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Put it in the Pizza!

by The Michael Character

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1.
Kinny Winker Record (free) 00:22
2.
New Year! (free) 01:59
Pop that bottle open, let the past run down the side, there’s no use provokin’ The clock can’t be coaxed to spin the other way, so raise your glass and greet the day Paradigm shift is just inevitable, but don’t let that discourage your appetite, eat till you’re Full of wisdom and soon you will see Enlightenment cannot be plucked from a tree Oh the times, times, times are a’changin’ But the signs, signs, signs don’t point to salvation Don’t let the myths of our parent’s generation Be the building blocks of our rejuvenation Cops at the door cut the party short Hide away in a closet, this night will not end in a court 30 minutes gone, I can sigh with relief So crack open another one, our time on this earth is too brief Talk is cheap But money speaks And no language can’t be bypassed by drawing some sword from its sheath So just admit morality is a losing race Or rather it never existed in the first place Times, times, times are a’changin’ But the signs, signs, signs don’t point to salvation Don’t let the myths of our parent’s generation Be the building blocks of our rejuvenation
3.
We smashed Endangered Nose On the stone Getty behind the Aqua Lounge In Asbury Park A nigh-fitting capstone to our summer Placed together in the dark We met some awesome folks Down in Toms River Rockin’ out at Floyds’ on most Monday nights And Grover’s Mill on Tuesdays Just another song about how summer has to end And I don’t know why, I must memorialize this moment But it feels right, so I’ll do it anyway We need to break away From all of the shit that gets caked on When you stay in one place For way too long Abandon the routine That we’ve comfortably assumed Cut the cables and keep pushing forward The crisis of youth has Turned its’ back on me My reflection in the review lookin’ back to see The same smilin’ face, just a little less spritely Probably too many long walks listening to “Light Leaves” (yea, that’ll do it) But no matter how hard I try I’ll never know why, never know why, never know why Your face burns holes in my mind But I’ll try, Oh I’ll try, I’ll try to figure it out some other time I need the freedom of An ocean full of love To demarcate the person I have been from the person I will soon become
4.
The Green Ones (free) 03:40
Holding on to Another chore you Needn’t go through anymore Hit the floor runnin’ Flurry of doubts numberin’ In the hundreds Stay awake while Your body shakes wildly Your head’s awake but your heart is sleeping cold Fingers whisperin’ to The lover next to you Forget the rain, just stay inside another day
5.
Edicts issued/ for the recall/ of affections/ written all over the wall Won’t be delivered on time if at all, if at all (that’s some Marbury vs. Madison shit!) Business casual/ on a Wednesday/ earns you kudos/ from the guys whose opulence pays For your dry cleaning/ that’s all the equilibrium you’re gonna get in this crazy fuckin’ world Forget the optometrist/when the sun is out you can’t resist Staring straight at that ball of fire/ you think it’s alright but you’re a liar Drinking courage, by the six pack/ Found your confidence/ smashed along the subway tracks You'd better get that shit back Feign ambition/ Sleep through breakfast/ On a mission to convince your friends that your life is not a mess/ Well you may have fooled the rest, but I'm not on board just yet
6.
A split second flash as the lightning it crashes down on the house But there’s two hours left ‘till all the clocks are reset and the fuses all rest side by side like grey soldiers awaiting new orders, no will of their own, just ornately dressed vessels where once there were souls Oh how am I any different? Oh there was a time Once one winter when I Made an igloo outside That I was really proud of Now books pass like sicknesses Beneath eyes so listless Convinced they’re still sifting for A prize that they do not deserve Why oh why oh why oh why Do I Insist on maintaining the things that brush ambitions aside? 56 in a 35, 200 dollars plucked fresh from the vine Consider this my contribution to another place and another time
7.
I peer through my digital window into your world A flurry of dust swirls so slowly, still coating the speakers What logically takes hours it comes to pass with every keystroke Each involuntary blink of these child’s eyes in an ever-older body, peels away The parts not worth keeping The parts that you hate You try not to hate I guess I think that everyone can manage except for me But in truth too many branches fail to produce leaves at the end of the season Surprisingly clean subway floor makes this morning a little less routine Still these mantras they can’t keep all these assumptions of contentment from tearing at the seams And all of my time Is locked away in a satellite clock in some box in New Jersey I peer through my digital window into your world
8.
Three Bean Salad (free) 02:56
I can’t smell the ocean any more those Salt breezes pourin’ in my window Tearin’ down 33 on a weekday afternoon Creamy freeze on the eastbound side It’s gonna be tight boys! Yea Connor, your right ‘cause I never see that shit before it’s too late to turn When I left town I turned around To find the posse wavin’ Bean salad now Tastes seasonal Despite those awful craisins Can’t wait to return to the boardwalk It’s routine, I pull into my usual spot Iced over ticket machine, we’ll just walk on by There’s not a soul on the beach today There’s snow on the ground where the fire pit laid There isn’t a sound now…
9.
Postman (free) 02:14
Theatrics aside I/ was holy in your eyes/ one life, but when the pulpit cast its shadow, we lost time up above the sky/ turning signals align/ we never laid a dollar down now men in suits have bought the town out A farmer may daily till, devoid of the free will we love to live and live to love, so on and on we sing the chorus cause Drink up my darling dear let’s find new ways to live in fear ‘Cause the postman giveth, the postman taketh away The letters were not mine, they just fell from the weakest vine ‘Cause the postman giveth, the postman taketh away Theatrics aside I/ sat in darkness my hands tied/ for some time…waiting for my freedom to arrive
10.
Snow Day (free) 01:28
Afternoons this week Drew from night the sleep That my body needs To act regularly But the sun it heeds Father winter’s teeth Tells the ocean breeze Make this city freeze In the darkness reach Out for a song to keep On the shelf beneath All your sympathies Whisper her name, believe You’re ready to play for keeps But too soon you see It will never be
11.
The Fire (free) 04:11
“Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark” It’s so god damn boring in here Life so e-ven tempered is empty oh How could I have let this happen? The fire is melting, adulthood has sent it away To the days where I laid in bed crying Not for a real reason, like a relative dying Just a girl I barely know who didn’t like me the way that I loved her so Open your heart up and feel for a moment That passion that drowned you the days you could hold it back They were dull, and coarse to the touch And those kinds of times are what life is so full of these days Please go away x4 Before it’s too late Rain clouds are gathering over the CITGO sign so we should be going Symbolic of nothing, machinery spinning its gears Like the years, just the cold march of entropy Bring back the days when I flew to Chicago So certain my heart could handle the ebb and flow With great strides like a giant, trumpeting all of the way Seize the day, seize the day seize the day! It’s so god damn boring in here Life so e-ven tempered is empty oh How could I have let this happen? The fire is melted, adulthood has sent it a- Threshold before us is not a surprise For 10 months we have shouted and real people heard our cries About nothing of consequence Well this band has been fun but let’s let the next chapter begin
12.
Sunset (free) 00:30
I left my window open while it rained, but it's okay the sill was never a good place for that alarm clock anyway Can't justify my feeling angry when the world is spinning So many days ahead I can't help feeling like life is just beginning.

about

Recorded between September and December of 2011, this album is largely about transitions. It is that thoughtful moment on a brisk autumn day when you realize that your favorite windbreaker just isn't warm enough anymore or that you'll need to wait 8 months before you can swim in the ocean again. It is an introspective that looks back but also forward; to the summer and to the winter, to ends and to beginnings. But above all it is about the need for hope when you are gripped by the insurmountable force of change, be it seasonal or something more. Time marches thoughtlessly on; to resist it or embrace it is our choice.

credits

released December 10, 2011

All songs written and composed by J. Ikeda
Recorded and Mixed in a small Allston apartment

Album Art by Matt Albanese

Gang vox in "New Year!" by J. Ikeda, Chris Comer, Kim Curhan, Ian Macleod, and some girl named Frankie.

Special thanks to my roommate Ian Macleod and all of my neighbors for putting up with all of my late night recording sessions.

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The Michael Character Boston, Massachusetts

It's political music, whatever. Based in Boston, MA. Absolutely willing to drive very far to play for you and five of your vaguely alternative friends in your combination kitchen/laundry room. Hit me up. I'm fully serious.

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