DiskothiQ - Waterworld (1996) [Shrimper, SHR86, CD]
From peter's blog:
In which we tried very hard to be something more than semi-competent indie-rock with bad singing. And came close. Title was my brother's slag on how much time and money we poured into the thing. I think I wanted to call it Spruce Goose for similar reasons, but Waterworld is funnier. There are a few moments here that I am unequivocally proud of though: coming out of the bridge going into the guitar solo in "Pomp & Circumstance"; Brent from Further's trumpet and keys outro for "Albatros" ([sic] by the way); the "Vacancy" fade into the theme from Love Story, even if the rest of the song is kinda lame.
I like all the CD releases DiskothiQ put out, all of them have high points: "Loozers" and the "Tulsa Imperative" cover on Wandering Jew; "Cowboys" and "Chiefs" and "Panthers" on The Football Albums. And of all the CD-era stuff, I think Waterworld holds up as the strongest coherent whole. (I find Harmless/Unharmable equally strong, but they're doing different things, I don't want to rank one over the other.)
Peter did an interview with the Gutless zine about this album (I'd like to get in touch with the person who did this interview to make sure they're OK with my archiving it here), which you can read a transcript of here and view full scans of below by clicking the thumbnails. Peter talks about student teaching, Operation Condor, and Germany. It's great!
Links to get ahold of this album yourself:
From the booklet:
Recorded by Bob Durkee at fBe Studios in San Dimas California between October 1995 and September 1996.
Peter Hughes guitars, Casios, singing
Kevin Trapp drums, guitar
Kevin Hughes bass.
with Lisa Anderson singing on To Face The Truth
Kyle Brodie eggs on Leigh Can't Leave
Franklin Bruno melodica on Argentine Drinking Song
Bob Durkee guitar on Witness Protection Program
Gloria Putnam piano on Argentine Drinking Song
Brent Rademaker trumpet & keyboard on Albatros
and featuring Rik Albatros as himself
Mastered by John Golden
Performed on instruments kindly lent by Fiona Brigstocke, Dennis Callaci, Steve Cronk, Chris Damore, Bob Durkee, Mark Hower, and Nathan Wilson.
To Face The Truth c 1990 Tennant/Lowe, all other songs c 1996 Hughes/DiskothiQ
01. Great Expectations
take me to the lost and found
i think there's something that i'm missing yet again
you thought i learned last time around
now suddenly i'm asking myself
how can i explain myself to you
i would not ask you to believe me girl but
what else can i do
tear your hair out of your head
if it does any good i hope you'll let me know
cause lately everything ive said
just comes out wrong and leaves me asking myself
how can i explain myself to you
i would not ask you to believe me girl but
what else can i do
how can you expect me to be true
after all i've done to prove myself so
unworthy of you
02. Imperial Anthem
you might say that i lack the words to
adequately sum up the world but
right now in this place here
there's just one thing that needs to be said, oh
so put your head right next to mine
and i'll tell you again for the umpeenth time
what i'm not afraid to admit anymore
there's not one thing left to want for
put your hand over your heart and
repeat with me our favorite part and
pledge yourself all flesh and bone
to this sacred place that we call home
like words upon some random page
we play upon this unlikely stage
we raise our voices ever higher
to our great and glorious empire
03. Pomp & Circumstance
i've got no words of wisdom
i don't have much to say
but i'm sorry that it had to rain
upon your graduation day
i remember being in your shoes
subject to all sorts of advice
from pompous and misguided fools
who'd somehow missed their boats
but would see me off on mine
still i wish that i could see you now
soaked to the bone in cap and gown
the red and black runs to the ground
oh keep the speeches short we're gonna drown
and i know that you'll be happy
so much moreso than myself
a well adjusted gal like you
well you sure don't need my help
but i'd love to be there just the same
to hear them mispronounce your name
you tell yourself you'll never be the same
and whe you wake up one fine morning and the sun you knew is gone
i hope you'll recognize that that's just the dawn
04. To Face The Truth Pet Shop Boys cover.
05. Albatros
the wish to be
anywhere but here
right now seems to me
quite pressing and quite clear
another rainy
tuesday afternoon
i'll pour a cup of tea
and i dont wanna know
if what i descry
ain't much after all
sunday in the garden
camellias are in bloom
and every word you send me
fills up this empty room
i hear you in my daydreams
from half a world away
i draw myself a warm bath
and i don't wanna know
if what i think i see
ain't much after all
and i ain't got much to hold onto
so what i got i keep a death grip on
06. Witness Protection Program
i've never seen so many stars in my whole fuckin life
i swear to god i never thought i'd live to see this night
and you're beautiful you're beautiful beneath the open sky
and no one's gonna stop us now no matter how they try
now we'll always be together
you and i alone forever
yesterday was just a real bad dream
we're starting over clean
the open road enfolds us in a casual embrace
it's a perfect night for taking flight
we're gone without a trace
and i'm trembling as the morning glow lights up this western plain
two bodies on a jersey shore now girl we got it made
embarking on a new adventure
it's time for sampling simple pleasures
(the biggest tax returns you've ever seen)
we're starting over clean
you'll never have to hide those skeletons again
there's not a trace of fear left in these eyes
you'll never have to break the bank and run again
you'll learn to call me eddie
i love to call you betty
we'll live and love where we can not be seen
we're starting over
starting over yeah
we're starting over clean
07. Leigh Can't Leave
0-dark-thirty Truckstop, USA
there's a girl who sleeps alone 2000 miles away
and on the television with the volume down
he's careful not to wake her he doesn't make a sound
and she can't help but love him
she thinks he's really great
leigh can't leave but i wonder why you wait
exactly ten days later i follow in his wake
this lightning storm's the only thing
that's keeping me awake
and with iowa beneath me and the wrath of god above
all i've got to offer is not nearly enough
and tonight's my night to call you
but it's getting kinda late
leigh can't leave but i wonder why you wait
she waits for the day he'll take her with him
you wait for the day when i won't go away
my body bruised spirit defeated
just dumb enough to do it all again
aproaching 12:30 College Town, VA
sounding truly unimpressive through a shitty old PA
and tonight i'm quite embittered but i'll stifle my complaint
cause deep inside i know that i'm the only one to blame
and you know that i love you
well what else can i say
leigh can't leave but i wonder why you wait
08. Vacancy
the distance between you and me is such
that i can't say for sure what's in between
i'd never been the sort to notice much
i just wish i could say exactly what has changed
the distance between you and me is such
that you cannot but fail to comprehend
the willingnesss that flees before your touch
and calls to mind the empty space again
and this is not good for you
in fact it's quite bad for all concerned
i wish i could do for you what you deserve
the nature of this vacancy is such
that i can only wait until the day
when everything you've got seems like enough
to just start again and throw it all away
and this is not good for you
in fact it's quite bad for all concerned
wish i could do for you what you deserve
i'll pull back all that shoddy skin
to where the brittle core begins
and leave you outside in the bracing cold
and when it comes your time to bloom
i'll set you in your favorite room
and leave you bathed in morning's spangled gold
the distances involved are such that you cannot conceive
the merest glimmer of the truth impossible to be believed
you can try to hold me to it
but you will not hold onto me
and this is not good for you
in fact it's quite bad for all concerned
wish i could do for you what you deserve
09. I Hope You Don't
we got the message that you left
we'd never heard you so upset
i wish somehow that we coudld get to you
so take these words as my reply
i'm sticking needles in my eyes
the better to see the ones that you're trying to
and i hope you don't regret it
oh but god i hope you do
cause if you don't regret it
there's not much left for us to do
10. Argentine Drinking Song
the last thing i remember
was being thrown to the floor
just after the basebal bats
had beaten down my door
i guess i knew they were coming
it came as no surprise
and i would soon be finding out
where all the others hide
and the cold salt air
and the chilling breeze
and i am falling
and i am naked
and this is not a dream
11. Ovelay Ockray
this is the one song that doesn't have its lyrics transcribed in the booklet, so they had to be transcribed by ear from the CD version with help from the version on an earlier 7-inch. it's a work in progress.
well very little i ever sought has been so perpetually elusive
i've come to think of the terms love and rock as being mutually exclusive
but there's a date on the calendar marked
it's saying something about a map
and out in the street there's a camera on
looking like some kind of trap
so wipe the sleep from your eyes
open the door and plug in the Snackmasters
pancakes shaped like hearts and butterflies
oh i'm flirting with disaster
but god damn she's flirting back
i'm trying to watch your lips
i'm trying to make out the words
oh but given the choice between this and a kiss
well try and guess which i prefer
there's messages on the machine
i'm leaving this note on the door
i think you know just what i mean
i'm not fuckin around anymore
so grab a stick of gum
well you can leave your shit in the car for now
well i'm as fucked-up sucker as they come
oh just stay right where you are right now
just stay right where you are
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