Lank - Faceless Love Songs demo

Not too much to reflect on, it's quiet here as Fall approaches, but the wife and I are enjoying life to the best of our abilities and are seriously looking at buying our house along with 10 of the acres it sits on.  The world is still the world as I observe it from a distant plain, but the locals occasionally remind me of the good, bad and just how it is, in folks.

A couple of emails my Grandpa sent me (the views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Administrator...but they're good for a laugh):

Over 5000 years ago, Moses said to Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land." When Welfare was introduced, Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land." Today, the government has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land to China.

One day an old German Shepherd starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch. The old German Shepherd thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep shit now!" Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?" Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!," says the panther, "That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!" Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes. The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther. The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!" Now, the old German Shepherd sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says... "Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!"

...one of the interesting images (thumbnail) that came up when I entered the phrase "circle of life".  This one, personally relevant, used without permission from some guy living his life with it's profound and mundane nuances, and like me sharing it with nobody in particular, at his own place called Chublogga. One thing that's been cool about doing the Relics for almost 4 years now, is the virtual friends I have made who have shared interests.  One buddy Jan, outta Germany, and I share an affinity for the Gore.  Long story short story short, I had recommended "Hobo With A Shotgun" and he recommended "Ex-Drummer" (very interesting), which I'm downloading right now. Try out this Lifespan Calculator, yeehaa...I'm gonna make it to 69. A couple of classic tunes that someone mentioned that I thought I would mention and/or share... Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By (cover of the Stones tune). Marianne Faithfull - Sister morphine the Stones cover Something Humboldt-esque that goes with the tape below, a mixed tape from Sam Atakra that he recorded off of KHSU...must be the late 80's, early 90's, Killcore 2. Well worth a listen, some familiar, some not so, all hits.

One of the last demo tapes in my possession from the Humboldt days (Sam sent me an extra copy too).  We played SEVERAL shows/parties/whatnot and I always liked them, but with Doug fronting the band, you were guaranteed some excitement.  As far as specific memories though I am once again at a loss and am just left with the far away look through the cloudy glazed eyes of a pseudo burnout.  I asked Doug to give this post some meat and potatoes, and share some first hand recollections.  He came through in spades...

"Lank were a band out of Arcata from around mid-1990 to about mid-1992, maybe 18 months or so. I kind of inserted myself as their singer when I walked in on their practice one afternoon and told them I’d do it even though I hadn’t really been asked to. The band split when Jeff, Greg, and I graduated from college and moved on to other cities and Troy moved to Ukiah to fight fires. Our last show was at the Power Station, at a show with a transvestite theme where we were only allowed to play if we all wore dresses. We played one last time when Jeff got married in the late-90s, though, with Josh Baker from Sawhorse/Things I Hate/God Hates Computers on guitar because no one could track down Troy. Hands down, my favorite shows we ever played were when we got to open for Citizen Fish and Antiseen at the Power Station and when we played the Eureka High School Sadie Hawkins Dance.

The Faceless Love Songs demo came out right as we were breaking up. Several songs were taken from our live show at Gilman, which was a pretty bizarre show because it took place amid the Rodney King riots while the city was supposed to be under martial law. There were maybe five or ten people there besides the members of the bands. Another several songs were taken from a live radio show we did on KHSU, I think during Erin Yanke’s radio show, but don’t really remember. Two songs, “9066” and “What We Got,” were taken from the only studio recordings we ever did. We had recorded them without vocals with Ed Cole, another KHSU DJ and the guitarist from Garden Weasel, while he was taking an audio class through Humboldt State. I added the vocals by setting up a mic in the production room at the radio station and singing along with the tape while dubbing it onto another. For the spoken section of “9066,” I ran the vocals through a telephone line because I didn’t like the way my voice sounded straight into the mic. In ’96 or ’97, I went in to a friend’s home studio to add vocals to the other studio recordings, but the original tape was fucked up from the years I spent living in damp basements. The tape was released with six different color covers just for the fuck of it and included a little lyric book.

Some notes about the songs: “9066” is about executive order 9066 and the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. It was specifically written for the show we played with Spitboy on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. “It’s not that far a step to becoming what we say we hate.”

“What We Got” is a simple song about having a hard time finding meaning while living in a small college town.

“The John Osteen Love Ballad of Christ the Impaler” got its name from the televangelist and faith healer John Osteen. As an instrumental, I played bass and Jeff moved over to harmonica.

“1 + 1” is just a love song. What ya gonna say?

“The Way It Was (Is a Way It Never Was)” is about my drinking and drug use in high school. The stories make it sound like a lot of fun. It was actually pretty traumatic.

I wrote “Self-Destruction” in part about my drinking (which was getting increasingly out of control at the time) and my other self-destructive tendencies, with a heavy dose of self-mockery. In the recording, you can hear the mic for Troy’s guitar getting knocked over, which is what fucks up the sound for the next several tracks.

“Dark Ages” was originally about this gal I had a crush on even though I was in a relationship with another gal. A “look but don’t touch” kind of song that morphed into a song about isolation in general after my girlfriend found some rough drafts of the lyrics. I was quite the upstanding fellow at the time.

“Snap” was one of my least favorite songs to play live. Loved the slower parts, but the fast parts always felt a little off to me. The “music’s my morphine” line was inspired by my friend Steve who had some pretty powerful experiences with it after breaking his leg.

“A Faceless Love Song” is about losing your identity in a relationship.

“Recursive” is about the drug dealer I lived with in high school, about getting strung out on cocaine, and about how I still craved it four years or so later.

“Invisible” was inspired by the novel “The Invisible Man” by Ralph Emerson and more specifically by the end of the novel in which the narrator recognizes that he is essentially invisible to white society and uses that invisibility as a means of subversion. It is by far my favorite song of ours.

I wrote “She Said” about this crazy woman in the parking lot of the Arcata Coop who put a curse on me because I asked her to stop pan-handling on the property (which was part of my job at the time). There weren’t any actual lyrics, just me trying to recreate the woman’s rants off the top of my head. As a result, I think the way this song came across live was heavily influenced by how much I’d had to drink on a given night.

“Trinidad” Suicide by insignificance.

“American Society” is an Eddie and The Subtitles cover.

Sometimes you need to just write a stupid, fuck-all song. “What the Fuck?” was our attempt at that.

I was always afraid that someone would interpret “She’s in Love (With My Girlfriend)” as an attack on lesbians. It wasn’t. It was a personal attack on a woman who wanted to sleep with my girlfriend but not with me.

“Holding Pattern” is about feeling like my life was going nowhere as college graduation crept nearer and nearer. Maybe partying would help…

“Crimson and Clover” isn’t so much a cover as it is another drunken fuck-all song."

...my response, "Now that's what I'm fucking talking about sir, almost hate to put it into the post as it shows my short comings with all the rest of the posts. A great read with so much I'd forgotten or never knew at all.  The break down on the tunes is something I should do with all the songs I've been involved with, as if anybody cares.  Your input makes this an over-the-top treatment of the band and with it being on the net it serves to at least to be a resource, should anyone choose to find it. Thank you so much Mr. Grime."  Anyway, enjoy some Lank...

 

The John Ostecot Love Ballad of Christ the Impaler

1+1

What We Got

Way It Was

9066

Dark Ages

Snap

Faceless Love Song

Recursive

Invisible

Trinidad

She Said

9066 (The Anniversary Song)

What We Got

What The Fuck

She's In Love (With My Girlfriend)

Holding Pattern

American Society

Crimson and Clover

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybf2af7FTcA&w=560&h=315]