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Happy
With You -2/9/98
A decent pop song, a bit on the sad side. Was starting to work the songwriting muscle again, finally! Disappeared -2/9/98 The jangly guitars are definitely Smiths-influenced, and the solo is cribbed from The Top-era Cure. I like the way the chorus kinda....disappears. Saturdusk -2/11/98 That's me going for a Kevin Shields effect with the Whammy pedal. this was originally an instrumental and my friend Marty suggested I turn it into a proper song. So here ya go! "I'm headed for the horizon in a boat that's stuck in the current." I'm sure you've all felt that way. Turncornering -2/12/98 There's a haunting, subdued vibe here that works pretty well. Another one that began as an instrumental. Odd note choice in the main guitar solo. Love all the backwards stuff, though. Career -2/22/98 My songwriting was really starting to warm up with this one. I always loved the feeling of "Career" -- a warm, fuzzy, B-52s type of vibe, but with a streak of dark pessimism underneath. We polished it up for the first P*S*K album but for the most part kept it the same. Oh, and that's the tape literally ending at the end of the track -- the song just barely fit on the end of the cassette! Make a Wish -2/26/98 A good bouncy little pop song with a chorus that goes all dreamy. A little Brian May in the solo section. Somewhere -3/4/98 I love this song and somehow it fell through the cracks. It's got a bit of an early Banshees feel. I'd love to resurrect this one someday, somewhere... Locals -3/13/98 I wrote this one immediately after discovering Gang of Four. One groove, very linear. This could be pretty powerful and mesmerizing if it were cleaned up a bit. Meanwhile, I like it as a souvenir of the time... Dig Me Out -3/15/98 I always liked this chord progression. At this point I realized, if you're frustrated about being uninspired, write about it! Next thing you know, you've tricked yourself into being inspired again. I like the line "when you live on optimism, it's not hard to stay so thin." Japanese Eyes -3/19/98 This is a pretty steamy song. Maybe I just think that because I know what it's about. See if you can guess what the guitar solo's supposed to sound like... Taste the Magic -3/22/98 A fun, frivolous song. Catchy enough, although perhaps too silly for its own good? Scourge -4/4/98 This song was inspired by my asshole neighbor. Living next door to her sucked, but hey, I got this song out of it, didn't I? Dig that burning guitar solo, just dripping with venom. Oceans of It -5/10/98 This song was really important in setting the tone for the future pOp*stAr*kiDs -- bright, poppy and whimsical. This version is a slight retooling of the original that I recorded in spring of '99, using an ancient Roland synth for all those whooshing sounds. When I recorded it again for the first P*S*K album, I added the "Hong Kong Garden" quote. Happy Undercover -5/11/98 This song has been a P*S*K contender for years and somehow it never makes the cut. But I love it anyway. I recorded that sixteenth-note "sequencer" part by sticking my keyboard through a delay pedal and playing eighth notes. Four chords and a groove is all you need sometimes. Over n Over -7/10/98 This is one of my favorite chord progression I've written. There's something melancholy about it. I guess the lyrics are about time passing quicker than you can handle it; "you kiss the day goodbye, over and over..." Just five days after recording this song, I got evicted from my place on 11th street. True Love is Terror -9/2/98 Really like these arpeggios -- purty. I especially dig the key change going into the solo. First song I wrote in the apartment I was subletting on 9th street and Avenue C. Fairie Spring -9/2/98 A song about drug addiction. Love the chord progression (for some reason I wrote a bunch of good ones around this time). I was really happy about how the last chorus came out --- the voice is supposed to be coming from somewhere in the afterlife, and I made it sound warbly and disembodied with a delay effect. Would love to do something with this song at some point. Gold Tooth -9/11/98 This sounds Prince-y to me now, although I don't think that's something I was going for at the time. "Every other boy is like a trophy on your shelf but when you hold my hand, I got you all to myself." Strangeland/Frontline -9/18/98 I've tried to rewrite my share of Jesus and Mary Chain songs in my time, as well. This would be one of them. Check the guitar solo -- I'm a pretty good noisemaker when I wanna be. A pretty brash recording overall. Judy Honeymoon -9/21/98 You may think this song's corny, but I think it's sweet. About an angel who gets lost in drugs; "Judy Ecstasy got caught up in a tree so she's goin' straight edge from her hospital bed." The only time I've ever whistled in a song, too! Spit -10/9/98 Another JAMC-influenced track. I love this recording even though it's definitely on the muddy side. The end just spirals down and down into miasmic cacophony. Gorgeous. Turning Small Wheels -10/15/98 A moody one, about someone I knew at the time. The intro was stolen from the Banshees' "Cities In Dust." I love the line "but when I scurry home, it's bedtime with the insects/ I sleep alone and dream of people with passion." It just occurred to me that I recorded all the guitars from this era with a tiny Park practice amp. Sounds decent, considering. Falling Like Leaves -10/15/98 Very much in the same vein as "Turning Small Wheels," but it's got a nice chorus. Israel (Siouxsie and the Banshees cover) -10/98 I love this song and felt like covering it. I tried to be as faithful as possible in recreating the song (on my measly four tracks!). If I'm singing out of tune, that's just me trying to maintain the feel of the original! Boy Meets Girl -11/15/98 This is the first song I wrote after moving to Williamsburg Brooklyn. I enjoy the ascending guitar chords in the chorus. A tune about a drag queen (get it? boy meets girl?). Williamsburg -11/16/98 This song makes me crazy -- the chords, the groove, the little hip-hoppy synth melody. I don't know why I haven't done anything with it. It could have been recorded and sung better, but I'm still attached to this. New Leash on Life -12/98 This is the official beginning of pOp*stAr*kiDs. The words are different and of course it's very raw (the version on This Is pOp*stAr*kiDs is certainly the definitive one). The electro vibe was a new thing for me, and I was really excited about it. This, along with "Oceans of It," "Happy Undercover" and "Atomik," were starting to point me in a new direction. Weeeee! P*S*K rarely leave this out of our live sets; it's a signature song for us. You Got to Get the World to Love You Now -12/6/98 You may notice a slew of Madonna references in the lyrics. Don't pay any mind. I'm proud of the chorus, though. Splinters Everywhere -12/18/98 Love this song. Gave it a good making-over for the "Rise and Fall" record but even in this lo-fi capacity, it works for me. Two chords for the whole song. Why not? They're two good chords. Break Yr Bones -12/30/98 Talk about silly. Here's an idea: let's split up the syllables in the chorus into two call-and-answer parts! So on track one I have to sing the first, third, fifth, etc syllables and on track two I sing all the ones inbetween. No wonder it sounds so weird. Repeated the exercise in the second part of the guitar solo. Still, it seemed good enough to record on the first P*S*K cd and people STILL want to hear it live to this day. Driving In Yr Sleep -12/98 It's got a bar of seven! You won't catch me dabbling in odd time signatures too often, but it worked this time. |
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