Darkly.

darkly is the way / they come again / every other day
they're dead in red / creeping down the walls / don't
want em to go / darling makes a mess in limousines /
hiding in his dress / he kicks and screams / crying in
the night / don't want him to go / i wasn't at all inside
my head / i want ya / you're just like robert palmer
said / yeah i see you shooting stars / do you want it in
the dark? / in the dark? / they get down, down / to the
velvet underground / and bounce around to the
madchester sound / down down down / i want em to
go/ you want me to hide out in your bed / i want
you / you're just like robert palmer said / yeah i see
you shooting stars / do you want it in the dark? / in
the dark? / could have made it past the bars / but you
crashed out / in your car / and you're taking me too
far / in the dark / they're waiting there for you / still
waiting on the outside but they're all waiting there for
you / all waiting there for you.

Hot day in the city.

Boston is roasting today. It's times like this when not having a real schedule pays off. Walden Pond today!

We don't have much time to get ready for our next show, since Adam's bachelor party is this weekend in Atlantic City. And when we do show up to practice, we'll all be a couple g's lighter. Except for me, since I don't have any g's.

Playing with us next week are Barnicle and the Unfamiliars. Barnicle are fun, heavy pop rock, with a great singer, Karen. They are well-liked, with good reason. The Unfamiliars are cool - how can they not be when they have a violin player? Like several other bands today, they tap into the proto-punk NYC underground scene - but their approach is less punk, more dreamy, like Television.

Once this show is over, we can focus on the new record. Going to book studio time soon for the drums, and the Moontower in Cambridge is probably the best place for the job.

So in love.

Worked on a new song today, tentatively titled "So in Love." This one has a lot of start/stop dynamics. Sounds kind of like Jefferson Airplane meets the Pixies. We tape recorded it, played it back, and are now at an impasse. It's 2:30 long, needs another 30 seconds or so. But we're not sure what to add. The ending is strong, and anything afterwards would take away from the effect. Do we add a solo, lengthen the 2nd verse? This music stuff is hard.

FNX show, May 30 in Boston.

We're excited to announce that we'll be performing with Barnicle and The Unfamiliars (two excellent bands) on Wednesday, May 30, at the Baseball Tavern in Boston, as part of FNX Radio's New England Product Night.

Baseball Tavern is located at 1270 Boylston Street, across from Fenway Park. The show begins at 10 pm. If you're Boston, we hope you can make it! And if you have any requests, please email them to us and we'll see what we can do.

New Jersey turnpike, riding on a wet night...

In NJ right now, recording demos with Garageband. There are about 8 or 9 songs ready for the studio, and another 5 or 6 half-written songs. It's strange how some songs become staples of live shows long before the recording ("Darkly," "Kidnapped"), while others are born through recording.

We still have drums tracks for some older Pravda songs, like "Tora Bora," "Lincoln Lovers," recorded almost exactly a year ago at Hilltop Studios in Bangor, PA. It might be worthwhile to finish those recordings, even though they would be released separately from the album. Plus we have drum tracks to our cover version of "Ziggy Stardust." That has to be finished, if nothing else!

Banging in the apartment.

We'll be working on preproduction for the record this week. This means holing up in the apartment and banging the tunes out on acoustic guitars and pots and pans. Turns out it's a more effective method of writing than playing full-out at the space. Plus the space smells kind of funny right now.

No shows until next week, May 30 at the Baseball Tavern in Boston, across from Fenway.

Sunday Morning.

Got back to Boston from Providence around 4 am.

Interesting show. The good news is that the power didn't shut off until the very end of "Samantha Hall." The bad news is that the power shut off. Fortunately it went back on shortly afterwards, and we played a fun set.

Friendly crowd, attractive room, great prices for liquor. The sound system was a work in progress, but our sound guy did a bang-up job making it sound as good as possible, and the mix was fine. Many thanks to The L.U.V.s (members of the Cold War) for having us. You guys played a great set! Your "Suffragette City" cover was particularly awesome. Sorry to hear that the L.U.V.s are no more. Bring the Cold War up to Boston anytime.

Our set list:

Chemical Dancer
Kidnapped
Samantha Hall
She's so Mature
Holidays on the Run
September
Darkly
The Stiffs
Home Invasion

One down, one to go.

Rain showers withstanding, the Pill was fantastic. Thank you all for coming out! Parking in Allston on a Friday night is hard enough, and we really appreciate those of you brave enough to do it in the torrential downpour. Some special thanks are in order: Ken and Michael for having us at the Pill, Ken for the shots on stage, the Great Scott staff for making us feel welcome, Jean-Christophe for helping with the drums, and our man Chris for giving us nice, clear sound.

The set list:

Chemical Dancer
Kidnapped
Samantha Hall
She's so Mature
Holidays on the Run
September
Darkly
The Stiffs
Metal Mickey (Suede cover)

We look forward to coming back to Great Scott soon. Our next Boston show is on 5/30, at BASEBALL TAVERN, with Barnacle, and the Unfamiliars. This is an FNX sponsored show, so it should be really good.

And now it's time to head to Rhode Island for our next show of the weekend. We'll be opening the L.U.V.s' Reunion Show, at Jerky's in Providence.

Tonight, tonight.

The Pill is tonight! Hopefully the rain will stop by the evening - lovely New England weather. We have an energetic set prepared, and a bottle of vodka tucked inside an amp. Happy times.

Bring on The Pill.

We practiced hard for The Pill last night, even prepared a Suede cover - just in case.

mid-week crisis

We're getting ready for two show this weekend, Friday May 18 at the Pill in Boston, MA, and Saturday May 19 in Providence, RI. The Pill is always a blast, since the room fills up with a friendly crowd, and Providence looks like it might be a sold out show, thanks to the headliners, the reunited L.U.V.s.

We're in the process of figuring out how to record our album this summer. These days, it makes more sense to do most of the tracking ourselves, especially since we've all done enough recordings to know (generally) what we're doing. Potential songs for the record: Kidnapped, September, Teenage, Dead House, Chemical Dancer, The Stiffs, Darkly, Holidays on the Run, Best of the MC5, and a sparse, piano version of Shauna Grant. Are we missing anything? I also have a song called Unkissable that might be a good edition, though so far only Adam's heard it - sounds a bit like Klezmer music.