Crooked Fingers - Crooked Fingers [Deluxe Edition] (2016)

On January 29, 2016, Merge will reissue the self-titled debut album by Crooked Fingers, the solo project of Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann. Originally released in 2000, Crooked Fingers—a.k.a. “the one with the swan on it”—will be pressed on vinyl for the first time and include a download of the entire record plus nine bonus tracks of demos and rarities.

To mark the occasion of the reissue, we asked Josh Modell of The A.V. Club to write new liner notes for the album. Here is an excerpt:

Not long after he recorded this debut, Eric told me that he wanted Crooked Fingers to constantly evolve—that every record would sound different, and every tour would feature different players and new arrangements. He’s kept to that, releasing albums that constantly tug and question, restless but preternaturally consistent. What you’re holding represents the first step, a big, quiet leap into the unknown—which ended up being a beautiful place.