Merge has reissued Crooked Fingers’ 2001 sophomore album Bring On the Snakes. On vinyl for the first time, the LP features an essay by The National’s Matt Berninger. Also included is a download of the full album plus bonus demos of each track.

In his liner notes, Berninger writes:

I had been a fan of Eric Bachmann’s songs since the first Archers of Loaf record, Icky Mettle, but here I felt he was after something different, something intimate and important. His writing was inspired. It sounded to me like Byron, drunk at a party, talking to some girl about a different girl that he was in love with. I remember thinking, This guy reads a lot more than I do. The vocal and guitar melodies were unbelievably lovely, and his lyrics careened from crushingly sad to self-lacerating to hilarious. The record achieves that strange, special magic: it’s catchy, visceral, and emotionally devastating.

Bring On the Snakes bonus tracks:

1. Rotting Strip (Demo)
2. Devil’s Train (Demo)
3. Surrender Is Treason (Demo)
4. Sad Love (Demo)
5. Doctors of Deliverance (Demo)
6. Every Dull Moment (Demo)
7. Here Come the Snakes (Demo)
8. There’s a Blue Light (Demo)

LP includes a coupon for a full download.