Hometown: Boston, MA
Formed: 1989

Personnel:
Stephin Merritt -vocals, instruments, songs
Phylene Amuso -bass
Nell Beram -guitar
Sam Davol -cello
Claudia Gonson -drums, voice, and management

Bands in the family:
The 6ths, Future Bible Heroes, The Gothic Archies

The presence of a real band on this brief EP sets it apart from the rest of the Magnetic Fields' discography. It was an attempt to salvage something from a more ambitious project featuring these musicians that band leader Stephin Merritt scrapped in favor of the solo recordings that became Holiday.

What remains are five short songs that conform to a perverse over-riding concept; each features one endlessly looping chord progression that requires the musicians to play like Merritt's beloved machines. The absence of synthesizers and the prominence of lightly strummed electric guitars bring this record much closer in sound to the indie-pop that was omnipresent in the early 1990s.

Merritt's song-writing acumen shines through the formal trappings. Each tune sets its irresistibly catchy hook with a barbed lyric; my favorite is "Love Goes Home To Paris In the Spring," a kiss off to an oppressively protective lover, but all five are jewel-like pop wonders.