1. |
||||
|
in my neck of the woods
we hang our heads low
so we never have to look directly into the glow
just so you know
we burned all the books
that the idiots gave
and staked a claim to the local cave
to plan our new wave
who needs a house
when you're on the run
from the patterns and lines of love and fun
they'll assume it was set off by a gun
in my neck of the woods
we hang our heads low
it's a sign of respect, it's a sign of the code
this isn't the place to drive slow
"livin' it up"
what if I told you a popular post was that every road starts and stops at the coast
would you say, well almost
what if I told all popular songs are sung about roads so open and long would you say, my love, you're not wrong?
you're not wrong, you're not wrong
|
||||
2. |
Footsteps
04:54
|
|||
|
I pop my mouthguard in
in anticipation of getting punched
but you never swing
a bee must save its sting
is there a clinical term
for a reflex where you always think you're wrong
this is hopscotch
this is song
and it goes...
every poet seems to try
to wrap his or her arms
around the world
but its secrets don't unfurl
here I hang, here I'm pinned
you wrote these words, I followed suit
an ancient hymn
I'm going out on a limb
by saying...
I got kicked out of the greek chorus for sound smug I got kicked out of the greek chorus for sounding smug I got kicked out of the greek chorus for singing with a shrug I got kicked out of the greek chorus for sounding smug
one day I'll find you spirit
and I'll demand my tax
last night I stomped home in the snow
and didn't cover my tracks
kept cobwebs on the lampshades
and dust on the bathroom rug
if I die with my stinger unused
it's cause I found another drug
|
||||
3. |
Gallows Humor
03:14
|
|||
|
the mind says to the body
this isn't the time for peace
so the body dives into the rapids
and never gets its release
when the body's finally discovered
it's lying in a heap
of twigs and leaves and garbage
and it's in there pretty deep
it's fuckin' funny
it's fuckin' funny
like lizards falling from the sky funny
like last words posed as a query funny
these are all such excellent questions
that I cannot answer despite my intentions
all my monologues talk of dying
but they say nothing about the act of trying
to walk down the road with my head straight ahead
to cook dinner and see friends and not lay in bed
to love my body and love my brain
for all its glory and all its pain
it's kinda funny
it's kinda funny
like sleeping out in the rain kinda funny
like getting on the wrong train funny
these are my questions
it's funny!!
|
||||
4. |
||||
|
the shine of your eyes
packs the power of the sun at the strike of noon
but I've been hiding
in the corner of an empty, darkened room
when I look in them
I know there’s incandescent light you want to share
but what if i’m broken
and always afraid of losing what is there
I don’t want to stay
behind the drapes
in the attic
where I’ve always played
I want to
let the sun come through
burn the blackout curtains
and run outside to you
you tell me you love me
and that love isn’t going away anytime soon
but my light sometimes wavers
while yours is always set to the strike of noon
when body locks up
I run away to turn sing about it alone
leaving you stranded
two distant friends resigned to kiss by phone
I don’t want to die
behind the drapes
in the attic
where i’ve always played
I want feel
the sun come through
and trace the rays
right back to you
the night is here now
as I linger on a memory in my bed
an old time of progress
when I didn’t give in to the traffic in my head
why does love have to feel new
when it ages we become slaves to the way we were
to the freedom of shyness
and the desire to let our lives occur
i don’t want to wait
behind the drapes
in the attic
where my spirit decays
I want to
let the sun come through
burn the blackout curtains
and throw myself to you
|
||||
5. |
Home Movie
03:24
|
|||
6. |
Blank Cassette
02:53
|
|||
|
music is
a blank cassette
it spells out the letters
in your head
it flips the pages
in your soul
you want its light
you want control
a booming industry
the art
of syncing with
your broken heart
but it can also
leave you out
you’re not what
this tune’s about
where did I go wrong?
to lose the paradigm of song?
will the next one be for me?
is this my cleansing harmony?
i’m crying
to my blank cassette
a power ballad’s
what i get
"dont stop believin"
"it’s okay"
"oh baby
i love your way"
'and what about
that secret chord
that one from david
it pleased the lord'
it pleased me too
it pleased me too
it pleased me too
it pleased me too
I feel like I’m not alone
when i hear that distant trombone
I think they wrote this for me
this is my cleansing harmony
I've living my life
I can’t see outside of it
I wrote this for me
and maybe for you a little bit
but you can have it all
play with the ink blots, scratch your chin
just tell me how you feel
tell me why I get under your skin
cause the cassette, it’ll spin
I’ll die someday but it’ll spin
the end of life it’ll spin
it’ll spin it’ll spin it’ll spin...
|
||||
7. |
Hush Hush
03:13
|
|||
|
you know I want you but keep it hush
don't disturb the quiet in the brush
a round hole for a hexagonal peg
I'm really anxious! I might just break my leg!
running again through the same, old fields
flat tires from potholes of older years
cement and new languages never work
to shutter the place where the monsters lurk
the wrestler collapses in the ring
no one was there to pull the string
I really want to tell you something
it's hidden in the words I sing
if you go to the bookstore you'll find a rack
that's got stories about someone's winding track
but the words on the page don't strike a chord
not in spanish or english or a detuned keyboard
I could buy a tape for the living room
and sit by the fire and think of you
and write down the moments where I divert
from what someone says it means to hurt
I lost my confidence in the ring
socked hard in the face by everything
don't laugh at the peasants, you're not the king
I'm just here to sing, I'm just here to sing
I'm just here to sing...
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
that is my shadow, but never mind
so what I changed the patterns on some wall of white
if I get to the city soon
by May or maybe June
i'm gonna write a brand new tune
i've made an indent in my bed
i'll sleep the same way till I'm dead
if you hold me I'll probably feel
indebted to you and drop to a kneel
don't tell me it isn't real
i have a compulsion to spite
where I'm staying tonight
but it's warm and nice
it's warm and nice
i have a compulsion to spite
where I'm staying tonight
i guess I'll just stay here tonight
let's just stay here tonight
|
||||
9. |
Molecules
07:00
|
|||
|
from my perch on the roof
all cars seem aloof
to some shared, primal flow
a direction that they just know
beyond love, beyond thought
is a highway where you're taught
to drive every night
and keep driving until there's light
is it the signs that guide you back?
the neon announcements for the knowledge you lack?
the exits in green, mile markers in blue
I'd give all my money just to know what to do
I pay all my tolls in cash
cash is king, appease the man
ride the bridge, look around
but not too much, it's a long way down
when I get to your street
come outside and we'll meet
I might stay in the car
it's so cold where you are
how did you find your way back?
was it the neon letters against a digital black?
they light up the green, they light up the blue
and i'd give all of my talents just to be that way too
|
||||
10. |
Too Much Light
03:41
|
|||
|
I wrote my name on a piece of paper
just to give it a sense of life
the paper blew away in a cold, strong wind
nothing's worse than your own advice
I chased the paper for awhile
through the grass and down into the street
where it was taken by a stream of yesterday's wetness
snow isn't so mighty when there's heat
why was I so invested in the etching?
I'm here, I'm breathing, I can smell
when a tree falls in the woods there's no recording
when you die there's no one you can tell
2 + 2 may equal 4
but 4 is not a resting place
you'll claw your way to other suns
and end up lost in outer space
2 + 2 may equal 8
to deny that claim is not my place
does clawing your way to other sums
help you forget the vastness of space?
echo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the echo bends, the echo knows the layout
of my house the echo climbs the stairs
it's the voice reverberating through my headphones
through all my blood and all my little hairs
through all my blood and all my little hairs
|
||||
11. |
I Need Noise
06:29
|
|||
|
i marked my height on the wall
a line of chalk to show I'm small
a second line to chart the paradigm
the rumblings in the hall
at any second I could die
lose my ears and nose and eyes
but then again I'm not sure
what my senses are even for
take off your coat
remove your sneakers
and put your head
against the speakers
turn up the sound
let it wash over you
you are alone
and not much else is true
I'm a modern man, I read the news
clean my shirts and shine my shoes
just in case by stroke of luck
someone tells me that they're stuck
and I can regale them with a tale
of having lived and lost and failed
make them strong cause before long
i'll be turning to this song
take off your coat
remove your sneakers
and put your head
against the speakers
turn up the sound
let it wash over you
you are alive
and not much else is true
crashed my car on the road
driving back home in the snow
hit a mailbox, stuck a street sign
I guess I wasn't meant to drive
in that very second I nearly died
and lost my ears and nose and eyes
and in that instance I was sure
what my senses were for
take off your coat
remove your sneakers
and put your head
against the speakers
turn up the sound
let it wash over you
you are alive
and not much else is true
|
||||
Otis Infrastructure New York, New York
Otis Infrastructure is a three-piece experimental rock/pop trio based in Brooklyn and Jersey City.
www.instagram.com/otisinfrastructure/
Otis Infrastructure recommends:
too young to be this old
by Ratburn
Every Ratburn album rules, but this one in particular is closest to me. Beautiful rock music. "Stupid" is one of my favorite songs of all time.
go to album
Best friends.
go to albumIf you like Otis Infrastructure, you may also like:
Delightful and delirious shoegaze from this NYC group, with syrupy guitars and dreamy vocals.
go to album
You Just Might Regret This
by Swansea Skag
Swansea Skag cuts a defiant path through indie, writing songs that embrace lo-fi balladry as effortlessly as they do wild experimentation.
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Feb 18, 2014
go to album
Cermony's Ross John Farrar experiments with synths, bass, & percussion to make music similar to that from the '80s homemade tape scene.
go to album
