This record was so rushed that I do not even really remember writing the songs or recording them. The story with this thing is that Phil from Rock Bottom Records asked us to do a record for a 7" series with a handful of bands (Autistic Youth, The Humanoids, and OWTH) and we were stoked to be apart of it. Since we had to record for the Euro s/t 7", we figured we could slam these out in the recording session. Well the 7" series never happened but Phil still put in the work and released the 7" (after a failed attempt with the art work the 1st time). I think overall this record is really fucking hard. The title track has to be my favorite and I really love the ending to that song. "Mocking You" I think is also great but when we played it with Michael, Bobby's replacement, we knew we had to re-record it to give it that special touch. Still, I think Bobby's version is decent. "Same Things" bothers me though because if we just spent a little more time on it, we could have really polished it to make it a hit. All in all, I think this record is pretty great. I only have two complaints. First, the center labels were not fixed, which we asked Phil to do several times (stupidly pixilated) and secondly, nobody really knows it exists. Still no ill will towards Phil and I think he is a great guy.
PRESSING INFO:
400 on Black
100 on Wolverine Yellow
SONG TITLES:
Mocking You
Life Number Two
Same Things
CD VERSION OUT ON MAGIC BULLET RECORDS
LP VERSION OUT ON LIFE IS A RAPE (U.S.A.) & TAKEN BY SURPRISE (EUROPA)
(You have to download the songs individually, sorry.)
This album is different from anything we have ever done. Aesthetically and musically. We recorded in a real studio and we did not just rip the art from some shitty magazine. With that said, it is hard to swallow all in one take. This was the first and last album Michael was on. He also sang on a few songs, which is also a new (since Reuben and I always sing). I think this lp is awesome and I really love everything about it. From the first song to the last, you can hear the chemistry and the connection all of us made musically on the album. Every hit coincided with every note perfectly and in my eyes, showed how well we all worked with each other. This is funny though because Reuben and I were not getting a long at all. In fact, we hated each other and some of the lyrics in our songs clearly show the disdain for each other. I think you can sense it because unlike the I HAVE GHOSTS lp, Reuben and I don't really sing at all at the same time. It is usually always Michael and Reuben or me and Reuben. But the one song where we do sing together is probably one of the strongest songs on the lp, so this might have been a bad thing on the album. Still, the different approaches to songs (due to Michael's influence in the band and him bringing in most of the material to work with) really forced us to work differently. I have to say the strongest songs on the album are track 2-4 and 7-9. My complaints with the album are that I think the lyrics by all three of us were pretty weak. We got too lost in perfecting the songs that it is obvious we kind of half-assed the lyrics. The lyrics that are the strongest are definitely "Rusty Hooks" and "Discontent" and "Parasite." I also don't like how clean sounding the guitars are. I wish that it was noisier, like on the previous records. Maybe a little less more controlled feedback and it just everywhere. I also wish that there was more dual singing, like on the previous albums. Still, all four of us put our all's into it and I think most of us were happy with the results. Nothing is ever perfect, but in the end, I am not embarrassed to show my friends. It is a shame that things couldn't continue but worse things have happened to the band and we recovered alright.
PRESSING INFO FOR LIFE'S A RAPE:
100 on Red for Mailorder
100 on Puke Brown with Silk Screened Dust Sleeve for Tour
500 on Black
PRESSING INFO FOR TAKEN BY SURPRISE:
200 on Silver for Tour/Mailorder
800 on Black
SONG TITLES:
Crash Course
Discontent
Pathetic Existence
Rusty Hooks
Ball of Bread
Growing Up
Failure
Idiot
Mocking You
Someone I Used to Know
Parasite
Friends with a Demon
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