If no one told you this was 764-HERO, you'd think it was Built to Spill. In fact, you'd think the title track was a song off of There's Nothing Wrong With Love, which came out conspicuously just two years before this 7" was recorded...

Listening to the two, however, there are subtle differences. 764-HERO is less whiny and more stretched thin. They have a slightly more raw sound, punctuated by a wonderful bit of sparse off-time drumming on the B-side track "Obviously Awful." They manage to copy the Built to Spill signature weak sound just by not having a bassist. I could never quite get into that sound and it seems to lack a passion that a good low end brings. Perhaps it's my middle school hip-hop days that tinge my taste with a need for bass.

While that B-side track does bring a moment of brilliance in drumming, it also smashes that brilliance with a drum machine and weird overdubs on the second track, "The Future As Seen Through Swollen Eyes." This is a super short and terrible track and the record would be better off without it. I am also not fun of the (purposeful?) wrong vocal note ending of "Now You're Swimming". Maybe it's a metaphor or something. Maybe I just don't get it.

If you like this review, you can buy me a coffee.