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The Calm Before

by Lach

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Plus: PDF of the Original Album Artwork by Grammy Nominated Artist Peter Nevins
    Plus: Music video for Gone, Gone, Gone
    Added on June 9 2017 - Scan of the original lyrics to George at Coney
    Purchasable with gift card

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes Grammy-Nominated artist Peter Nevin's artwork and features Vocals from Richard Barone (The Bongos), Chris Barron (The Spin Doctors) and Lydia Ooghe. With Mike Visceglia on Bass (Suzanne Vega Band) and Billy Ficca on drums (Television).

    "This record somehow feels like it was years in the making, full of experience, pain and joy. It sounds cliché to tell people to listen to their elders and learn from what they've done, but in a time where kids start bands and just ape someone's style, there is lots to be learned from Lach."- Herohill.com

    "His new LP is his finest release to date: it’s heartfelt, intelligent, good-humored, and expertly constructed folk played with the irreverent attitude that has become the hallmark of the Antifolk aesthetic."- Movement Magazine

    "I’m rather fascinated with this album: it’s so familiar and yet so hard to pin down. The Calm Before is a collection of Lach's latest post-punk stripped-down-raw-to-the-bone antifolk genius. He’s catchy, funny, and doesn’t only appeal to a niche audience like so many of the followers of antifolk seem to do."- smother.net

    "I kinda like the whole punk folk thing and much as say, Weller is considered the Modfather, this guy is the leading influence in this genre and pretty damn good to boot."- rocksellout.com

    "Anyone who wants to find out what antifolk was up to before a bunch of young wannabes (Beck, Regina Spektor, Jeffrey Lewis, Moldy Peaches, to name a few) melted it down and made it into something new, should study this record carefully. Everyone else: batten down the hatches, sit back, relax and enjoy the storm."- Exclaim Magazine

    "Every now and then something arrives in the Incendiary shed that just blows me sideways. Lach’s The Calm Before has just done that. If there’s a place in the world where somebody with this kind of talent plays for next to nothing on a weekly basis, I want to be a regular. As it is, I’ll just have to settle for having this little gem of an album in my house. Jesus this is good. There’s your nutshell review right there. Stick it on a poster, you can quote me if you like. I want move to New York."- Incendiary Magazine

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Calm Before via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Egg 04:18
Egg By Lach Wobbly wings still sticky with yolk and bits of shell My bewildered little chicken-head is ticking all pell-mell I wandered into Disneyland a chip still on my shoulder Everyone said I was young but I felt so much older In isolation maps are drawn, I'm a reality Magellan Circumnavigating my mind where all my thoughts are yelling They clamor for attention all my dreams and attitudes They control the ship I'm in and I'm warping in and out of moods The Sun's so bright on my baby eyes I don't think I stand a chance I thought life was a limousine but it turned into an ambulance My friends are all from coincidence; I met them by pure happenstance I know I should hang out with them but I can't stand accidents I miss my oval world where everything was safe and smooth Until I punched a hole through the sky, everything was so cool But now I'm dazzled by these wings that I can't control Everyone says I am young, why do I feel so old? It's not fair, it's not fair, and now I'm all baby-mad I should thank-you for having me but it feels more like I've been had I don't like it out here I want to go back inside Where everything is safe and warm and where the sky is white. . . Egg.
2.
I Want To Be With You by Lach In a car, yeah, with clotheslines, farms and road signs just whipping by across Alabama creeks, across Montanic skies Jimmy Rogers honeycombing across the dash yodel-lapping our ears along with Johnny Cash You'll fall adreamin', your window wide open letting in the moonlight and pieces of Heaven and the smiling, handshaking night I want to be with you Scared and shaking like little league choirs in front of families at holiday dinners Lifting small children up on our shoulders being told secrets by sisters and brothers Escaping to the patio for Camels and Kents while gazing up at celestial merriments Blankets of stars singing, "How do you do?" Well, I just want to be with you I want to be with you In a supermarket weighing out bananas and avocados Checking out all the fabulous prizes on the box of Frostie-O's Brown-bagging back to our apartment, cooking up chicken and tomatoes Mozart and Ella as we bathe together holding each other under soapy water Toweled and clean, yeah, fed and renewed I just want to be with you I want to be with you Skin pressed to skin, you let me in, until we are one again Over and over we are true lovers, over and over we are true friends In the soft hours, quiet and holy, when the one again become two as we drift into our sweet sleep, I just want to be with you I want to be with you
3.
Ain’t A Song by Lach There ain’t much to move G All’s I got is a guitar G A box full of lyrics D Some pennies in a jar G Some comic books and clothes G An American flag G I can fit most of it D In one army bag G This Ain’t A Song G This Ain’t A Song G This Ain’t A Song D It is C my life G There ain’t much of me I’m all skin and bones A head full of dreams And a heart full of poems I’ve let go of my worries And all of my cares I guess I can fit in Just about anywhere There ain’t much I can’t do Ain’t much I ain’t done And if’n I meet you Well, you’ll end up a song It’s the most I can give To the people I know Who’ve helped me to live This life I have known
4.
I Won't Miss You by Lach well you call and you tell me that the weather's great You tell me what you saw and you tell me what you ate You mention that a guy has asked you for a date Your pause for my reply became an awfully long wait Cause I don't care where your going I don't care now where you've been I don't care if you're sober I don't care if you're been drinking again I don't care what you say or what you do You won't hear me say, "I miss you" You're letters contain drawings, and lines of poetry So, I'm reading into them to see if they're about me You talk about going to Japan or maybe to France I say au revoir, sayanara, write if you get the chance But I don't care if I never see you I don't care if you meet someone I don't worry about how you're doing or if you're having any fun So, don't play coy and don't play distant Cause that's a hand I can see right through You're only trying to get me to say "I miss you" But I don't miss going crazy Wondering if you're gonna call I don't miss wondering where you are or if you're coming home at all I don't miss your eyes of sorrow I don't miss your face of pain I don't miss wondering if tomorrow You'll be leaving me again If you live your life like a target Eventually you're gonna fall So, go ahead and paint a bull's eye on your forehead And maybe I won't miss you after all No, I won't miss you
5.
A Quiet Distance by Lach My dad yells at newspapers Ranting about the Knicks and Nixon I complain about poets who choke me with correctness Everyone’s pointing fingers But I'd rather be fingerpainting Getting messy colors dripping on my hands Home for the holidays and my friends are getting famous I try on emotions like I try on clothes from storage Nothing seems to fit I'm not angry, sad or jealous Confused I will admit I'm like a song without a chorus And the women here I know talk like sisters over coffee "How was San Francisco?" and "Are you really happy?" They say, " I fell in love while you were gone but just last week he left me, So, I can't handle romance can we just go to a movie." I'm on a new road but I had to come home to find it Everything looks smaller when you try to hide behind it Get real close up and you can't make out the picture But from a quiet distance everything seems so much clearer So, now my horse is saddled and I'm gonna ride triumphant Away from the battles the circus and the convent A -yippie -aye- oh come on and sing along and I'll make the ending chorus of the song a -yippie -aye -ee -oo- a- yippie -aye- kye-yay! I'd rather be fingerpainting Confused I will admit I can't handle romance But from a quiet distance everything seems so much clearer A -yippie -aye- oh come on and sing along and I'll make the ending chorus of the song a -yippie -aye -ee -oo- a- yippie -aye- kye-yay!
6.
Men Don't Come Back by Lach Slippy, little, whip of a lady Peering out through a jungle of hair She's wondering if anyone's crazy enough to be looking for her Emptying bottles while filling up pages talking about her lonely pain She throws her messages out like missiles falling through teardrops, thick as rain Men are distant towers of laughter Men are houses of light gone black She knows what every man is after and after that, men don't come back She loves going out to the ballgames To see the men playing run and fetch She thinks the crowd is rising for her during the seventh inning stretch She was called up for jury duty She was asked her opinion on men She said, "All men, well, they're born guilty and women are all born innocent"
7.
Positions of Power by Lach Last night I dreamt I was a stagecoach With aristocratic ladies on my velvet seats. I heard their rich whispers Like the soft crumple of satin sheets. And my floorboards creaked in painful ecstasy With the shuffle of their feet. I awoke shaking in my bed from The dreams of positions of power. Next, I dreamt I was the coach’s horses Kept in the stable with the flies. The bridle bit into my mouth. It stung like a million lies. And my muscles ached from pulling the ladies Through their useless lives. I awoke in the shining sweat of the slaves To the positions of power. But then I dreamt I was the ladies, Their laughter and jewels my own. We whispered plans to fire the driver And what he’d do if we let him stay on. And I only heard my own merriment As the coach and horses moaned. I awoke crying in despair. I knew there would never be an empty chair In the positions of power.
8.
Oh Well 03:43
Oh, Well by Lach Everybody's drifting aimlessly about their lives Apathy hangs heavy you can cut it with a knife Husbands are happy complaining about their wives And the bars are all doing great business this year The children run and hide when the parents come home They watch from behind daddy hitting mom And they wonder if they'll marry before the bomb Comes down and turns everyone to stone Some say Satan is walking the streets today Trading in souls for a brief taste of ecstasy And though I've locked my windows and I threw away the key I secretly wish he'd come looking for me Oh well, I guess that's just the way that it is But I always thought there'd be Something more than this My soul is on fire I need the sweet water of a kiss I'd give any thing for just a second of bliss Oh, well, Oh, well . . . ah, hell. .
9.
Letter To Theo by Lach And so, Theo, what news I have today The colors are frightening in a most wonderful way The countryside is on fire as the sun slides away And at night I can feel the stars They're calling out my name How do we love? Is that something we control? Are we governed by our hearts, or by our minds, or by our souls? What nerve have I to believe that I know When I'm just another actor In God's traveling show My dear Theo O my dear Theo In closing, Theo, you know you have my love And I wish there was some way I could say what it Was I'm thinking of Please visit me soon, I would love to paint your face I would pose you beneath the moon Over by the Postman's place My dear Theo O my dear Theo
10.
George At Coney by Lach George at Coney Alone but not lonely Laughing at the waves Black boots in the sand Walking the boardwalk Bored of the big talk Under the moonlight Twelve strings in his hand His friends went out dancin' George took a chance and Rode the F Train out to the beach While his manager did panic George had a picnic Just his guitar, some ciggies And the stars within reach George at Coney Alone but not lonely Laughing at the waves Bare feet in the sand Walking the boardwalk Bored of the big talk Under the moonlight Twelve strings in his hand George at Coney Spent most his money On jellybeans, french fries and Coca-Cola Spent his last dollar To hear himself holler While riding the Cyclone rollercoaster George at Coney Alone but not lonely Laughing at the waves Black boots in the sand Walking the boardwalk Bored of the big talk Under the moonlight Twelve strings in his hand Eventually they found him And up they did round him Shuttled him back to the froth and the fray But if you're ever lonely Just ride out to ol' Coney Sit quiet at night and you'll hear him play George at Coney Alone but not lonely Laughing at the waves Bare feet in the sand Walking the boardwalk Bored of the big talk Under the moonlight Twelve strings in his hand
11.
Gone,Gone,Gone by Lach On A Spring day in February I walked down to the river It was Handel's birthday, I still remember how my mind was muddled from last night's liquor and the harder I tried the harder it was to forget her But she's gone, gone, gone into the Winter looks like Spring's come early this year The stupidest things make me cry tears into the Hudson A Spanish kid on harmonica, a low Latin love hymn An old, gay couple, a wonderous, dragon kite I'd give anything to be with her tonight But she's gone, gone, gone into the Winter looks like Spring's come early this year
12.
Questions 04:18
Question by Lach Who can I talk to in this deafening silence Everyone says that they knew me when And while they argue all about my greatness I'm drowning and thirsty at the same time Who can I kiss? All the women are hungry Who can I hold when all sex is a dare Where was my baby when the new snow fell She was out hunting her new hero And my sweet Pistols are still a secret Punk was a ribbon some careless girl wore Nobody sings about their true lover Everybody just crowds for a drink at the bar Who can I kiss and leave for the sunshine Wet and basking on the seashore Where's the right rhyme to leave her gasping Where are the eyes that promised erasure Where are the lips that promised me pleasure Where is the breath I waited my life for Here is your love now where is your answer Here is your lover now where is your answer Answer I wonder how cool she really is How much does she know Is her beauty skin-deep is she gonna bluff or fold I wish there was a number A true blue phone that I could call That'd give to me the melody to the answer to it all Sitting across of a table In a secret Spanish restaurant The poor, poor waiter can't find anything on the menu I want But later in the evening in a dream by the sea I finally taste the answer When my baby kisses me
13.
Crazy House 01:58
Crazy House by Lach After finishing a wartime meal A hand-rolled cigarette I give myself a feel A reminder so I won't forget The circus is coming but it's different this time When it was here last year I went on every ride House to car to street to bar I can feel the heat rise Like driving through small town on Christmas eve night Circus is in town but I'm in tight control I let the other clowns fight over it all The house of mirrors where they steal your soul and put it up on the wall The house of horrors at least has guts but the monsters there are stuffed The big arena and the circus parade where the ringmaster leads the charade You can hear the cheers coming at you from the darkness You can see a crowd out there but you can't see one face I've been in, now I’m out, and I'm going to go to crazy house After filling out my application and waiting in a white, white room they bring me congratulations, a smock, a mop, a broom Circus is leaving but it's different this time I'm the king of crazy house and I'm leaving this town behind

credits

released December 17, 2013

Recorded in Brooklyn, NY.
Lach - Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
Bass - Mike Visceglia (Yeah, of Suzanne Vega's Band)
Drums - Billy Ficca (Yeah, of punk legends Television)
Engineer - Tony Maimone (Yeah, of Pere Ubu and They Might Be Giants)
Additional Vocals - Richard Barone of The Bongos, Chris Barron of The Spin Doctors and Lydia Ooghe of Lydia Ooghe

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Lach Edinburgh, UK

Lach, founder of the Antifolk movement and star of BBC Radio 4's The Lach Chronicles.

‘Beat-punk-unplugged joy!’-The Guardian UK

‘Splendid! Best of it's kind!’- Mojo

‘Incredibly bright, influential, funny, poetic.’-Suzanne Vega

‘Best punk guitarist since Johnny Ramone.’-Billy Ficca of Televis
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