Whiskey Feed

Here’s a song that’s been in existence since the beginning! This was written sometime in the summer of 2006, along with the other Tape Recorder Demos (see the entry on “Just A Note To Say”). It’s based on dialogue from a 1979 book called The Alcoholic Republic by William Joseph Rorabaugh. George plays the electric drums here, while I handle the organ duties. Key of F minor.

This song is still one of our favorites to play live, as we usually end our sets with it. It has evolved quite a bit over the two years since it’s been written. I’ve also been told by audience members that it’s a lot of fun to sing along to while you’re drunk. Go figure.

All To Blame

This song is another short one. A pop song rarely has a reason to go over four minutes. Even three is pushing it.

This was recorded early in 2007, perhaps as early as late February. I played the Juno and sang the melody and harmony, while George played the tambourine and did some backups. It was around 2 am by the time we got to record it (and when we finished at around three, we did another one: “Nevermind, Madeline”).

I tried to sing it all sultry-like. I felt like it should be a pretty song. But then we added some more effects from the Juno and it became this amalgam of pleasantly weird-sounding music. I wrote it right after I quit college, when I promised a girl I would move out west with her, and then didn’t. Instead, Camera-Head Shark formed. This is a song I’d like to re-record.

Just A Note To Say

This is the original version, performed live and captured on a tape recorder. It was done sometime in the summer of 2006, making it one of the first tunes we wrote. It was done in George’s living room, him playing acoustic guitar and me doing upright piano. They’re not completely in-tune with one another.

We used to play it live, in the regular rotation. We’ve even done a slightly more official recording of it. It was the only additional song we had planned to put on Oh, You. I think we went with “I Can’t Wait” instead, which we weren’t going to record. It was a swap. That was right after we spontaneously wrote and recorded “Pack Up Your Suitcase.” And so on.

But yeah, this is the living room version, in the same vein and from the same veins as “Whiskey Feed,” “Lead On,” and a demo track called “The Metamorphosis (We’ll Take Them)”. These will all eventually be posted for heavy listening. For you, entertainment. For us, nostalgia to the max.

The lyrics are based on a section of Bob Dylan’s Tarantula.