Another Record Store Day has just crept into the annals of retail history. This year marked the tenth anniversary, and although attendance was full bore per-usual (not to mention the frustratingly scarce limited runs of day-specific releases) something seemed a tad anticlimactic about this one. At any rate, I thought I'd revisit a couple of relatively recent bygone titles from 2015 and '16 respectively.
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170425035402im_/https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TM5LBQrE244/WP0TOgcwXUI/AAAAAAAAMWQ/bIbXgr5JWj0k_SNrsLvjdC2lGnZA1TMIwCLcB/s200/front.JPG)
Technically it's not titled as such, but he four-song ep known as
Alternates, was
Sloan's contribution to the RSD fray two years back, featuring (yep, you guessed it) four alternate takes of songs that made the cut for their 2014 platter,
Commonwealth. Side A takes the cake for me, with a more fleshed out ensemble take of the
Jay Ferguson penned "Neither Here Nor There," and an a slower, revealing arrangement of Chris Murphy's "Get Out." Sloan's latest volley of albums haven't necessarily been their most rewarding meaning this companion piece to the aforementioned
Commonwealth falls shy of essential for casual fans, and arguably not entirely crucial for diehards. You be the judge.
The concept for the pairing of relative post-punk newbies
Metz, and intermittently active vets
Mission of Burma has an elementary theme - have each cover a song by the other. Ironically, Metz don't take to task one of Burma's lauded signature songs (e.g. "Academy Fight Song) instead settling on an album cut from 2006's
Obliterati, the group's second aughts era reunion album. I'm not as acquainted with Metz oeuvre, as it were, but Mission of Burma's coarse take of "Get Off" leaves me with the impression that both combos are a match made in dissonance heaven.
Sloan -
Alternates ep (2015, Yep Rock)
01.
Neither Here Nor There
02. Get Out
03. 13 (Under A Bad Sign)
04. The Lesson (One Portrait)
http://www47.zippyshare.com/v/v2cvLMlR/file.html
Metz/Mission of Burma 7" (2016, Sub Pop)
Metz - Good, Not Great
Mission of Burma - Get Off
http://www47.zippyshare.com/v/Yv3KbCEb/file.html