Vinyl available through Alternative Tentacles. - $12
CD available through Neurot.
Half drunken ramblings after the pictures...
So we released Jersey Shores in October 2008, the release show was also our 10 year anniversary as a band, free to the public, and populated with all our close friends, family, and long time fans. Writing, recording, and especially performing the album was a taxing, yet ultimately rewarding experience. I feel like we grew substantially as musicians in that time, and it was a central part of solidifying the band's sound with Aaron as an established and talented contributor. Blah blah blah, yeah... But it's special to me. The fucking record means a lot to us.
Neurot released the CD, and I still feel like they are the perfect home for the tone of the album. It fits better next to Neurosis and US Christmas than it does Dead Kennedys and Triclops. The moniker on the inside of the record "Get dark. Get high. Get loud." is meant as a very sincere listening suggestion. It sold about as well as all our other records, which is not very much. Due to various financial and political reasons with Neurot and Revolver the album never got pressed to vinyl. Revolver are shit by the way, just as shady as the Mordam/Lumberjack capitalist mayhem that occurred just before they went under. Akimbo stopped touring all the time which killed the momentum that normally fuels our prolific behavior, and I started worrying that the vinyl would get forgotten and possibly never be released.
It's weird to me that we don't play these songs live all that much. It feels like there's an unspoken understanding that this record is a unique departure for us, and it deserves its own special place in our history. It's also meant to be heard as a single cohesive piece, so it feels weird playing just a song and then stopping when you know it should go on for another 40, 30 or 20 minutes. Somehow it feels very okay to just leave this album alone as a time stamp on a moment.
After two goddamn years I'm now holding the vinyl in my living room. A few good friends ended up stepping to the plate for us on putting the vinyl out and while I truly thank them all, we ended up going with Mr. Biafra and Alternative Tentacles. Jesse Roberts' beautiful oil paintings can now be appreciated at the size and majesty that they were created at, and I can finally breathe easy knowing the record has ran a full lap around the underground apathy course. More importantly though,
I have it. We're not the kind of band that has a ravenous following. We persevere because we like the music and it's fun, and having a physical manifestation of the trials and memories is extremely important to me.
