the SLEEPYHEADS
ADDICTION (3:00)
CANT GO TO CHURCH (1:42)
DEAD POET (1:26)
EXCITEMENT CALLS (2:56)
IM NOT GOOD ENOUGH (2:27)
JANITOR FATE (1:37)
MAN WHO WASNT THERE, the (2:28)
MONOTONE MELODY (3:45)
MYSTERY PLUCKER (2:56)
NATURE (love is like) (2:52)
POSITIVE FOR NEGATIVE (1:55)
RESCUED (2:43)
TUNELESS MOANING (4:11)
UNDERDOGS OF SUNSHINE (2:45)
STUCK PERMANENTLY IN MY HEAD (2:15)
What are we trying to do in this album?
First of all we wanted to record the sound of a strummed, real-used guitar with strings rusting, a real cheap kind of guitar used by bands who don't give a damn what model or brand it is, just as long as they could play RIGHT AWAY ( in other words: AMATEURS!).
We also want a certain kind of drum sound. The sound of drums used by blind street - donation musicians. Or drums kept in storerooms since '73 because the drummer owner grew up or gave up playing (in other words: OLD STOCK!).
The rinky - dink sound of those drums and guitar gives it a funny, edgy, black - and - white, intriguing feel ( in other words: PUNKILY AMATEUR and OLD STOCK CUTENESS!). Add to that a moaning, though melodic (!), naked voice of a 34-year-old "teenager" and what have we recorded? The sound of an AVANT GARDE HERMAN'S HERMITS! A CHILDREN'S ROLLING STONES! Or worse ( for the pop world ), but better ( for us ), a MODERN LOVERS, or a "1969 LIVE " VELVET UNDERGROUND! (Not THE SHAGGS; it's IMPOSSIBLE to duplicate that sublime level of CHANCE MUSIC-though that would be THE ULTIMATE SOUND for us SLEEPYHEADS!)
We believe we've achieved that, SOMEHOW, in this album, especially on tracks like "Janitor Fate", "Addiction" , "Mystery Plucker" and "Can't Go The Church"! If you like the current crop of neo - garage bands… YOU'LL PROBABLY DISLIKE US. You'll say, "This is a LIVING-ROOM SOUND, not garage!" That's it! WE DON'T HAVE GARAGES AND CARS in our place, so we recorded in the LIVING ROOM, with sofas, wooden chairs, picture frames and electric fans providing "ACOUSTIC RICOCHET"…THE LIVING ROOM TAPES!!!
And we're probably not standard "cool". We don't take drugs. We're probably "wimps" - - but so were THE RAMONES when they were going without guitar solos against 30-minute LEAD - me - to-hell-GUITAR-METAL! And who WON in the end? The Ramones! Our only "fetish" is the rusty, dirty-clean guitar and that PLAK -PLAK- PLAK sound of our rudimentary drums (can't explain what kind of sound that is - do THE TRASHMEN of "Surfin' Bird" know what their sound was during their time?). We're probably NAKED-- yes, that's the word-in our sound, just like the songs and singing are.
These songs are LOVE AND LIFE SONGS. The "love" songs, like "I'm Not Good Enough" and "The Man Who Wasn't There", deal with rejection, sang by someone who was rejected and has found the courage to turn it into funny little songs (thanks to his band - mates, he's found support in his quite embarrassing situation!). The "life" songs are the ones that deal with non - romantic, topics: "Janitor Fate", "Addiction", "Dead Poet", "Underdogs Of Sunshine", "Positive For Negative", etc. They may not be songs that BONO would sing, but NO ONE has ever told our Sleepy boys not to sing them! They're just as valid as "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", because our boys haven't found it yet, either -- they're confused, frustrated, looking for the POSITIVE to replace the NEGATIVE, but couldn't tell HOW! Only a GIRL can rescue them, as "Rescued ( From This Miserable State)" says. Which brings us back to LOVE SONGS again…
These songs and that sound. What have we achieved? We think we have here an album of COURAGEOUS HONESTY and UNDERDOG FUN, in the very real sense of the word. (And listen closely to "Tuneless Moaning" , because you'll hear SOMEONE COUGHING, so this album is "AVANT GARDE" too. Or, if not, let's make the avant garde understand!)
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