The Glands The Glands 2LP (Green Vinyl)

New West Records is humbled and proud to release recordings from Athens, GA luminaries The Glands. In the year 2000 the band released their critically acclaimed eponymous middle record, The Glands. This recording has been remastered and features the band's definitive sequence including five rare songs. Take a listen and hear why NPR says, "The Glands' self-titled effort from 2000 is a record whose seeming accessibility makes less sense the more you pull it apart. Take, for instance, 'Work It Out,' where '60s Merseybeat butts up against Rolling Stones licks but stretches in and out like taffy slapped on a snare. Or 'I Can See My House From Here,' which should roll on end credits for every cool movie ever made; its layers of backwards guitar and Shapiro's double-tracked close harmonies transform into a boogie-rock jam The Flaming Lips probably wished it had recorded first."

After releasing the rambunctious and slightly woolly Double Thriller album, Athens, Georgia group the Glands returned with a sleek, laser-sharp Southern pop record that honed their hooks to a glistening point and unveiled songwriter Ross Shapiro as a major talent. Recorded in a variety of settings, the record has a similarly loose feel to their debut, but there is an added layer of craft added to the production and more care given to the arrangements. Shapiro was known to display characteristics of perfectionism; there's no doubt that lots of painstaking work went into making these songs, and this album is as near to perfect as indie rock can get. It's the kind of record where it's hard to settle on favorite moments or have a favorite song, since everything is so strong and memorable. The uptempo songs have giant choruses and great bounding energy, and dare the listener not to give the occasional whoop of joy... The midtempo songs have lots of low-key swagger and warm melodies...Basically everything on The Glands works like the proverbial charm. The band's balancing act between shrugging rockers and shattered balladeers is thrilling to hear, Shapiro's persona is never less than captivating, and at least two of the songs (so much for not listing favorites) rate among the best songs of the young decade. The album's opener, 'Livin' Was Easy,' is a life-affirming slacker jam that comes off like a unholy mix of Pavement and a drunk Southern boogie band and 'Swim' is a bouncing piano-led track that comes complete with swooning strings, falsetto backing vocals, a heartstopping bassline, and the album's lightest melody. Even if the album was these two songs and a bunch of filler, it would rate highly. Add in another 12 songs (or 17 depending on the version of the record) that don't trail by much and it's time to start talking about classic status.