In Rotation: The Cheap Dates - A Thousand Year Flood

If you listened to The Cheap Dates' debut cassette, Piss Away Another God Damn Year, the follow-up represents the other side of the coin. Released less than a year apart, the uninitiated would be hard pressed to guess that these EPs came from the same band. A Thousand Year Flood is comprised of seven tracks of the Chicago band in their surfy, heavier incarnation. If you have seen The Cheap Dates live, you are already familiar with this dichotomy. Their first EP featured songs with Danny on vocals and Sean on guitar, while A Thousand Year Flood has Sean on vocals and Danny on guitar. For the sake of full disclosure, Danny is my brother.

The title track and "Crash & Burn" have been staples of the band's live show since the beginning. "Crash & Burn" closes the EP here - it has switched between opening and closing duties at a lot of their shows. It is one of their most invigorating songs, from the surfy instrumental opening to the chaotic ending. The bass lines on this track could start a fire on their own. "1000 Year Flood" showcases a straight up surf guitar riff and has some of the EP's best lyrics. Sean growls out "Surfing through this downward spiral/Counting the track marks on my soul/Life is getting cheap/And I really need some sleep/These hungry years they take their toll." A few songs that have not shown up in the live set appear here - "End Over End," "Coldbringer" and "Underground."

Catch The Cheap Dates live at the Cairo Ale House in West Chicago on April 21 with Kobanes, 100 Dollar Habit and Imbecile Missile. Stream A Thousand Year Flood below.