The first three records by Cass McCombs – debut EP Not The Way, and first two albums A and PREfection – are finally back in print for the first time since their original release in the early 2000s. Remastered at Abbey Road, the three reissued records are now available worldwide digitally, on CD and pressed on black vinyl which will come in their original sleeves with an OBI strip and new printed inner art added. For more information, and to order, head HERE. To celebrate the reissues, playlists of each album featuring film selects have been released on YouTube:
If you were around then, you’ll likely remember the sensation of hearing Cass for the first time. It felt like this: A new voice has arrived on the scene, and it’s got our ears all pricked up. In the years since, these foundational albums have only gained power with age and today can be regarded in retrospect as essential building blocks in the secret history of independent rock ‘n’ roll forever after. Now it’s high time to revisit and rediscover their pleasures – and to watch in fellowship as a new audience opens up to these living documents of heart, wit, melancholy, and joy.
To coincide with the release of the reissues, Cass will also be releasing a limited-edition cassette, 2000-2004 Demos, Live and Radio, via Orindal, available for preorder at cassmccombs.com.
Watch the Video for ‘Sacred Heart (Demo)’
Stream/Purchase Not the Way, A, PREfection Reissues
Between the years 2002 and 2005, the American singer-songwriter Cass McCombs began the gradual process of unveiling his gifts to us. Not the Way and A both possess a mood that was unique upon their release and that remains unique today. It’s music that compels the listener to breathe quietly, to pay attention, to become hypnagogic in a puff of narcotic lullaby. It wasn’t just bottled lightning, though. Cass had been putting in the hours in the songwriting coalmine for a little more than a decade of his youth by the time Not the Way was recorded. By the time he’d composed such early gems as Not the Way’s ‘Opium Flower’ and ‘So Damn Pure’ or A’s ‘I Went to the Hospital’ and ‘Meet Me Here at Dawn,’ McCombs had located the rich lode he’s continued to mine since, and it comprises a unique alloy of rock roots, folk/protest songs, druggy paeans, and even Motown and gospel.
PREfection, with its leap in fidelity and a further evolution in compositional craft, both closed one chapter and opened another in Cass’s work and life during a time that saw him venture forth from San Francisco into the eastern nooks and crannies, riddled with inspiration and experience, of Baltimore and New York City. Veering seamlessly between the hooky popsmithing of ‘Sacred Heart’ or ‘City of Brotherly Love’ and the moody dirges of ‘Cuckoo’ or ‘Multiple Suns,’ the entire album is a statement of intent that coalesces and builds upon the cornerstones of Not the Way and A.
Taken as a group, these three releases tell the story of one of the truest musical talents of the past couple decades as he goes from nascent crooner to early maturity. As relevant, refreshing, and compulsively listenable in 2024 as they were in the early 2000s, Not the Way, A, and PREfection have been formative documents for fans and fellow musicians alike since their respective releases.
Not The Way Tracklist
A1. Not the Way
A2. So Damn Pure
A3. Opium Flower
B1. Your Mother and Father
B2. Nobody’s Nixon
B3. It’s Getting Colder
“Heavy-lidded tunes that sound like they were recorded post-bender, pre-afterglow.” – Alternative Press
A Tracklist
A1. I Went to the Hospital
A2. Bobby, King of Boys Town
A3. What Isn’t Nature
A4. AIDS in Africa
A5. A Comedian is Someone Who Tells Jokes
B1. Gee, It’s Good to be Home
B2. Meet Me Here at Dawn
B3. When The Bible Was Wrote
B4. My Pilgrim Dear
B5. Bedding Down Post-Xmastime
B6. My Master
“A most compelling, sad and beautiful record. [Cass] eschews Nick Drake or Elliot Smith’s hushed delivery for the ramshackle, worn beauty of the Velvet Underground by way of Alex Chilton.” – The Times
PREfection Tracklist
A1. Equinox
A2. Subtraction
A3. Multiple Suns
A4. Tourist Woman
A5. Sacred Heart
B1. She’s Still Suffering
B2. Cuckoo
B3. Bury Mary
B4. City of Brotherly Love
B5. All Your Dreams May Come True
“While McCombs the lyricist roams geographically and emotionally, McCombs the songwriter meanders through musical periods.” – Pitchfork
Cass McCombs Online
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