Our invitation being extended to The Teeth for a recording session didn’t hinge upon the recommendation that their Philadelphian cohorts Dr. Dog gave, but their nod does carry some weight, carry some wood, etc. The Dog told us that they loathe taking a stage after their friends because living up to what just happened is a tall task. The Teeth, they told us, put them to shame every time. If you’ve seen Dr. Dog play, you’d absolutely deny this claim up and down, burnish it to the very perspective of undue modesty on the part of the Dog. How the fuck could this possibly be? But, believe Dr. Dog. Believe everything those honest and honorable guys tell you. If Dr. Dog compliments you on your new haircut, it really must be something special. If they suggest that they find the yellow color that you painted your living room in to be the most flattering shade of yellow that you could have ever chosen, you know that it’s so. They would never stretch the truth or provide any lip service. They are telling you like it is. Even if they were to throw an off-hand comment about how the rings of the planet Saturn – if eaten, just a nibble really – could provide all the vitamin C that one person would need for an entire life, you shouldn’t even fly over to Wikipedia to research the matter. It is unquestionably true. The Teeth and how they performed here with us – the night before we had Grizzly Bear and Dirty Projectors in for a memorable morning two-fer – backed up everything Dr. Dog said. They nuked our place. When Pat gave the magic words, “Alright, tape is rolling,” The Teeth were transformed into four guys with wasps in their pants, fire in eyes and mouths and conditions that left them incapable of going lightly through their set. We lost our eyebrows this night. We didn’t care. – Sean Moeller

First song
You're My Lover Now (The Teeth) [2.53MB] [1767 downloads]


– original version appears on You’re My Lover Now
I was trying to write a screamin’ J Hawkins song and I got this. Jittery. It’s about my future bride and I wanted it to kind of feel like Dracula or Frankenstein or one of those movies where the monster “claims” people.

Second song
Mercy Mercy Pudding Pie (The Teeth) [3.98MB] [1683 downloads]


– original version appears on Carry the Wood
The title was taken from a lyric in “Tweedly Dee, Tweedly Dum,” a song Elvis sang in one of his movies. The rest of it was about how I wished I was dead and I thought the progression of a minor chord to another minor chord a half step down was the best way to achieve that feeling. The whole end part is about my viewing, which was written separately, I think.

Third song
Shoulderblade (The Teeth) [2.70MB] [1648 downloads]


– original version appears on You’re My Lover Now
I guess, to be bluntly honest, this song is about SEX in the most “one-night-standish” sort of way. I suppose this song is about picking up somebody, almost anybody, having a splendid, almost magical “evening” with them only to find out it was just a bunch of bullshit when you wake up.

Fourth song
So Long (The Teeth) [2.62MB] [1871 downloads]


– original version appears on Carry the Wood
“So Long” was kind of written about, I don’t know, when you aren’t really happy and you aren’t really sad, but you are just sitting there not really caring much about anything. It’s still one of my favorite songs that I’ve written and I think that the best thing it could be used for is when you think you need that big change, and you decide to shave your head or shave all the hair off your body. This would be a good song to listen to for that.