dillinger four

Dillinger Four, The Arrivals, Tiltwheel, and The Riverboat Gamblers played the Casbah Friday night. I only got to see one Tiltwheel song, I don't really dig the Riverboat Gamblers, but The Arrivals and Dillinger Four were outstanding, as expected.

The Arrivals, plus two dudes huge noggins:

Paddy - my hero and haircut mentor:

Dillinger Four:

Seeing Dillinger Four was pretty special for me. In addition to being my favorite current band, the Situationist Comedy album helped get me through one of the rougher stretched of my life. I was broke, just really scratching by, I was in a city I hated, I knew no one, and my job was completely and totally demoralizing.

Here's some songs and lyrics that helped a whole bunch.

Folk Song:

It's like picking up the pieces is a daily chore
Thinking of your time card forms a habit
Watching rich folks on T.V.'s like picking a sore
Fuck it all, they can have it
And now I'm loaded like a gun again
Like a plague of locusts heaven sent
Just a ball of dissension with a death perception
I won't sweat the definition of content

They said "better safe than sorry" and "look out for #1"
I heard "only play the cards your shown"
Fuck what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Only in your grave are you alone

Like grown men staring with little boy's eyes
And actresses speaking with conviction
These people should demand a pulitzer prize
For various works of fiction

"Judge a book by it's cover"
And "keep one eye on your back"
I heard "only play the cards your shown"
I say fuck what they say
It doesn't matter anyway
Only in your grave are you alone

So many people with so much to show
Rotting away in their own little holes
One can only wonder why
I'll celebrate my home
But know that I'm not alone
Only fools are "along for the ride"
In thinking of the size
Of the world that's right outside
Please don't waste it trying to hide



A Floater Left In The Executive Washroom With Pleasure:


Single file lines born by design
With a brass ring so deceiving
Chipped away to a status cult
Where indifference breeds control
And then with time comes "toe the line"
Cherish this pride made numb from feeling
The we have denial
"It's all in my head"

Will we do anything for bread?

If anything we've ever said
Means nothing now than it never did
Believe me
This isn't what we want
This isn't what we need
This is what we can afford

Where once there was a pat on the back
Is now just a crack of the whip
Where once there was a celebrated coming of age
Is just a uniform that doesn't fit
Witness this most common breed
Whittled down to property
And keep on singin'
"It's all in my head"

Will we do anything for bread?

If anything we've ever said
Means nothing now than it never did
Believe me
This isn't what we want
This isn't what we need
This is what we can afford

Celebrate this sorry state
With anecdotes of what you hate
And try to take comfort in the fact
That you're not alone

This isn't you
It's just what you do
Don't mistake the irony of calling it a "living"
If you feel like no one
If you feel like nothing
You've only been taking what they're giving



Laborissuesinthetoydepartment:


"Know your place"
It's like a voice
That won't go away
Live vices we hold to tradition
Like children not allowed to across the street
Starving for some recognition
Where want and honesty meet
Nothing known can match the bitter pain
Of happiness just beyond the reach of your chain
And the overwhelming feeling it will be the same forever

Now here I'm looking down a hole again
Treating damage and despair like they're long lost friends
With no remedy at all
I'm waiting for the fall
Staring out the window
Like what's outside's unattainable

Cover me with roses for the funeral pyre
Shoot this dashing carcass out to fucking sea
I can't wait, in this state
This voice, these hands
Don't feel like they're really
Me

I'm the blinded who can feel that he's surrounded by walls
And relief is very seldom cheap
Now I think I'm gonna snap
Like prey in a trap
Watch as desperation takes a seat
Forgive me my trespasses
Like I know I'll trespass tonight
Don't want to hear any fucking voices at all
Even if they're saying I'm alright

Memories beating soundly on the body
Cursing what's left of the sorry shell
I'd give anything to make this heart stop pounding
Staring out the window
Like what's outside's unattainable

Cover me with roses for the funeral pyre
Shoot this dashing carcass out to fucking sea
I can't wait, in this state
This voice, these hands
Don't feel like they're really...

Now life's like a b-movie
That no one wants to see
Here comes the zombie
Portraying me
What was once so crystal clear
Is now cranked past the norm
And I can't take it anymore