Dear Friends,
Hello from California.
The show last night was incredible. Traps Ps opened up and were really good, then Les Savy Fav were amazing. Sofa king good. One of thr best shows I have seen in years.
*****
The day was nice, too. Easy drive out and a great lunch at TKB in Coachella Valley. Their sandwiches are the bomb diggity. We got to the Glendale area of LA around 4pm and chilled for a while before meeting Michael’s friends for dinner and the snow.
The dudes in the bands couldn’t have been nicer, as well. We got to talk to a few of them and it was almost a tad surreal. Seriously one of the best shows I have seen in tears.
*****
RIP Al McCoy. He was the best announcer this town had ever see. I will miss him.
*****
Getting high on my own supply, part 8.
The Apology was kind of an afterthought. If it wasn’t for our friend, Ben B, I don’t know if it would have ever come out. It was the second Pinky Tuscadero’s White Knuckle Assfuck CD and one, again, that for a long time seemed like it was never going to come out.
Looking back, I am pretty sure I know why, but I’ll get to that later.
It wasn’t for lack of investing time and money into the recording. We went to Villain, again, and Byron took great care of us, as usual. He was very much like another member of the band. We also had Jay in the mix, too, adding some really good guitar leads. Drew was still in the fold, too, adding a lot of textures and spending a fair amount of money in the studio. That is not a fun memory.
I can still recall walking in Target doing a little shopping and Jeff told me over the phone how many hours Drew had used up in the studio. I remember wanting to throttle him, but all we could do was just laugh. It was like he was getting revenge on us for leaving the band. It was his choice, too.
Honestly, I don’t remember if that was ever resolved, or we just sucked it up and the band paid for him to play around in the studio. It doesn’t matter now. Not one bit.
In those days, we weren’t playing a whole lot. For me, personally, I was doing The Father Figures and really stoked on that band experience, so I didn’t need to have another outlet. I did still enjoy making new music with the guys, but when I listen to the CD now, I can tell my heart wasn’t really in it.
I kind of hate a lot of the lyrics and the way I sang the songs. Some were just silly. “WarStomp” was a rad riff, but I don’t like the words very much. Jeff, Lance, and I had all become dads in the mid-to-late 00’s and a song about babies seemed like a good idea, but again, when I listen now, I just get a little bummed.
“The Apology” lyrics are okay, and the music is pretty rad. That one is a song I would play again, but I can’t imagine doing “WarStomp.” I love the riff on “Hypnoshits,” too, but the lyrics just leave me a little cold anymore. That’s on me. I wish I had been funnier.
“Buddhist Gerbils Vs. Richard Gere” comes off sounding like I am homophobic now. I hate feeling that way because I once thought it was a pretty funny song, but in a misguided, early 80s SoCal hardcore kind of way. I could do better now, too. Great riff, though, and Eric’s timpani is awesome.
“Satan Has Tits” is fine, though, and “Mongolian Barbecue” is completely timely. If we had been working on it today, it would be “Haitian Barbecue.” The joke aspect of the band was on full blast for this record. This was a tone shift from much of the first one.
“Ode to Derek” is still funny to me, but I’m guessing most people are just like, “What the fuck?” if they ever hear this one at all. “SpongeBob” is kind of fun in a ridiculous hardcore kind of way. Erick beat the fuck out of the drums on this record, that’s for sure. He’s so damn good.
Probably my favorite track on the whole thing anymore is “The Fuck You Part.” I added another guitar track here that really gives it a fun sound. I’m kinda proud of it. It may be one of the only times I have a guitar track on any of the records I’ve done.
“Little Hands” is another one that is a great riff, and I don’t mind how I sing a lot of it, but I don’t really care for the words. I wish I could have come up with something better. That’s my big issue with The Apology. I hate the lyrics on most of the songs.
I also don’t care for my vocal performance on a lot of it, either. I was such a mess in my own life that I don’t have a lot of recollection of making this record. I know we had some of the tracks for a while, too. Hindsight being 20/20, I kind of wish we would have just put out an EP. There are four or five really cool things here.
It’s on me, though. Everyone else brought their A game.
*****
See you tomorrow.
AI is a Les Savy Fav fan.
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