The Promise Ring - Very Emergency

"I got my body and my mind on the same page
and honey now
happiness is all the rage"

The opening lyrics to the Promise Ring album I have hate listened to for nearly 15 years now...  I purchased this record the day it was released.  I would be lying if I said it didn't disappoint me upon my early listens... 

It was indescribably different from their earlier stuff.  I mean, the Promise Ring always had a pop-sensibility to them, but this felt formulaic tho'.   I don't know if this was their attempt to gain "mainstream" interest or if the band was genuinely looking to unload a number of songs that had a bubblegum feel to them.

A number of these songs are amazing to hear live.  Take for example the Deep South.  Not only is it one of the albums best songs, but its possibly one of the best songs that the band every penned.

I just recall feeling a certain level of excitement after listening to the Boys + Girls Ep - right before this album dropped and I genuinely felt like they were going to be the R.E.M. of my 20's.   They've always sorta been in my little mind and heart... they just didn't exactly knock it out of the park.

This album has a number of infectious songs tho'.   

Artists: The Promise Ring
Album: Very Emergency
Producer: J. Robbins
Label: Jade Tree
Recorded: Inner Ear Studios

The Promise Ring - 30 Degrees Everywhere

Not entirely sure what possessed me to listen to 30 Degrees Everywhere today while driving around Houston, Texas...  It was drizzly and grey out so I guess I wanted to hear something to match the feeling of trudging around H-Town.

But enough about that, the Promise Ring.  So I discovered the Promise Ring after they released "Nothing Feels Good" - so I sorta have a preference for some of their later stuff.  30 Degrees has always struck me as an incredible album that is in dire need of being remastered and mixed again.

Updated : my copy of 30 degrees everywhere

While driving around town, it occurred to me that some of the songs sound as if they were recorded playing a basement show beneath your house - but you can sorta clearly hear them practicing with ease.

Take Scenes from France for example...  do you know how many times I've been at a bar and overheard a band play on another level of the venue and mistake it for this song?  

I need to figure out a way to canvas all my friends and have them write me back with detailed thoughts on their relationship to this record.   I'm curious to hear how many of them still hear this record on any occasion.   I know almost all of them will point to A Picture Postcard as being their favorite moment on the record (Note - Bob Nana from BRAID has a song writing credit on that track).  Maybe with the exception of Emo V.  Both her and I love the song Everywhere Denver.

Artists: The Promise Ring
Album: 30 Degrees Everywhere
Producer: Casey Rice, Damon Locks, Joe Ferguson
Label: Jade Tree
Recorded: Idful Music Co.

Jets to Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary

Another terrible day...  another Jade Tree album to provide me comfort.  Just when the work load began to seem insurmountable, I had the lyric "I typed for miles" pop into my head and decided to stream Orange Rhyming Dictionary by Jets To Brazil.

Couple of quick facts:  

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  • JTB got their name from a poster that can be seen in Breakfast At Tiffany's.  
  • I learned about the band through a friend (Josh Freeman) in College while taking a film appreciation class together. 
  • I  spent a good part of a summer in Detroit playing the game Banjo & Kazooie and always played this album while completing every portion of that game.  It's hard to listen to the song Chinatown and not picture honeycombs. 

In recent months, I've sorta seen a number of people reference this band and album...   which is a little weird because it always felt like people were incredibly dismissive of this band.  I don't know if people were apprehensive to like them because of their love of Jawbreaker or if they didn't want to be associated with "emo" or Jade Tree.

Stand Out Tracks:

Yup.  My album is signed by every member of JTB.

Yup.  My album is signed by every member of JTB.

Artist: Jets To Brazil
Album: Orange Rhyming Dictionary
Producer: J. Robbins
Label: Jade Tree
Recorded: Easley McCain Recording

Pedro the Lion - Winners Never Quit

Rather odd but true fact...  I never really paid any attention to any of the lyrics on this Pedro the Lion album until this evening.  I have always loved this record and can sing along to every song, but I never really paid any attention to what I was saying.

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The album is a conceptual record and it contains a small set of characters.  The cast consists of a pair of brothers (one good, one bad), a woman (wife of the "good" brother - who gets murdered) and a father who is mentioned in a song at the end of the album.

The album art features four images - all related to content within the album.  (note: I have always wanted to get all four of these drawings tattooed on me and likely will one day)

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  1. Two gentlemen exchanging a briefcase (a bribe presumably, there's a song called - Simple Economics - about people in a campaign office and a lyric about paying for something like sex)
  2. There's one of a cop cuffing a guy (there's a lyric in the song called -  Protect the Family Name - about a guy not wanting to be arrested for being drunk again)
  3. A photo of a woman being forced to hang up the phone (there's a lyric in the song - A Mind of Her Own - that has a character telling his wife to put down the telephone)
  4. A photo of a man with a pistol to his head (A murder occurs on the song "A Mind of Her Own" and in the song "Eye on the Finish Line" I think the character (murderer) is making a plea aloud before killing himself)

The album closes out with a couple of songs that punctuate the story described above....  must say, this is a pretty dark album to listen to.

Stand Out Tracks:

Artist: Pedro the Lion
Album: Winners Never Quit
Producer: Dave Bazan
Label: Jade Tree
Recorded: ?