Scott Lucas & The Married Men ‎– The Cruel Summer EP

An EP have many songs than the single release and not so much to make it as a full length album, and so when I bought Cruel Summer EP online I thought it's gonna be on 12" to fit the 5 tracks - not! When it arrived I was so dumbfounded when I saw the small box! While opening the box I continuously asking myself if I ordered the wrong vinyl....

Nope! I did not. I actually ordered the correct vinyl. This release is kinda special (yeah it's limited edition) and it's true that the Cruel Summer EP have indeed 5 tracks but only two are pressed in the wax and 3 are available for download, actually all 5 tracks are available for downloads! Yi! I learn something new on every purchase.

Scott Lucas & The Married Men ‎released their EP The Cruel Summer just this year around June and man you won't believe how amazing the cover art is and the wax performed really well. Here's the quick facts:

Label:	The End Records ‎– TE317-1
Format:	Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, EP
Country:	US
Released:	06/25/13
Genre:	Rock, Folk, World, & Country

I definitely like the Album Art Cover. It's one of the things that made me blind-buy this EP. It's very vintage looking, kinda sad, and it just have the texture that I cannot explain but it's awesome.
Side A contains their version of Cruel Summer, a Bananarama cover. And Side B contains Never Better, an original compo by Scott Lucas. And the rest of the songs from the download card are:

3. Heavy Lidded (Acoustic) Love
4. Coward Of The County (Kenny Rogers cover)
5. There You Are (Again)

I am extremely loving Cruel Summer and Heavy Lidded Love. Their odd take to the Bananarama cover infusing heavy guitar riffs and wrapping their own style of music makes this version not better than the original but a different flavor, it's the melancholy-rock-alternative attack to the song makes it more awesome!

The 7" wax looks really solid, dead silent, and the label contains the track names.

Overall I will give this EP a solid 3.5 out of 5. less .5 pt for making me sad when I received the package (which is totally my fault) and less 1 pt because I only like the first 3 tracks. I still suggest you grab this vinyl when you see it in your favorite record store, if you are in Manila, Philippines, I don't know any record store here that have them but you can always try Amazon and Ebay.

I never knew Scott Lucas until I bought this EP, I think I need to sample their full length album that came before this EP, the Blood Half Moon. So if you own this EP, tell us if you like it, if you hate it, if you think its a waste of money or it's a keeper, please use the comment box below! For me it's a money well spent and I'm digging the analog/digital split. Check their video on youtube of Cruel Summer!

- Vinyl Grimes, Record Review, Scott Lucas, Spreading the Love!