British Alternative magazine SELECT would occasionally give away free music cassette samplers of upcoming / rare tracks from groups like Gene, Lucy’s Fur Coat, and Lush as a free bonus shrunk-wrapped with their issues.
On one of these fantastic collections, there was an incredibly catchy, jangly pop-perfect tune called Love of the Bottle, by new indie Britpop group Tiny Monroe. Fast- paced, and sassy , I fell in love with it immediately and knew I wanted to have a “hard” copy on CD (we all know how temporary those cassettes are), and I made a mental note to grab the release when it came out.
When the CD from Tiny Monroe called VOLCANOES came out, however, I was shocked to find the version on the album being QUITE different from the version on the cassette that I’d loved for so long! I was utterly baffled! Was the version on the sampler a single version? Or a work-in-progress? I do know that the LUSH song on the same sampler, a song called “The Childcatcher”, was a demo-form, which was ALSO quite different from the LOVELIFE release, so maybe that was it.
The Album version was slower, more rock-oriented, and NJ’s voice was double-tracked during the choruses. The entire structure of the song seemed different, with new guitar breaks and guitar riffing during the second verse. Oh, and there were new vocals overlaid over the lead-out, as well… a LOT more polished, but where was that happy, poppy song?
In any case, although I did like the Volcanoes version and the Album in general (esp. Cream Bun), part of me wasn’t satisfied, knowing I was still missing my favorite song from the band! What I ended up doing was taking that precious SELECT cassette to a friend’s house, and he ripped it to MP3 for me. I know it ain’t “State of the Art”, but at least I can relax, knowing that my song won’t warp or demagnetize out of my life when I try to listen to it!
Hey, if there’s anyone out there who knows exactly what the scoop is with the cassette version, I’d really appreciate if you’d drop me a line!
