The Early Year contains the earliest tracks from Joe Pernice’s pre-Pernice Brothers band, Scud Mountain Boys. Combining two early home-recordings released on Chunk Records in 1995 (Pine Box and Dance the Night Away), The Early Year was compiled and released in 1997 by Sub Pop after the critical success of the Scud Mountain Boys' Massachusetts (1996 on Sub Pop). Long out of print, Ashmont has re-issued the album to coincide with a small round of dates Scud Mountain Boys dates in early 2012.