Busy rummaging through old memories from their vast catalogue of songs, Appleton, Wisconsin-based Tenement reappear with a collection of tracks under the heading ‘Bruised Music Volume One’. The decision to include a mixture of rare and out-of-print songs lifted from seven of the band’s earliest recordings including tapes, EPs and split singles was an inspired one as those less fortunate to experience this material during its first outing, now have a chance to familiarise themselves with Tenement’s early punk rock sound. With comparisons ranging from Husker Du to The Replacements in relation to the time period covered from 2006 to 2009, the rarities selected provides an insight into the band’s development and the various teething problems associated with this. However, far from being a ragbag collection of loose ends and unfinished demos, ‘Bruised Music Volume One’ is far more accomplished than perhaps one would think, considering the aforementioned early years’ time period. An example of this can be gained from the rough and tumble of ‘Sitcom Moms’, with its retrospective lyrics and scorching hot guitar break rendering this song good enough to grace anything Tenement currently has scheduled for later release. Following on from this is the hard-edged pop tones of ‘Spaghetti Midwestern’ and ensuing ‘The Fire Is Out’, albeit with a coarser texture yet still containing a pop influence. Eclipsing its customary two minute mark is the initial thrash happy ‘Summer Streets Parts 1 & 2’, which eventually stretches its creative limbs and provides another indicator of the talent at the centre of this three piece. Casting our own vote, however, the rhythmically tight and seared vocals of ‘The Best and Worst of Times’ wins hands down, and probably due to providing a reminder of Boston unit Buffalo Tom, who had a knack of writing similar sounding songs on a frequent basis. This current collection might be a bruised reminder of a few memories best forgotten when it comes to Tenement, but for the rest of us on the outside looking in, ‘Bruised Music Volume One’ makes for a fascinating insight into the early foundations of one of America’s ongoing punk bands.