The second single from The Singing Hatchet, Shoveling Sons was one of the album's standout tracks right from the off - listening to Jim and co. sing about "roads paved by dead souls" with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young harmonies, slivers of electric guitars and drowsy flutterings of snare was always going to get our eyelashes batting in bashful adoration. As far as the b-sides go on this one, it's interesting because we had a listen to them again for the first time in a while and were really struck by how fresh they sound - daft, I know, but this was recorded eight years ago. No One Left recalls their friend and high profile fan Beck on his Mutations tip while To Carry Me Home, on the other hand, comes close to shaking hands with a downbeat Flaming Lips...

Pointless Trivia: Jim Putnam (and bassist Senon Williams for that matter) are inveterate doodlers. On the road, they are capable of producing reams of phantasmagorical sketches - like Tony Hart on acid. Hence the cover design for Shoveling Sons which features...well, it features a skeleton (sort of) dressed in (I think) a Roman centurion's outfit with a big sword - only he has no arms. Or legs - just a floating cape type thing. Or maybe it's a skirt, shit, your guess is as good as mine. Come to think of it, it looks like it's got a thimble on its head too, so maybe it's a tiny wee skeleton? Or a tiny wee half skeleton? Christ, ask Jim - how the fuck should I know...