t’s strange how hung up on location music has become in the past couple decades. Sure, there were always a few words to be had about the origin of any rock band, from the bluesy outfits that defined the British Invasion, to the sunny (and in hindsight, almost universally ridiculous) groups of San Francisco in the late sixties, but it’s far more complicated now. Various cities’ abundance of certain genres has led to explicit classification (i.e. Windy City post-rock or D.C. hardcore), which, in turn, has led to a certain level of irritation among listeners and critics alike. If I handed you a record and said “Here, these guys are from Manchester, they play this kind of retro pop with a little dance influence,” chances are that I wouldn’t elicit the same response that would have occurred in 1985. Then again, the NME might have something to do with that as well, but I digress...

“Here, these guys are from Iowa City.”

“...oh.”

This split EP, released late in the spring of 2001, chronicles the existence of two of Iowa City’s top three bands, Alto Heceta and the now defunct Speed of Sauce (the third being Ten Grand, formerly known as the Vida Blue, for the more curious readers.) While their respective sounds share a few interchangeable qualities, there’s nothing about them that screams distinction for either their town or themselves, other than their inordinate amount of talent.

While Alto Heceta, whose three songs comprise the first half of the disc, relied heavily on the output of emo uber-wussies like The Gloria Record in their more formative years (see the hit-and-miss Safe In Stereo EP), with their pretty but ultimately lifeless arpeggios, it’s here that they truly find their voice. “Taking Down The Clocks” opens with the plaintive cries of lead vocalist Adam Penly, whose voice takes on a far more confident tone here than anywhere else in the band’s brief catalogue. When matched with the aggressive, yet lilting guitar work, the result is nothing less than spectacular. The band recedes to its embryonic formula on “Roadtrips And Fingertips” with exponentially finer results. “So September” closes their portion with similar results.

Whereas Alto Heceta’s work resonates with the din of a band that could fare quite well on the college music circuit (indeed, their aforementioned EP spent time on the CMJ charts), Speed of Sauce gleam and glow with the aura of a band that deserve(d) to hit it big.

Although dogged by stupefying Radiohead comparisons throughout their brief recording career (the band actually formed way back in 1992 as a high school cover operation), Speed of Sauce instead call to mind the best elements of early Sunny Day Real Estate, Pony Express-era Shudder To Think, late Pavement, Big Star, and countless other luminaries. Riddled with cliches, it probably sounds like the quintessential college band. Well, truth be told, it basically is, which is exactly what makes (or made) them such a captivatingly charming group of individuals.

Occasionally incorporating instrumentation like Rhodes piano and double bass, Speed of Sauce mostly stick to the guitars for this, their third and final outing. “I'm Not Doing Anything Wrong; I Just Want to Be Able to Lock My Door, Okay? Geez,” amusingly pretentious handle aside, is likely the band’s noisiest creation, and only hints at the Speed of Sauce’s true framework. “Your Voice” properly introduces the marvelous vocals of guitarist Phil Moor, the proverbial cherry atop the group’s intoxicating concoction. Where Heceta’s Penly occasionally sounds unsure, Moor emerges with confidence and grace that is rarely seen in indie rock today. While “My Awesome Riff” doesn’t exactly include one, it does couple the band’s rarely unleashed guitar-heavy crunch (grounded by the steady drumming of John Paul Mohan) with its ethereal, shimmering guitar work (courtesy of Moor and Mark Paulson.) In many ways, it’s the perfect Speed of Sauce song, yet it only hints towards the depth of their previous work.v On a somber endnote, Speed of Sauce disbanded in August 2001 after nearly ten years together that yielded a number of compilation appearances, one self-distributed cassette, and, in 2000, a brilliant self-titled album that presently languishes in unavailability.

With the ‘Sauce’s untimely demise, the burden rests upon the shoulders of Alto Heceta (who are presently recording their full-length debut) to uphold the livelihood of the Iowa City scene. If the songs on this EP are any indication, you should be hearing a lot more rock from the Heartland very soon.

To procure a copy of this release, visit Synaptic Tactic’s website here.