they really like us!

Ok, not necessarily. But we’ve been getting visits to the blog from all over creation lately (really, from Hawaii to Kuwait). So are we international superstars now? Not yet. Turns out everyone really just likes other stuff we like, like Buddha Machines and Guided By Voices tunes. But hey, we’re up for whatever it takes to bring the drone to the world. Coattails, anyone?

Oh, and sorry there's no music this time, but a picture's worth a thousand words, right? Hint: this one goes with the very first post (we've been holding it back a long time).

another one from the vaults.

That's right, this is another old one we've dug up, but only from this past December. (Hey, we can't come up with something new every week, can we?) From the same general temporal/sonic neighborhood as "buddha machine music," it was also recorded with just two mics in the room, though we only used actual instruments this time. Unusual for a totally spontaneous jupiter watts jam, this song features a chord change or two (ok, maybe it's just one). It also includes what may be the first ever appearance of the new crazy-random-static keyboard sound that we can't stop using now.

We really like how the song starts out great, then sorta falls apart, then really gets going, then ends with us praising ourselves, obviously having forgotten the whole falling-apart-in-the-middle thing. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did...

little buddha.

don't get used to this...

...but yes, this is the second post we've added in only a week. Just consider yourselves lucky.

This time, we've got a sort of hybrid track for you. It sounds a bit like a noise jam, in the mold of, say, "buddha machine music." But it's not exactly a jam - though it's based entirely on improvisation, it was multitracked in the same way as "the target," and by the same 3/5 of the band. The result is quite different from either of those songs, but we like it. Or at least 3/5 of us do, and we're confident that you will, too. Or maybe that it'll grow on you over time. Just give it a chance, ok?

As a special bonus, if you make it to the end of the song you get to experience the rockingest triangle duet you've ever heard. No kidding:

Oh, and before you start, a technical note: We're aware that some folks are having a little trouble streaming songs from the blog, and we're working on it (you may have noticed a new, more elegant look to the players, too, thanks to the del.icio.us playtagger - great stuff, but we're still working out the kinks). In the meantime, you can always just right click on the song titles themselves and download your very own, super-high-quality, unrestricted mp3s - yours to keep, no questions asked!

And let us know if you have problems, suggestions, propositions, etc.

Oh, and here's the song:
hold me now in an ordinary way.

Enjoy!

super Wednesday!

Every day would be super if you could take a little time off work, stand in line waiting for a bunch of little old ladies to verify your identity, and finally cast a (possibly meaningful!) vote for your favorite presidential hopeful, wouldn’t it? What if you could listen to/download some new songs from your favorite band? That would also be super!

Well, here goes: Recorded very affordably by the wonderful sound guy at the Earl, a couple of new songs, one kind of old one, and a cover, as performed/botched by jupiter watts on January 19th (otherwise known as The Great Blizzard of '08). For your convenience, we’ve excised most of the unwitty between-song banter – we’ve gotta give you some reason to come to the shows, right? Oh, and please listen/download only if we are actually your favorite band. Thank you.

high sign:

This is a new one, in our super-slow-and-quiet-but-also-
sorta-noisy mode. Some people might call it “challenging.” We call it “radical,” in every possible sense of the word. When listening, please try to imagine that you didn’t just drink seven beers while rocking out to two awesome indie-pop groups in a row. In fact, try to imagine that you’re wearing all black, and it’s foggy, and you speak fluent German – you get the idea. And just wait for the payoff. That’s right, wait for it...

strange things:

This one’s from our second record, “let it lie,” which we think is almost as excellent as our newest record. This is the first “old” song you learn when you join the band. Don’t get any ideas, though, we’re fully staffed.

so literal:

This song is so new we hardly know how to play it. You can barely tell, though, right? Try and guess how it got its name.

teenage FBI:

Finally, for all of you who never completely succumbed to indie-rock record-geekdom, this is a cover of a song by a little band called Guided by Voices. We think they’re pretty good – so much so, in fact, that people always say we sound like them. Which must mean we’re pretty good, right? Anyway, we don’t play it that brilliantly here, but it’s really got a spark, nonetheless. And we play it more like the record than they do. If only we’d had Ric Ocasek produce this recording...

Stay tuned, we’ll be posting more stuff soon – we promise this time, really.