CHUCK RAGAN:
The Boat/ For Broken Ears: 7”
Allow a heretic a brief confession here. I’ve never been a big Hot Water Music fan. Wait, it gets worse. My favorite songs of theirs are on their split with Alkaline Trio. Wait…it gets even worse. I think Alkaline Trio did a better version of “Rooftops.” I don’t know what it is, but somehow they’re either above my head or below my radar. All I know for sure is that I love the shit out of The Draft’s full length In a Million Pieces and the snails pace at which Chuck’s acoustic recordings are coming out is killing me. This is the first installment of the “Blueprint Sessions” series of singles you can get only by subscribing to get the whole shebang over at No Idea. It’s a six single series and if you subscribe before it’s over, you get a bonus 7” that won’t be on the CD (that you also get when you subscribe) that will come out at the end of the series collecting all the songs together. That’s a little thing I like to call “Sweet dealin’.” Choice anti-war jam on this episode “For Broken Ears.” If this is what happens when Chuck retires…that motherfucker needs to retire more often. –Steveo (No Idea)