DiskothiQ - The Wandering Jew (1994) [Shrimper, SHR55, LP/CD]
I didn't learn until early 2022 that this album actually had some cassette copies made. Not by Shrimper, but by Sonic Enemy! Like the surviving copies of SE release Delicious, Homemade, it has a handwritten tracklist and a J-card with paper that used to be held together with glue. Click the thumbnails directly below to see larger scans:
You most likely won't be able to find a copy of the tape version. As discussed on the Sonic Enemy info page, most Sonic Enemy releases have not survived into circulation. You can, however, buy the LP or CD version from the usual suspects, and find the files on Bandcamp, using the buttons below:
From the booklet:
everything by DiskothiQ which is Peter & Kevin Hughes and Kevin Trapp except "Tulsa Imperative" which was written by the Mountain Goats; the lines "I hear the planets / they're singing our names" which were lifted from an Extra Glenns song; the frequent use to B7 in "Most Eligible Bachelor" and the A#7 in the bridge of "Other Lover's Waltz" which can be attributed to the influence of Franklin Bruno" and extra drumming on the CD Bogus Track version of "AHS" by Bob Durkee, who incidentally recorded all these songs @ FBE Studios in San Dimas CA July 16 - August 16, 1994. Many thanks to the above, Dennis Callaci, Gary Held, Nathan Wilson, Brian Latta, Jon & Marty Davis, Gloria Putnm, and the parents of DiskothiQ. Kevin Trapp uses only genuine Nissan parts. This is Shrimper 55. Cover star: Greg Lendahl.
From Peter's blog:
There were earlier full-length efforts, but this was our first venture beyond cassettes and four tracks. Semi-competent indie-rock with bad singing. The Mountain Goats cover ("Tulsa Imperative") is a song John played for me one day at Casa de Badger but refused to release because such was his purist streak at the time that if he failed to come up with an acceptable recording of a song within a day or so of its conception, that was it, any subsequent attempts at recording would lack the required immediacy, which, as I liked the song, pissed me off no end. Eventually, with John's blessing, we just went ahead and recorded the damn thing ourselves. O but for the singing.
Peter H's lament about the singing is to be taken with a grain of salt, the cover of "Tulsa Imperative" is just beautiful. Anyhow, here's the first DiskothiQ CD release, and the third full album. This is the one you put on for a bad breakup. You want fast and loud you put on Harmless, you want energy with some balance you put on Waterworld, you put on football to have some fun. You want company when you're lying on the floor, you get this one going. Also, if I had to pick tracks for a DiskothiQ best-of, it's "Loozers" first; if we're allowing covers, then "Tulsa Imperative" next; and then "Most Eligible Bachelor".
Some song notes, before we get into lyrics:
Lyrics transcribed below with varying degrees of success.
01. Most Eligible Bachelor
well i'm ashamed to say
that i could think that way
it's time you learned what to expect
there's not much more than a handshake
and the smile could quite very well be fake
and there's something tells me that this was a big mistake
if i had half a chance to help myself
to more than just what i've been dealt
i'll forfeit every time
some things just aren't meant to become mine
you have no way of knowing
the depth of my self-loathing
there's more to this than meets your eye
and there's lights going on in my right brain
and your hints are as broad as a freight train
and there's something wrong that i can't quite articulate
if i had half a clue what's best for me
i'd cling to you and be redeemed
for all my treachery
guess what human nature ever asked of me
i guess it's up to you now
i dont know what to do
it's time i got straight what i want
and you know that you'd probably do me
oh from the way that you're lookin right through me
and i'm wondering just how low i will sink
if i could rid myself of every lie
i told myself to just get by
without examining just how pathetic i've become
i'd be home free
02. Tulsa Imperative
Mountain Goats cover
03. Leap Cat Leap
leap cat leap
oh i'd love to see you try
and leave all this behind
and don't pay them no mind
leap cat leap
it's only a long way down if you fall
but you're much too strong for that
yeah you're much too strong to fall
leap cat leap
your aim is true
your footing sure
it's what you've got to lose
next to what you've got to prove
i would like to buy the rights to
each and every word you say
i would put them in the dirt
and watch the rain wash them away
04. Going to Nick's
hello friend, pull up a chair
the cups they have no bottoms here
there's room enough for our despair
just so long as you never leave
oh but why should we ever leave
come and spend some time with me
appreciate the finer things
the love through[?] the misery
it's the best i can afford
oh but why expect anything more
the last decision to be made
is whether to go out today
it doesn't mater if i lie here
what's important is i stay
within the limits that i circumscribe around myself
and nothing's ever gonna change again
as long as i can help it
entropy is beautiful
there's nothing wrong
there's nothing wrong
there's nothing wrong with me
05. Kidney
there's a kidney-shaped spot on the wall
next to where i last saw you
there's a million things a boy can do
but not one matters to me
and i miss how we sat
with your head in my lap
there's a kidney shaped spot on the wall
and i blame it on you
06. Other Lover's Waltz
and i remember how we talked
your lips pressed against my ear
sure i'd gladly take a walk
but that was 'fore the end was near
and though the room was filled with smoke
we found our anxious way outside
and though we seldom even spoke
oh there are worlds within sighs
the time had come for a goodbye
without the barest hint of grief
i wrapped my arms around you twice
and heaved a huge breath of relief
and of course i'll never write
and i swear i'll never call on tuesday
and i'm scared of him, you're right
well what's to be afraid of now
there's no reason to stay
and there's a thousand ways to say goodnight
and what would my mom think
if i brought home a nice jewish girl
with a ring through her nose
07. Chandra Mukhi
in san dimas i was not aware
of the indian community there
til i got up and went to a movie
and i happened on chandra mukhi
she spoke in a language which i did not know
came from a land from a long time ago
she fell to the earth when she dropped a gold leaf
made me a man as i lay fast asleep
chandra mukhi
don't say you're sorry to me
chandra mukhi
just drape your sari on me
of all the things that aroused her contempt
foremost among them were suitors intents
upon making her the object of their spell
but i'd rather watch this than say, saved by the bell
i hear the planets, they're singin our names
soon chandra mukhi is going away
[not sure on this line] and come through with the best
but now my space angel has fulfilled her quest
chandra mukhi
don't say you're sorry for me
chandra mukhi
just drape your sari on me
from the beginnings of time she had swung
across the cosmos her praises are sung
now i beseech you please sing out with me
as we raise our voices for chandra mukhi
sing
sing
sing
08. Loozers
i don't know what i want
i'll admit this much is true
but i know what i don't
i wonder now, do you
remember who you are
remember where you've been
or have we come so far
that i must say i knew you when
if i have a drink
will i still refrain
from saying what i think
you know just what i think
i wouldn't put you down but
hey whatever happened to self doubt
it's not such a bad thing y'know
no it's not such a bad thing
i'm not playing hard to get
i'm not playing at all
i'm not afraid you don't see me retreating
what you see is what you get
you can have it all
just convince me that it's what i needed
i don't know what to think
call me a hypocrite
but just what does it mean to say
that only losers quit
10. Supersqualor
you wreak more havoc than you know
you reap the fucked up shit you sow
a lifetime of debauchery
unmatched in natural history
is all you've got to show
another mannered sordid glance
a measured stirring in my pants
i quickly learned what's to be gained
when you dismiss all self-restraint
but this time i don't even want to know
well are you really so surprised
expecting me to sympathize
bereft of all dignity
a humorless self-parody
is all that you've become
when you consume them with such hate
why should they remember your face
i think i know just who you are
the child of pamela des barres
well i can't help but think it's kinda lame
you're so candid
i can't stand it
just keep away
oh god damn it
well i understand it all too well
these things you say
well they betray
our fucked up mental lack
of common fucking self-respect
oh how i would like to see
you stripped bare of everything but that
of course [?] apologize for effect
but they brought all the shit you've wrecked
just for the sake of proving you're beyond all hope or help
and christ someday i swear i'll quit
it's hard to even give a shit
when you so clearly could not ever give two shits yourself
11. AHS
in the locker room
football after school
kids affixing black strips
to their helmets
all the flags fly at half staff today
at loyola high
a single blackbird wings his way
across a milky sky
what they don't know won't hurt them
but it sure hurt you
no choice but to desert them
i know these can't be
a million shades of green
becomes a eulogy
what they don't know might hurt them
now it can't hurt you
now you have shown for certain
there's nothing to hold onto
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