Antietam

Antietam

1985, Homestead LP. Vinyl and cassette only (as far as I know). My copy came with a Xeroxed sheet with a 1985 calendar and a picture of the band.

Musicians:
Tara Key: Guitars, vocals, piano
Tim Harris: Bass, vocals, guitar, piano
Wolf Knapp: Bass, vocals, guitar (left the band before Burgoo, I heard to go back to school; their sound changed quite a bit after he left, as before they had two bass players, which gave some neat effects)
Michael Weinert: Drums, vocals, marimba, piano

Engineered by Robert "A Delicate Balance" Miller (no producer listed)

Songs:

Side A

Good Kirk, Bad Kirk (Key-Harris)

Orange Song (Key Harris).
Covered by Yo La Tengo on President. Antietam version really smokes.

BMW (Knapp)

Red, Black & Blue (Knapp-Weinert-Harris)

Shot in the Dark (Key)

New Crime! (Key-Harris)

Gospel According to John B. (Antietam)
Instrumental

Side B

Extra Dry (Knapp-Harris)

Don't Go Back to Greenville (Knapp-Weinert)
No relation to similarly titled REM song

Shively Spleen (Key-Nold)
as in Chip Nold--later appeared on BDB album. Tara sings this version

The Latest (Antietam)
Instrumental

Mikey (Antietam)

Ready, Swing (Knapp Harris)

Unhappiness Diminishes Intelligence (Knapp)

Overall, very much a first album. The playing is rough and sloppy (especially the drumming, which undercuts the strengths of the better songs), and the whole thing sounds very underproduced. I love it, of course, but I love Antietam period. Some songs are very disposable--especially "BMW" and "Extra Dry"--but the instrumentals showcase Tara's guitar and the two basses well, and the best tracks ("Orange Song," "Mikey," and "Ready Swing") are songs I still play over and over again, after nine years of having this one in my collection.