Review Text
"Space Woman Yeah"-My dad is a former NASA engineer and lifelong astronomy buff; consequently, my siblings and I spent a lot of nights on a flannel blanket in our backyard staring up at the sky when we were kids. While waiting for a meteor shower one night, we did, in fact, see 30 satellites. Dad was also the local "go-to guy" when anyone saw anything strange in the nighttime sky. While cleaning and rearranging my basement to create a space for my home studio (Magnetic Door Studio), I happened across a cassette tape marked, "UFO interview 1974." I transcribed the interview, which was between my dad and a rural Central Wisconsin woman who had seen some strange lights zoom across her farm field near Hixton/Northfield, WI. During the questioning, she mentions stories of similar sightings in the Eau Claire newspaper. One man, she says, who also saw the lights, was "so scared, he got out of his car and went down in the ditch." Wow--how crazily that coincides with my fictitious, alien 'seduction' story. My lyrics for this song are heavily influenced by the following: my dad's personal stories, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a 1970's era TV show called Project U.F.O. (a predecessor of the X Files), and the TV mini-series V. As Fox Moulder says, "I want to believe." Greg Adams-vocals, acoustic guitar, Moog tidbits, spaceship whines (wines?), background vocals, radio chatter, glockenspiel; Tom Kutrieb-electric guitars/feedback, bat guitar, piano, bass, funky keyboard solo, background vocals, radio chatter; Zach Brawford: drums. "Hair"-A carry-over from college, written in my dorm room in Yashiro, Japan, on an unplugged electric guitar. This one goes out to my friend Karl Pearson-Cater, one of the coolest people I know. Our bands the Raging Bagels and rottweiller were rad back in the day. While both exchange students in Japan, Karl and I played this song with a young Japanese drummer during a "guitar club" meeting at Kansai Gaidai University. I don't think this guy had ever played original music, especially not something sorta funky with two American college kids. With a massive grin on his face, the hyped up drummer continued to bounce uncontrollably on his drums stool and laugh aloud for about a full minute after the song finished. (Note: "Hair" was my first-ever music video uploaded to youtube-search for gladams2007 or you might just get a Lady Gaga video--directed and edited by the amazing Jessie Braun.) Greg Adams-vocals, rhythm and wah guitar; Tom Kutrieb-bass, trumpet solo; Zach Brawford-drums. "Funakoshi's Paperback"-These discombobulated lyrics began as a simple writing exercise. While driving to work I would look around and try to string together rhyming couplets from words, phrases and images I spied around me. Eventually, I worked in couplets based on things surrounding me at home. My daughter Addy contributed a few, as well. Tom laid down an electronic beat, rescued a long-forgotten bass line and arranged the music around the lyrics. Greg Adams-lead vocals, chorus vocals, match strike; Tom Kutrieb-bass, guitars, drum programming, chorus vocals, whistling; Richard Price-nylon-string guitar sketches; Leland Brenholt-Kung Fu flute; Deb Kutrieb, Jeff Gulczynski, Shawn Larson-additional chorus vocals. "Checkout Line"-Written when I was a grocery stock (stalk?) boy...there's really not much more to say. Greg Adams-vocals, acoustic guitar, bass; Tom Kutrieb-lead guitar, laser scanner solo; Zach Brawford-drums; Apryl Price plays the part of the checkout girl (and for the record, SHE is not a ditz). "Cocoon"-A song about dissatisfaction through the eyes of a pissed off butterfly. I pushed Tom to play his solo on bass. Incredibly, the end result is very similar in style and feel to a "sloth pop" band I love, Pedro the Lion (whom Tom has never even heard). Strange that one of the darkest songs I've written was one of the first we recorded. Greg Adams-vocals, acoustic guitar; Tom Kutrieb-bass, including bass solo, drum programming
