Every week we try to put a clever short blurb about the song here without giving away too much that we want to talk about in the “discussion” part below. The problem is, I don’t have a lot to say about this. I don’t know what this sounds like or is influenced by (aside from an obvious lyrical proximity to Bob Dylan), so I’ll let you work that out on your own. Heck, the real point of this text is just to fill space beside the illustration anyway. (Look! It’s a bell!) Read the rest of this entry »
Archives for category: written by chris
Hi! Chris here. I don’t know what you’ll think of this one. I’ve been working on it for a few years, actually using it to soundcheck at the start of shows, but I’ve never recorded it. I spent the last few days in Montreal on business, just returning last night, so I needed to crank this out quickly on Tuesday night. I think it’s kinda cool that it doesn’t really sound like anything else we’ve done. When recording it, I pictured myself standing on a large outdoor stage looking out into a huge, empty field. Maybe that’ll be the music video. Read the rest of this entry »
There are some songs you would expect to sound great around a campfire. For us, they include What a Good Boy, Every Rose Has its Thorn, and Father and Son. And then there are songs you know so well yet dismiss until they’re sung by one unfiltered voice playing an acoustic guitar with friends gathered around flames. In that context, Joan Osborne’s One Of Us might surprise you, as would Eagle-Eye Cherry’s Save Tonight. Or, at least, that was our experience. We’ve been thinking about that. Read the rest of this entry »
Well, they paved paradise and they put up a parking lot, with a pink hotel, a boutique and a swingin’ hot spot. They took all the trees, put them in a tree museum, and charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em. Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone? Yes, it don’t. Read the rest of this entry »
Lady Gaga’s Monster came on shuffle the other day (not long after Kanye West’s Monster, incidentally) and it just seemed, well, a little one-sided. The singer accuses her target of being bad, evil, even though she admits to large gaps in her own memory. The story isn’t complete, the narrative is a bit too tidy. Therefore, in the spirit of Wicked, which retells the Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the witch, we guess at what someone else’s version of events might sound like. Read the rest of this entry »
Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean we take a break! (It does mean we sleep in, though. Sorry this is a few hours late.) This song reminds me a bit of Brand New. (Read: it’s possible I accidentally ripped off Brand New while writing it.) A simple hypnotic meditation on screw-ups that builds to a climax then delivers a twist of sorts in the denouement. Or something. The question is, are these all choruses, or are they all verses? You decide! Read the rest of this entry »
Tomorrow night in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, George and Betty Ann will gather with friends and family to celebrate 50 years of marriage. Their son Jason asked if we’d write them a song for the occasion, and provided both biographical detail and music style preference. This recording is the result, and we’re told the plan is that they’ll be surprised with and dance to this song tomorrow evening. For once, we don’t care what you, random listener, think. We just really really really hope George and Betty Ann like it. Read the rest of this entry »
This is our most ambitious recording to date. Song 12 includes, in no particular order, 22 different layered audio tracks, over 70 audio plugins, lyrics and melodies lifted from Eddie Murphy, made up words, wind chimes, distorted Danko Jones-style bass, a fake party at Steve’s place and a breakdown with autotuned vocals recorded using an iPhone and the I Am T-Pain app. This week’s illustration also has more detail than any that precede it, so we recommend you click on it to see the larger version.
Now, all of this effort and work doesn’t necessarily a great song make. Just look at Avatar. And yet! We’re happy with it, and we hope you are too. Specifically, we hope you like to gambo. Read the rest of this entry »
Ok, this was rushed and is sloppy. The song was written Wednesday and recorded Thursday night. At 1 a.m. Thursday night/Friday morning, we were too lazy to write a blog post, so we shot a video blog instead. Then we didn’t sleep, because we needed to upload the video and post it this morning. And now it’s morning and the words and the brain aren’t working so um, here. Read the rest of this entry »
Ok you monsters. You think our last two songs have been too sad? Too slow? You say you want a “happy song?” You want us to pick up the tempo a little bit? Are you sure that’s what you want? I mean are you really sure? Because you know what they say about being careful what you wish for, and, well, we sure went for it this week. Just like that. Read the rest of this entry »
