds significantly cleaned up, at least from my CD copy, and kind of rebalances the high-end and removes some grit. That’s super cool for a lot of the textures, and amplifies the art-rock aspect of the release; at the same time, I’ll admit I always loved tangle for being one of the “rockier” TFUL releases, and that crunch is somewhat diminished. However, this is one of those remaster scenarios where it makes owning both – again, format considerations aside – worthwhile, as I think both masters work in their own ways.