Not Shakespeare - Edge of the World (1992, Not)

Not Shakespeare's self titled 1986 ep blew me AWAY...when I heard it for the first time almost twenty-five years later.  Yep, another one who made his way to the party a quarter century after the fact, though given the strength of the four songs on that record late was way more preferable than never.  And I didn't even realize there was a follow-up full length that existed until I stumbled upon it in a used music shop just a couple years back.  By 1992, this Blacksburg, VA quartet traded in some of their collegiate indie rock luster for more streamlined pastures while still retaining more than a modicum of earthy jangle.  It's pretty evident that Roger McGuinn cast a spell on these gents, and I'd almost swear N/S adopted a thing or two from late-80s R.E.M., the Pedaljets and Dreams So Real.  Edge of the World boasts an Americana tincture in places, which might take some getting used to for those of you whom only know them by that stunning aforementioned ep.  I can do without some of this disk's more long-winded ambling numbers, but pearls like "An Age Like This" and "Sister" compensate perfectly. 

01. Sister
02. Pockets
03. Stone
04. Burn
05. An Age Like This
06. Flood
07. He Says
08. Peace Prize
09. Conversation
10. Vertigo
11. Let Me In

Hear