::: From the 1996 full-length release, Wack-Ass Tuba Riff :::
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Set playback to 720p FOR HIGHEST-QUALITY AUDIO !!!
CHECK OUT THE WACK-ASS TUBA RIFF PLAYLIST, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiksAjzxGszxHEZzOUyAHQU8mHbLcjfpI, to hear the entire CD with tracks in order!!! (!!! = very, very, very exciting), and to READ THE WACK-ASS PLAYLIST DESCRIPTION for extensive track commentary on QUITE LIKE THIS. Couldn't fit it here along with all the slideshow details.
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FULFLEJ features MATT THUIN on Drums, ON DRAPEY on Bass, and JAE SENJI on Vocals & Guitar.
Instead of the usual still shot of the front album cover which often makes up the entirety of a video for a song uploaded to youtube, I decided to go slightly beyond the call of duty and assemble a simple yet adorable slideshow for the uploaded tracks of this album. Don't get too excited - it's the exact same slideshow accompanying every track.
EACH SLIDE LASTS LONGEST ON PRETTY LIGHT DESTRUCTION since it's the longest song (clocks in at a respectable 6m 22s). They linger the least on Parallel To Gravity (clocks in at 3m 42s. What kind of weak-ass, non-epic time length is that? Definitely not Flej-worthy).
The slideshow consists of various items and pictures that I could locate around the house that were connected in some way to the Era of Wack-Ass. Here are some specs-n-thoughts on what you see:
--0:00--0:28--1:00--4:31--Images from the CD, cover, and sleeve for Wack-Ass. Dolls by Thuin, doll photography by Todd Plitt, infantile drawings by Senji.
--0:17--0:44--1:32--2:37--3:10--3:58- 4:25 -Various publications in which we were mentioned or reviewed.
--0:22--With James and D'arcy after 1 of the 2 Pumpkins shows in Illinois (Peoria and DeKalb) where we opened for them. They were referred to as "warm-up shows" (even though they drew 1500 and 2500 people - f$cking Billy) for their Mellon Collie tour which is why a relatively no-name band like ours was allowed to open for them. I recall sensing that Billy was a bit put off by the fact that we were both "coming out" with newly shaved heads at the same time. Good thing I wouldn't be going on before him during the rest of the "actual" tour.
--0:49--Black-n-whites of us taken in The Fan (our Richmond neighborhood) by Becca Henry.
--1:05--1:38--Set of the Work video.
--1:49--Show at the Metro in Chicago in 1997 (entire show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waVZRoA3qik&list=PLiksAjzxGszzlaDQ4YAQoR5dyX9fYXyOb). Includes image of Drapey being warned by Thuin's kick drum to watch out for those white devils trying get their pretty little pasty hands on some dark chocolate.
--2:21--Images from our Work CD single (intended mainly for sending to radio stations).
--2:43--Unrecognizable show #1.
--2:43--3:04--Working on Wack-Ass in Iha's basement studio at his house in Chicago.
--2:48--D'arcy's apple farm in Michigan where Thuin recorded most of the drums for Wack-Ass in a straight-up, oldskool barn with a studio inside.
--2:59--Cassette release of Wack-Ass still shrink-wrapped with the irrefutable "FEATURING THE SINGLES" sticker. Of the 3 singles cited, only Work In This Universe actually became one. Senselessness only had the chorus repeat twice instead the minimum 3 times required to be a smash hit (which it otherwise would have obviously been), and Microwave had some issue concerning the vocals being sung very ridiculously during the first verse (supposedly). I must say, we feel fortunate to have had a cassette version of the album just before record companies ceased producing cassettes. Get that f$cking magnet out of here, dude!
--3:04--With Jeremy Freeman (president of Scratchie, D'arcy's bro-in-law at the time) on his b-day in Chicago.
--3:15--Press kit photo, and a few other pics from the same shoot, taken by Andrea Kurzman at Adam Schlesinger's (Fountains of Wayne bassist, producer of various Wack-Ass tracks, co-owner of Scratchie) apartment in NYC. This was the same shoot that the 2 pix on the Wack-Ass sleeve originated from.
--3:42--Images from the Power Rangers sequel soundtrack CD sleeve and cover (shrink-wrapped with sticker - again, proof we were legit, but not too much to eventually quit), and a promo CD for the single. Distractions all around me, troublesome things surround me.
--3:53--Show at Schaffer Court on VCU campus in Richmond, VA.
--4:04--Unrecognizable show #2.
--4:09--Work In This Universe 7-inch, our first Scratchie release.
--4:47--December 1995 benefit show in Louisiana for Shannon Hoon's infant daughter after his death in October.
RET'S ROCK !!!