Without much of a warning, this date was upon us and we made a last minute decision to see if Young Galaxy was interested in a fly-by – a slight out of their way – for a session in our humble studio. They were in Iowa City the night before and the short drive to our Rock Island was nothin’ – a blink. They had a fortunate off-date packed into the schedule and these Canadians were hip to us. They only needed to be in Omaha the next night so they had time to kill. Lead singer Stephen Ramsay was nursing a broken hand, but the cast didn’t hinder him all that much. Then there was the sickness that was bothering him. It didn’t hinder him either, though he was fretting that the results in the control room were less than desirable. They were not. Catherine McCandless asked us about state parks or anywhere nearby where they could frolic amongst some trees for the afternoon, before heading back to Iowa City and hotel rooms. They like the nature, we learned. Reports from our cub field reporters (read: random good people who send us e-mails occasionally) informed us that Ramsay was sporting a Daytrotter tee-shirt the following night in Omaha. He is a friend to the end. – Sean Moeller

First song
Swing Your Heartache (Young Galaxy) [5.33MB] [1715 downloads]


– original version appears on Young Galaxy
First song on our debut album. The minor-chord manifesto. Deliberate attempt at an epic, “Bittersweet Symphony-esque song. One that makes grown men in pubs cry or something holy, and church-like. About embracing change and flying in the face of complacency, and finding wisdom in disappointment. Getting over our disappointments is the key to our personal development. Not your typical rock fare, I hope. An equal collaboration from Catherine and me, and I think it shows. We tried to build it up from hushed intimacy at the beginning of the song, to a soaring outro. We are obsessed with the ‘soaring outro’! Plus we ripped the song title off from Bauhaus…

Second song
The Sun's Coming Up and My Plane's Going Down (Young Galaxy) [5.77MB] [1677 downloads]


– original version appears on Young Galaxy
Written around the title, obviously, I had to have a song with this title! We wanted it to drone epically. Very melodramatic too, hopefully. Melodronematic. Haha. We love drone music. I figured out how to make a one note song here. It’s not as easy as it sounds… Again, about a break up. Seems people can’t get enough of other people’s self pity. One of my first successful compositions, so it’s an old song. As a result, I think it sounds like one of the most obviously influenced songs of ours. Like Spiritualized or something, but way more kitchen sink. We didn’t have the budget to rock the monster string section, but boy it would have sounded awesome. Apparently people feel uncomfortable listening to it on planes…

Third song
Wailing Wall (Young Galaxy) [3.64MB] [1554 downloads]


– original version appears on Young Galaxy
Straight-ahead moody (slow) rocker. I like repetition, so we kept to three chords that don’t vary. Minor chords again. Trying to create an atmosphere of sadness. We love sad songs. I want our music to stare down the barrel of sadness! It’s a take on the archetypal break-up song, but I thought it might be interesting to give it a decidedly modern twist with the “you blocked
my call” line. Cell phone break up – kind of along the lines of Britney Spear’s “E-mail My Heart”! Didn’t know I was ripping off a Cure song title this time. Wanted to layer the ‘jangle’ in a Johnny Marr style with the guitars, but because I can’t play as good as Johnny Marr it ends up sounding like Oasis. On cough syrup. Not a bad idea, I guess…

Fourth song
Embers (Young Galaxy) [3.67MB] [1585 downloads]


– original version appears on Young Galaxy
The song on the record most obviously Catherine’s, I would say. Dusted off an old, go nowhere riff and she rocked some very personal lyrics that are specific to familial scenarios and locales. Probably the most direct lyrics on the album. We wanted to lose all the bombast and pretention for a song, be really earnest and campfire-y. Wanted to give it a gospel feel (hence the “oh lord” lines), too. Catherine loves the old folk and gospel music, like the early Staples Singers. I think it shows in her voice, so the song was well suited to that style. Still had to get backwards guitars and reverb in for the album version though. I need to ‘psyche’ it up whenever I can!