In the three-and-a-half years following the release of his debut album, 2012’s Little Bear, Melbourne based songwriter David James Young – who performs under the moniker of nothing rhymes with david – is back with his sophomore album Things Work Out For People Like You.
During the production of Things Work Out For People Like You, David went through the ringer big time. He wrote an entire album, scrapped nearly all of it, quit playing shows (twice) and contemplated putting away his upside-down guitar for good.
Across the course of 2014 and 2015, David found his footing and regained his confidence. Even still, he also found out the hard way that in life, there are winners and there are losers.
This is where his second album comes into the picture, in which the title says more than years of struggle ever could: Things Work Out for People Like You. Described by David as “a day in the life of a loser,” the album collates 10 songs that detail both the fantastical and the all-too-real.
Thankfully he didn’t throw everything out the window, because Things Work Out For People Like You has quickly made its mark as one the most exciting local LPs to come out in 2016.
To celebrate its release David has penned a track by tarck accompaniment to the LP which you can check out below along with the stream, give it a listen and if you like what you’re hearing be sure to visit David’s Facebook page.
Bones Sloane
This song was originally in double drop-D standard – ie. DADGBD – but during the recording process, my producer Kai suggested trying an open D major tuning.
It ended up working a lot better – there’s just something about that tuning that’s so interesting, and it worked particularly well with my guitar. There’s a big Lemuria influence on this song – I picked the 6/8 time signature after listening to their song “Wise People,” and the use of vocal layering is one very much inspired by the way Sheena Ozzella and Alex Kerns’ voices go together.
As for the title, it’s named after Courtney Barnett’s bass player – a deadset legend in his own right. It’s not about him.
Numb Chomsky
There’s a famous story of Keith Richards having ‘Satisfaction’ come to him in a dream. While I’m no Keef, and this song ain’t no ‘Satisfaction’, I had a similar experience. I really wanted to write a country song after seeing Austin Lucas live, and one Sunday afternoon after a nap, I woke up with two things: An A-minor chord and the phrase “You won’t survive.”
It’s a bitter song, but aren’t all country songs in their own way? This was really filled out with the assistance of two mates of mine – Dave Muratore and Koby Geddes. Dave plays drums in one of my favourite bands, mowgli, and also plays guitar in the band Stockley. Here, he played mandolin and really brought the folk-country vibes.
The rock & roll swagger is courtesy of Koby’s exceptional lead guitar. He plays in Dividers and Bagster, and he knows his way around a bloody fretboard. Was very happy with how this turned out – my ten-gallon hat goes off to both of them.
Majority Report
Song #537 about how and why David doesn’t fit in. Partially inspired by Tom Cruise, The League, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Dan Mangan, All Our Exes Live in Texas, Facebook, The Magic Numbers and David Bazan (in fact, the first line of the song is directly lifted from his song ‘Hard to Be’).
It’s a song that took about five years to live and maybe a day to write. My brother sings on this song. He’s in a rock band called Jacob who you should definitely check out.
Get Title, Change Slightly
In the spirit of The Smith Street Band’s ‘Get High, See Mice’ and ‘Get High, See No-One’, as well as Lincoln Le Fevre’s ‘Get Drunk, See Bands’, Jen Buxton’s ‘Get Drunk, Text Linc’ and Luca Brasi’s ‘Get Sad, See Mates’.
It’s about the friends that I’ve made through music, particularly interstate. Kai plays slide guitar on this song, using a custom made four-string guitar that was shaped out of a cigar box. It’s fantastic.
Sex, God and Katy Perry
This stems from my love of power-pop, from Cheap Trick to Cheap Girls and back again. I wanted something straight-forward and with a solid rock energy. I don’t play an acoustic on this, which is one of the only songs I have which doesn’t have acoustic guitar on the recording.
It’s made up of a few different songs that I was working, a bit of a Voltron operation in which I got to blend some half-formed songs and make a complete one. Also a funny bit of trivia: I wanted the bass to follow the chord progression of ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ by Arcade Fire, and I legitimately send back a version so that Kai copied it note for note. So it’s a direct and intentional rip-off of ‘Rebellion (Lies)’. Suck it, Delta!
Song of the Square Peg (99% Scene Free)
This song has a bracket and is the only song that directly references a song lyric in its title thanks to Mark Gibbons, a friend of mine who uploaded a video of me playing the song in Canberra and gave it the wrong title.
Still, I’m used to it by now. It reminds me of ‘Stay (I Missed You)’ by Lisa Loeb – and I fucking love that song. As for the song itself, I’ll say this much: It took me 10 minutes to write and I think people enjoy it a load more than the songs I spent ages on. Maybe I should just stop overthinking.
Babies Hate Black Sabbath
I have Asperger’s, which is a form of Autism. I have often found it difficult to communicate with completely-new people and cannot hold eye contact. For some reason, all of that goes away when I meet little kids – really little, anyway, under five.
It could just be the fact I’m a dumb, gentle giant, but sometimes kids get me better than adults ever will. I’ve shared a few stories about meeting kids like that and having them completely light up my entire day.
Sure, there’s a few that find me terrifying – I am, after all, the largest living thing that they have seen up to that point in their lives. I always fondly remember any little one that has brought me joy.
This is a love letter to the ones I’ve met through shows that were quite literally all-ages, as well as to the parents and step-parents that have made these kids who they are today.
Carrie Fisher’s Dog
Nick van Breda is a Sydney-born, New York-based songwriter who is one half of the band Pinch Hitter and also used to play in Staying At Home and Lights Out. This guy forgets better songs than I have ever thought of – literally, in this instance.
I took an old unreleased song that he had long since kicked to the curb and reworked it for this album. He gave me the choice to name it whatever I wanted, so I went onto Twitter and the first thing I saw was a picture of what the song is named after.
Zombie by The Cranberries by Andrew Jackson Jihad by Nothing Rhymes with David
The band formerly known as Andrew Jackson Jihad (now AJJ) have a song called ‘Zombie by The Cranberries by Andrew Jackson Jihad’ that has nothing to do with ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries. This song has nothing to do with either song. I just thought it was funny.
I wrote the lyrics when I was about 17 years old after watching The Science of Sleep. I forgot about them until I was cleaning out some drawers and found them scribbled down on a piece of paper. The guitar is some Nick Drake-wannabe stuff that I was trying out in order to try and stretch myself as a guitar player. I’m still not very good, but at least it sounds pretty.
Half Those Songs Were About You
I told myself that I had to stop writing about my last relationship. So this is the last song I wrote about my last relationship. The organ-drone keys are a nice touch. Funeral-esque. Fitting.
