VELOCITY GIRL – UltraCopacetic (Copacetic Remixed and Expanded) [Loser Edition] – 2LP – Opaque Red Vinyl

2LP – Limited “Loser” Edition (first pressing only) Opaque Red Vinyl.

Velocity Girl formed in 1989 or so at the University of Maryland outside Washington DC, and shortly thereafter settled on the lasting lineup of guitarist Archie Moore (Black Tambourine), guitarist Brian Nelson (Black Tambourine), drummer Jim Spellman (Starry Eyes, Foxhall Stacks, High Back Chairs, Julie Ocean, Piper Club), bassist Kelly Riles (Starry Eyes), and singer Sarah Shannon (Starry Eyes, The Not Its). The band combined English-inspired noisy shoegaze fuzz with scrappy US indie rock and classic 60s-style pop songwriting. A killer single on Slumberland and non-stop touring grabbed the attention of the indie-rock cognoscenti of the day, and, following a heated courtship involving both dinner AND dessert, Velocity Girl signed a contract on a car hood in Hoboken, New Jersey, making Sub Pop their home.

In 1992 the band began work on their debut album, Copacetic, at Easley Studios – once home base to the Bar-Kays and other classic soul bands – in Memphis with Bob Weston (Volcano Suns, Shellac) at the helm, and then mixed the album with Weston in Chicago. While the album had strong songs – pop tunes like Audreys Eyes, Pop Loser, and Living Well alongside ambitious explorations like Pretty Sister and Here Comes – the band had little experience with production and lacked the skills to drive the boat in the studio. As a result, the album turned out to be a rather stripped-down affair, lacking the lushness of their prior recordings. To the bands ear it was jarring, and they soon realized this wasnt the record they hoped to make. Bob Weston had done exactly what was asked of him and captured the sounds, but the band didnt do its part to articulate a clear vision. But the bands slot in the studio was over, and Polvo had just showed up to work on their album, so off Velocity Girl went to shoot the video for Audreys Eyes. Copacetic came out in 1993 and people seemed to like it just fine, but within the band there was a sense of disappointment to the point where most members couldnt stand to hear the record.

Between then and now, the band learned a lot about recording, and Archie Moore developed a career in audio work, and the band finally decided to revisit Copacetic. After extensive digging, the 2 tape reels appeared in Jims ex-wifes mothers house, and in the spring of 2023 Archie began working on a remix.

Song by song the new mixes emerged just as the band envisioned them. Soaring vocals from Sarah (who studied opera in college), chiming lead guitar, juicy fuzzed out rhythm guitars and clear pounding drums. The pop songs are much poppier. The sonic blasts are more powerful, and the record hangs together as a cohesive document that flows from song to song. The approach was not to make a 2024 sounding record but rather to go back to the 1992 mindset and create the record the band should have made then. The result, UltraCopacetic (Copacetic Remixed and Expanded), is an exciting alternate history of Copacetic.

And, while they were at it, the band dug up and refreshed the rest of their studio material from the era: Ultracopacetic includes Warm/Crawl from the Velocity Girl/Tsunami split 7, Creepy from the Crazy Town 7, Stupid Thing from the Audreys Eyes 7, and the unreleased album outtake Even Die. Topping it all off is the bands complete five-song 1993 John Peel session, including two tracks that havent been heard since the original broadcast. UltraCopacetic is truly the definitive version of Velocity Girls first record.

Tracklist:

1. Pretty Sister
2. Crazy Town
3. Copacetic
4. Here Comes
5. Pop Loser
6. Living Well
7. A Chang
8. Audreys Eyes
9. Lisa Librarian
10. 57 Waltz
11. Candy Apples
12. Catching Squirrels
13. Warm/Crawl
14. Creepy
15. Stupid Thing
16. Even Die
17. Here Comes (Peel Session version)
18. Always (Peel Session version)
19. Crazy Town (Peel Session version)
20. 57 Waltz (Peel Session version)
21. Copacetic (Peel Session version)