Album Notes

SONG NOIR is the first release by a group of very disturbed folks who survived the early 00s by making up songs over tequila shots around a kitchen table in Oakland, California.

Jeff Obser and Leslie Gore, the songwriters and singers, plus a coterie of extremely sick and talented friends made art from wisecracking about terrorism, pharmaceutical drugs, the Buddha, and other topics.

Eventually they started taping the proceedings on cassette. (Future musicologists who pore over these recordings may have cause to wonder: Was the Bush era really this much fun?)

With 16 original songs, SONG NOIR is a feast. Musical styles range from psychedelic country to metallic reggae to balls-out Keith Richards rock, with a few evil ballads thrown in to moderate blood pressure.

Jeff Obser recorded SONG NOIR in the sound-dead basement of the Cafe Cumberland, San Francisco, in the summer of 2005. Frequent visits from the peripatetic Leslie Gore resulted in many bouts of hysteria, with vocal chords splayed out on the carpet, heaving for breath.

Anyone who has ever wanted to take our Information Age overload of political and commercial bullshit, stick it in a blender, and make margueritas, needs to hear SONG NOIR. The sounds are groovy, but the message is hard-hitting -- and occasionally hilarious.

For high-quality MP3 audio streams, please visit La Califusa's website, linked at left. The CD itself was professionally remastered for a full, punchy sound.

Our website also has details on how to get a FREE COPY of our "roots" CD: 7 deeply ill parodies of other famous songs:

Steve McGarrett's Hair
Two of Us (Strafin' People)
Walk on the Mild Side
I'm Never Smokin' Dope Again
I Shot Versace
Is it Okay if I Take my TV...
Choctaw Fridge