Long Division (Rustic Overtones album)

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.

Long Division remains a favorite among Rustic Overtones fans, despite not being widely available for nearly a decade.^[when?] Several songs from the album were in 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 big 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 set lists. After the band reunited in 2007, songs from the album were less commonly played as the touring focused more on 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 importance 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 found on websites such as eBay and Amazon.com, although they usually sold for high prices. Copies could also rarely be found at second-hand music stores across the northeast United States, especially in Maine and Massachusetts, where the band toured most during their original run.

1. "About a Kid"
2. "Simple Song"
3. "Spunk Drive 185"
4. "Colors of Discipline"
5. "20 Years"
6. "Fake Face"
7. "Dig"
8. "Feel"
9. "Pimp"
10. "Long Division"
11. "Slowly"
12. "Outlaw Biker"
13. "Pop Trash"

14. "Red Afternoon"
15. "Redemption Pays"
16. "Let Me Grabbitz"