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The Grand Spontanean

by Telethon

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biggie_cheese75
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biggie_cheese75 This is a great album. I will one day own all of the Telethon canon on vinyl, and I’m so glad they found a box of unsold pressings, or else I probably would’ve been shit out of luck finding this gem. Favorite track: The Page at the End of the Internet.
noremac123
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noremac123 glad i was able to pick this up on vinyl, my favorite album from this band Favorite track: The Page at the End of the Internet (Reprise).
Grayson Moses
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Grayson Moses This has been my favorite album of all time for a good while. Favorite track: Stillwave (feat. Chris Farren).
kirrrbbbyPhD
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kirrrbbbyPhD AOTY hands down. Just completely incredible cover-to-cover. Favorite track: Firebrand.
danmam
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danmam its the best Favorite track: The Runner's High (feat. Roger Lima).
Sam schrader
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Sam schrader Too often a long, ambitious concept album like this would get bogged down and worn out. Telethon keeps it exciting the entire time, exploring plenty of emotional territory while keeping things humorous as well. This things has riffs and hooks for days. Favorite track: The Page at the End of the Internet.
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1.
The Signal 01:14
Instrumental
2.
The ideal me’s got an ideal life Don’t compare it to the one that I’m leading Seems like every night a showdown or shitshow leaves one of us swollen or bleeding Ah, christ, that’s a figure of speech I’d swear on the bible but I don’t think it’d mean anything When you asked how I feel, did you expect explanation? Or were you just stopping by, you know, dropping in The truth is I’m not sure what’s wrong Perhaps it’s best to leave the pain right where the pain belongs ‘Cause it’s fiending for daylight And it’s got you in its sights It’s only a matter of time, and I fear that it won’t be long So leave me on the seat of my car Leave me on the seat of my car I realize trying to be present’s a pretty tall order So leave me on the seat of my car While I ruminate on what it all could mean Never did I ever intend to throw a wrench in the plan tonight I might’ve got out of hand tonight Could be I’m feeling alright tonight But what of tomorrow? When it’s recalled that I’m unequipped Fall into the same old traps And the same old words dribble from my lips It’s madness obstructing the heart It’s madness taking aim at the heart Right now you understand and good god that’s a blessing But this madness gonna tear me apart If you’re feeling able-minded, there’s an arrogance at fault If you’re checking how you handle, there’s a method to it all Not a question of your morals, but a question of your sign How much you care to hold; Well, how often do you sigh? There’s a disappointed child in every adult who decided that they couldn’t bear the burden of the garden out behind A construct took these fingers and it ripped apart my day That child, still disappointed, all he wants to do is… But all that he can stand to do is…
3.
Concentrate the whole time A Facetime call won’t do the justice it deserves and I know it bothers you when beating around the bush I Miss the point you tried to make and it’s a white lie To say it didn’t take I know, I know, there must be some between, yeah Someone to reach and pull the darkness out of me A bit astounded by own passivity So I am still in wait for somewhere to hide away The scratching at the soul is a tough one to describe Blind to a stranger. What do they think they’ll find but Tea leaves and bottles Steel wool to keep the mice from chewing up the model Parthenon of modern life I know, I know, there must be some between, yeah Some tires to screech and scare the bullshit out of me You’re in denial of your own mortality and that right about sums it up Succinct, the optimist I know, I know, there must be some between, yeah Someone to listen, shout solutions out at me Intimidated by the possibility that I could solve it all With TLC and CBT
4.
Doctor 04:01
PROTAG: Doctor. Can I call you that? I know you don’t have a degree, but Doctor just rolls off the tongue a bit more naturally to me. Doctor, seems you got a problem with the way that I’m living my life You’re shoveling and you’re scraping down. It’s cutting me just like a . . . . . . . If we’re aiming for open, we’ll have to try harder We gotta destroy that levee I’m guarding It wasn’t expected, now i’m begging your pardon There’s nary a glimmer, so gimme your card and I’ll be gone Despite the benefits I hear result from talking out your problems, I can’t seem to see how steps that help others could ever help me There’s a live wire coursing through my genes that puppeteers apprehension and fear I hope that’s clear. Can we proceed at a distance? you know how I’m different Doctor, suppose there’s a reason for all the creaks and whistling upstairs Suppose those reasons are manifest in the hours I’ve spent tracing lines in the sand Those lines have been drawn to a credible purpose Let in too many people, your emotions will surface I couldn’t imagine that kind of despair, so I’m putting up safeguards and I’m keeping them there Maybe I don’t know what I don’t know As the scholars tell me, ignorance is bliss, I don’t need fixing Got the right to get pissed; piss drunk to avail cheap, easy assistance The ones who matter have to stay by my side; a pack to hide behind May disappoint them time to time But c’est la vie to me that’s life THE DOCTOR: Seems you got anger Why not try sadness? Seems you got rage Why not try crying? I know it thrills you to burn off at someone but you’re gonna lose them, son, if you don’t start trying PROTAG: I see your point I see the consequences stacking up downstream My circle closing I can see it now, what I hold dear to me Won’t be there always, be there when i’m sick and frail, old and grey If i don’t get lighter, They can all start leaving, They can all stop loving back, That’s where we’re heading, The choir sings for me, Single cell of tragedy, They witness and they pity me, It’s getting damn near deafening But if I decide to get off this ride, can I?
5.
He's Right 01:17
He’s right He’s right It’s as sure as the day is bright and the night is manic depressive, long, and dark But if he’s right If he’s right From the sound of it, there’s an issue with my intuition. I’ve gotta do my part But that’s a challenge That's a challenge With a brain on fire and habits, Tough to break, subconscious cycles, wasted effort; Dead end down every passage I can try it I can try it But beware don’t raise your hopes, i don’t tend to get stuck on tactics That I find too hard That seem Sisyphean or daunting Can’t expect this’ll last too long
6.
I seek reprieve in the second bedroom Converted to home office Where i framed some vinyl records "Blue", "Rumors", and "Born To Run," Which i note as a little standard Conduct an eBay search for "Lodger." Four clicks later, eight bucks broker In a week it arrives at my home And I’m still miserable This is acceptable I jump out of my bed already feeling fatigued I can't remember why i stayed up, now I’m weak in the knees I check my inbox, making breakfast, swiping left to delete I microwave some stale coffee from the previous week i burnt the shit out of my toast cause i forgot it was toasting stamping seals of approval via microinteractions Tell somebody i can’t do it cause I'm spread too thin Tell myself that tomorrow i’ll try meditation again And lament the reminders repeating They flash across awareness, try to focus on breathing But my senses are heightened, my synapses abuzz So i can’t focus on nothing 'cept the tabs i just opened above It’s like black tar heroin Loop it into the waves again The thrum of my betterment How soonish can i forget Inform my next of kin Once the arrangements begin Bury me in my notifications To the static you hear between stations Still, there’s something so divine about a screen in your eyes Like you’re sitting on the top of the world There’s nothing like a homebound clickaround night To flatten out the paranoid blur There’s something so divine [Stare at myself] About a screen in your eyes [Blue glow of the LCD] It’s like you’re sitting on the top of the world [Mad at myself] Nothing like a homebound clickaround night [2 star rated and trembling] To flatten out the paranoid blur
7.
Tiny Rushes 01:43
Sorry, still at home right now I’m caught up in this spiderweb This lonesome crowded wasteland Oh, mankind I had not expected I’d be here on a third consecutive night Yet here I am regardless Spending time, and spending money I don’t have to spend My time and money here but still I do A habit that’s enabled by a tiny rush of dopamine Whenever I leave raw thought on a page that is not mine No one requested it but they sometimes pay it mind I’m high I feel better here Until the brush is cleared and I’m revealed A lonesome, tired bearded man Mid-20s Passing through In blue jeans, midnight, up to nothing Layered windows Untitled folders on his desktop Big ideas scatter and they whine, dump out as quick as they arrived He’s lost the pigment in his skin His friends and family worry That he's lost all his affection As the tiny rush of dopamine lures him in again, but this time was different...
8.
Suddenly i found it The page at the end of the internet As i did sink through trails of links Somehow i landed there The address was all asterisks No paths leading in or out of it A visit counter at the top read zero-zero-one The background: tiny tiled stars in the night sky A midi file droning single notes at a time A row of gifs of planet earth, all their rotations in line A cluster block of times new roman all caps center aligned And this is what it said: I LOOKED INTO THE MIRROR. THE PERSON WHO LOOKED BACK WAS NOT MYSELF. THEY WERE THE OTHER. GOD'S UNFORTUNATE MESSENGER. THEY HAD A MESSAGE FOR ME. FOR THE WHOLE WORLD. THEY TOLD ME THE TRUTH. THEY TOLD ME THE WORLD WOULD END WHEN ITS CORE STOPPED SPINNING. THERE WAS AN URGENCY TO THEIR MESSAGE. THE EVENT WOULD HAPPEN SOON. I SAW THE EARTH FROM SPACE. THE GREAT BLUE DOT. BUT IT WASN'T BLUE. IT WAS NOW RED. LIKE THE WHOLE WORLD WAS ABLAZE. ONE SUPERCONTINENT WRAPPING AROUND ITS CENTER WITH ITS OCEANS ON ITS TOP AND BOTTOM. I SAW THE WORLD BREAK. HUGE CRACKS IN THE EARTH. IN THEM THE THRONE OF BEELZEBUB WAS VISIBLE. HIS RED HOT GAZE BURNT THE SOULS RIGHT OUT OF THOSE UNFORTUNATE TO BE TOO CLOSE. I SAW THE EARTH STOP MOVING., ATMOSPHERE STILL TRAVELED. THOUSAND MILE WINDS STILL SPINNING ON A STATIONARY EARTH. THOUSAND MILE WINDS STILL SPINNING ON A STATIONARY EARTH. MOUNTAINTOPS TORN OFF THEIR BASES. TREES VIOLENTLY UPROOTED. A YOUNG BOY RIPPED FROM HIS MOTHERS ARMS WHICH WERE RIPPED FROM THEIR SOCKETS ENTIRELY. ALL SENT SKYWARD AT A SPEED I COULD BARELY COMPREHEND. I SAW MEN WHOSE FEET ONCE STOOD FIRMLY ON THE GROUND FLYING. NO, FLOATING. HELPLESSLY FLAILING. THEIR EYES BULGED. THEIR STOMACHS DISTENDED TO THE POINT OF BURSTING. THEN THEY BURST. THEIR VISCERA FLOATING AWAY FROM THEM AS THEIR LIFELESS BODIES LOOKED ON. I SAW MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN. THEIR SKIN SO BURNED AND COVERED IN BLISTERS THEY NO LONGER LOOKED HUMAN. THE SUN'S RADIATION TURNING THEM INTO SOMETHING OTHERWORLDLY. THEN THE VISION STOPPED. THE PERSON IN THE MIRROR STARED BACK. THE STRANGEST THING HAPPENED. A BURNING SENSATION IN THE BACK OF MY SKULL. FOUR NUMBERS BRANDED INTO THE NEURAL CAVITIES. DAYS. HOURS. MINUTES. SECONDS. THE NUMBERS KEPT FLIPPING. CHANGING. COUNTING DOWN. I KNEW WHEN THESE NUMBERS REACHED ZERO THE CORE WOULD STOP SPINNING. THE WORLD WOULD END. THE PROPHECY WOULD BECOME TRUE. THE NUMBERS ARE STILL THERE. NOW I WILL RELAY THEM TO YOU. COUNTING DOWN. 37 DAYS, 12 HRS, 33 MINS, 53 SEC. 37 DAYS, 12 HRS, 33 MINS, 50 SEC. 37 DAYS, 12 HRS, 33 MINS, 47 SEC.
9.
Punctuation! 02:12
I must’ve ran it over in my head A thousand times or more First came disbelief, then hesitance, now I’m so convinced I’m sweating through the sheets It can’t be real Yet it’s so sure of itself like an excerpt from a tome if our time is up then I won’t get better, better to settle I’ll cease to be Along with psychotherapy, and twitter feeds much ado it’s true How will all the people know? How will they cope when they find out that the world will soon stand Still I’ll take it in for all of them and Keep it hid for their last several weeks’ good I wasn’t doing anything You can’t ruin the already ruined Although it’s unexpected, it won’t get better, best not to meddle I’ll let ‘em all live clear while I marinate in fear Armageddon contour all my truth as the season changes it’ll be a little strange the final leaves’ll fall from branches and i’ll never get better, that really means never So quit with the artful bend over backwards The grimace of trying too hard This fixes your problems, it switches your purpose you’re doomed, it’s true, you’re doomed, it’s true
10.
Wrung 08:11
Don’t it always seem to go We press and we obsess about the things that we can’t know Finding answers nested eventually Never end up phrased the way we hoped that they would be In thirty days, mankind will be erased You can try to render sensical but it leaves a funny taste Because everything’s been leading up to this point Watch everything get thrown into the void and destroyed At a thousand miles an hour the days that you spent shopping, sleeping, and smoking pot Seem impossible now At least you figured it out So as I stated earlier, I know How it’s all going to happen But no concept of where I’ll go after Calming, but help me along What can I say to the regions beyond? ‘It’s really been a long while. Was hoping we could catch up at some point soon. Will await your reply. P.S. Send a little sunlight won’t you?” Shit! Up the steps into the church on down my street Everybody’s strolling easy These people don’t mind, no, they’re not worried about nothing Got a grip on their existentiality And ooh, ooh, I bet if they knew Their time was running out so quickly They’d remain stoic, some would probably be happy They’d make believers out of anyone Might make a believer out of me Have I got this wrong? Been mistaken about it all along Have I got this all wrong? Is this the ticket to keeping on the keeping on? Did I have it wrong now, baby, or am I stuck repeating a line? Salvation. Paradise. But are they mine? I’m open to the experience of dying Other topics are rattling in my mind If Hell’s not real, then why am I afraid of going? If God’s not real, then why do I still apologize to it? At the core, a young man got exactly what he asked for A young man feels remorse because what he then found out Is the core of the earth will soon abruptly cease its spinning There’s terror in unknowing There’s more in what’s in store This will be five dark weeks of questioning my judgment Rewinding reminders from the heart The pitch black holes of hindsight, do I trust them? Been hearing false reminders from the start Stop making sense there’s none in there to find
11.
Flatpack 02:33
Something about the way Violet flips her hair While she’s paging through some fabric swatches I’m slumping in a Poang chair Does she sense malaise See it wash over my eyes We struggle cramming curtain rods in the trunk of her Passat outside And it’s cold. I watch her go. Everything’s on hold. East Palo Alto Ikea rooftop parking space is simply not the place. She’s talking up a trip to Bristol, Connecticut For an interview. LinkedIn connections. Two days after the world stops spinning. I’m gnawing on a fingernail. She asks me what’s gone wrong. Startled, say I’m leery of the way things seem to move along Without your say so Everything unfolds Tomorrow’s never guaranteed But a week from now’s concrete? I guess i’m a little in my own head Might need some time alone And Like that, I let her go The simplicity astounded even me
12.
All these people don’t they look pretty they watch the football game and walk above the city, oh they don’t mind Pay no mind, they don’t mind, pay no mind all these people it’s such a pity their game don’t matter now and neither does the city to the sunbeams, to the moonlight, to the sky joan of arc, st. stephen, john brown, paul, and i
13.
Suddenly, they found it the page at the end of the internet long story short, the pressure’s off and i’m not sure how to feel Everybody’s posting it The page at the end of the internet Their frequency is disbelief, oh yeah they’re just like me But I know where that hallway leads to If you’ve been following along, then baby, so should you! Imagine my own personal transition, diversified and multiplied by a couple of billion Wonder how they found it the page at the end of the internet To chalk it up to fate strikes me a tad naive How they gonna handle it This page at the end of the internet will it be catastrophe? a vessel for apathy? We’ll see.
14.
Underture 04:35
Instrumental
15.
Temporarily 02:05
Temporarily We misplaced our rationality Heard from some channel that We’re going extinct Locked eyes with the others, and started to think about the way it’s all gone, and the way that it goes, Seemed strangely familiar A likely scenario Temporarily! Cut ties with the old mundanity! Maybe even embraced; praised the careful design All hail the countdown to untimely demise Relief from the strains of our uncomfortable lives Detachment, ‘shit happens’ as the rallying cry And who can blame us? No one’ll save us Turns out our contributions were all meaningless Sucks to go before we planned, but being here has been a drag In summative retrospect, if we can use that term yet Good riddance to our cold mother earth and her axial rotation (which apparently we’re not worth) Oh! Here’s to the good times, here’s to the home team Pour one out now, or hold your peace for eternity Temporarily Out the window goes a sense of sanity Amazing how quickly a culture so strictly Invested in reason, finding feasible workarounds gave into the latter half of ‘get busy living, or get busy dying’
16.
PROTAG: They locked down the gates of Disneyland last night I saw it on the news Citing the riots up and down Katella Avenue I watched that news reporter stumble with her prompter and I wondered soon would news reports stop, too? Being the good American I am I knew I had to run Could be the last time, so I thought it prob'ly best to take the 1 Traffic standstill, oceanside, sprawling desperate humankind the Pacific was tiny, sake of timing, I kicked back to the 101 152 to 5 Not sure anyone still alive barely any cars in that whole time And this suburban kid turned city dweller felt a tear drip from his eye at having never really drove just to appreciate the drive that sentiment extinguished quickly when i caught the sight of a 50 something crewcutted dad-looking guy throw an empty garbage can through the window of a best buy and carry out a flat screen a couple sets of DVDs of How I Met Your Mother "Motherfucker! Put 'em down" I heard a disembodied voice call out, and that guy got tackled to the ground by a woman with a nametag and a bright blue polo shirt drew a sickly looking crowd as she kicked his teeth into the dirt when he eventually stopped moving we stared grimly at his body till he got up, grabbed his glasses, made a b-line to the hobby lobby I left the scene, aghast and terrified. i took it as a warning of the horrors that could lie ahead in wake of the announcement, 'human race to be eliminated, but something in there dissonated, and left me quite astounded It was that SOME PEOPLE STILL WAVE AMIDST THE FUCK OFFs AND THE MUGGERS As they WALK THEIR DOGS THROUGH PARKS AND THEY HOLD HANDS WITH ONE ANOTHER IT STRIKES ME AS CLICHE LIKE SOMETHING YOU SEE IN MOVIES BUT THE MOVIE’S COMING TRUE AND PEOPLE RECOGNIZE EXACTLY WHAT TO DO White knuckled, I spent three more hours Captive in the cockpit, doing 98, denying all impulse to simply pile through the guardrails that envelop the highway; to roll the credits my way, but a morbid curiosity took control the second I saw fluxing hills of smoke and smog pluming over burbank and north hollywood the great domain of angels looking kinda like I thought it would the cars, the trucks, the busses there they were a jam heading the other way A mass exodus from LA And there I was, ever contrarian, heading in to watch the show I took the exit to ball road, stopped on the street and slammed my doors, i started walking so anxious and excited, i was talking to myself i said Am I depraved? Or am I going insane? Did I drive all of this way For validation of my shame? Got no use in wondering now There's a Kingdom I gotta see A toppled idol of optimism and blueblood ingenuinity And fantasy, adventure -- The honest American dream! Rendered futile in the absence of a future An 85-acre emblem of what now will never be Jumped a chain link fence into Disneyland this afternoon Accessed from the side, straight through warehouses and garages, Near the back of Tom Sawyer Island Past splash mountain, with its flume completely dried, The Haunted Mansion looked so normal, Club 33 had its doors swung open wide Fascinating though it was, I found the atmosphere nightmarish Not a soul in sight to speak of Magic technicolor bareness I mean no noise, no cheer, no instrumental loops Just themed facades inside a vacuum That was until I met the Troops Finally felt the castle spires dwarfing me Warm sensations quickly pinned as familiarity Until i spied the upturned LAPD K-9 Unit Crown Victoria Half submerged beneath one of the false brick turrets A gigantic concrete base A bronze Walt Disney lay below it Hand outstretched to partner’s, 40 feet away under A sign reading “Tomorrowland” on an ornate metal globe A sawed-off wooden plank above it -- all it said was “No” I heard murmurs past the drawbridge Slurs I couldn’t understand knew beyond the iron gates stood what they called Fantasyland I couldn’t bare to see the fantasy these times had wrought in full 3D But, again, that curiosity! I guess it got the best of me I tiptoed in, my head halfway rotated o’er my shoulder My breaths grew short and stuttering, the wind was blowing so much colder, and then I’d say about a hundred living corpses pivoted and all moved toward me silently and slowly, then with grey eyes and thin black hair What appeared to be the leader of the group said, THE LEADER OF THE TROOPS: ‘Welcome in, o weary traveler, rather new member of the Troops this is our land now, for the next few days now, We can live the way we want and run it any way now I know why you came here, you wanted just to disappear Away from friends and family, from all responsibility; To slip inside this world of optimism, ingenuity, et cetera The saunter around the promenade musta learned you better Judging by the look upon your face I tell ya boy, well that’s okay Why don’t I give you a tour of all the hovels in this place The Casey Junior train It don’t roll around no more, Its tunnels something of a haven now For junk pokers and whores And Snow White, Pinocchio, Peter Pan in their respective buildings But those buildings’ve been taken over In fact they’re almost spilling With the detritus of our country I’m sorry to put it so bluntly Let’s keep moving, shall we? Ohhhhh, that’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride The site of several suicides since it closed If you take a look inside, past the switchbacks and the turnstiles You might find what you’re looking for, if you don’t Well, you’d better watch your back Behind those blacklit plywood flats Something sinister is sneaking, stealing souls Don’t think it can be seen, It takes the forms of dying dreams, childhood memories, and the places in between OH YEAH! but you’ll be fine, there is a hell in that world, just remember that The little devils deep inside they know precisely what you lack You may be perfect, straight and narrow, but they’re planning their attack Hey! Buddy! Where the hell ya headed? We was only gettin’ started!!!
17.
my jog turned to a stroll the saddest stroll you’ve ever seen past the popcorn stall and gift shops lining the ruin that was main street then i heard some noise erupting from the fire station window (defunct as it ever was) solid state amps and guitars tuning, an insane mechanized purring being the good American i am, I knew I had to run up the stairway to inspect at the top, a door, a sheet a paper stapled into it that said ‘to all who come to this happy place, welcome in’ stepped into a crimson red apartment with a pristine floral carpet victorian furniture upturned against the wall a guy with a mic said “come on inside, we was only gettin’ started”
18.
//The generator keeps us up! Keeps this whole show running! And every time it gets too loud, a reminder that it’s working! We will all fall. No hope left at all. Aside from this beacon of light. The generator keeps us alive. Generator, generator!//
19.
//So you’ve been Cut off before ya had yr chance to Make any difference to any other person but yourself Feeling bad for all the visions left unopened on your bookshelf Well I can’t speak for anybody but me while the populace is panicked i’m a motherfucking palm tree the hinges coming loose, i’ve got nothing to lose except my loser dead end day job and my sleeve tattoo so it’s alright despite the notion california’s won’t be splitting to the ocean hop offa this plane, on to the next no use shitting our jeans we’ll be right here until the ball stops spinning no one’s idea of fun is looking around at all their neighbors in their houses with their shades all pulled down we’ve got 2 weeks left yet to come and to go but i’m digressing, i’m arrested by futility ya know so help me out! yeah yeah ya know ya gotta help me out! yeah yeah oh dontcha put me on the back burner Ya know ya gotta help me out tell me It’s alright, despite the notion (over and in) the big illusion of perpetual m-motion (last call for sin) wasn’t worth mine, yours or your mom’s time (when everything’s lost, the battle is won) Cross all the T’s (in all these things that i’ve done) we’ll be right here until the ball stops spinning//
20.
//this is my second to last monday! my last october 23rd i never noticed this day before but now i will because there won’t be anymore i’m so afraid of what i’m gonna see the wreckage and the blood encircling me but i’d rather go this way than a random clogged artery, oh yeah, all is lost.. in that way i guess we’ve won//
21.
In a dream, swear I heard Gabriel blow a sour note through the rain It knocked me down a couple notches on the scale that day Woolly mammoths marching fleet foot through the banks of the LA It knocked me down a couple notches on the scale that day A bush burned and screamed ‘What’s the matter, man? ‘Tis but a subtle turn of phrase’ It knocked me down a couple notches on the scale that day You see sun is ever glistening and the ground it has always quaked It knocked me down a couple notches on the scale that day And I am the grand I am. Spontaneous. Looted a jacket made of leather from a boutique in Silver Lake It knocked me down a couple notches on the scale that day The starkness of fluorescent light. 2 AM in the Circle K. It knocked me down a couple notches on the scale that day Even when there ain’t no hope left, you can be the highway It knocked me down a couple notches on the scale that day And I am the grand I am. Spontaneous.
22.
PROTAG: New brand of thinking I assumed today Dull dread and fatalism All of it washed away The hours ticking put an awful strange spring in my step From the shoreline, to the outlying I’m looking everywhere. Everyone’s wasting time. Feral momentum. Exhilaration sets as I Stopped presuming that it’s all bad Stopped concluding I’m miserable Stopped my circling round the don’t haves As the don’t haves all turn to won’t Gone below, the feelings go You too can get past by Pan to ground and Pan to sky. Your modern life’s a lie Your TV’s broke. Smoked your last smoke. The kegs have all run dry. Doomsday impending, true, but I still can’t say D-I-E Drove a semi first time today Couldn’t find the owner, it was parked along the interstate Key in ignition and a samurai sword on the seat With a note etched in, DECEASED SEMI TRUCK DRIVER: “To anyone who needs it Keep it steady, kid, I just got the trans fixed I’ll throw myself from cliffs. immediate west. My skin’ll rot in the ocean Won’t get ripped like the rest. It’s a shame it had to end bad Thought I’d bust through the gates to see mom and dad. But it never moves along like that I’m not the state house out the window, i’m the sill, I’m the goddamn rat PROTAG: You know, you never know How the news’ll pass you by On that same note, you never know When you’re gonna wake up enlightened Subdued the hum The horror’s numbed Some call it the runner’s high Doomsday impending true So today there’s no way I can… New brand of thinking I assumed today Round up your blessings and realize you’ve been OK A minute here beats a minute not existing any day I took it north until the tank ran dry Dove out the driver’s seat to test if I could fly That fucker coasted and I never saw it stop Scraped and bruising, I arose, picked my shoes from the blacktop
23.
When it looks as if you had made up your mind finally to stay at home for the evening, when you have put on your house jacket and sat down after supper with a light on the table to the piece of work or the game that usually precedes your going to bed, when the weather outside is unpleasant so that staying indoors seems natural, and when you have already been sitting quietly at the table for so long that your departure must occasion surprise to everyone, when, besides, the stairs are in darkness and the front door locked, and in spite of all that you have started up in a sudden fit of restlessness, changed your jacket, abruptly dressed yourself for the street, explained that you must go out and with a few curt words of leave-taking actually gone out, banging the flat door more or less hastily according to the degree of displeasure you think you have left behind you, and when you find yourself once more in the street with limbs swinging extra freely in answer to the unexpected liberty you have procured for them, when as a result of this decisive action you feel concentrated within yourself all the potentialities of decisive action, when you recognize with more than usual significance that your strength is greater than your need to accomplish effortlessly the swiftest of changes and to cope with it, when in this frame of mind you go striding down the long streets - then for that evening you have completely got away from your family, which fades into insubstantiality, while you yourself, a firm, boldly drawn black figure, slapping yourself on the thigh, grow to your true stature. All this is still heightened if at such a late hour in the evening you look up a friend to see how she is getting on.
24.
PROTAG: For every revelatory find and change I have experienced in the last thirty days There is an absence a missing part the other breathing; another human’s beating heart but moreover, it’s the talking over hurdles and the talking out of rashness the challenges to sadness that come from hearing a voice that’s not yours deflecting every leap of logic that oozes from your pores i’m realizing now that ain’t easy to find don’t need a body to hold i need eyes in the unknown so pick it up fast while you’ve still got the time although you hate to admit it, you won’t make it alone said i’m dying heard it’s nothing but a chest cold said i’m nothing heard you’re something to me said there’s something i’m not comprehending, where’s the ending heard you skid half a mile down donohoe street where we left off abrupt, your expression I hadn’t recalled. that was then, now we’ve ten days left and i’m wondering if you’re up and what you’re up to creature of habit i knew right where to find you the old video store you worked at must’ve been midnight you were bunkered in the back midway thru ‘after hours’ on a tube tv and vcr by battery teri garr and tommy chong and ‘pay to cum’ i stood behind you and i watched you didn’t notice i had come to interrupt your silence, your final moments, seemed the very last thing i should do, so i backpedaled away from you looked happier there than i’d seen you in a while after all, ’twas i needed a guide in the unknown So, genuine peace, must stem from being alone. that’s when you spun me around and put a dent in my shoulder VIOLET: how’d you find me? PROTAG: Well, we run our sequence obviously VIOLET: if that’s true, why aren’t you locked in your home? I don’t wanna die looking into your eyes PROTAG: figured so, that’s why i thought i’d get going VIOLET: ya know, you’re a curse. when i was seeking the best, it was like you actually wanted the worst, goddammit, boy, you got it. you got those answers you were looking for, don’t look so downtrodden. fuck! i tried anger, then i tried sadness, then i tried rage, then i tried crying I bet it thrilled you, to abandon someone i bet it cauterized quicker cause of just how hard i was trying i could’ve used someone here for this world ending ordeal PROTAG: i’m here right now VIOLET: But you may as well not be you can stay, if only for pity so you hit stucco stead of slinging through the streets
25.
we’re side by side but barely speaking she comes and goes she comes and goes this isn’t love this isn’t hope i hope she knows i know she knows the fall of man so fast approaching So it goes Weirdness flows this isn’t love this isn’t hope i hope she knows i know she knows
26.
we’re side by side we’re barely speaking what’s left belies what’s come and gone no future here on earth we’ll settle the creeping sensation we spent our time wrong //it this any different from what we expected? it’s hastened, of course, but i’m talking results a pan to the ground and a pan to the sky so long and goodnight may our joints turn to rust Wake, rise, wait, digitize, sleep, repeat i’m half expecting a geodesic sphere to drop Onto this building as ryan seacrest shouts out digits the other half has reached its limit the scene is ugly, you could say lurid our backs to walls our shades turn putrid the trope of lives flashing past your eyes turns out, not real! But rather, we’re outside ourselves you’d think we’d be beside ourselves we process next to nothing irises narrowed; pixels swapping brace for impact sentimental, though we are note the impasse demarcated as the arc Wake, rise, wait, digitize, sleep, repeat [10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1] …. here we stand like an adam and an eve anxiously awaiting pearly gates or chest-high flames but there’s no rubble to clear can’t help but notice we’re still here this room unchanged our world remains rotating rather strange
27.
A Choice! 01:07
The earth did not stop spinning that day. The apocalypse was a dud. But what becomes of civilization? Do we revert or do we transcend? Do we revert or do we transcend? It is up to you, the listener, to decide. If you’re feeling pessimistic, move advance to the next track entitled Firebrand. If you’re feeling optimistic, please move forward three tracks to the one entitled Fruit Bat. If you’re unsure about how best to proceed, please pause this album to reflect and consult with family members, friends, colleagues, financial advisors, local governing bodies, and/or messianic figures in your life. If you’ve been listening on shuffle mode, may the deity of your choice have mercy on your weary soul. When I say ‘please choose wisely’ you will have 10 seconds to make a decision before a decision is made for you. Please choose wisely.
28.
Firebrand 04:21
Godspeed. Deliver us from listicles and NBC Help me make sense without pretense Tell me what to think I need something to call it. Heard the people shout Found creative ways to isolate, and block ‘em all out My echo chamber as close a comfort as it was before Surrounded by the discharge I tap around. Life’s not so hard The outside struggle justifies My want, my need to stay inside Goddamn! Why Can’t we just file it all away Tired of seeing the ticker talking End of Days I’ll tell you all about it Pundits paid to shout, Politicians and papers wring the mystery out Alarmists stay in work regardless If theyre worth their salt Headlines shared on timelines squared, Heap and tower to the umpteenth power Afraid to peer, I sneak it still Afraid of my peers, a lot I will Shut out from the firing squad, the fight I’m trying to keep it light Might’ve missed the plot entirely Something doesn’t feel right Not sure we’ll ever have hindsight We watched it all whiz by Fold your hands, beg the sky for advice God lingers Can’t help wondering if we gave it the finger If we hung it up mid-sentence or just let it ring Come on forget about it Stopped the shouting Now it’s back and worse than ever I’m beginning to doubt it’s Meant to stop. Whatever. I’m so tired. would you let me idle? Today I gassed my car up First time In... a long long time Stared right at the highway entry sign Figured probably not much left out there to find Don’t tell me the truth While I’m sitting here existing What folks around me call resisting, tell em that’s my Business; to mind the party lines The ‘we’re fucked’ and the ‘we’re fines’ Pick a side, pick suicide or something to rely on Temporarily! We misplaced our rationality! But it pulled back in the docks When the hands on the clock stopped ticking to nothing And Fate had been bluffing A perfect excuse to revert to our cues Of course that’s how it That must be how it That’s how our story ends THE END
29.
<<nothing but the hum of your own cogs a-turnin'>>
30.
Fruit Bat 05:24
If we won or if we’re losing All depends on who you’re asking Did this feed on the nonexistent or omnipresent, ever resting If you figured interactions, human beings, relationships Algorithmic. Symbols and numbers. Repeating to the infinite. I bet this caught you Slightly bewildered Shifted, splintered my perception of it Sleeping giant Knowledge arcana All that we used to say I can’t recall Put out our torches Lay down our billy clubs Let our keyboards gather dust Cherish silence and introspection Fairly new for every single one of us It's interesting, what we were missing It can't be pinned yet, that'll be history Lost all ability to read the scenery Took fixation and the staring down a reservoir we typically reserve for those less fortunate where ego turns to ash and heroes rise from it For us to see, stow it away For us to notice the ballet of day turning to Night. S’pose there had to be something Smashed through our heads To remind it how it lies Soil, water, bone and flesh spun through the sky Tear the drywall from this room Expose the rotted beams beneath Turns out the whole thing was near collapsing Just couldn’t feel it via 5 inch touchscreen Say, is that literal fire and brimstone? Sensing collective blueballed bloodlust Ditched my status and I ditched my friends list Social sabbatical to gain back self-trust one day we'll look back say "god, were we that fickle?" the hive went vapid got itself in a pickle, made the bad seem better, the good seem miraculous Paused inhibition, turned worriers spontaneous Inspired graciousness and kindness violent panic in the street may take a lifetime to repair for some, And for the rest, a couple weeks The intoxication of our doom The finest lesson and the greatest trick ever been pulled and I, for one, now am certain that some things Don’t make sense; aren’t worth pulling apart Exist to put you back into the places where you are So when you’re out on a Saturday night, you can find a moment’s quiet To fade to black, before the crowd pulls you on back As we fade to black now, ever pushing back I pack into the seat of my car With a new openness of the heart Blow on the cartridge, Refresh and recharge Or the madness’ll blow you apart THE END

about

We made a sprawling five-act rock opera about the internet, culture, human relationships, and the apocalypse. We hope you love it.

ACT I: Bad Reputation (tracks #1-8)
ACT II: Cold Sweat (tracks #9-13)
ACT III: Fight or Fall (tracks #14-20)
ACT IV: Running Back (tracks #21-26)
ACT V: Remembering (tracks #27-30)

credits

released September 29, 2017

Telethon is Erik Atwell (Percussion), Gene 'Nate Johnson' Jacket (Keys), Alex Meylink (Bass), Jack Sibilski (Lead Guitar), and Kevin Tully (Rhythm Guitar/Lead Vocals).

Produced/engineered/mixed/mastered by Jack Shirley at the Atomic Garden in East Palo Alto, CA.

Guest vocals performed by (in order of appearance) Chris Farren, Roger Lima, Franz Nicolay, and Laura Stevenson. Winds/strings arranged & recorded by Peter Hess at Fort St. Marks in Brooklyn, NY. Performed by Peter Hess, Justin Mullens, Adam Dotson, and Dana Lyn. Additional keys, accordion, harmonica, and banjo performed by Franz Nicolay. Voiceover by Bob Ball, Sara Turner, and Michael Fell.

All songs written by Telethon, with a few scatterered lyrical samples/nods to No Doubt, Father John Misty, Titus Andronicus, The Killers, and Carly Simon.

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Telethon Wisconsin

Powerpoppunkrock for the modern kids

Thank you for listening.
telethonband@gmail.com

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