It almost went against my better judgement to share this single, not so much out of concern about getting slapped on the wrist by the RIAA (technically, the A-side is available as a hidden track on Superchunk's Incidental Music compilation), rather the surface noise on the vinyl is pretty atrocious. Heinous even. Nonetheless, it's long out of print and the b-side ("Version 3") has yet to be documented elsewhere. This was Merge Records 50th release, and being the round number and outright accomplishment that it was, it was only fitting to have two wonky remixes of a signature piece from the label's flagship band grace this record. Both versions feature a portion of the song virtually untouched from the album incarnation, interspersed with markedly out-of-sync ambient treatments, for lack of a better description. The first half of "Version 3" relies heavily on Mac's vocal track, sans the accompaniment of his bandmates, lending a lofty and surreal vibe to the remix. Nothing terribly revelatory I suppose, but if you can cope with the excessive static and pops both remixes are if anything an interesting companion to the classic that you know and love. "Precision Auto" was and always will be a deliriously urgent and cathartic call to arms for anyone temporarily blighted with a case of justifiable road rage.
I don't have to tell many of you that Superchunk are back in action, touring somewhat sporadically for their first album in nine years, Majesty Shredding. As a bonus, I'm also including an MP3 of a recent interpretation of "Precision Auto" by a group that shall remain unnamed here (and it's not Les Savy Fav).
A. Version 2
B. Version 3
1 comment:
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