“Car vs. Driver began when I was 17 years old. By the time we played our final show, I was 19. This band was the music of my life during a period when people usually experience the greatest amount of freedom, which is what I think of whenever I listen to this music now. There were so many new experiences: living on our own, meeting new people, getting a new perspective on life. Our lifestyle in turn gave us a new perspective on expressing music, and we poured all of our energy and emotion into it. Music that now seems a world away – music from a different life. It’s hard to remember that everything about being in a band at that time was simply making a 7”, buying the cheapest van you could find, and touring the country for the summer. There was no infrastructure to build your music around, which also removed its barriers. Instead of running our band like a corporation, we played peoples living rooms and basements, engaged in kickball tournaments, made record covers out of manila envelopes, slept on top of our van, cooked pasta, and played with some of the most amazing bands in the process. Bands that epitomized the time – like Spirit Assembly, Policy of 3, Friction, Current, The Yah Mos, Assfactor 4, Frail, Hoover, Freemasonry, Scout, and Inkwell. The experience we had is something that could never be recreated, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been a part of that moment in time. Thank you Matt, Steve, and Jonathan for bringing this to me.” James Joyce. August, 2004.

Car Vs. Driver were an Atlanta, Georgia band that existed from 1993 to 1995. This 2xcd compiles a grand total of 39 tracks of everything that Car Vs. Driver ever recorded that the band deemed fit for the complete discography. Included are three live versions of songs from their second lp – “out of a silent sky” – as well as four songs that were never recorded in a studio but were captured live on either WREK 91.1 FM Atlanta or Clemson, South Carolina radio. Both of the full length records – “deja grateful” and “out of a silent sky” are present on this 2xcd as well as the four 7” tracks, the two tracks from the split 7” with spirit assembly and the five tracks which were available only on compilations until now. Car Vs. Driver were a product of their times – the early 90’s produced a huge outpouring of “emo” bands that were highly influenced by the DC hardcore scene of the 80’s. Car Vs. Driver definitely were influenced by such bands as Rites of Spring, Embrace, Rain, One Last Wish as well as their contemporaries: Hoover, Spirit Assembly, Fugazi, Jawbox, Lungfish, Shudder to Think, Current and others.

MP3 Sample 1: Lineage

MP3 Sample 2: My Wish