An old-fashioned, two-track 7-inch single from a band that have tended to eschew the 12-inch format over the years. Sometimes what the world needs is a bit of simplicity and brevity, both in terms of format, and also in what that format is used to convey. This release, originally put together to coincide with a European tour that fell through, is something not to be ignored.

For anyone who has had their head in the sand for the past two decades, Tiltwheel has been around for that long and you would have had a hard time avoiding adverts for their records if you have read any of the independent music zines/press (MRR, Flipside, Razorcake, etc.) in that period, given that there always seemed to be something available by them from some label, somewhere in the world. For anyone who has ever attended The Fest, then chances are you might have seen Tiltwheel on one of their forays out of their home state of California, as it seems that they are almost a permanent feature on the list of bands playing.

The first track is "Teach Your Children Hell" (also found on their The High Hate Us album), which seems to feature a slightly jangly, distorted guitar (or is that just the joy of vinyl records?!) that is just perfect for this slab of pop-punk. Again, simplicity is the key–why mess with a formula that works well and has been employed by the band for so long?

The flipside is an unreleased cover of "Believe", one of Cher's biggest hits and honestly a song I never thought would, or could, get covered by any punk band. Tiltwheel prove that they are well up to the task and this had me singing along both on initial plays and also as an MP3 on the way to work. In fact, as a song to cheer oneself up on that trek to daily boredom, this works well.

So, the tour didn't go ahead, but the single is available and is well worth tracking down as this is pop-punk without any tricks or gimmicks–just two chunks of enjoyable catchiness. I'm sure there are many collectors out there who will want to add this to the plethora of other Tiltwheel releases they own and as this is limited to 500 copies, get ordering.