Author: fwmusic

New Tunes, Old Croons and Side Hustles

News From The Week That Was

Is everyone as excited as Boyne (pictured) about the recording process?  A double session this week as we finished the bones of a new song and did a review of what we feel might be ready to go for the newest album.  We have 5 songs that we are confident are ready and 7 more that may need a little tweaking.  Your newest Fighting Whiskey release may not be that far off!

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Scarfo’s #2 – Greatest Stories Live

Who? Harry Chapin

What? Greatest Stories Live

Why?

Okay, so I cheated again, picking a live album.  This hadn’t even been on my radar for this list until I found myself on a long drive back from Windsor last week.  It was kicking around in my car’s CD changer (it’s an ‘06 Yaris – live with the jealousy) and as each song passed, I remembered more and more how underrated and undervalued he was.

Known primarily as the “Cat’s in the Cradle” guy, Harry Chapin was a master storyteller and this delivers what it promises – some of his greatest stories, live in Los Angeles.  He has fun with the crowd between tunes and with his band – the songs are above and beyond great.  If you’ve ever had a dream, “Mr. Tanner” will break your heart, “30,000 Pounds of Bananas” will make you laugh and “A Better Place To Be” is both the greatest story song and greatest love song ever written.  I’m not adding a humble “IMO” to that – bow before the facts of Scarfo.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Trying to relearn a song that you had written, recorded and forgotten how to play is a frustrating and humbling experience.
  2. Boyne may have a secret second job trying to sell Youtube Premium subscriptions.
  3. There is a good time to be evicted.

***Note: For those wondering about the potato with a face from last week, a quick update.  “Mr. Potato” is having a rough time, feeling depressed and spent last weekend watching TV on his laptop and knocking back cartons of milk.  Your plant based thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

New Toys, Old Stories and Friendly Potatoes

News From The Week That Was

More of a writing and recording week in The Cube than an acoustic conversion focus over the last 7 days.  Vocals were laid down on a new song, tentatively titled “Run”.  Also, Boyne was able to play with his new toy (see pic), which isn’t nearly as dirty as it sounds.  Even in our 40s, birthdays can be fun.

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Boyne’s #2 – City Pop

Who? Benny Sings 

What? City Pop

Why?

At the height of the 2020 lock down I listened to it just about every day for about three months.

It was my escape. It was just about the only thing I wanted to listen to.  It had me completely transfixed, and excited about music in a way I hadn’t felt since I was a kid listening to the radio and playing video games.

A time when a song I liked was based on what I liked, and had nothing to do with how cool it was, or if anybody else liked it.

When I sang those songs to myself and sometimes aloud while I skated, played basketball or just on the playground, to pump myself up to skate faster, hit a basket or whatever.

I do that a bit with these songs now.

It may be a little cheezeball here and there but it is beautiful in its brilliant simplicity and universal appeal.

Think Michael Mcdonald meets Stevie Wonder. And if that doesn’t do it for you then I don’t care. Try it anyway. You are wrong, it’s a wonderful thing.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Be careful who is in earshot when you shout, “Sweetie, anything else to add to the grocery list”.  It may lead to a 10 year old shouting, “Potato!”.
  2. Potatoes aren’t just for eating, they also can be for drawing faces on.
  3. Trusting me to write lyrics to a song on a topic that I am fired up about can lead to thoughtful words until the last two lines.  The last two lines end up being mostly f-bombs.

Bank, Bush and Miller Time

News From The Week That Was

We made up for lost time from last week and went hard on the acoustic conversion front this week.  There is a set that is really coming together well and we are pretty pumped about it.  Also, another newer skeleton of a song in the bank – the creative process keeps on rolling.  Going forward, we are going to have some exciting announcements about merch and a special ‘outtake’ real for those who have downloaded the record in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned!

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Scarfo’s #3 – Rock Against Bush, Volume I

Who?  Various Artists

What? Rock Against Bush, Volume I

Why?

Okay, so I cheated a little bit with this one.  In the before times, the long, long ago, when you were looking for new bands, one of the best approaches was compilation albums.  A record label would release a ‘comp’ with tracks from different artists – you could hear 20 different bands in one place and figure out whose sound you were interested in before the days of Spotify.  

This was one of the all time great comps – usually you would get 2 or 3 tracks that worked for you.  Of the 26 songs on this comp, there are more than 20 absolute bangers.  There were heavy hitters like The Offspring (when they were still punk), Sum 41 and Rise Against, but a lot of the heavy lifting is done by bands like Alkaline Trio and an amazing Less Than Jake tune that has Billy Bragg singing on a verse.  We may be well beyond being concerned about the election of George W. Bush (seems quaint in hindsight, doesn’t it??), but the tunes are well worth a listen.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. When seeing someone on a kids tv show get hit in the junk, I laugh harder than the 10 year old in the room.  I may need help.
  2. If your boss calls at 11am and asks if you are napping, “No, but I am planning to go down soon, so, ya know, tick tock . . .” is apparently an acceptable response.
  3. It may be worth paying extra for Miller Lite simply for the joy of shouting ‘it’s Miller time!’ in The Cube.  We all need help.

A Friend, The Frond and Marked Sticks

News From The Week That Was

This week saw us have a bit of a ‘life gets in the way sometimes’ situation in terms of the acoustic conversion process.  Still, Puffer and Scarfo were able to get some real work done on converting “Had a Friend” and hammered out some of the yet unreleased “Shivers and Shakes”.  Additionally, Scarfo was able to lay down the beginnings of yet another new track.  Scarfo is a machine! (says Scarfo…)  The audience in The Cube (Carey, Pacitti, Halloween Cat and Homer) went wild.

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Boyne’s #3 – New River Head

Who? The Bevis Frond

What? New River Head

Why?

This double album is inspiring on every level to me.

“The Frond” will never get their due – that has been established since their inception in 1987.

I am just doing my itty bitty best to get the word out.

This is an excellent place to start, however damn near every album is, if you can dig this you will dig em all.

Recommended especially if you like hawkwind power pop and psychedelia in general.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Crudely drawn mild pornography can be a thoughtful and heartwarming gift.
  2. Despite shunning geography in university, I am a heck of a map builder.  Eat it, Laurier.
  3. Technology can’t ever improve upon a well marked stick.  Long live the stick.

Stripping Down, Tearing Out and Throwing Up

News From The Week That Was

Another week of acoustic practice this week – we are looking to get ourselves into a position where we can play sets not only as a full band, but broken down to just acoustic as well.  As we’ve worked on them, we feel that we are really rediscovering these songs and getting to know them on a new level.  There are acoustic versions of Dandelions songs and a smattering from what will eventually become “Songs About Crying” (working title).

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Scarfo’s #4 – Has Disappeared Into The Mystic Dawn

Who? SexDwarf

What? Has Disappeared Into The Mystic Dawn

Why? 

I suppose we are about to find out if Boyne actually reads these as I am gonna get yelled at tomorrow if he does… 

Still, I don’t care.  One of the best records to come out of the 519 this century, Has Disappeared Into The Mystic Dawn is an absolute masterpiece, growing on you with every listen.  “Tear it Out” is usually the track that grabs people first, but the more and more you listen, the more songs reach out and get hold of you.  Give this a go, and give it more than one go.  Now, go!  (After reading the 3 things …)

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. “Grandma, we have to stop and get a glockenspiel” is making a case for being one of the greatest sentences that I have ever heard.
  2. For never having played piano before, Puff can be pretty territorial about his piano part in Old Gil.
  3. When leaving the cube after 3am, you may have to step over vomited jello shooters and 20 year olds.

Context-less Vocals, Boyne Questions Your Vision and Ineffective Rallying Cries

News From The Week That Was

This week in The Cube was a layering and mixing week.  Scarfo made some adjustments to “Lately” and “Heart Attack Santa”, but the real progress was made by Boyne on the mic.  Backing vocals were added to “Lately” (Necessitating the mixey mix) and full vocals were added to a new song that is currently without a working title but that we are very excited about.  

Fun story about that – Euro joined us to be a ‘fly on the wall’ during the vocal recording for the new song.  When you are in the room for vocal recordings, the music is only in headphones, so without headphones, you are hearing vocals with no context whatsoever.  He joined us as Boyne was soulfully emoting the words “Dick” and “Prick”.  The reaction ruined the take as laughter bled onto the recording, but was well worth it.

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Boyne’s #4 – For Beginner Piano

Who? Plone

What? For Beginner Piano

Why?

I have really grown to love the Boyne blurbs:

Imagine yourself living in the retro-futuristic world portrayed in Terry Gilliam’s 1985-movie “Brazil”.

You dig?

This sounds like that, only better … depending on what you envision.

Actually, on second thought, if you can imagine that, just go make that album and don’t listen to this.

Then when you are done making it, show it to me, and then go listen to this.

Fyi

I like this a bunch so you will have a lot to live up to.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Throwing a pack of socks at someone and yelling, “FOR CAMBRIDGE!!!” is not the effective rallying cry I had hoped it would be.
  2. The term “I’m having a drink and think” is really catching on.
  3. Euro is good with advice: “Boyne, I don’t know how to say this, but you need to hold your ‘dick’ longer.”

Acoustics, Throwback Emo and Dirty Knees

News From The Week That Was

A bit of a cleanup and updating week in The Cube.  We have some newer shells of songs and did some acoustic layering on what already existed.  Fairly low key, but such is the pace when everyone has jobs …

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Scarfo’s #5 – Deja Entendu

Who? Brand New

What? Deja Entendu

Why?

From Scarfo:

You may know the second track “Sic, Transit, Gloria” from it’s very brief stint on the radio in the mid 2000s, but this album is so much more than just that song.  There isn’t a clunker on the whole record – it varies song to song, but definitely maintains a theme throughout.  Long after I had been listening to this album regularly I noticed something – the first line, “I’m sinking like a stone in the sea . . .” and the last line, “ . . . need you like water in my lungs” tie together.  When I realized this, it gave the record a whole new context as it came together as a cohesive story – an exploration of how a man’s first sexual experience shaped his view of relationships for years to come.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. The new ‘in’ thing for 10 year olds is having dirty knees.
  2. Recording acoustic guitar can lead me to unheard of levels of rage.
  3. Scarfo acoustic rage is Boyne unbridled joy.

Writing, Recommending and Learning

News From The Week That Was

It has been a writing week here in The Cube.  As has been noted on the Dandelions release page, as we were writing that album, we also had a number of songs that were softer, piano based tunes that didn’t really fit.  Those are now being worked on to create a completely separate release, tentatively titled “Songs About Crying”.  If you preferred the acoustic version of Old Gil to the original or think we are “ . . . just too darn loud”, this will be the album for you.  This week saw vocals being added to “Ugliness in You” as pictured at the side.

We’ll be talking more and more about this album as it comes together.  At the moment, we have 14 songs in various stages of completion.  If we follow the Dandelions pattern, we will likely land somewhere between 16-18 total and pick the best to go on the record.  Rumours that there may be a tribute to “Heart Attack Santa” as mentioned in last week’s 3 things.

Fighting Whiskey Recommends

Boyne’s #5 – American Teenage Rock N Roll Machine

Who? The Donnas

What? American Teenage Rock ‘n Roll Machine

If you like, you’ll like: The Ramones, the Runways and those who wanna feel waaaay cooler than they could ever be in real life.

Why? From Chris Boyne:

“If the title doesn’t sell it, I cannot help you.  You are beyond all reasonable help.  I don’t have time for your shit.”

Trust me it delivers on what it promises and more.”

With a blurb like that, doesn’t it make more sense that we wrote a song called Smug?

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

  1. Politely saying to your cat “Please don’t put your butthole in my face” is the quickest way to get a face full of butthole.
  2. Some people should not shave their heads.
  3. After a few beers, referring to said people as being trailblazers for the effeminate Nazi movement can hurt feelings. 

Live Acoustic “Old Gil”

News About News

We are aiming to get a news update to you once per week.  There will be updates on the writing and recording of the follow up record to “Dandelions and Failure”, any video and pics that come along.  Also, starting next week, Boyne and I will begin a series sharing from our lists of albums you may not have heard but will totally fall in love with.  Finally, there will be the resurrection of the infamous “Three Things I’ve Learned This Week”.

Live from The Cube

“Old Gil” Acoustic, Live from The Cube

As you can see above, we recorded a live acoustic version of “Old Gil” from Dandelions and Failure.  It certainly varies from the original – Boyne has referred to it as the “Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack” version – I assume that is derogatory, but luckily, I have never seen the show.

A huge thank you to two great guests – first off, Puff working the piano.  Puff arrived as we were setting up for this, and being that he played the acoustic guitar on the album version, we really wanted him to get involved.  I asked Boyne what he thought would work and he said ‘Piano’.  When Puff explained to Boyne that he didn’t play the piano, Boyne was not going to let that get in the way.  We taught him a couple of quick chords and not only did he nail it, he threw in some subtle (but kickass) harmony vocals on a chorus or two.  Additionally, Linz joined us playing her foot tambo – a really great percussive addition.

Enjoy, share, like, subscribe, all that good stuff.

Three Things I’ve Learned This Week

As a throwback to the FTHW days, with each of these posts, I will be adding three things that I’ve learned in the previous week.  They are completely out of context lessons, but we aim to educate and entertain here at Fighting Whiskey headquarters.  Without further ado…

  1. Meeting a man you immediately nickname “Heart Attack Santa” is not the funniest thing that will happen in a day.  Watching him fall out of the back of a pickup truck is.
  2. Eating healthier leads to tiny poops.  Not cool.
  3. We are all living in the shadow of Dale Dorado.