Kevin Cudahy
Man, I really love Quarterbacks, the 19-song album by the twee-punk band of the same name. But back before they played really fast in a shed in New Paltz, and before they went on a house-show tour of America with a writer for this website, frontman Dean Engle made music with a four-track recorder. The lo-fi love songs on his Quarterboy tape, many of which were re-made for the album, are beautiful in their simplicity, all drum-machine beats and creaky, clumsy chords. That early version of "Knicks," a minute-long song about a gas station and a six pack and a basketball game, still completely and totally crushes me.
Because not everything is always bad, Team Love is re-releasing Quarterboy on tape. It comes with a new-old song, which you can stream down below. According to Engle, he wrote "Park" in 2015, played it live a bunch, but didn't put it to tape until recently. "I sat down in my living room last week, recorded the song on my old machine, and bounced it to the computer to take a listen," he told me in an email. "Right after, the four track shut off and won't turn back on, so this might be the last Qboy track." If that's true, it's a hell of a note to go out on.
Order the 2018 version of Quarterboy here.
