Pop Guilt

Pop Guilt
April 21, 2017 Four Four / ABC Music 5748686 (Australia). June 23, 2017 Rogue Wave Records (US, Europe) RW 001CD / RW001LP

Our 7th proper studio album, and the one released after the longest break we’ve ever had.

We started making this record in late 2015 when spurred on by our then label Poison City Records, we recorded Alone in a Crowd, our first “new” single. Over the next year we wrote another 12 songs and released two more singles: All Over It Again and Karen Trust Me.

We recorded the album at The Shed, in Brisbane, late 2017, with Darek Mudge as chief engineer. We then divided up the songs between 5 mix engineers to get some diversity.

  • Half Lies & Making It Up mixed by David Downham at Gradwell House Recording, NJ.
  • Got A Feeling, Regrets & Sciatic Heart mixed by Paul Q. Kolderie at Camp St Studios, MA.
  • All Over It Again mixed by Wayne Connolly at The Neve Room, Sydney.
  • Sonic Souvenirs, Alone in a Crowd, Not Afraid & Going To California mixed at The Shed by Darek.
  • Falling & Shelter mixed by Brad Wood at Seagrass Studio, Los Angeles, CA.

Bryce Moorhead assisted recording Alone In A Crowd. Morgan Hann played keyboard on Not Afraid. Mastered by Hans DeKline at Sound Bites Dog, Los Angeles. Photography by Stephen Booth and layout by Tim.

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Pop Guilt

$22.00$36.00

ABC Records, Aus Vinyl or CD album, includes 15 song download.

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CD, Vinyl

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Playlist

Lyrics

HALF LIES

Up on the roof / Back in the dunes / You caught me in the half light / Behind the door / Back in my room / Decisions took me all night / It involved a lot of guessing / And things I just made up / Hoping you’d believe them / Before they come unstuck / Only half lies / They’re only half lies / Go tell your mum / you’ll take the track / back home after sunset / We’re in your car / Crammed in the back / We saw the moon come up / Your hair was in your face / It covered up your eyes / It couldn’t hide your lying / But I was still buying / Your half lies / The words you whisper / And what they spell / Say less than the unspoken ones / When you tell me half lies / I’ll take double / Of what you’re selling / We’re late, in trouble / It’s time for telling

GOT A FEELING

Don’t wanna hear a sound / But if I hear a sound again / I wanna hear like only you could hear it / Don’t wanna touch the noise / But if I touch the noise again / It’s gotta feel like only you could feel it / I can’t taste the morning / I can’t feel the force / I got left home alone / And I drifted off course / I wanna burn my fingers / I wanna feel the flame / In my nerves let it linger / In my bloodstream and my brain / Got a feeling only you can feel it / Got a feeling only you / Got a feeling only you can feel it / Don’t wanna see the light / Just wanna know what light feels like / Through your eyelids / In the morning bright / Don’t wanna see the sun / Don’t even want it on my skin / Kinda feel like only you can / Let the sunlight in / I wanna cut the fences / I wanna cross the wires / Got left with my senses / And a new pair of pliers / I wanna stop the signals / Before they form / I wanna feel the pressure drop / I wanna smell the storm / I kinda feel like I’m spinning round / I kinda feel like I’m spinning round / But I’m not spinning round

ALL OVER IT AGAIN

You fall behind, I didn’t know / In a different mind, just goes to show / I couldn’t follow, got left behind / So hard to swallow or to define / I toed the line, you wouldn’t know / It was all a lie, just didn’t show / You were trying, wouldn’t let it go / Push against me when I go too slow / And it’s over, all over it again / Going over everything again / When it’s over we’ll go over it again / Going over everything again / We decide to go over it again / We forget to get over it again / We forget to go over it again / We forget to go over it again

GOING TO CALIFORNIA

Don’t bother standing up / Not gonna carry you / Going to California / Can’t afford to marry you baby

SHELTER

I know what I know / What do you want? / I know what side I’m on / I know what I want / What do you know? / Do you know what side you’re on? / Do we need to ask her / Is she safe with the lover? / Is there a monster? / Is this Helter Skelter? / Get it right now, get it right now / Pull it right over and get it right over / And get it right now / Will he neglect her? / Teach him to protect her / Cause she needs a shelter, / Not helter skelter / And what of the mother? / She needs a shelter / Not helter skelter

FALLING

I said I’m gonna kill you / I thought about it a lot / I know I’m gonna have to / I know I’m gonna have to / After all the rules are twisted / I’m out from under glass / I feel myself falling / I can feel myself falling / I’m pressed up to the mouthpiece / My lips and neck are wet / From a second hand expression / From a second hand expression / Of something once remembered / Of everything you’ve said / and what it might have meant now / and what it might have meant / I can feel the lava rising / and how it should have felt / But nothing will replace it / Nothing will replace it / And you’re gonna stop running / This place that you’re holding / Oh maybe there’s no one / O baby there’s no one there / I thought I might have felt you / But I was just pretending / Go now, it’s a long way home / I don’t want to walk the long way / After all the doors are opened / I’m out from under glass / I feel myself falling / I can feel myself falling

ALONE IN A CROWD

You surround yourself with people / And I know everyone / We’re alone in a crowd / And you know everyone / I know everyone has secrets / But I won’t ever tell / That I’m alone in a crowd / And you know everyone / I don’t care what people are thinking / And I won’t ever say / You’re alone in a crowd / No one’s business anyway / We surround ourselves with secrets / And I told every one / And you won’t ever tell / ‘Cause we know everyone / I don’t care what people are saying / And I won’t ever tell / That I’m alone in a crowd / And you know everyone

MAKING IT UP

I thought that you’d stopped trying / It’s like you don’t know / what the point is any more / It seems you stopped your crying / Is it cos you just don’t feel / That much any more? / I couldn’t tell if quietness / Meant you didn’t care / I kinda thought that stoicism / Was you just feeling scared / But I’ve been making it up so long / Making it up so long / I’ve been making it up so long / That it’s kinda come true / I wanted to impress you / But I could feel you getting / harder to impress / How could I have guessed you / Might be feeling shy / Or ashamed of yourself unless / You thought that you had let me down / And I had pulled away / Or had we fallen out of step / Ran out of things to say / I couldn’t tell if quietness / Meant you were getting bored / I kinda thought that cynicism / Would stop you feeling sore

SONIC SOUVENIRS

You got me jumping out of my skin / I’m rattling round like a skeleton / Setting me off like a rocket / It’s been so long / I’ve nearly forgotten what it’s like / You couldn’t have seen me coming / Through the forest and the trees / The blossoms and the leaves / You’re exactly what I need / They think that magic could be something / If the scientists just believed / And I got lots of funny new ideas / And I’ve got lots of sonic souvenirs / And I’m going away for a long long time / I see you coming but I don’t mind / I won’t be around for very long / I see you coming but I’ll be gone I’ll be gone / Like a senator in waiting / Always a bridesmaid / Haters gonna be hating / Destroying the stories they’ve been fabricating, / They’ll be gone they’ll be gone. / And I’ve got lots of funny new ideas / And I’ve got lots of sonic souvenirs / And I’m going away for a long long time / I see you coming, but I don’t mind / And I won’t be around for very long / I see you coming but I’ll be gone / And I don’t believe it anymore / I see you coming but I’ll be gone / I see you coming but I’ll be gone

KAREN TRUST ME

I skipped a beating down on the floor / Still ended up feeling kinda sore / My heart was beating two to four / I stitched my mouth up to be sure / I met the current, I felt the flow / Come let it take me where it would go / This dump is fairly kicking / Come watch me playing dead / Can’t spell my name but I’ve got soul feeling / Down past the bike track I’ll play my part / Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart / Karen trust me, I’ll play my part / Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart / Got an hour of sunlight with my name on it / If it’d be fun I might take the blame for it / My heart was beating two to four / I couldn’t say much with a broken jaw / Down past the bike track I’ll play my part / Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart / Karen trust me, I’ll play my part / Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart

NOT AFRAID

I wanna taste the dirt on my fingers / Wanna wake with my hair in the sand / I’m not afraid of dreams I’ve been having that I don’t understand / Overcome by the volume of history / Outdone by the weight of the world / Pushing down distorting my vision / Crushing my skull / Wanna squint into the sunlight / Lay me down neath the powerlines / Been so long since I felt electricity / Sing in my mind / There’s a dark horizon / I already knew / When I closed my eyes I had / A lot of forgetting to do / I wanna stop the movie from ending / I like the scene with your hair in the dirt / Been so long since I started pretending / This ain’t gonna hurt / I wanna float away from the capsule / Wanna feel the temperature drop / Not afraid of being abandoned / Or getting forgot / On a dark horizon / Where I already knew / If I closed my eyes there was / So much forgetting to do / There are empty spaces / I’ve already begun removing traces / Of all the forgetting I’ve done / At the dark horizon / I already knew / If I closed my eyes I had / So much forgetting to do

REGRETS

I might have some regrets / But I don’t let them kill me / Things I’d like to forget / Or try to change / Sometimes I get over / Your blaming of the past / It’s gonna get you nowhere, nowhere fast / I might have some regrets / But the decade wasn’t wasted / A letter to my family / A letter to my friends / Might explain away the strangeness / Don’t say you couldn’t tell / I don’t handle changes, changes well / You wanna get forgiven / You wanna let it go / You find you’re living in a shadow / Make better friends with / Who you became / It always ends with / Someone trying to pass the blame / Mistakes I should have learned from / Trying to avoid them / The second time around / To say that I was wasted / Or I was trying to waste your time / I was only wasting wasting mine

SCIATIC HEART

Oh oh oh I’m so high / Oh oh oh I’m so low / I explode like a volcano / Oh my heart’s a pathogen / Burning blood and oxygen / Try to leach it out and then / Oh oh start it all again / It’s my sciatic heart / It’s my medicated part / It’s the end before the start / It’s a permanent malaise / A continuing distaste / My emotions are displaced / My thoughts acting out in haste / Oh oh oh clench my jaw / Leaves me trembling and sore / I am crawling back for more / I’m collapsed here on the floor / It’s my sciatic heart / It’s my medicated part / It’s the end before the start

Karen Trust Me

Karen Trust Me

Karen Trust Me

Poison City Records | PCR131 | 23rdSeptember 2016

Written by Tim Steward, Kellie Lloyd and Dean Shwereb, 2016. Played by Tim, Kellie, Dean and Darek Mudge. Recorded and mixed by Darek Mudge at The Shed, June 2016. Mastered by Bryce Moorhead at Zero Interference, Brisbane.

Cover photo by Wolfgang Stahr, from the series “Employees must wash hands before returning to work“ (New York, 1995/96). www.wolfgangstahr.com

Appears on Pop Guilt.

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I skipped a beating down on the floor
Still ended up feeling kinda sore
My heart was beating 2 to 4
I stitched my mouth up to be sure

I met the current I felt the flow
Come let it take me where it would go
This dump is fairly kicking
Come watch me playing dead
Can’t spell my name but I’ve got soul feeling

Down past the bike track I’ll play my part
Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart
Karen trust me I’ll play my part
Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart

Got an hour of sunlight with my name on it
Thought it might be fun I can take the blame for it

My heart was beating 2 to 4
I couldn’t say much with a broken jaw

Down past the bike track I’ll play my part
Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart
Karen trust me I’ll play my part
Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart
Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart
Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart
Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart
Got a propane brain and a sciatic heart

All Over It Again

All Over It Again

Poison City Records | PCR126 | 1st July 2016

Recorded in May 2016 by Darek Mudge at The Shed, Brisbane. Mixed by Wayne Connolly at Turning Studios, Sydney. Mastered by Bryce Moorhead at Zero Interference, Brisbane. Words by Kellie, music by Tim, Kellie and Dean.

Appears on Pop Guilt.

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All Over It Again

$5.00

POISON CITY RECORDS | PCR126 | 1st July 2016

PREORDER the CD version of our July 2016 single. For digital download visit our bandcamp.

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Alone In A Crowd

Alone In A Crowd

Poison City Records | PCR116 | November 27, 2015

Our first new recording in 10 years. Recorded by Darek Mudge & Bryce Moorhead at The Shed, Brisbane, Sept 2015. Mixed by Darek Mudge. Mastered by Hans DeKline at Sound Bites Dog, Los Angeles.

Written and performed by Kellie Lloyd, Tim Steward & Dean Shwereb with Darek Mudge on additional guitar.

Appears on Pop Guilt.

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Alone In A Crowd

$4.00

Slipcase promo CD edition of our 2015 single.

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Lyrics

Alone In A Crowd You surround yourself with people and I know everyone / we’re alone in a crowd and you know everyone / I know everyone has secrets / but I won’t ever tell / that I’m alone in a crowd and you know everyone / I don’t care what people are thinking and I won’t ever say / you’re alone in a crowd / no one’s business anyway / we surround ourselves with secrets / and I told every one / and you won’t ever tell / ’cause we know everyone / I don’t care what people are saying and I won’t ever tell / that I’m alone in a crowd and you know everyone

Rules of Attraction Time will wait but I can’t waste my time / trying to find a place to where I can rewind / instead of the malaise, instead of all the violence / imagine hitting erase and hearing silence / time goes slow sitting around on pause / as the magnetism starts losing force / and every molecule falls to distraction from the rules of attraction / there was something you said was one of my mistakes / I want to play it back to you, I want to play it back to you / thought we could do it better but take after take / I couldn’t give it back to you, I couldn’t give it back to you / time don’t wait, you got me in a tangle / chasing the tail of the latest mangle / won’t pause you / don’t delete me / don’t fast forward me completely / there was something that you did, I keep trying to find it / I want to play it back to you, I want to play it back to you / it gets more distorted with every time I rewind it / I’m trying to get it back for you, I’m trying to get it back for you / there was something you said, was one of my mistakes / I want to play it back to you, I want to play it back to you / time got lost and we ran out of takes / I couldn’t give it back to you

I’m fighting I’m fighting / fighting something inside / can’t look in the mirror / got a bolt of lightning / been trying to hide / too busy to see ya / got so many things that I just gotta say / god they’re chewing up my mind / I’m fighting / I’m fighting / what can I do? / got it into my fingers / like a bolt of lightning / it came outta the blue / too busy to ring ya / got so many things that I just gotta say / gonna take me quite some time / I’m fighting / one day I will write my masterpiece / one day I’ll write my Dorian Gray / one day I will write my Candy Says I’ll write my Sister Ray / I’m fighting