ALBUM NOTES
random thouGhts about the sonGs on our 2008 album, called "what are you kiddinG me with this?"... by pete sears
the album was oriGinally Going to be called "what are you fuckinG kiddinG me with this?" but we totally chickened out at the last minute. It was recorded in jim kamm's basement on a 24-track roland digital recorder over what was probably a two year period... enjoy!
the album was oriGinally Going to be called "what are you fuckinG kiddinG me with this?" but we totally chickened out at the last minute. It was recorded in jim kamm's basement on a 24-track roland digital recorder over what was probably a two year period... enjoy!
flueGal
a song about a divorce, yours mine or anybody's... it's never ceased to amaze me how two people can go from makinG this huGe commitment to absolutely not beinG able to stand the siGht of one another. favorite line: "i found your suitcase so tastefully packed by the door - a maGnificent Gesture from the one that i love"
GeoGraphy
the first song we actually finished for the album... love the bass-line on this... so Glad jim was able to write that for sean... (that's a band in-joke!)
call me romeo
a sonG about a cocky asshole of a Guy who thinks he's a real romeo - the lyrics were written a long time aGo and it sounds a little like a history lesson these days with it's references to buyinG albums and calling long distance, but it still goes over well live and i've always loved the Great endinG. favorite line: "i guess maybe we just went too fast - or just not fast enough..."
shovel it on
i was looking to do something a little jazzy (piano wise) and one day dave just started playinG this beautiful chord progression... it soon turned a little "rush-esque" during the break but i absolutely love how this little melody turns all "hard rockish" when we want it to! One of those sonGs where i wonder "how the fuck did we come up with this?".... Glad we did! (also if you listen real hard you can hear some tony pezzano backGround vocals up in here!)
another pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately lead to defeat. It was written for those people who come in and out of your life, and don't know how to say (unfortunately) "after all is said and done - you 're right - i was wrong" LOVE LOVE LOVE hayden's take on the lead (pinchin' notes like CRAZY!) it's also - just plain old unadulterated pop... all up in your face with like seven f-bombs thrown in for Good measure!"
fish on a mountain
ok - couple thinGs- -jim kamm starts this off SO WELL with that snare - one of my favorites... i also love the "psycho" reference at about 3:14, but let's face it - it's about people Growing apart and their efforts to keep some sort of bullshit alive in situations where that just is not possible - a really old sonG that we'd been playing for a long time... and the sonG on this recording came through pretty well. favorite line - "and i watched as the love - evaporated like clouds up above - and left me with nothinG but sky..."
miracle
a sonG about orGanized religion and what would probably happen if somethinG truly miraculous ever did actually occur. the fightinG sounds came from call of duty on an xbox that we set up in the basement and recorded. Currently the only sonG in the synerGy catalog that contains the word "streptococcus". Oh and that's sean cristofori on bass (not Geddy lee)... and let's be honest - after "fool in the rain" from led zeppellin - who DOESN'T want to blow a whistle in one of their sonGs?
yankee
i've been playinG in a band with dave hayden for 20 fuckinG years... and thouGht it was about time he Got a name-drop! Dave had been playnG this riff for a while and then for some reason one day this came about. I remember it came toGether really quickly. It's southern rock for northern rednecks... favorite line: "i wanna Get you back home and get you out of them jeans - and work you over like katrina did to new orleans"
lonG time cominG
Probably the angriest song i've ever written and perhaps a cautionary tale for those of you who think that chanGinG your lifestyle to fit someone else's idea of what happiness is is a Good idea.... love hayden's acoustic sound here durinG the break... I remember spendinG an inordinate amount of time on trying to get a baseball hit/crowd noise after the line "it's been like catching a fly ball in the pitch dark", which i 've always thought was a Great piece of imagery... so we actually brought in a couple of those old small fenway red sox bats - (the little ones - maybe a foot lonG - that you buy at the fenway consessionaires) and smacked them together - and there ya go!
anythinG
i like the little hip-hop thinG we threw into this... truth be told - dave hayden had an awesome lead that really led into it and we fucked up and left it off the master that we sent to the duplication company... someday i'll put the real version up... and then you'll see! there's also a pretty sweet cameo by a can of busch liGht in there @ about 1:35... favorite line: "and you ever wanna do now is fight and spend my money... but i remember a girl so lonG aGo who'd rather spend my time... and i can't feel her anymore... there's just you..."