By the time their first EP came out in 1990, the Angels of Epistemology were long since broken up -- its six songs were recorded in 1987 and '88 -- and bizarrely, it wasn't until 1992 that a CD was released that gathered most of the band's recordings. Even more bizarrely, that CD, Fruit, lacks the under-two-minute leadoff track from the untitled EP, "Response," which just might be the best thing the group ever did. Much of the band's repertoire consisted of faux-ethnic instrumentals along the lines of what Camper Van Beethoven was doing at the time, but "Response" has the ramshackle sound of a great New Zealand indie single. Like something by the Tall Dwarfs, Look Blue Go Purple or the Great Unwashed, "Response" is simultaneously inscrutably insular and bizarrely catchy, with an odd structure that switches back and forth between a propulsive, strummy A section and a weird, semi-rapped B section in lieu of the usual verse and chorus thing. This song might be why Merge Records agreed to release the band's tapes long after they'd broken up: "Response" sounded very much of a piece with what Superchunk and Pavement were doing a few years later. Points for swiping the cover art from Abba's Greatest Hits, too.

-Stewart Mason