While song-for-song there probably isn't much to differentiate between "Friends and Relatives" and "Cycles" (both were recorded at the same time and released within two months of each other), "Cycles" is more of an immediate rush and it definitely sunk in with me a lot quicker than the LP. Perhaps having fewer songs makes it easier to digest, or maybe it's because the EP has "Kings Run Errands (For Me)", which is probably the best Estrogen Highs song since "Logical Doctor". And while they'll probably never record anything as heavy as "Chat Perdue" ever again, it's hard to beat "Kings Run Errands" for flat-out rockin'; I especially dig the main lyrical conceit, which is how most people these days are dumb as shit ("Medieval man: basic understanding/Modern times: so little knowledge").
The 12" vinyl also comes with a factory-printed CD, meaning you can listen to all seven songs straight through without having to flip between Side A and Side B. If that's how you choose to listen to it, the batch of songs from "Kings Run Errands" on through is just one big mess of hits. "Daily Catastrophes" is great just for the way Stefan sings "alooooooNE", and then there's "An Apology For Treason", which is jangly mistrel-pop, like Estrogen Highs as a low-budget The Association or something. "The Anchorite" is kind of an odd throwaway-- being just some random noises underneath someone plucking a thumb piano-- but it's so silly that it's hard not to laugh the first time you're through listening to it.
The one other song on the EP with a rock beat is the final track, "This Mild Delusion", which in the way it chugs along sounds a lot like "She Cracked" by the Modern Lovers. It's my second-favorite song on the record, which is why I'm posting a vinyl rip of it here. Only 300 of these 12"-ers were pressed, with hand-numbered and hand-silkscreened sleeves; the sleeve design has all sorts of lines and angles, which were probably tough to keep consistent, and I'm told that after the first 100 or so they get a bit different-looking. You can pick up both the "Cycles" EP and "Friends and Relatives" LP all in one shot from Florida's Dying, among other places, or you can order the LP (500 pressed) direct from Gramery and the EP direct from Safety Meeting; you can find links to both of them over in the sidebar.
Estrogen Highs -
"This Mild Delusion"
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