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"the Rat King" [2014]

by Elijah Should

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    JM Hutchinson (Model) is the Rat King. Photo by Jason Sharp
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    Includes handwritten lyrics by Elijah Should himself

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1.
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to the Church of Good Intentions we hope that you will stick around and not mention You-Know-Who. Welcome to the Church of Good Intentions where you don't have to keep moving like a shark and judging all around you to your impossibly high standards. We go for smokes, continually bumming jokes 'n Rachel's is never that far when you live in Brooklyn: Where I was born and where I will die but not at all where I belong You always get me cleaned up when i'm rusty and damp (here in Brooklyn) the sky is yellow and i'm hungry green and hazy and now i'm lonely (lonely) now i'm lovely now i'm lucky now i'm lovely Welcome to the Church of Good intentions notice here to my left he's the Henchman! "Hey kids, ya like scotch ? Are ya scared of grey hair on a ball sack?" Tonight we're playing trivia, the more ya drink the more ya get sillier! Here's some advice: women in leopard prints not to be trusted the upstairs wi-fi password is "Clint" and the one downstairs is "Eastwood" Actually now I think that Fontanas changed it to "Elvis" yeah, i'm pretty sure that's right they changed the upstairs back to "Elvis" it's no longer Clint the password for the wi-fi is now "Elvis" yea, at Fontanas (Fontanas) Elvis : Fontanas (Fontanas) Clint Eastwood : Fontanas (Fontanas) Welcome. Welcome: Good Intentions
2.
Lost Kitten 03:24
Don't say yes if you can't say no, Victim of the system, say it isn't so Squatted on the doorstep, swollen on the blow Leaving without you, can't say no Halfway starts with happiness for me Halfway house, lost kitten in the street Hit me where it hurts, I'm coming home to lose Kitten on the catwalk, high-heeled shoes No more hot-headed Saturdays They got it, they want it, they give it away Tell me one thing you would never do I was looking for a hooker when I found you You've got my eyes, you've got my eyes You'll never be mine, ah, but you've got my eyes When you lie, I cover it up When you hide, I cover it up When you cry, I cover it up When you come undone, I cover it up Woo! So pent up, I was coming home to you Happy in the nighttime, howlin' at the moon Sippin' on a cocktail, drinking in the loo There's something about you I hold on to You've got my eyes, you've got my eyes You'll never be mine, ah, but you've got my eyes When you lie, I cover it up When you hide, I cover it up When you cry, I cover it up When you're blind, I cover it up! When you lie, I cover it up! When you hide, I cover it up! When you cry, I cover it up! When you come undone, I cover it up! (Yeah, Elijah Should twenty-thirteen, uugh) They got it, they want it, they give it away They got it, they want it, they give it away They got it, they want it, they give it away They got it, they want it, they give it away (When you lie, I cover it up) They got it, they want it, they give it away (When you hide, I cover it up) They got it, they want it, they give it away (When you cry, I cover it up) They got it, they want it, they give it away (When you come undone, I cover it up) They got it, they want it, they give it away
3.
you're just too VIP for me you're just too VIP for me you're just too VIP for me too VIP for me i can be your plus 1/2 it's like a plus one without all the commitments i can be your plus 1/2 it's like a plus one without the commitments you're just too VIP for me you're just too VIP for me
4.
Logan's Walk 03:23
down the hatch... a missing 'e' string's my broken wing...
5.
Barren 05:13
I, I, I know, you know, we're still around I know, how you still feel let down you know, you know how we all wear frowns every time we are all around you know, you know i'm still right here
6.
7.
I'm sick and tired of all your drama you've run out of excuses - goodbye look at you struggling you're trying to beat this too bad so sad i am outta here i'm tired of the foils i'm out the door
8.
9.
10.
Desolation Rowboat (free) 03:29
11.
12.
Halfway Home 01:55
I was working in the kitchen of a halfway house a halfway home bigger bones!

about

"On this 'proper' follow-up to 2010's Songs About Girls, 'the Rat King' finds Elijah Should exploring new themes and old haunts. Twelve tales of alienation, gentrification, homosexual fisting parties, hipsters, rent-hikes, drunks, orgies, Freemasons and hard-core drug use unfold like a bizarre animal penis. That is not to say that this album suffers from clinical depression or a clouded vision by any means.

Oh, and there's guitars this time. Lots and lots of loud guitars.

"The Church of Good Intentions" is just that, with a refrain of "welcome!" it's a splendid start to a splendid album, until you realize "the church" is really just a bar on the cusp of Chinatown in NYC's Lower East Side. RIP Fontanas, we miss the fuck outta you.

The title track also serves as a surprising centerpiece which features Natalia McCarty (aka the Virgin Whore) on lead vocals. While the song is clearly an angry ode to a cheating boyfriend, the music is somewhat sunny and guitar-driven.

"Father time following me" isn't just a lyric of obvious aging, it's part of a autobiographical evening in Brooklyn 2013. In this story Father Time was an undercover cop. So this lyric references the scariest Devil's night Eli ever logged in during his close to 30 years on this planet: "Descension666" documents this trip down onto the L train en route to an ill-fated Halloween loft-party in Williamsburg. Amy Winehouse was holding & and another undercover police officer (who couldn't settle on his guido or Russian accent) begrudgingly drove us all home to Park Slope, where our house was subsequently broken into, and monitored closely under some (super sloppy and pretty-obvious) surveillance for the next several weeks. They even left their lunch leftovers in our fridge on multiple occasions.
What could the PoPo possibly want with us fare-evading, firework setting, rsvp reply (to illegal loft party) emailin', coked-out hipster criminals-in-the-making?? ๐Ÿ™‚

"500 Roses" paints the scene of a gay sex party in a high-rise on the Upper West Side as if viewed by Stephin Merritt with several "pink socks" in attendance while "Desolation Rowboat" depicts a (seemingly unprovoked) attack with an oar "You are so disingenuous / I wish that I hit you even harder"
When Elijah sings "I'm a session player, that's all I know" one must ponder if he is referring to music sessions in a studio or sexual sessions involving crystal meth and handballing... or perhaps something even darker?

The album closes with a punky barn burner scream/sung by Mr. Should entitled "Halfway Home". In it, Eli laments working in the kitchen of a halfway house, his only solace raising mutts, however because of a wicked combination of satanic practises and a total eclipse of the sun these pups grow so unbelievably large that (while a win for creationists,) the protagonist must turn to premeditated murder to supply his dogs with big enough bones to gnaw on.

It's partly "Little Shop of Horrors" and part John Waters. It's almost as if Russ Meyer went on an acid trip with Hunter S Thompson in the Nevada desert and dreamt up what they imagined apartment living would be like in the aughts, you know, if Grindr didn't exist. So; Half horror/half comedy- Much like the rest of the album. Which I do believe is the strongest of the trio." B+
- Sweaty Vedder, July 23rd 2014

"Who the fuck is Elijah Should!?" F-
- James M. Graham

"Piss Cornell was so blown away by Elijah Should's new record, that he told all of his friends about it. Mainly the dead ones, Shannon Raccoon, Blot Weiland & Pain Staley." A+
- Logan Hill

"That's not entirely true."
- Piss Cornell

credits

released July 23, 2014

All songs written by Elijah Should except
"Lost Kitten" words and music by E. Haines/J. Scott-Key/J. Shaw/J.Winstead AND
4, 6, 8, 10 - 12 written/performed by Logan Hill/Eli Should
track 7 music written & performed by L.Hill/E.Should
lyrics by Natalia M. McCarty

Yamaha piano, Casio keys and Moog synths on all songs by E.S.
Korg Monotron and E-bow on 1 by Spent Reznor
Additional midi, Sound Studio, Garageband, ProTools, Ableton, Logic, 8-track, reel to reel, sequencing + programming on all tracks by Jason "Triple J" Sharp
Additional vocals on 1 + 7 by Natalia McCarty (the Virgin Whore)
Track 1 features a sample of James M. Graham from "New York Band Draft 2011" (JMG appears courtesy of Luxxus Press)
Guitar on 1, 6, 7 (and bass on 2, 3, 12) by Jay Sharp, Esq.
Lead Guitar on 3 by Brad Pitiful
5-string guitar overdubs on 6 by Dirt Cobain
Additional guitar on 7 by William Patrick Corgan
live drums on 4, 6 - 8 + 10 - 12 by Logan Hill
(recorded in Paducah, KY by E.O'D & Pain Staley),
Bass on 4 & 6 by E.S.
Guitar on 4 by Thurstons Bored
Erhu on 10 - 12 by E. Claptop
Violin on 11 by Elvis Pretzel
Tibetan bell on 5 rung by Puke Numbskull

Produced by Jason John Joseph "Triple J" (Jay) Sharp at the Doghouse in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn for Elijah Should in Sioux City, Iowa
with additional engineering by Ethan Michael O'Daniel and Logan Hill in Paducah, KY
Mixed by E.S. except for 1-5 mixed by J.Sharp
Mastered by Triple J Sharp @ "it's Only Right & Natural" Studios, Bed Stuy, Brooklyn

Jay Sharp Esquire appears courtesy of his bedroom in Brooklyn
Poindexter Twinklebottom appears courtesy of Skip-Stop Records
Brad Pitiful appears courtesy of SONY Music Group
Dirt Cobain appears courtesy of Netflix
William Patrick Corgan appears courtesy of Your Mom

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