Album Notes

The Emily Rock Group:

Paul Maccarrone, guitar, bass, vox
Michael Uva, guitar, bass, vox
Jason Weiner, drums, vox

The Emily Rock Group
Pop and Fade
(Collectible Escalators)

recorded and mixed august 1999 to december 2000 with Don Depew (Guided by Voices, Cobra Verde, Breaker) at 609 in Bedford, Ohio

"This is like nothing you have ever heard before. From song to song, it will continue to leave you asking 'What the hell?'... But after you listen to it once, you will be impressed and addicted. You will be left begging for more.

"Like Water You Press" is a fucking awesome song. Rock."

--www.angelfire.com/geek/nca/emilyrockgroup.htm


"The elusive Cleveland sound coats many local releases like salt caked on cars in spring thaw. It manifests itself in underdone production and musical longing for decades now departed. On one end of our underground spectrum lies bold irreverence; on the other, slavish nostalgia. Now fill in the band names.

Wiping off the usual grit is this lively, fresh-sounding CD that aims its nostalgia at indie-rock's recent past. "Nubia" and "Pugilista" bring memories of former champs Polvo, with chunky grooves and slippery guitars bent whimsically out of tune in the best way. While these tunes bounce, the furious "Borrow Your Car" and terse "Backline Bucket" give up good pedal-to-the-metal rocksmanship. Pop and Fade hails to a classic time when riding the indie-rock highway was a thrilling ticket to musical freedom.

Since the release of Pop and Fade, the Emily Rock Group has disbanded. But sure as misery loves company, Cleveland loves a reunion. Or two. Or three. You get the idea."

Grade: A MINUS

--Cleveland Free Times, March 28, 2001

For additional information, write to Collectible Escalators, 1944 w. 45th st, cleveland, ohio 44102 or e-mail mikuva@yahoo.com

LYRICS TO SELECTED CLIPS:


MIKE'S THEME

been sweepin' for days in the back room
buryin' the bridegroom with the big broom
wait wait push the date beneath the cool dirt the cool hurt
tin snips to disconnect the tin cans
swinging like the dry bones of your big plans
a long list of things you might have missed
when you were this tall
you're so small
pickin' up the pieces
smoothin' out the creases
straighten up
brush the dust off the invitation
new threads to hold it all together
steady as a feather
see the heather at the red bar
a muscle car and you're a big shot
been sweepin' for days in the back room
buryin' the bridegroom with the big broom
wait wait a little late you are the big shot



NUBIA

pinch clots caught in my arm this afternoon
they were a twenty minute walk. stop.
the bruises i choose for the solitaire wash and wear
got somethin' for yer mortgage pal now
yak yak yak yak yak yak . . .

candelabra, she is smiling at the opera, give it up

death-planes radiate carbs I'm waltzing home
plucking hurricane fence force waves to their drone
I've got the old shoes button blues
beat me with a wire hangar
whack whack whack whack whack whack . . .

she's swingin' from the candelabra, she is smiling at the opera, give it up

looking through the cubicle at nubia she's spilling out
sequin shirt body flirt
mud eyes surprise I'd make every day mine
but not this time
wind 'em up and drop headlines
"youth for the
gristmill shocking detail!"
kid paste for a dollar ninety-nine
grab the camera and gelignite
gimme HVAC and forty years of lung disease now
ack ack ack ack ack ack . . .

nine nights of drool through clenched teeth sheets



LIKE WATER YOU PRESS

I forgot
Lost my car in a parking lot
I'll never come this way again
I could bite through my lip I'm so angry
Her nose is running and it's getting dark

Turning back time
Your cast and your line are too high
Done for the day
Your tracks washed away in your mind
Falling behind

One more time
These are things you will never find
Time to think
A pot of gold in the kitchen sink
Like water you press through the sand
You see the sunlight through the palm of your hand

Finally some luck
It's over there by the pickup truck
Night fishing
I left the keys in the ignition


ACTION KLAXON

head in the brine quick break out the new slime
a seizure in high heels walking the clothesline
sundown rumble from the riot mines
they're not afraid of you or your sacrifice
creak of the floodgates echo through street grates
the 14th street underpass overheads pop and fade
we'll have a fine time, carpal wires clicking speed up!
the local freight lines, tunnel fires humming speed up!
a freezer trailer shrine, stripmatic tragic speed up!
and will this baseline kill me, fuck it! thrill me! speed up!
and will this baseline kill me, fuck it! thrill me! speed up!
and will this baseline kill me, fuck it! thrill me! shut up!

you can bet we're tricked out
coiled springs till they shout

call the chamois to the shore
the breaker's polished core

breaker breaker breaker mine
the action klaxon!



all song lyrics c2001 the emily rock group/collectible escalators.