the gifted children - montgomery blue ash
Release date: April 12, 2011
'montgomery blue ash' is a free 4-song EP from the gifted children. written and almost entirely recorded in a single day by jeff suszczynski and bill trautman in gastonia, north carolina, it sounds unmistakably like the gifted children yet different from anything they've done so far.
in addition to binding themselves to write the songs from scratch in a single day, they also forced themselves to delete the first track recorded for each song. so throughout the brief but richly varied EP, you can hear the band stepping out of their normal comfort zone: lead-off track 'face to face with constellations' is angular indie rock with electronic and funk touches, 'otolith angels' plays like a nihilist hymn with a stein-waving group vocal, 'disciples of languor' mixes doom rock with a dark dance beat to great effect, and the closing title track adds and subtracts layers of instrumentation under a simple vocal mantra.
Credits:
jim sahr - voices on 2 & 3
justin sheehan - voices on 2
jeff suszczynski - drum programs on 1 & 3; voices on 1-4; guitar on 1, 3 & 4; keyboards on 2 & 4; percussion on 4
bill trautman - bass on 1-4; guitars on 1, 3 & 4; voice on 2 & 4; drum machine on 3; percussion on 4
all songs by suszczynski/trautman, lyrics by suszczynski.
recorded at ugly couch (gastonia, nc) on pc, september 27-28, 2010. additional tracks recorded at the homestead (grand island, ny) and bad wallpaper (rochester, ny) in april, 2011.
mixed at ugly couch (gastonia, nc) and bad wallpaper (rochester, ny), october 2010-april 2011.
mastered at bad wallpaper (rochester, ny).
Lyrics and individual track credits:
01 face to face with constellations
the new thoughts that are shaking the world
we're bound up with distant events
we find ourselves in the full stream of evolution
sometimes standing in the way of our own aims
we grasp the sun, a noose is broken
betting on the sky with stilted smiles
we're face to face with constellations
let's enjoy the margins for a while
they're pumping gas through the vents now
would you like to say goodbye one last time
we grasp the sun, a noose is broken
betting on the sky with stilted smiles
we're face to face with constellations
let's enjoy the margins for a while
we're all tired of in loco parentis
jeff suszczynski - drum programs, voices, guitar
bill trautman - bass, guitars
02 otolith angels
it is uptight to try so let's just billow and smoke
and rest in a nest of strings
waiting for the otolith angels
to carry us home...
jim sahr - voices
justin sheehan - voices
jeff suszczynski - keyboards, voices
bill trautman - bass, voices
03 disciples of languor
the great escape lies in not moving
riding on laws of inertia
dread and stagnation upon the morsel
short sleep and useless wishes
but no matter:
i'll tread water until drowned
jim sahr - voice
jeff suszczynski - drum programs, guitar, voices
bill trautman - bass, guitars, drum machine
04 montgomery blue ash
go back to montgomery blue ash:
you lost your way again
jeff suszczynski - keyboards, guitar, percussion, voice
bill trautman - guitars, bass, percussion, voice