• “Cartoon Hero”, a new song.
• A Reduced Power version of “Reach Out”, which we’ve been playing at our shows. This one’s got a different time signature and lead guitar part.

So go check ‘em out! We’ll have MP3 files up on the Audio page of vodamusic.com soon.

We hope you enjoy the music. Thanks for listening

It kept piling up, like I said. So I got so I thought about it all the time. I hated myself more and more, thinking of all the wrong I’d done to the sweetest woman in the world who loved me so much. I got so I’d curse myself for a lousy bastard every time I saw myself in the mirror. I felt such, such, pity for her it drove me crazy. You wouldn’t believe a guy like me, knocked around so much, could feel such pity. It got so every night I’d wind up hiding my face in her lap, bawling and begging her forgiveness. And, of course, she’d always comfort me and say, “Never mind, Teddy, I know you won’t ever again.” Christ, I loved her so, but I began to hate that pipe dream. I began to be afraid I was going bughouse, because sometimes I couldn’t forgive her for forgiving me. I even caught myself hating her for making me hate myself so much. There’s a limit to the guilt you can feel and the forgiveness and the pity you can take! I mean you have to begin blaming somebody else! I mean it got so sometimes she’d kiss me it was like she did it on purpose to humiliate me.

-Eugene O’Neill, The Iceman Cometh

We’ve put a considerable amount of time and energy into enhancing the facilities at Decent Rita Studios and getting familiar with some new recording equpment.

We’ve been recording a new batch of songs, too. The first of these should be available for download from our site and the myspace within a week or so. After that, we’re gonna press some discs.

Then, it’s back out there with some new shows.

1. We have acquired some new recording equipment to allow us to produce new demos. There’s still some stuff left to buy, but we’re making progress on it.
2. Andrew has a new Fender Blues DeVille amplifier. 1950s technology. Aglio e Olio.
3. Jeff’s classic Silvertone 1485 amplifier has been repaired, giving us a some fantastic guitar tones and a true force to be reckoned with.
4. Songwriting is moving along at a cracking pace, with Bobby Fischer almost in the books. The Silver Bullet is done, and Ideation is still a work in progress.
5. Things slowed down on the gigging front over the summer, but we’re going to try to setup some live dates in the Boston area in the next couple of months.

Silver Bullets: A jangly rock song that was first conceived in 1999. We’ve been banging our heads against the wall with it for over eight years. After spending an unfathomable amount of time trying to build it up, we came to the realization that the song didn’t need a lot. So, what was originally intended as a guitar-orchestra epic eventually ended up as a tidy little pop song with a single lead line and a fuzz bass. And thunderous drums. But it’s ready now, and we couldn’t be happier.

Ideation: A dark number built around a chord progression and a lyrical sketch from 2004 or so. It’s starting to acquire a weird Chuck Berry vibe.

BRIAN ENO…
BRIAN ENO, BRIAN ENO…
BRIAN ENO…BRIAN ENO…
OH…
BRIAN ENO…
BRIAN ENO, BRIAN ENO…
BRIAN ENO…BRIAN ENO.

Jeff’s been playing a big role in the thematic development on this one, which has been a blast; he usually leaves all of the lyrics and whatnot to me.  He came up with a fantastic idea: what if it was Bobby Fischer who’d played against the computer instead of Kasparov?  What would the implications of such an event be?  I’d had the title kicking around for a few years on a songwriting sketch that really didn’t deserve to see the light of day and mercilessly sounds nothing like the current piece.  So I’m very excited to finally put it to use in what’s shaping up to be a much better song than what I’d originally married to the title.

We also ran through the usual batch of practice songs, which sound richer and fuller with the keyboards than they do without.  Whenever Dave’s not there, they feel incomplete, which lends credence to the idea that you can’t miss something you never had.  Of course, if that were really true, the lyrical content of our music would be vastly different to what it is.  But the real point I’m making here is that Dave is really an outstanding asset to the group.  He’s a sixth man in the best sense of the term.

Also, we’re still plugging away at Bobby Fischer, which is providing us with an excellent opportunity to dig up some old, unused lyrics.

In other news, Greek salad is great, we’re in the market for a Firewire recording interface, and a certain unsung member of our outfit is going to be getting a MySpace account.  Here’s a hint: he really enjoys Thai food and the Flaming Lips, and his least-favorite band is Coldplay.

We also played “Call Me Doctor” for the first time with Matt present.  At this point, the thinking is that Dave will be the drummer on that particular track, with Matt will be playing an instrument to be named later.  He played around with keyboards, percussion, and even playing some kind of secondary drum part.  Who knows, maybe he’ll pick up a guitar.  The beginnings of some lyrics for the chorus started to take shape, and even some more possibilities for a final title: “Harvard Square is Over”, “Go Home Again”, and “How it is Nowadays”.

Not bad for a Thursday.