For those curious how this refurbished and remastered version of a previously released EP can be given a lower mark than the orginal, please note that the score is more about the release than the band. As someone smitten with the original and Memoryhouse's "ambient shoegaze," I was hoping the update would be a promised "new and improved" version. To be clear, the EP is technically all new material: Three tracks from the old EP ("Sleep Patterns", "Lately (Deuxième)", "To The Lighthouse") were re-recorded and the pleasant interlude "The Waves" is replaced with two song-like tracks, "Modern, Normal" and "Quiet America".
The new tracks-- the hook for folks that have the original The Years-- are pleasant, if unsurprising. Other than the appearance of live drums on "Modern, Normal", they offer a slightly different variation on what Evan Abeele and Denise Nouvion have done previously. Ironically, it's on the old/new tracks where The Years shows the group spreading its wings, though not necessarily in a becoming manner.
Of the three returnees, only "Sleep Patterns" comes through sounding like its previous version. There are small yet noticeable changes made to the arrangement-- the addition of strings (or string-like sounds) being the most apparent. The track sounds more robust, but it's otherwise about the same. While "Lately" loses the cassette-tape ambiance that dovetailed nicely with its Eternal Sunshine score sample, it's also not unrecognizable. That said, the exchange of that home-recording coziness for some bright and shiny opulence is a bit disconcerting. Then there's "To the Lighthouse", which undergoes an extreme makeover: The group swaps out the original's shimmering intro and its relaxed yet propulsive trip-hop-like gait for some kids-at-play found-sound samples and a decidedly less jaunty pace. As a result, the track that stood out for the change of pace it offered now falls in line with Memoryhouse's primary M.O.
Despite my own misgivings about these re-recordings, these new versions aren't bad by any stretch-- they just seem unnecessary. While it's nice to hear what Memoryhouse would've done with these older tracks if they were produced in a proper studio, the end result is akin to a more famous attempt at an after-the-fact fine-tuning: filmmaker George Lucas' seemingly endless tweaking and CGI-ing of the original Star Wars trilogy. The band makes mention of Lucas on its blog, while promising that this EP isn't on the same level as Lucas' compulsive tinkering. But the question that Star Wars fans continually ask themselves is a question that some fans of The Years might also have: Why go back and fix something that wasn't broken?
To fuss over those old tracks, especially in light of how little the band has actually recorded, seems regressive. The overall intent of this release-- to put an actual, physical copy of The Years out into the world for folks who aren't up to speed on their online music research-- is understandable, and even justifiable, on many levels. But for folks who have been living with these songs for over a year, offering two passable new tracks next to these three remakes isn't nearly good enough.
