Will a demo be posted one of these days?

Again, thanks for the show. It was good to hear the rest of the songs in full-band mode.

I gotta give the nod to Palsy, Death to the Traitor and Catherine Zeta-Jones (ultra-catchy and ultra-kitschy). Stasiland is such a complicated song and it’s growing on me.

dj

Also, thanks for the reference to the “Donald Trump Splash Feast,” which only old-timey fans would remember.

Funny you should mention an aversion to the backing tracks on Stasiland. Karl is arguing that we dispense with the the backing tracks on the new record and perform everything live. I think he might be on to something. I also miss the German bgv’s, which we haven’t taken the time to work out in rehearsal.

Water on the Brain seems to be a song a lot of listeners are gravitating toward. I hope we can inject some of the gravitas of the live performance into the recording.

Jim: No question Water on the Brain is an album-worthy track. Funny story: when we were on tour with Bobby Conn a year ago, both he and his wife earmarked that song as the best of the set.

Bobby suggested a more “Bowie-eque” delivery– more croon, less Devo. We’ll see what happens in the studio.

Stasiland has been a surprise to me. I thought that was a B-side, at best, but even my fiance singles that one out as a keeper. I feel ambivalent about it live, honestly. It’s a tough song to play– especially for Ben with all of those runs in the bass– but it gets consistently good reviews from the congregation.

“Falsettos” is definitely a verb.

Water on the Brain; is that the one with the hushed bridge that Carl falsettos over before building back into a dancin’ frenzy? I’ve always wondered what that one was called ’cause I can never make out the lyrics. I’d really have to say that it’s probably been my most favorite one since first hearing it in it’s early stages. I really, REALLY hope this one makes it to the album. And I’m pretty sure that falsettos is a verb.

Stasiland – another good one. I think I could do without the midi “ohs” live. and I think the other’s should join in on the german vocal parts. Andrew’s non-human drumming sounded really great.

DTTT – really well done!

Piggly Man – another one of my live favorites. Have you thought of having carl try to sing that one keyboard part (more oh’s, I like them too). It occurred to me that that might really sound cool.

Water on the Brain – no demo of this one yet. reminds me everytime of grace under pressure era rush (which is not an insult). This is another one that is a real real favorite of mine. The little keyboard part in the chorus is so so so infectious. i am repeating words lots lots lots

Zeta – I do like this one, but interestingly enough, even though it seems to be the most “throw-back” to earlier holz, its actually lower on my list of favorite new songs.

Oslo – i will have to admit, after slagging it a bit earlier, i really enjoyed this one last night. There was an energy in it that I don’t normally feel.

Palsy
Stasiland
DTTT
Piggly Man
Water on the Brain

and more!

We’re also enthused to have Karl back with us from the Faraway Land of Med School Prerequisites!

Tonight’s bill will be completely odd and awesome. Hope y’all can make it.

And for the record. I do NOT want you to revert to the sci-fi nerdom of WRTD. I remember telling DJ years ago -before COD – that as much as I liked it, for the band to keep going you would have to move away from the novelty nature of that first ablum.

For me I guess that its a matter of how far on the pendulum you swing. Some of the songs that swing to far over to convention leave me wanting something a little more dorky and inventive. But the ones that hit somewhere in the middle are by far my favorite detholz material to date.

See ya tonight! Looking forward to hearing some of the new songs. which ones are you going to be playing?

As to form, well, I tend to keep these demos abbreviated. Crank the idea out, badda-bip, badda-boop, move on. In MANY cases, we end up extending existing parts or adding new ones in full rehearsal. That happened on DTTT, Zeta, and a lot of others from the blog.

Jim: Not to worry– comments like yours are comments I crave. If everyone were gushing with enthusiasm unanimously, it’d make me trust you a little less.

I have to strongly disagree with you, though, in terms of risk and challenge in more recent Detholz! songs. It’s actually far easier to sit down and write a crazy, campy tune where there are no holds barred and one can flex every musical muscle at one’s disposal. Much of the older Detholz! material was written that way– cram as many ideas into one bloated, overfed song as possible.

I’ve discovered it’s incredibly challenging — especially for a bona fide music geek like me with admittedly arcane tastes — to sit down and write something that is more “straight ahead.” It takes a great deal of restraint and requires much tighter control of compositional elements.

It’s funny– a writeup of “Cast Out Devils” on iTunes begins by saying “I bought this record thinking it would sound like a snotty inside joke but was pleasantly surprised” (or something to that effect). That says it all right there, man! The general populace has little patience for the sort of immature, over-complex musical wankery that we churned out in our early years. And at this point in my life, so do I!

(With the exception of “Sunburned in the Sun,” which still holds its title in the band as the favorite Detholz! song.)

My experience in Baby Teeth has been instructive in this regard. I originally joined Baby Teeth 4 years ago as my “sell-out” band– a band I thought would have a lot of instant bubblegum appeal. What we’ve discovered over the years of touring and playing countless shows is that, by and large, Baby Teeth is viewed as another “weird” band. Even when we’re making a conscious effort to avoid it!

For those of you whose ears have been “opened” to the wacky world of experimental or “avant-garde” music, bear in mind that what sounds straightforward to you sounds like gobbledygook to the average music fan. Also, by and large, most people could give a rat’s ass about indie rock. Touring with Wilco definitely burned that onto my brain.

Having playing “Xmas Palsy” a few times live, it gets the best response of any song in the current set. Also, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to play a 4-on-the-floor, shakey-shake sort of tune like that– a hell of lot more fun than, say, a song like “Army of Mars” was to play. We were all on pins and needles trying to stay on top of the ridiculous number of chord changes!

‘Bab: Good point. Always remember that these demos are just that: demonstration recordings. They’re intended as a guide for the band. Sometimes we pretty much stick to what’s recorded here, other times not. But the song ALWAYS sounds different with 5 red-blooded humans playing rather than me and my band of robots.

As to the supposed lack of risk, see above. I’m taking HUGE musical risks in these songs — just in the opposite direction!

As to picky readers, I would expect no less from Detholz! fans. Whether you’re talking about the old or new stuff, the music’s all pretty Prussian.

BP: Thanks, brother! I’m glad at least one of our hoarier fans “gets” this one. As to word plays, I’m most proud of “liquor/lick her” on Xmas Palsy. (slurp, glug)

Jim: My guess is if you spend more time with this song, as with Xmas Palsy, you’ll discover something in there. Perhaps not, but my spidey sense is telling me that this one will go over similarly to Xmas Palsy.

Speaking intuitively, again, I can sort of tell which songs will take and which won’t. To paraphrase Han Solo: “I have a [good] feeling about this…”