it's too much for a young heart to take

Or even a no-longer-young one. But let me start at the beginning:

I knew something was up tonight when I saw my screen door ajar. A bundle of something was propped up inside, gently swaddled by rubber bands and a concealing blanket of magazines and a Cushman's citrus catalog, left on the front porch like an offering to some neglectful god. Its secret lay deep inside, in the exact center of the pile, white and gleaming with a boldface injunction against uncaring fate:

"VERY FRAGILE. **vinyl record enclosed** PLEASE don't bend or stuff."

Yes! My Caulfield Sisters split 7-inch from American Laundromat had arrived.

It was a great pre-Christmas gift and is a beautiful artifact. The vinyl is blue and translucent, as advertised, with a whimsical cover illustration to accompany the title Divine Candy. It does seem indeed to be from a limited edition of 500 (it's numbered and everything), so definitely rush to order this if you haven't already. Sell your body if necessary.

The true treat is the music, of course. This is the performance of the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Some Candy Talking" that was streamed live on KEXP on April 5, 2005 (a date I have thenceforth celebrated as Caulfields Day, incidentally). But for any of you jumping to ask "Wait a goldarn second, hoss! Isn't that the same performance I've already listened to a higgledy-jillion times on my iPod-like thingie and/or my computer?", the only valid response is: Nope. Not like this.

Really, listening to this performance on vinyl in front of real speakers is a revelation, almost an entirely different experience. Cindy's voice is so much stronger. You can hear all of Mary's backup vocals (even the parts that didn't seem so obvious before). Kristin's drums sound like they're in the room with you. That accordion feedback seems to rumble when Cindy hits the lower registers with it. Wow!

This is instantly my favorite Caulfield Sisters recording of all time, if only because this feels like the closest thing to seeing them perform live. Which, speaking wistfully, I hope to actually do someday. Plus, they do such a damn brilliant version of this song.

The flip side, Julie Peel's cover of the Breeders' "Divine Hammer," is mighty fine as well, sort of a jump-up-and-dance counterpoint to the Sisters' delightful walk down melancholia lane. Julie's apparently French, so it looks like we have the Brooklyn Breeders meeting the Bordeaux Breeders ... um, meeting the Breeders. Could anyone possibly resist this?

And it gets better! It seems the label has "had so much fun pressing this one" that it's now starting a split-7" series. The next one is called So Long City Skies and features John P. Strohm and some band called Dylan In the Movies. It comes out in January and will be on black vinyl.

Where else will the series head? No idea, but it's off to a great start. Thanks, all!

P.S. Back to the Sisters: You can still listen to the whole KEXP performance on the station's website (linked above), or download it as an mp3 from the Sisters' site (though that version seems to have some gaps in a couple of places, including the middle of "Dumbfound You"). The bonus is the interview, including that "broke wind" joke, John's enthused "Way to hooooooooooo!" exclamation and the discussion of traffic in Midtown. You'll find yourself exclaiming: I wanna get more of that stuff ... of that stuff ...