Generation Fuck Shit Up!
They say parenthood changes the way you see things, and it’s true. You look around and think about the kind of world you want your children to grow up in, the future you’d like to imagine for them. If you write songs, it almost can’t help but inform your work in some way. Say, like this.
First song and title track from an album that might be a little more slowly forthcoming now, but it’s coming. In celebration of the birth of my little girl, and in full solidarity with occupations everywhere. I’d be joining you, but we’re going to be occupying our house for the next little while. Meantime here’s a song to rally the troops. Let’s do this.
And All the Men Who Learned
to Hate Them
John, I see your Billy Bragg cover, and I raise you one Minutemen cover. Not exactly a union song per se, but a call to arms and the song that’s been in my head on continuous repeat for about the last two years. Feel free to download, link, share, whatever. Power to the people!
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all these men who work the land
should evaluate themselves and make a stand
can’t they see beyond the rhetoric
the lies and promises that don’t mean shitand all the men who learned to hate them
they keep themselves hidden away
they keep themselves upon the hill
afraid of the day they’ll have to pay
for all the crimes upon their headsand all the men who learned to hate them
Side note, just as a heads-up: anyone disappointed with the lack of activity on this site is urged to check out the tumblr at right, easily subscribed to via rss, which I update almost daily and has become my kinda default hub for internet activity. See you over there.
Fangio Listener’s Guide, Part III:
The Big Picture
Hear, hear! As of today, we are officially in business: Fangio is now available as a guilt-free digital download from iTunes, eMusic, and Amazon. Turntable-enabled physical object–fetishists may still order our beautiful numbered vinyl editions directly from Fayettenam, of course, and are encouraged to do so!
Big picture fans are likewise encouraged to click on Davey G. Johnson’s brilliant Evita send-up, above, for the full-res version. Suitable for framing, or multiple-story Diego Rivera-style hand-painted murals, your choice.
Finally, if I may borrow from my own one-sheet… (click to continue)
¡Viva Fangio!
Pictured above with the fruits of his labors is illustrator nonpareil Marty Davis, perhaps the only person in the world capable of generating persuasive likenesses of both myself and Juan Manuel Fangio, from memory, and without question the only person capable of morphing them into the iconic visual punnery you see here. These are the records; this is the album. They turned out fucking amazing. They look and feel ridiculously great. So stoked! Go to Fayettenam and get yours! (The shirt is a prototype. Stay tuned.)
Fangio Listener’s Guide, Part II:
The Songs, Explained
That’s me, actually, not Fangio. Read the full story at the reliably awesome Clunkbucket.
Pleased to report that as of this week Fayettenam is not just taking but filling orders for both the 7″ single and the LP. They exist!
Today, in celebration of this fact, some further elaboration to enhance your listening experience. Spoiler alert: lyrics and song explanations beneath the cut!
Fangio Update: 7″ Out Today… Sort Of
So here’s the deal: it’s still indie rock, and sometimes, when you’re doing super-limited, tiny runs of things, pressing plants aren’t always as cooperative as you’d like them to be. So yeah, the actual, physical 7″ single we’ve been promising? It doesn’t quite exist yet. The covers look great though! And we have been assured that the records themselves will indeed be pressed, along with the the LP, in time for the latter’s promised due date of September 7.
In the meantime: order from Fayettenam and Scott will see to it that you get the downloads now to tide you over.
In more exciting news:
Five thousand plus views in a week! We are blowing up in the Hooniverse, on the Autoblog, en français, in Polish (!), on Saabs United, and, most importantly, in Argentina! We can only hope for such love from actual, uh, music critics.
My God Is An Angry God: The Video
Davey does a better job of explaining how this happened than I can. The brief was Grand Prix meets Alphaville. How’d we do?
Fangio Listener’s Guide, Part I:
The Illustrated TimelineIt’s time, folks. Today, a little history to get you up to speed. Bold bits link to images and are worth checking out for contextual immersion’s sake. Enjoy!
1895
October 8: Juan Perón born in Lobos, Buenos Aires, Argentina1899
August 24: Jorge Luis Borges born in Buenos Aires, Argentina1911
June 24: Juan Manuel Fangio born in Balcarce, Argentina1912
March 12: Sixten Sason born in Skövde, Sweden1915
November 15: Augusto Pinochet born in Valparaiso, Chile
Fangio update; Smooth Sounds out now
So yeah, as I’m sure many reading this are aware, it’s July now. But I only called it a “target date,” didn’t I? Not every shot is a bullseye.
New and final release dates, and to quote Scott at Fayettenam, this is a “hard deadline”:
7″: August 10
LP: September 7That’s the cover of the LP above. The vaunted video will be up when the single drops. Yet to come: an exhaustive listener’s guide, a Fangio timeline, downloadable posters, Fangio: the Novelization, a feature-length film. Better not to hold your breath on the last two, maybe. Seriously though, we’re putting together a full-on assault. When it’s over, people who google “Fangio” will see pictures of Saabs. I am bending the fabric of reality to my will!
Meanwhile: in the fine tradition of Inland Empire tribute albums past comes Smooth Sounds: The Future Hits of Wckr Spgt, the Shrimper 20th anniversary compilation. Thirty-six Shrimper alums—including the likes of Refrigerator, the Mountain Goats, Lou Barlow, Franklin Bruno, Simon Joyner, Charlie McAlister, and Jad freakin’ Fair fercryinoutloud—interpret Wckr Spgt songs penned exclusively for the purpose. The one I was assigned afforded me the opportunity to make real a long-threatened idea for something called Joel Division: Spgt songs sung in the manner of Ian Curtis. You need this.
¡Fangio ya viene!
I know it seems like I’ve been talking about this forever, but cut me some slack: it was only this time last year that the songs even started getting written. And now? Well look at that shit, will you?
Fangio—the album-length sequel to a song I wrote for my Casio-powered solo project, Party of One, in 1987, a song that imagined five-time Formula One World Champion and Argentine folk hero Juan Manuel Fangio piloting a Saab 900 Turbo SPG across the Andes mountains on a covert mission to assassinate Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet—currently sits in pit lane, crew scurrying about, final preparations being made before advancing to the starting grid.
There are ten songs, and their titles are as follows:
01 Operational Detachment Juan Manuel Fangio
02 El Narcoavión
03 My God Is An Angry God (Juan Manuel Fangio Castiga los Pecados del Mundo)
04 La Consciencia Intranquila de Juan Manuel Fangio
05 Edwardian Gray
06 Bebe’s Song
07 El Hombre Mas Macho
08 Compared to Their Predecessors, Today’s Politically Motivated Kidnappers Are Total Dicks
09 Los Viejos
10 Beat Your Halfshafts Into Swords (The Radicalization and Redemption of Juan Manuel Fangio)That’s too much music to fit on a single LP, so Fayettenam will release the album in two parts: the first two songs as a 7″ single, the rest to follow on a 12″ LP; all of the songs will be available as digital downloads as well. The single and album sleeves will be silkscreened and gorgeous, you have my word.
Also gorgeous? The insanely, pants-shittingly awesome video I just made with former Jalopnik contributor, Bob Mould backup singer, fugitive from Albanian justice, and all around cars-and-music Renaissance man Davey G. Johnson, during the shooting of which the above photo was taken. It’s for “My God Is an Angry God,” and we’ll be putting it up around the same time the single is ready to go (with a sneak preview possible earlier if you’re paying attention here, hint hint).
Target date for all of this ridiculousness: June. Official countdown starts now.
In the meantime: I’m playing a stealthy show here in Rochester tomorrow night, at Casa del Awesome. Contact Brian for directions and info!
