5 out of 5

Label: Bulbous Monocle

Produced by: Mark Gergis (remaster)

Original review here, with this serving as a review of the remaster / reissue itself.

Not much to say on this, except: buy it. I was a bit hesitant to dive into the TFUL282 remasters because I kind of felt like the kitchen sink sound was part of the appeal, and none of them feature fancy color pressings or extras otherwise, but it’s firstly great – for those of us who missed the wax the first time around – having these on an alternate-to-CD format, arguably better fitting the band’s shtick, and then secondly… man, these sound good. I think there’s a debate to be had about definitive / best versions, as I’ll allow that some of these songs I prefer in their originals, but looking at remasterer Mark Gergis’ credit as label runner for Sham Palace and working for Sublime Frequencies, it’s clear he loves weird sounds and the musicality created with them, and that’s a perfect match for the Fellers. So the new master is very careful: I think we gain some clarity to a lot of the layers, and the guitars and vocals get a bit balanced with the strings and drums. It’s absolutely distinct enough to be different to even a casual ear, but also very much in line with the spirit of the songs, not feeling like it’s driving some agenda home about how these should be heard.

Where this release gains a slight edge over the others is it feels like Bulbous Monocle had a little more money invested, or maybe got negative feedback on the previous reissues, the sleeves of which were printed on seemingly recycled cardboard and so looked very muddy. We’ve also switched to (presumably) polyethylene inners instead of paper, which I prefer, even if they’re not as stable.

If you’re new to TFUL, your format preference shan’t be judged. But for fans, this is absolutely a great revisit to reexperience the album with all familiarity intact but shining a spotlight on some of its corners.

Once again, the liner notes have also been reproduced.