loud paper

The Nation of Ulysses
The Embassy Tapes
Dischord

Why now to give us ten cuts from the Nation’s archives? Why apologize for tape hiss on the sleeve? The Nation of Ulysses made it a point never to say they were sorry. It must be part of a new plot, a new stratagem to reclaim the underground youth from beyond the punk rock grave. Nation puts the verse back in subversive, so post-mortem scheming is not beyond these DC heroes. Ian Svenonius with other former Nation members Steve Gamboa and James Canty has gone on to preach the word with The Make-Up and Tim Green, while not in the recording booth, is making kids happy with his capital-m Metal project The Fucking Champs. Still, the innocence, as captured on the cover of The Embassy Tapes is lost. I guess it’s not 1992 anymore.... The Embassy privileges attitude over finesse. This album is about screaming and looking good all wrapped up in the Nation’s progressively anachronistic aesthetic. "Outline for Hangout" with its chorus "got nuthin’ to do, wanna do it with you" is perfectly indicative of the recording’s attitude and the lazy revolution that is welcome, even with the tape hiss.