1. |
How Simple
03:48
|
|||
|
I suppose one who hasn’t seen
the earlier frames could say
I am advancing
I am advancing
Pale as a banshee sun—
think I should stop checking
myself out in the windows
of cars, when I could see
my future in her pictures of relatives
How simple my heart can be
How simple my heart can be
frightens me
Don’t worry
we will both find out,
just not together.
Your hand was on me
It seemed like you were
being sweet
Here I am, again
at the reserve to drink
It’s not that I thought
like all of a sudden you change
We were covered in each other’s snot
in my childhood bed
It seemed like we were being sweet
Her pictures of relatives
How simple my heart can be
How simple my heart can be
frightens me
|
||||
2. |
Somewhere a Judge
03:52
|
|||
|
There you have it, the beginning
and the end
The intern’s shovel still
covered in shit
Death, indiscriminate drags off
the newborn buck with the
broken leg
In the shadow of conversations
had while I was asleep
not to mention the years
of conversations you’ve had
without me
Afternoon vanilla sun
crawls away across the lawn
through the phone I pull you
and drag your voice around
Afternoon vanilla sun
crawls away without a sound
Through the phone I pull you
and drag your voice around
You don’t know I know what’s wrong
Notification: 8 executions by drug
to beat the expiration
A shelf life of reason, is that what
this was Arkansas?
Somewhere, a judge stretches himself
out on fine tropical sand
I went back to work then
took the train home
I saw a fire in the distance
Afternoon vanilla sun
crawls away across the lawn
Through the phone I pull you
and drag your voice around
Afternoon vanilla sun
crawls away without a sound
Through the phone I pull you
and drag your voice around
I don’t know why
I’m so mean each time I come to visit
I don’t know why
I’m so mean each time I come around
|
||||
3. |
How You Got Your Limp
02:36
|
|||
|
Poured the professor
into a cab, avoiding
as best as one can
the voice of a
doomed man
condemning his students
in my lack of power
I knew him
I can hear you;
The whole bar can.
The supervisor lied over the phone
He never got up to check
next door on that
nineteen year old kid
who came in to work, but was
nonetheless reconvicted
Over the counter, Nora told me
all about it
I can hear you;
The whole bar can
I know what you’d like me
to say, but you got to do
exactly what you wanted
That’s how you got your limp
All your strength came
from her humiliation
I can hear you
I can’t do anything
Quitting the bar
perfectly understood in the end
he will be leaving
a garbage tip as his
revenge
|
||||
4. |
Not Abel
04:36
|
|||
|
The whole town lined up
outside the tent
what those kids
thought they saw-
do you really want to remember this?
Today, think of all the alien
shots in the dark, that at one time,
all at once, coexisted
I mean aside from all the burning
Hurry by the shanties beside the road
Sunset on a cart
pulled home by a white horse
Conscience of the husband
was righteous and coarse
There must be a limit—if
we only circle around
there’s no hurry in reaching it
Shirt bloodstained and yet it was
not Abel but Cain
who got to hear
the voice that for so long had
been a stranger
Not one word of all the time
They spent growing up brothers
Even love
Yes even love, something to lose
What if the details there
were suddenly shared?
Tender moments siblings keep secret
Sunset on a time
when no words could
be spared. Unknowing
mother rocks soft
in her chair
There must be a limit
This has happened
This will happen
This is happening
Voice on the radio again
strange to be shaped by
such strange men
It’s the hottest summer again
Strange to be shaped by
such strange men—but where
will you go? where
Where? Where? When
you asked me that question,
it sounded like a joke a
rubber hand extended to shake
Outside my kitchen the sound
of fists on the door in
the early morning light
A death! So small
and sentimental
Daddy giving
the middle finger to the Kodak lens
when I saw her face she smiled,
“I don’t know why I
saved it all this time.”
|
||||
5. |
The Fox In Motion
03:59
|
|||
|
The youngest
but that does not
matter now
she and her sister laugh
I was asleep with my mouth
open the whole drive down
on a sheet
on the beach
small lunatic birds
We watch them as they
rush and retreat
No, I wasn’t changed tonight
or it has not yet been recognized
When we saw the fox run
just a few feet in front of us
I thought something must be
wrong; she looked like
decay in motion
We saw the fox run
like a ghost
lost and embarrassed
I thought something must be wrong
she must be sick
Cousin take me home
All the way off in the city
His distant regret
The youngest—
but that does not matter now
Her sister and I on
opposite ends of the beach
Island after island
Go the thoughts within
Each of us off on our own
in the dark scavenging
me on my phone
scavenging
Cousin take me home
All the way off in the city
His distant regret
How can I explain it
having been seen
What would that mean?
|
||||
6. |
One That Suits Me
05:16
|
|||
|
Meanwhile, the scientist,
pounding on his skull
his skull—two blew
themselves away working on it
In storms the general
Grabbed him by his collar
“Well you old crackpot, what
have you got to say?”
In an open field, man is guilty always
mud is yellow and the ground
is moving
sun is yellow and the ground is
moving. The ground is moving
The century turned and your
old man stumbled in
saying, “Of course I am for peace.
One that suits me.”
For the first time
the Captain’s at my side
Look now, here the Padre comes
here he comes
about to go on his lunchbreak
“Son, you and I both know
the real criminal is time
I understand your crime but
what makes you think
you’ve got the right
to be young?”
In an open field, man is guilty
always.
The century turned and your
old man stumbled in, saying
“Of course I am for peace.
One that suits me.”
And now the mother of
them all, she is just
about to fall
In the history of man
reality becomes softened
|
||||
7. |
What the Writer Meant
04:06
|
|||
|
Gold, alone
clinging to a stem
Pretty soon this will be
a skeleton
Metropolises before
silent and smoldering
Above the wild giant wailed
Never will I do that again
So strange
to be shaped by such
strange men
Elizabeth, explain what
the writer meant
That God is the one who changed.
The General,
Buck toothed, bright eyed
frothing red.
Baltimore, you on the floor
me on the edge of the bed
We saw him in one
brutal gesture tear
that rabbit open
You turned to me, “Isn’t this
Supposed to be for children?”
So strange
to be shaped by such
strange moments
Elizabeth, the train
when will I see you again?
Will you tell me your mind has changed?
So strange
was I shaped for just this moment?
Elizabeth, explain
what the writer meant.
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
Jane Austen
in the hospital
Your handwriting on the legal
pad was barely legible
Waiting, I wonder if I
could go all the way back
would any of it still scare
me for example the labrador
down the street
Mom carried me down
from off the car
Neighbor scolded I’d upset him
every time he took off
my thoughts got dark and menacing
Go on Romeo, bark your head off
My last terror of ignorance
is still to come
couldn’t quit it, you dumb dog
chasing speeding cars
I heard the engine
and then you
lay like a good boy
on the hot summer tar
That night, the awful relief
Now, what
are ya gonna do to me?
First symptom of guilt
then became
a permanent shame
And now I can get close
enough, close enough
to see you’re
overgrown
with a look of love
I still dream of spiders
crawling across my bed
The present, I have no place in it.
I still dream of being watched, but
not by—well, I know your
thoughts on the matter
we don’t need to discuss it
Around 3 am you will come to
your roommate’s pissed his
sheets right through
years from now,
you will build beautiful
black flowers
I came home and you directed
with your hardened hand
all of your birds who have
come back to dine and rest
in your garden again
They’ve come to rest
in your garden
Now I can get close
enough, close enough to
see you’re overgrown
with a look of love.
Bark your head off, dog
|
||||
9. |
Prior Things
05:42
|
|||
|
Just a few minutes after
taking them, I realized
hundreds of buzzing flies
were all over me
I looked up and there you were
reading
You were on vacation
vacation means leave
means obliterate all prior things
Here, why don’t I try
why don’t I try to make you mine
why – is a lack of imagination
the crime?
why don’t I try
why don’t I try to make you mine
why don’t I back you up against this
moment
So when you finally go
when you choose to go
I resume my little lower road
and nobody needs to know
will know that I ever meant
to leave my
little lower road
I watch the bird feeder
out back in my parents’ yard
the weight of that bluejay
the bully steals it all
And what must happen in your mind
when you create those silences—
Nevermind, I don’t want to see
I know it’s got nothing
to do with me.
Here, why don’t I try
why don’t I try to move aside?
I’m still soft
I’m still in my prime
Why don’t I try
Why don’t I try to move aside
I’m still soft
it’s still my time
And when you finally go
when you choose to go
I resume my
little lower road
Nobody needs to know
will know that I was only
holding your place on this, your
little lower road
Your little lower road
|
||||
Hop Along Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Known for their enigmatic indie-pop meets growling guitar grunge, Philadelphia's Hop Along return with their third full- length album Bark Your Head Off, Dog. Frances Quinlan (vocalist) has emerged as one of music's most unique songwriters. Frances is joined by Mark Quinlan (drums), Tyler Long (bass) and Joe Reinhart (guitar). ... more
If you like Hop Along, you may also like:
Stranger in the Alps
by Phoebe Bridgers
supported by 10 fans who also own “Bark Your Head Off, Dog”
Phoebe Bridgers ships vinyl faster than anyone else on Bandcamp.
go to album
supported by 10 fans who also own “Bark Your Head Off, Dog”
This album is so soothing. Always puts me in a good mood.
go to album
supported by 10 fans who also own “Bark Your Head Off, Dog”
this is probably one of the greatest recordings of all time. i'm in awe every time i listen to this ep. it's so well done and i love it
go to album
The London band's new album is a vibrant postcard from southern Italy, boosted by brass, strings, and pizzica percussion from local players.
go to album
Terns in Idle
by Rain Recordings
This collaborative project offers a fresh twist on classic indie sounds of the early 2000s with hooky choruses and quirky instrumentation
go to album
The Los Angeles shoegaze group strike a balance between propulsive noise and delicately crystalline sounds on their latest.
go to album
supported by 9 fans who also own “Bark Your Head Off, Dog”
My actual favorite is Sister Cities :)
go to album
