Engine Kid "Heater Sweats Nails" / "Husk" 7"

There are a number of ways to approach Engine Kid, depending where your interests lay. I first discovered them as one of the first non-hardcore bands on the legendary NYHC label Revelation Records, where they remained an oddball curiosity until my tastes branched out a bit. By the mid/late-90s they fit perfectly with my interest in Slint, Rodan and other Louisville, KY bands affiliated with the Touch & Go / Drag City / Quarterstick family.

Engine Kid were from Seattle however, and had a few releases on C/Z Records, home of Hammerbox, Icky Joey, Coffin Break and other alt/grunge bands relegated to the dollar bin by the cruel passage of time. While EK didn't really have much in common with those bands, they did have a number of releases on C/Z at a time when anything connected with Seattle was painted with the same brush.

Nowadays however, they're most relevant as the band Greg Anderson was in before Burning Witch, Goatsnake and SUNN O))). There are a few moments where Engine Kid hinted at the territory Anderson would explore with his later work. One of those was the band's final release and crowning achievement, the Heater Sweats Nails / Husk single, released by Troubleman Unlimited in 1995. While the b-side sounds like a lost lullaby from Slint's Spiderland, the a-side covers the other end of EK's spectrum: sludge. The classic mid-90s indie label budget mastering takes a bit of the oomph out of the song, but "Heater.." still packs a pretty good punch for a Slint-enamored band trying to sound like the Melvins. I always thought that "Husk" complemented it well, yin-yang style. See for yourself..



Engine Kid "Heater Sweats Nails" (from Heater Sweats Nails / Husk 7", 1995)

Engine Kid "Husk" (from Heater Sweats Nails / Husk 7", 1995)