Despite having a title track by
Kiss, this mid-career EP displays a confident, introspective
Red House Painters seemingly influenced by a parallel world where
Nick Drake shoegazed it up with
Ride or Chapterhouse. Somehow, it's quietly splendid. Both "Sundays and Holidays" and "Three-Legged Cat" take the plaintive, solo-acoustic work of a haunted troubadour without once sounding folksy or trite. Even the cover title track sounds just bridled enough to stun fans of both
Kiss and
Red House Painters alike (
Mark Kozelek would later repeat this strategy on his debut album, Rock 'N Roll Singer). Most EPs are nugatory, contract-stalling diversions, yet this mini-release is simply essential -- in both senses of the words. ~ Dean Carlson