Album Reviews: Self-titled (Rollercoaster) and Ocean Beach vinyl reissues by Red House Painters

Well imagine my surprise that I ended up ordering two of the four recently reissued Red House Painters LPs—specifically after my big to-doabout “peak vinyl,” and how much the Stars of The Lid reissues were going to cost, and how I didn’t really need more shit in my home.

As it turns out, the Red House Painters albums—specifically the “Rollercoaster” self-titled effort, and Ocean Beach, were both rather affordable. Surprisingly affordable for what they are, actually. And after I realized that they were records that actually existed, and weren’t pushed back on their release dates because of peak vinyl production delays, I opted to move forward with the order.

These reissues, courtesy of 4AD (the band’s original label) are a nice slice of peak vinyl, however, and a prime example of how Record Store Day really fucks you over. This whole Red House Painters reissue campaign was announced in the spring, with a boxed set of their three full lengths and an EP for the label being packaged as a boxed set, limited to 1,000 copies, available only in the UK for RSD.

Some of the copies were made available online via the 4AD webstore, but sold out before the email blast had even been sent out to the list subscribers.

To curb the fury of the Kozelek fanboys and apologists, a second run of the reissues was announced, sold individually, slated for release in August.

4AD as a label is pretty notorious for botching vinyl reissue release dates, so I kind of didn’t believe that these were actually going to be a real, tangible thing until I started reading online that people had received their copies.

Of the four available 4AD albums, I chose the first self-titled and Ocean Beach primarily because of their content, as well as the sentimental attachment I have to some of their songs. The second self-titled album, often referred to as the “Bridge” LP, is thought of as a bit of the less popular sibling or weird cousin to its much-preferred counterpart. And the Down Colorful Hill EP? While it was the band’s first release, it’s a bit slow, even by the standards of how slowly the band was playing at this point in its career, and I think I have those songs on the 4AD retrospective collection released well after their relationship with the label folded I the mid 1990s.

I have to admit that after the last year that Mark Kozelek has had, I was very hesitant to give him any more of my money. In fact, the last Kozelek related thing I actually paid cash money for was the 2010 Sun Kil Moon album, Admiral Fell Promises, a record I regretted buying after hearing maybe the third or fourth track.

The truth is that despite what a fucking piece of shit Mark Kozelek has become (and has always been, really) I am desperately trying not to let that ruin my love of the first three Sun Kil Moon albums, and the Red House Painter’s canon—albums that I absolutely adore and have held very dear to me since college.

Although, given his misogynistic behavior in 2015, it’s easy to hear that misogyny in his early lyrics on both the “Rollercoaster” album and on Ocean Beach. However, that misogyny and “poor pitiful me” attitude was dressed up in ambiguous, melancholy metaphors that were much, much easier on the ears than anything Kozelek is pumping out now.

So what I’m saying is that it’s palatable still. But just barely.

These are pretty no-frills reissues, and that’s okay I guess. Not everything has to be on white or clear vinyl with expanded liner notes and special packaging. The “Rollercoaster” album comes as a 2xLP in a standard sleeve; Ocean Beach is in a double gatefold, and is sequence across three sides of vinyl with the fourth and final side being dedicated to the inessential Shock Me EP—containing two versions of the oddball KISS cover.

On both albums, Kozelek sound incredibly young—his voice not growing into its strongest until Songs For a Blue Guitar, and even possibly after the dawning of the 2000s. On “Rollercoaster,” he sounds unsure of himself still in many songs, but the band is already incredibly tight practically right out of the gate. Originally released in 1993, the Wikipedia for this first self-titled album mentions the anxiety and pressure Kozele felt after being signed by 4AD; and that tension is palpable in the guitar freak out on “Funhouse” and the endless reverb that swallows the coda to the infamous “Katy Song”; on the feedback blasts of “Mother” and the desperation and triumph of “Strawberry Hill.”

The album is comprised of 14 tracks, and an additional eight from the recording sessions were held over for the companion album with the bridge on the front cover, released mere months later. Many of the songs here, as well as throughout Kozelek’s career up until April in 2008 were inspired by Katy herself—the love that got away, the one that broke his heart—who passed away from cancer.  But the Kozelek of today does inform the Kozelek of the past—is it really him (and is it really her) he sings of hitting with his still stinging hand on “Down Through” or is it a character?

This vinyl reissue marks the very first time that the “Rollercoaster” album was made available on wax in the states—it was originally only released here on CD. The then-shoegaze and slowcore influence on the band’s sound comes off relatively well when presented on vinyl—the power chord crunch of the full-band, rollicking version of “Mistress” makes things sound a little crackly on my turntable, but everything else has a rich warmth to it; presumably how it was intended to be heard.

Interestingly enough, when revisiting the “Rollercoaster” album, you realize that while Kozelek came to the table with this amass of songs, sometimes they seem a little like sketches—that really comes through in the way the songs are paired together on each side of the record—like the way “Dragonflies” hits its angry, aggressive shoegaze stride, then just stops completely and segues into the piano version (and much preferred version) of “Mistress.”

Two years later, the group released Ocean Beach, also being reissued for the first time on vinyl in the US—and also for the first time on 12” vinyl; originally being pressed in a very limited edition 10” version in the UK that included a cover of Yes’ “Long Distance Runaround.”

Ocean Beach marks a strong departure from the shoegaze aesthetics and the frozen in time slow motion playing of the band’s first two albums. You can hear the group loosening up slightly—I hesitate to say Ocean Beach is more “freewheeling” of a record, but with its focus on acoustic guitars, it is exponentially less ominous and dissonant than its predecessors.

In a sense, it’s a transitional record, capturing the space between where the band was coming from, and then the direction they heading in 1997 with Songs for A Blue Guitar. It backslides into noise (peep that outro on “Moments”!) and occasionally finds itself in the long shadow of Kozelek’s slowcore gloom.

Ocean Beach, despite its sunny sounding title and more relaxed sounding instrumentation, does boast some of the meanest songs Kozelek has written—including “Shadows,” which appears here in its stripped down piano version, and the stunning nine-minute closing track, “Drop,” that despite its hurtful lyrics, remains one of the band’s crowning achievements.

It also is the sound of Kozelek becoming a more confident frontman, as well as the band itself becoming better musicians. There are a lot of reasons to listen to these two reissues back to back, and if you do, note the growth between the two records, and only two years time in between them.

Not to be outdone by these 4AD reissues, apparently Island Records (the label that original released it) has opted to reissue (again) the band’s seminal 1996 effort, Songs For A Blue Guitar as a 2XLP. The album was first reissued on vinyl six years ago by Plain Recordings, but has since gone out of print (like everything.)

Both Ocean Beach, then later, Songs, you can begin to get a real sense of Kozelek’s ego. There are many songs that are sparsely arranged—containing few members of the band. The band’s original guitarist left shortly after the record was released, and Songs was actually recorded with John Hiatt’s backing band. His ego would only continue to grow as he released proper solo albums, toured alone, and would put out rhythm section free records under the latter day Sun Kil Moon moniker.

Despite my difficulties listening to old Red House Painters material now, given all that has occurred with Mark Kozelek as a person, and despite my reservations about shelling out the money for at least two of these reissues—the second the needle hits the vinyl, you realize just how essential of listens they are. Red House Painters, the “Rollercoaster” LP is a flawed and fragile look at the untapped greatness still to come, and Ocean Beach is a juxtaposed as a stark yet relaxed portrait of a group and a singer, just beginning to come into their own.

Both albums are available now via 4AD.