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Customer Reviews of Distant

sure i could get it right this time
Not bad for a bunch of songs that were never supposed to surface again. Newcomers to this recently broken up Champaign, Ill., quartet should try 1998's The Glass Intact for a more comprehensive introduction, but this collection of unreleased or rare studio and live tracks shows off all their strengths unprepossessingly. For metal-edged jangle-punk, you have the new "Detroit Star-Lite," about the heartbreaker who fronts a Kiss cover band. For winning charm you have the high-energy rendition of "Time After Time" you've been waiting for. For heartbreak, you have Elizabeth Elmore coming home from the road, finding her man gone and staggering around the house trying "to remember every crack in the paint instead of remembering you." The thing you have to love about punks is that if their hearts are big enough, even a posthumous mishmosh can be affecting enough to come back to.

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A Fond Farewell
Beautifully packaged, this album wonderfully recreates what it was like to see Sarge live. Coincidentally, the six live tracks were taped at the farewell concert for another fine Illinois band, Braid, at The Metro in Chicago. It is a shame that "Beguiling" is not included, but not as much as a shame the band's parting of ways. The demo tracks are of high quality, as are the cover tracks; Elizabeth Elmore's remake of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" is a special treat, except maybe for diehard fans of Nancy Sinatra. While no substitute for the band's studio albums, "Distant" nevertheless stands on its own.

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Goodbye......
Sarge is a band that, though not well known, will be greatly missed by those that heard them, and "Distant" is a beautiful, if bittersweet farewell. The live tracks as well as the demos are incredible; it is sure to give old fans and new a taste of what they will be missing. While those new to Sarge may do best to start with "The Glass Intact" or perhaps "Charcoal", I feel that "Distant" is far from simply a B-sides album for collectors, and I would encourage everyone to purchase it before it is no longer available. What better way to say "thanks" for three incredible albums.