Long Division is the second album by the Rustic Overtones, originally released on November 17, 1995. At one hour and seven minutes, the album remains the band's longest release to date. "Simple Song", the second track from the album, received extensive airtime from Portland alternative station WCYY, and is largely responsible for the band's rise to prominence on the Portland music scene. The album remains a fan favorite, and was re-released in a special edition format with three bonus tracks in 2008.
Musical style
Much of Long Division continued to have the ska and jam feeling of Shish Boom Bam, with songs such as "Fake Face" and "Colors of Discipline" essentially being straight ska songs and many other songs having heavy ska influences. However, the album also expanded the horizons of the band's sound further into the realms of rock and soul. Songs such as "Simple Song" and "Dig" were essentially rock songs, and "20 Years" was arguably the heaviest alternative song that they had yet released, a style that they would eventually pursue on 2001's Viva Nueva!. The straight jam feeling of many of the songs of Shish Boom Bam was infused into the songs of Long Division with more of a funk and soul feeling, largely due to the addition of keyboard player Spencer Albee. Albee's keyboards gave the band much more of a soul feeling that the band had lacked before Long Division that soon came to largely define the band's sound.
Legacy
Long Division remains a favorite among the Rustic Overtones' fan base, despite not being widely available for nearly a decade. Several songs from the album were put into WCYY's regular rotation, including "Simple Song", which topped the station's listener vote-based "top 5 at five" for months. Long Division is often seen as the band's "breakthrough" album that made them a big name in the Portland, Maine, local music scene, largely thanks to the large amount of airtime that "Simple Song" received. Prior to the breakup, many songs from the album were commonly found in their setlists. After the band reunited in 2007, songs from the album were less commonly played as the touring focused more around material from Rooms by the Hour, Viva Nueva! and Light at the End, although songs such as "About a Kid", "Simple Song", "Long Division" and "Pop Trash" are still occasionally played. Despite its important status as the band's breakthrough album and its popularity among the fans, until spring 2008 the band had not sold the album since the days of Rooms by the Hours, making the album nearly impossible to find. Occasional copies were still found on websites such as eBay and Amazon.com, although they usually sold for high amounts of money. Copies could also rarely be found at second-hand music stores across the northeast United States, especially in Maine and Massachusetts, the states where the band toured most during their original run.
On November 15, 2007, the band announced in a teaser trailer on their MySpace that they were to re-release the album for the holiday season. The trailer, whose main purpose was to announce a Rustic Overtones documentary/live DVD to be released in spring 2008, featured the song "About a Kid" from the album. On November 24, 2007, the band announced to the crowd at a show at Portland club The Asylum, that the album was to be re-released on the band's new record deal, and that the re-issue would contain out-takes from the original album sessions. Due to delays, the album was not re-released until March 19, 2007, independently and not on the band's new record deal as previously announced. This new deluxe edition features old and new artwork by Patrick Corrigan on cardboard packaging that includes an essay by drummer Tony McNaboe as a fold-out insert. The new release's bonus tracks include "Red Afternoon", which was toured during the band's original run, "Redemption Pays" and "Let Me Grabbitz", which was originally known to fans as "The Secret Song". This 2008 re-release was mastered by Scott Elson.
