Sam Coomes has today released his debut solo album, endearingly-titled Bugger Me.
Coomes is probably best known as half of the fantastic and long-running underground pop duo Quasi, the other half being Janet Weiss – herself better known as the drummer for Sleater-Kinney.
In his own words, Bugger Me is “Suicide meets The Beach Boys”. Not the sophisticated ‘Pet Sounds’ Beach Boys, though – definitely more the ‘Surfer Girl’ stuff. Citing other artists like Chris Montez or Timmy Thomas as touchstones, Coomes details each track’s inception for us below.
Bugger Me is available now through Domino Records.
Stride On
Musically, trying for a Chris Montez thing here. Lyrically, its a basic chin up, stiff upper lip deal, with trains, cowboys, religion…American stuff. Not real America, which is a mess, but psychic America, which is also a mess.
Tough Times in Plastic Land
More American stuff: police oppression & racism, new crises every day…not exactly an in depth treatment, just a little post it note of garden variety contemporary angst. Musically, its probably a little less archaic, stylistically, than most of the other tracks.
Everybody Loves a War
Vocal melody a pretty straight rip off of To Nkroachment: Yarbles…just changed the lyrics, the chords…built it out into a more or less conventional song. Just trying to figure out why, if everyone theoretically agrees that war is horrible, the source of every kind of suffering & death, something to be avoided; then why is it constantly flaring up, and why is it that every time it does, people jump up and wave the flag and “support our troops” and all that?
Shined it On
Looking up at the ceiling, can’t sleep, realizing “I blew it!” The point is – don’t take things/people for granted. Not even thoughts. But especially people. Nice Telstaresque organ overdub on this one. Tried to keep overdubs to the barest minimum across the record, & I had rules as to what was admissible & what wasn’t. In the end I let this one slide, though I questioned whether it was getting a little too fancy.
Lobotomy Eggs
Originally the wahwahwahwahwahwah sound was a vocal part, trying to be almost like a Tuvan sounding thing, but ultimately it was replaced by a guitar through an auto-wah – the only guitar on the record. Actually there’s a moment of guitar one time elsewhere, if we want to quibble. A (very) poor man’s Phillip Glass?
The Tucchus pt. 1 –
This one & The Tucchus pt.2 are really the same piece, lyrically, but split in two for the purpose of album structure. It’s a creation myth, every bit as feasible as any of the other creation myths you might dig up. Sonically it was created using only voice, an Electro Harmonix “Voice Box” & a toy synth. The voice ends up sounding a little like a cross between the devil in “The Exorcist” & my grandpa: evil, but kind of endearing.
Cruisin Thru
Mutant low rider ballad. This is one that people in here in Portland seem to relate to – “a stranger in my own town.” Lots of people feeling put out either literally or psychically by the suburbification of the cities – kind of a burning issue in my town last few years or so.
Just Like the Rest
This has a little bit of a One of These Days thing happening in the musical realm. Lyrically it touches on addiction – not necessarily drug addiction.
Fordana
For me, this song justifies the whole album. It’s a love song for my wife, so I have no objectivity for it. But ideally, it would be a song for anyone who has been with another person for a long time – thick and thin, up and down – it also comes to a place of deep, deep gratitude & love.
Corpse Rider
Another instrumental track. Trying to get a little Akira Ifukube/Godzilla thing going. Both Corpse Rider & Lobotomy Eggs were named after fantasy basketball teams.
Bugger-me
Weirdly this is a vaguely ska type rhythm, though it doesn’t actually feel like it in practice. Lots of fried, post-video game noise…nice, I think. Again, staring at the ceiling, can’t sleep, beset by every type of absurd existential buggery in the book, & every other type of absurdity. Bugger-me is like some sort of succubus or incubus who latches onto your mind rather than your body, fills it full of all this kind of crap, ruins your sleep.
Bugger Me Album Trailer
