Chicago indie rock outfit Clyde Federal was formed in 2002 by singer/guitarist Michael Lyons. With the additions of bassist Vince Laconte, autoharpist Jeremy Morse, and drummer Mike Bulington, the group cut its debut EP, Please Be Real, in the space of a weekend, earning some local airplay with the title tune. With 2003's single "Cleared a Little Space," Clyde Federal further built its Windy City fan base. A full-length LP was planned but never materialized, and instead the group issued another EP, Sensitive Skin. Home recordings and live tapes yielded 2004's Best Practices compilation, and later that same year the Contraphonic label reissued Please Be Real and Sensitive Skin as a double-EP set; around that same time, both Laconte and Morse resigned from duty, and with new guitarist Joe Cannon and bassist Mike Renaud, Clyde Federal recorded the Piecework EP, released in early 2005 on the Tight Ship imprint. ~ Jason Ankeny