City of Caterpillar - Demo + Live Recording

Artist: City of Caterpillar
Title: Demo + Live Recording
Release: 2002
Label: Level Plane Records

Track List:
1. A Heart Filled Reaction to Dissatisfaction (Demo)
2. Shadows of Ghosts Passing on City Streets (Demo)
3. Demo Track 3
4. Demo Track 4
5. Demo Track 5
6. When Was the Last Time We Painted over the Blood on the Walls? (Live)
7. An Innocent Face (Live)
8. Shadows of Ghosts Passing on City Streets (Live)
9. A Little Change Could Go a Long Ways (Live)

While no means what I would consider a "hardcore" band City of Caterpillar nevertheless deserves some attention here. Active back in the days when screamo was for the most part not yet a dirty word City of Caterpillar played what I think is best described as a fusion between their contemporaries and Post-Rock. At times they lean so heavily towards the sort of beautiful and eerie sounds typically associated with bands like Mogwai that it can be pretty jarring when they suddenly shift into the harsh noise and screaming.

Somewhere around 7 years ago I left their self-titled album in my car's CD player when my mom asked to borrow it. Later that day when she returned it to me she made the comment that whatever was in my CD player sounded really pretty until it started to get really ugly. That's a pretty accurate description I'd say.

This particular recording is a little more on the ugly (in a good way!) side of things than their self-titled release but it's just as great of a listen. Rather than type out my own description, from the insert:

Songs 1-5 were recorded at Signal to Noise Studios by Duncan & Jay in the April of 2000 in Richmond, VA. These songs were originally released on demo tapes & CDRs. Song 3 also appeared on a split 7" with System 2600 which was released by the Sea of Dead Pirates record label.

Lineup... Brandon, Ryan, Adam, Jeff.

Songs 6-9 were recorded live on WNYU by Steve Roche in Manhattan, NY in the December of 2000. Songs 6 & 8 were released on a one sided tour edition 7" which was pressed by the Level Plane record label.

Lineup... Brandon, Ryan, Kevin, Jeff.

This release is intended to make these songs available at a reasonable price. There should be no need to pay ridiculous prices for these recordings on out of print records.

...Endless thanks go to...
Planes Mistaken for Stars, System 2600, Level Plane, pg 99, Lilac Sky, Adagio 830, Fil "Mako", our friends & families, and everyone who has supported us.

It's kind of funny now since this record can go for a good amount of money on eBay. I was fortunate enough to get my first copy on black vinyl for normal retail price. I won't say how much I paid for my second copy on clear vinyl, but it was as Brandon said, ridiculous.

I'm kind of in the process of organizing my mp3 library right now. Since I don't actually own a CD copy of this record I was curious to see if it is even available for sale anymore and sadly it appears it isn't. The only downloads I could find through Google find were low bit rate and probably done poorly. Fortunately, even though I don't have the actual CD I do have a FLAC rip with an EAC log that says it's damn near perfect. So for your convenience here it is in V0 mp3.

Download: City of Caterpillar - Demo + Live Recording (LAME 3.98r V0)