Q And Not U – X-Polynation / Book Of Flags

And the final single from Q And Not U (Sep. 2003). This preceded their third and final album, Power (Oct. 2004) by a wide margin. Unlike the previous two singles, the third here does not contain any non-album material, but both of the songs are demos and were rerecorded for the full-length LP. While Power is my least favorite LP from the band (it is still quite good by any measure), and in-spite of no additional songs being included as the other two singles could boast, this particular single is still redeemed in my eyes if only that it includes my two favorite songs from Power in a tidy demo document. X-polynation is a jittery guitar and drum romp aided by the shouted and sung twin vocals. Book of Flags is a DIY-pop masterpiece hinged on a great hook. Now the one drawback, albeit, unrelated to the music - the photography for this single, as well as Power, is once again handled by Shawn Brackbill. However, after the stunning images used on all of the past releases, these two seem so lackluster and out of character.

The band released only 3 full length albums over the course of their short career and preempted each with a seven-inch single which totaled 5 alternate versions of the album songs, as well as 2 non-album b-sides. There was certainly a logic and a systematic method to their output and it worked succinctly. For the casual fan, the albums are awesome pieces of the DC/Dischord '00s lexicon. For the more eager people, the singles provide something extra to dig in and chew on, rather than merely serving up the same meal on a different format.