The Blind Run

Released as a teaser for the band's 2000 Epitaph full-length, Nightmare Scenario, The Blind Run previews two tracks from that record (one in remix form) as well as two that remain otherwise unavailable. "End of the Great Credibility Race" is everything that makes the Turks a punk rock force to be reckoned with: Jim Weber's metal-trained punk riffage and Eric Davidson's snotty vocal tirades. As the title implies, the song addresses the topic of the indie scene's clique-driven elitism and Davidson's desire to have no part in it ("Thrift store theatrics and four-track recorders/Powered by trust funds"). Over the course of the song, Davidson lashes out at everyone from indie icons like Matador, Touch & Go, and Kill Rock Stars to Modest Mouse and Built to Spill (by name) as well as his own band's historically unstable relationship with record labels: "Before you know you're at your Crypt/Reading your Epitaph." The album's second half is comprised of otherwise unavailable songs, the first being a cover of the Knots' 1980 track "Action." As listeners learned with their earlier renditions of songs like the Rolling Stones' "Summer Romance" and Billy Childish's "Youngblood," the Turks have a knack for taking cover songs and making them sound truly their own, and they remain true to form here. Also included is a remix of the Nightmare Scenario track "Turning Tricks." A remix of a punk song? Wonders never cease. "Ad Nauseum" is classic Turks -- loud, fast, and raw. Worth tracking down mostly for its snappy red and orange marble vinyl, The Blind Run showed that after ten years the Turks were showing no sign of slowing down.