As you've probably heard by now, the EP has been delayed until Feb. 1 because of some mastering problems. But we can TELL you what its like now:

You might get a good feeling of what this record is like by knowing that it has six songs and was recorded in a barn, Fort Apache, Burr Holland, and Ted Leo’s bedroom. It’s kind of all over the place which makes it a cute little gem of an EP. It’s been about nine months in the making since Mary Lou and Sean met playing a show together in March this year.

Mary Lou’s songs come off more laid back and spontaneous than last year’s highly polished and acclaimed “Got No Shadow”. She serves up three recreations of songs done by Janis Martin, Lucinda Williams, and the Bevis Frond. “Bang Bang” starts it off, and is definitely the cutest track on the record, with The Raging Teens backing her up and adding an ass shakin’ rockabilly swing. “Hard Road” slows things down a bit with a countrified twist. Then, the pop is brought back with the rendition of Nick Saloman’s slacker anthem, “Aim Low”. Buffalo Tom’s Bill Janovitz popped in the studio to add the backing vocals for that one. This is just a sneak peek at more great things to come from Mary Lou Lord.

Sean Tillmann (a.k.a. Sean Na Na) continues to step out of the shadow of his former punk band, Calvin Krime, with his latest efforts. Remember that slacker anthem thing that was mentioned above? “Princess and the Pony” may be one of those. It tries to convince Sean’s friends to take over his funeral and party while rocking out to Wire and drinking whiskey. His cohort Lucky Jeremy plays on that one as well as Jeff Brown. “Stretch Marks” is one of Sean’s more cynical songs, but he gets dismayed sometimes because his songs “aren’t as mean as they were originally intended to be” in the end. It comes off sugary with the hand claps and lo-fi Cheap Trick-isms added by Ted Leo and Chris Wilson. They also back Sean up on his cover of Lucky Jeremy’s “My Old France”.

They met, Sean took Mary Lou up on her challenge to motivate her to record new songs, and the split EP was born. We wish things went that smoothly, but after a few months in unforeseen limbo the record is about ready to hit the public. We like it. Expect more Mary Lou Lord and Sean Na Na collaborations in the future.

One of Sean's songs is available early as an mp3. Here are the notes on the song (provided by Sean Na Na):

"Princess and the Pony" (listen)
Sean- vocals/guitars/extras
Lucky Jeremy- keyboard
Jeff Brown- drums
Hand Solo- hands
Recorded at Burr Holland in Minneapolis by Eric Olsen with Dave Gardner during September of '99. Thanks to Buffy, Dawson, Cordelia, Oz, Willow, Xander, Joey, Piggy, Jack, Brandy, and Pacey. I couldn't have done it without you. To all others... Why you hatin'?
SNN Fun Fact: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was the first seven inch that Sean ever bought. He thinks it totally sounds like Tina Turner.

Sean + Mary Lou haven't taken any official photos together yet... here are some from the shows they played together recently:

We'll get some soon.

Sean Na Na is participating in Ask*a*Band*a*Question read his Q & A so far or ask your own question here.

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