The nineties were undoubtedly one of math rock’s most infinitely giving eras, with so many twists and turns that kids today are finding out about bands like Drill for Absentee for the first time, despite the band dropping some serious heat just before the turn of the century.
And who can judge those poor kids, you know? It’s not like they had easy access to obscure vinyl growing up, and at the time of release for a lot of these records, math rock tapes and CD’s weren’t exactly in high-demand. The demand was there, of course, just not in ways that translated into something obvious to the grubs in charge. But that was then, and this is now.
Whether you’re an old head or a new Drill for Absentee fan, it’s time to rejoice, as the band just announced that all of their nineties output has been remastered by Bob Weston (Shellac, Polvo, Archers of Loaf, Rodan, June of 44, etc.), and sounds incredible.
That alone is excellent news, but it’s also going to be available on vinyl via the Bandcamp pre-order, which you’ll need to check out here.
The collection is called Circle Music + 4, which does make sense – Circle Music was their 1999 EP, the last record they’d release until 2022 saw their reintroduction with Strand of a Lake, Vol. 1. It contains two new-ish tracks as well, with one being an unreleased song from their live sets and the other being a re-imagining of something sketched out around the time they went on hiatus, featuring their 21st century drummer Ken Kuniyoshi. Both, we can tell you, are bangers.
It makes sense that “Drown in Words” would be used as an opener in their sets, as it’s one of Drill for Absentee’s most energetic compositions. But “The Sea is Watching” bridges what you would think of as a particularly wide gap, being the one that exists between nineties math rock and the strange, otherworldly futurism of bands like Paranoid Void.
Even for something as diverse as math rock, it’s really unique and has us as excited as ever to see what happens with Strands of a Lake Vol. 2, whenever it happens. For now though, Circle Music + 4 is pretty fantastic, and we’ll definitely be pre-ordering it.