Jonathan Fire*Eater
“Tremble Under Boom Lights”
scum stats: 300 copies on yellow vinyl (Rough Trade exclusive) 500 copies on Winston Plum colored vinyl (indie exclusive), rest on black vinyl
“Tremble Under Boom Lights” is one of my favorite releases of all time and the fact that Third Man is able to reissue it still gives me pause.
No matter how much I say or write about this album, I still don’t feel like I’m done. I still feel like “there’s more work to do.”
More people need to know about this album, more need to appreciate it, more need to be influenced by it.
The opening song “The Search For Cherry Red” is burned into the enzymes of my soul. I can recite the lyrics at will. Any time I was bold enough to grab the mic in the Dirtbombs, there was a 50% chance I would sing this song.
“Give Me Daughters”, coupled with the gender and genetic make-up of the Shaggs, was the soothing salve I needed as i progressed into fatherhood of three daughters.
“The Public Hanging of a Movie Star” was included on a mixtape making the rounds in the Dirtrbombs tour van circa 2001, and EVERY time it played, I had to ask what it was as I was unaware. So primitive, so beguiling…those howls still unlike anything else I’ve heard anywhere else.
And the swan song, “In the Head” the last song the band would ever record together, just a head swirl of emotions for me. I have no idea what the lyrics “the ice cream truck goes cluck” mean, but goddamn if I don’t think about it weekly. When the instruments kick in all together like the force of a thousand volcanoes erupting at once, all joining in the breath of air, a hiccup almost, at the 2:41 mark, still, observant, vertiginous, as if the entirety of your life is presented before you and it does not feel overwhelming, just optimistically perfect.
It cannot be over-communicated…I still don’t really believe that Third Man was able to release this record. Cut primarily from the original master tapes. With the full support of the band members and estates and original label. I’ve had moments on the project where I’ve just had to stop and take stock of it all. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably continue saying it…I’m really just a fan here.
To enter to win a test pressing of “Tremble Under Boom Lights” post a comment that relates of story of something that you cannot (could not?) believe you ever got to take part in. Your high school production of “Brigadoon” or a real, true exorcism, taming the Northern Lights, a banker robbery/diamond heist or ANY caper really…let it fly.
About 15 years ago I went to Portland, Oregon for work. Some coworkers and I were having beers at a bar on Burnside and we hear a bunch of commotion outside, so of course we have to check it out. I walk out of this dark, dingy bar and to my surprise right in front of me was a bunch of naked hotties on their bikes!!! It’s the Naked Bike Ride!!!! Everybody lined the streets cheering them on, it was fantastic. Never heard of it before. But so happy I got to be there for it on that random night. Never forget it. Naked people rule!
One time, I got to see the girl band HAIM, at sunset, on a floating concert hall type thing, in between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Oh, and my dad surprised me with the tickets.
There was one time Ben Blackwell was giving away a test pressing of “Tremble Under Book Lights” and I didn’t have a story to contribute. So he took pity on me and gave me free stuff. It was craaaaaazy.
Apologies ahead of time for the long story ahead, but for the better part of 2012, I had a Flaming Lips blood-filled record sitting in my fridge under the eggs. Here’s how that came to be…
The great George Foley, an old school TMR collector, who some of you may know from various queues, dust-ups and dirty brothels, decided to lay down 2-3 month’s mortgage (depending on where ya live) on the notorious “Blood-Filled Record” from The Flaming Lips’ collab album ‘Heady Fwends’. 1 of 10 is no joke, ladies and gentlemen. Whether you “got it” or not, it was indeed a piece of art. And quite beautiful in person. And cold.
So, after George purchased this and realized that the band legally could not mail these overseas (they were to hand deliver each record to the buyers around the U.S. in a meat truck), he asked me to be the middle man. I accepted, thinking that some Lips intern would come by the house, hand off Yoko Ono and the gang’s blood, take a photo and be done with it.
The next day, I was on a video shoot for work and missed a call from Derek Brown (newer member of the Lips). After a few hours of phone tag, we finally touched base and he explained that the record would not be delivered for at least a week because the meat truck broke down, but mentioned that the band would be in Houston on Saturday. “Do you wanna come to the show?” I thought about it for a good .02 seconds and decided it was probably a good idea. “Yes?”
“Great”, says Derek. “You can come backstage and meet the band and we’ll just hand it off to you.” ….“Dave?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was cleaning the pee off my jeans.” Away we go. My brother and I were on our way to meet Wayne Coyne and co.
I text Derek halfway there telling him our ETA and he texts back “Cool, man. You want to dance on stage with us?” …..“Dave?”…..
Sweet honey bacon, my brother and I are just looking at each other like this may be the best f-ing happening that’s ever happened. At least in the top 3. “YES?” we replied.
We meet on the side stage about 45 minutes before they go on. Lots of younger ladies were in the dance area. One of them was certainly on acid. Something about a cupcake pinata. I tuned her out as one of the road crew started filling us in on what was gonna go down. He gives us our costumes. They’re all Wizard of Oz-themed. I got a scarecrow…thank god. The cowardly lion and tinman costumes were way heavier and we’re in f-ing Houston. In June.
He tells us that we have to hold hands like we’re in munchkin land. I start thinking I may have taken some of that acid. Heart is pounding. We walk behind the stage and wait. High fives from all the band. Lots of smokes gettin smoked. Lots of crew. Lots of confetti.
Cue “Race for the Prize” and we f-ing prance out onto the front of the stage and the crowd just erupts. It took my breath away. Really, no need for a mental snapshot. I ain’t forgetting a f-ing second of this.
I decided to take the “interpretive dance” route and start looking for people in the crowd to sing along with. It was really interesting to see how much people wanted to connect with everyone on stage, and vice versa. There was this yearning to lock eyes with someone and share a moment. They played “Race for the Prize”, the “Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”, “Yoshimi”, “Do You Realize” and then played the entire “Dark Side of the Moon” album. I thought we would only dance for a few of the songs and leave, but we were there the entire time. It was quite the endurance test. Crossfit for indie kids.
After “Brain Damage”, we leave and all pile back into our dressing area. I had toted around my regular copy of ‘Heady Fwends’ in hopes that Wayne or someone from the band would sign it. We’re all pretty out of breath and exhausted, and up walks Wayne. He had barely gotten off stage and he was already hanging out with us. Class act, man.
He talked with me about the blood record. There are a lot more folks’ blood in there than just the musicians on the album. I believe he said that even one of the URP guys who helped make the record had his blood put in there. Ben frickin Blackwell may have his blood in there. BEN?? Anyway, Wayne is impossibly approachable. Ear to ear smile. Hugs and high fives a-plenty. Right before we got the photos of me and him and the blood record, I said “You guys really one-upped Third Man on this one”…totally joking around of course, and he immediately was like “Oh noo noo we love those guys”…what a sweetheart. I of course said I was kidding and we laughed. Unreal…I’m hucking it up with Wayne COYNE.
After the pleasantries were exchanged and the crowd died down, I got a big black garbage bag with ice in it and we put the record in there. My brother and I walked to the car looking like we just Dexter’d some pour soul, but we made it back. Then, we went and got some grape powerade at the nearest gas station and 2 drunk guys started fighting in the parking lot. Classic Houston.
George ended up picking up the blood record months and months later in the middle of a trek across America. I have no idea where that monstrosity is now, but I can only imagine it’s got some more crazy stories. Glad I was a part of it in such an amazing way. Truly humbling and hey…wherever you are, George…I miss ya!
This is going to sound like an ass kiss but it is truly a can’t believe it moment for me. I drove from Detroit to Nashville for the solar eclipse at TMR. I saw Jack White standing outside the door of the store talking to someone and I interrupted to say hi and shake his hand. I feel bad about this because then he went inside and up to the roof never to be seen outside among the spectators again. I didn’t mean to scare him off but I am sure it is a pain for him to be approached by complete strangers. He did laugh though when I said TMR chat room told me to say hello. Of course, the chat room no longer exists except when Ben decides to share his thoughts with us. btw .. I saw Jack, Ben B., and Dominic at the Bernie rally in Detroit yesterday. Awesome!!
In the comment sections I often write about my son or his band, Sam The Astronaut. This will be more of the same. Their second album, yet to be released is to be called Midnight Carlight (or MCL for short). There is a song on the album with the same name and it is the best song they have recorded yet. Self produced and made in my son’s bedroom, MCL is a gospel song gone awry. The song has a scream solo in it that just comes out of left field and takes you to the stratosphere. Overhearing that scream solo being recorded was just jaw dropping. How can someone scream in key and stay on pitch!!! The emotional outpouring is beyond compare Other than overhearing the recording and subsequent assembling of the song, my major involvement has been financing the record. I am so proud of my son and his band partner Garrison. I look forward to the day the album is released and other can hear the scream and ride the stratosphere.
At the tender age of 16 I was lucky enough to see Steve Marriott and Humble Pie absolutely OWN the stage of the Chattanooga Memorial Auditorium in December of 1973. As if that wasn’t enough, I was doubly blessed to see Roxy Music open the show on their first American tour. This would be one of the few U.S. shows that Roxy would perform with original synth master Brian Eno. The lesson here: trust your kids when they ask you to let them go see live music.
The Masonic Temple (aka The Concert Hall) in Toronto hosted Led Zeppelin, Muddy Waters, The Paupers, MC5, Chuck Berry, Iggy Pop, Jane’s Addiction and many others, but I moved to Toronto after it stopped being a regular venue. Getting to play there for a special event two years ago this December was a show I’ll never forget.
In July of this year I saw The Rolling Stones in St. Augustine, after the show had been postponed from April due to Mick’s heart valve replacement surgery. Me and my small group already had decent seats in the back of the pit so we were on the ground level of the stadium a few hours early, sipping on the whiskey we snuck in and wondering how easy it would be to sneak past security to get up to the front row when an employee of the event walked right up to me and my sister and asked if we wanted a couple wrist bands to get up front! We asked if he had two more for her husband and our friend and he gave them to us. There weren’t a lot of people on the field yet so we were able to get right up front, as close to the stage as possible. The stones have been a huge part of my life, as well as mine they were my dad’s favorite band and when he passed me and my sister got the same stones tattoo he had on his right arm in his memory so being front row at stones was absolutely my holy Shit am I really here moment.
My biggest shock “holy shit” am I here moment was stupid as hell. I was like 10 and I won a contest at St. Aloysius Catholic school and I got to meet Alf. sounds stupid as hell, but I was the most excited kid you have ever seen. I didn’t know it was really a guy holding a puppet. I didn’t care. I f**king loved Alf. That is all my good sir.