Album Notes

Elastic No-No Band was, like Nine Inch Nails, originally basically a one-man band. Singer/guitarist/songwriter Justin Remer created music for his short films using the Elastic No-No Band name and then started making lo-fi CD-R albums for his friends and anyone else interested.

Once Justin started playing shows in public, he met Preston Spurlock (bass/melodica/glockenspiel/accordion/etc.) and Herb Scher (piano) and the public impression that Elastic No-No Band was a real band was formed.

The songs were, and continue to be, a vast array of musical character studies, off-color novelty tunes, and semi-geeky tributes to pop-culture. This CD is a compilation of some of the highlights from those original CD-R albums, along with brand-new live-to-tape impromptu recordings of the trio version of the group.

"Run-DMC" is a folk song in a '60s-Leonard-Cohen mode, but with lyrics more suited to a bragging rap song.

"Let's F--k" takes its inspiration from classic down-and-dirty blues, and approaches the blunt come-on of its title with a tongue in cheek. It's not everybody's favorite song, but it is the favorite of more people than you'd expect.

"Turn Out Right" is one of the very earliest Elastic No-No Band songs. It paints a portrait either of a troubled young man in a dysfunctional family, or simply an average young man with a chip on his shoulder and a troubled imagination.

"I Am Klaus Kinski (And This is My Song)" is an unusual comic piece that imagines the famous German actor (and noted maniac) Klaus Kinski trying to defend himself against claims that he's a nut, and failing to hold himself together in the process.

"You Never Swam" is an offbeat story of childhood isolation, as illustrated by an inability to swim with other kids.

"Cheese Fries" is a comic song about loving something terribly bad for you (with cheese on top).

"(Everywhere I Look) I See Your Face" is an old-fashioned country-and-western song about what happens when you have that special someone a little too much on your mind.

"Jeanette Is Working" was inspired by a true story. Working in a popcorn shop in a mall, Jeanette is wasting her life away... but then again, aren't we all?

"You Think It's Wrong (To Sing Along)" will teach you the meaning of the word "amusia," if you don't know it.

"A Modest Proposal (For Laura Cantrell)" is a tribute to New York City-based country songstress Laura Cantrell, and to female singers in general.

"Tough Guy" explores much the same territory as "Run-DMC," with a narrator who declares himself to be the meanest motorscooter in his musical realm, which in this case... is folk music.

"Turn Out Right Waltz" reconfigures the sound of "Turn Out Right" in an unusual and hopefully enjoyable way. (No, we didn't add a flugelhorn. Sorry.)

And stay tuned, because the group is hard at work on their first complete full-band album (with a drummer), the concept album MY 3 ADDICTIONS. It will include a few of the songs from this disc with fuller arrangements (still no flugelhorns, though), along with a brand-new batch of good-time tunes. MY 3 ADDICTIONS is intended for release in fall 2007.