Suspicioncore!

I know I said I would upload the other two discs of Phil Ochs, but those will have to wait.

Instead, two things.

First: The demo for Jack's Smirking Revenge, entitled "Bitter Songs For Bitter People" is now up on my last.fm page for both streaming and download. So go check it out! Mind you, the songs were recorded on my computer with a crappy microphone, so they are a bit subpar sound quality. Oh well, I'm still proud I managed to record em all.

Second: My friends' band The Masters of Suspicion, who played our house again last night, were kind enough to give me a demo/live bootleg of their own. It is their only recorded output that I know so far. So that is up for download right here:

The Masters of Suspicion
Live 7/17/08 at Buffalo Rose, Golden CO
1. Fistfuck
2. Heaven Is A Place On Earth (Belinda Carlisle)
3. Intervention
4. Stool Pigeon
5. Lager Lullaby
6. 1000 More Fools (Bad Religion)
7. Kenny G Experience
8. Uncle Benny
9. Larry Walker
10. Alcoholocaust
11. No Scrubs (TLC)
12. Fools and Kings
13. (Unknown)
14. Gunslinger

Up the Punks Up The Punks Up The Punx

So the Ghost Mice show in my basement last night went great. About 25-30 people tops, half of which I didn't meet until that night. I nervously debuted Jack's Smirking Revenge, and thankfully my friends and everyone else there, including the bands, were all really nice and supportive. The fact that Heather from Ghost Mice was sitting in front of me bobbing around brought a smile to face, not to mention the applause and cheers (jeers?) from everyone. I don't think I thanked anyone for that, and I left out some songs that I meant to play, I was so hot, sweaty and nervous that I completely forgot I had other songs to play. My favorite moment was when I got everyone to clap along to Nausea. I wish I at least recorded that song, I know someone who would have appreciated hearing it. Oh well here was my setlist at least:

Sounds Like A Good Album Title
After All, Who Needs Courage When You Have...A Gun?
I Never Once Saw God Playing Skeeball
Alright Alright, If It'll Make You Happy, I'll Overthrow Society
Nausea (Not the Band)
Boxcar (Jawbreaker)


Heathers started almost immediately and without warning, and everyone who hadn't heard them before (I only had heard their songs on myspace) were blown away by how fucking good they were. Great at harmonizing, write a good pop hook, and, to quote half of my friends, irresistibly cute. If I had they $5 , I would have gotten their cd, but I can always order it from Plan-It-X later on.


Ghost Mice started playing, after a short break so everyone could escape the hot basement for a bit. Since there were some people there who went to the Denver show the previous night, Chris promised that they would try not to play songs they already played. So we got treated to some songs they apparently don't typically play, plus two new songs (!). Despite having to constantly yell at two of my roommate's friends to shut up and not be assholes while the band was playing or trying to talk to the audience, everything went great, and everyone had a lot of fun.

Setlist: (out of order, and from what I can remember)

The Moon Will Rise
Monsters Get Slain
Sing Out
Lightning Bolt
Song For Tomorrow
Spain (?)
Boy Meets Girl
New Song 1
Gone Gone Gone
The Devil and My Family
Free Pizza For Life
Up The Punks
The Good Life



After packing up, and talking with anyone who wanted to talk, the bands, another dude whose name escapes me, and I went to Cosmo's to get pizza, and that was fun time, listening to Ellie and Louise's stories from Ireland, Chris and Hannah's stories from Gainesville and Bloomington, and trying to say Tomato in a myriad of different silly ways. I bid goodbye to everyone when were all going to bed, as they were leaving early in the morning for Kansas. Hannah said not to be a stranger anytime I was in Bloomington, and the girls said the same if I was ever in Dublin. Hopefully it won't be long till I see those wonderful people again. Also thanks to Hannah for leaving her breadsticks for me to eat for breakfast this morning

Alright, Alright, If It'll Make You Happy, I'll Overthrow Society

sometimes things just fall into place in your head:

We talked dreams of
wheatpaste and spraypaint
tear gas and blockades
revolution™ and freedom™
and fiction
maybe the only place left
where can still find them
tattered pages in these books
centuries old to today
in lyrics, poems, and liner notes
that seem permanent
as spoken words drift away
like my belief in these slogans and catch phrases
the needle on my record has begun to skip
my mind begins to ache
is there any point in isms
or do they just hold us back
from realizing our true potential
or will we continue to lack
the common sense to realize
we've been trying to to cross
these broken bridges
to many times before

but no
we mustn't lose faith
in ourselves or each other
because that's the all
that has kept us going
from paris to catalonia
it all boils back to belief
in our dreams and conversations
whispered under bedsheets
and into tapped phones
and twice opened letters
or heart drenched paint
on stairwell walls
and bedroom ceilings
chords hastily strummed
words sloppily sung
to a room full
or to just one accomplice
I won't lose faith.