Gepetto [Remix Disc 2]

Unlike the totally superb, totally essential Gepetto [Remix Disc 1] EP, this EP release of the same single is nowhere near as important (both have similar black covers, so check the B-side titles carefully before you buy), but was still worth the release. Though not as hot or as much silly fun as the version by D.O.A., the cover of Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" is still amusing, since Tanya Donelly sings it straight, as a serious love-lorn lamentation. It's hard to reconcile her earnest frustrations of wanting the one you can't have (yet, it's slightly different than the gist of the Smiths' Meat Is Murder song) with the goofy schmaltz of Jones' famous hit (or D.O.A.'s appropriate torching if it). Good idea. The other two cuts are piquant, stripped-down looks at Star songs. Both "Star" and a brief "Dusted" are demos -- blunt, rugged recordings of just Donelly's voice and a dirty electric guitar, very different from the better-known full-band ones that came later. A nice history lesson and more useful music.