We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
I have this new hobby of sending out postcards old postcards from junkshops to faraway friends “Old Soddy From Yesteryear,” corny jokes, cans of beer, and of course places I’ve never been ‘Cause space distresses me Money distresses me And normally it wouldn’t, and I know well it shouldn’t, but it keeps me apart from the people I love I could blame it on George Bush, or our lame economy I could bitch and complain as I so often do But instead, I’ll just deal, and send out these postcards, and hope that, in time, this small world will come true Now here I am at the end of a new year, the end of a new dream, for all I’ve prepared I don’t know if it’s loveless, or if I’ll even survive it I know close to nothing, still I am not scared Well I’m happy wherever I am, with every new setting content And though happy I can be without my beloved Cast C I do dearly miss them, and I hope it comes soon - that time when I’ll see them again
2.
I don’t know why my conscience [is] dry from dancing with myself near random people pairing off and grinding at the groin You’d think the Gender Bend would be my opportune exception Instead, I’m dancing with girlfriends for lack of confidence I get within the spheres of spontaneous unison, but shy away for fear of reactions to my persona I wish I’d get the guts to just go up and start a session of movements that can constitute a road to my romance So I thought I’d started to regain my faith in concepts of love, but then you took the sofa, kicked me out for the next week You served me up some ignorance made of virginal longings, but couldn’t take the burden of our intimate embrace So now I’m having aneurisms for my favorite songs I’m seizuring with feather boas as I scream along I try my best to find a match – the cards aren’t matching up So I guess I’ll just spasm solo, and leave the rest to luck
3.
I may not be able to sing all that well, but I’ll certainly make joyful noise What we hear isn’t part of the world, it’s just an echo inside of our minds So I’ll sing “La. La. La. I am following my fish.” And I’ll try to take heed of what your perception is I’d like to hear what your voice sounds like, with your bones as my reception the way it sounds to you inside your mind, different to everyone else By the way those hairs vibrate and bend – sounds different than it does on a cassette I’ll admit, sometimes I’m a hypocrite, but I try to do what’s genuine I’m oft intellectual, though not scholarly, certainly not elitist ‘Cause “there’s no such thing as a weird human being, it’s just that some ... require more understanding...” To your biases of their worldly facades, knowing nothing of their collective thoughts If we just undo our abusive vetoes, we’ll learn that all we are’s pieces of the known We’ll discover the end to immortality So we can finally relax, can finally be
4.
Hypocrite 04:15
When you told me about your addictions, your foolish longings, your prized convictions – these things that weren’t actually quite a surprise mostly just the ways you over-analyze Every thought turned to action, every action to speech And I offered guidance psychologically Just a premonition of future correlations, though I thought I wouldn’t be the best for advice Because I am a hypocrite. I believe in paradox. My ideals are pretty, though hard to achieve I’m often encumbered by my humanity Like Tori, I sometimes can be, frankly, quite cruel, though kindness and acceptance are what I work towards But I am a hypocrite. I believe in, adhere to, I am a paradox. And I do not approve the behaviors I use, but they’re not used intentionally But I guess I’m just a hypocrite, but paradox ain't so bad. I’m a hippo, a hippie, a hippogriff. I’m a hypocrite.
5.
Probably Not 03:34
I should’ve known that night, when you passed out on my lap, that things probably wouldn’t work out well with you But I kept telling myself you had more redeeming traits, but it turns out after all you just had one, or two We had a date for Thursday for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but you bailed out and stood me up by text And when I asked “Another night?” after your lame excuse, “Probably not” was what you sent me next Probably not, probably not! You don’t even use your own lips! My romantic delusions would best be forgot, without a Midsummer’s eclipse! When you saw me the next day, as you passed me by at lunch, when you scurried, hoping that I wouldn’t look, I simply had to chuckle even though ‘twas offensive, especially when you de-friended me on Facebook You do notice the absurd things in the universe, but you cannot even handle conversation So you absurdly sent excuses that perpetuate the absurd cell phone plague that’s swept our nation So what’s next in your regime of these juvenile techniques? Are you gonna uninvite me from your birthday? No, you’ll probably just get drunk, pass out on the floor again, and not take heed of one damn thing I have to say. Sure, you have great taste in music, and you talk philosophy, and I’ve grown to think your beard is rather hot. But I guess fondness for Ani DiFranco’s apparently the only real standard that I’ve got!!!
6.
My Body 04:00
My mouth is the garden of mucus. My stomach – home waters of manatees. My throat is the hallway for antibiotics. My body – the temple of disease. My rectum is now a post office. My plumber should fix all my tubes. My skin is the surface of Jupiter. My hair’s manifesting my pubes. My feet are the soldiers of searching. My genitals – the fountain of youth. My lungs are the feathers of seraphim. My mind is a telephone booth. My intuition’s earning unemployment. My memory museum’s closed its doors. My mind no longer controls this creature. My soul can’t survive here anymore. My eyes are slowly closing their curtains. My ears – slowing the beat of their drums. My tongue has now grown a shag carpet. My toes no longer write to my thumbs. My brain is a safe that holds wisdom. My hands guide my life with their strings. My heart is a tomb of emotions, but My spirit’s not made of these things.
7.
You ran over a unicorn in your kick-ass Mitsubishi And as it punctured both your front tires, you just prayed about insurance ‘Cause you believe in a man, in the man, in a toxic aerosol can While in your heart’s a lesson plan for your entire, humdrum life And as you pine for new relationships, and obsess about your weight, you’ve simply put the seal upon your self-fulfilling fate You simply love to toe the line, and file down all your claws Domesticate, and medicate, your deviant, wild flaws Make a living, embrace routine, and just dream about exemption You’ve stifled every raw impulse, with no room for your redemption So you’ve become, too willingly, just some grease in a machine Empty of blood, inner flame’s a dud, with no imagination But you can still undo the spell, escape this hell, no soul to sell You can save that unicorn, and avoid all that stagnation
8.
Last night, I was looking into the mirror, not wearing a shirt I flexed my humble muscles and was shocked by how much they had grown without me And I thought “Jeez! I may not be as horrible looking as I make myself out to be!” And then I returned my glasses to my face
9.
They build their comfort zones out of dollar signs, and imaginary lines Then they take a “NO TRESPASSING” sign, and staple it on top, prosecuting anyone who tries to enter This house is full of boundaries, without much form of diplomacy This house is full of enemies, with no reason to be hostile Take me away… ‘Cause they’re just so afraid of living They built their comfort zones out of $s and imaginary lines Then they erected giant walls to keep each other out Then they called themselves countries, and the rest were aliens – prone to get zapped if they tried to get in This country's full of boundaries without much form of diplomacy This country has some enemies with some reason to be hostile Take me away… ‘Cause they’re just so afraid of living I deconstructed my comfort zones – no more $s or lines, and I welcome anyone, for I’ve no need for boundaries And I welcome all the challenges I can find for myself It keeps me alive keeps me alive I can do so much more than just survive! It keeps me alive So take me to Siam Take me to Canaan Take me away to Czechoslovakia, to the USSR Take me away to any kind of place that can give me hope for change Take me away… but there will always be pheasants, who can fly across borders There will always be pheasants, who’ve no need for fucking passports! There will always be pheasants.
10.
Sell your heart chakra on Ebay It helps to clear out while you decay It’s so hard these days to know what to believe, especially with things you can’t touch, or see There’s so much to choose from, so much to doubt – complete spiritual ambiguity ‘Cause they don’t believe…
11.
I’ve been here for almost two weeks now and finally the anthill’s occupied We’ve overpopulated to the point pinnacle and must live like fiends in a hive I have no privacy and must succumb every second to faux professionalism Smiling sermons of lip service – my opinions sacrificed I’m a chameleon changing personas to match each person’s whim I’m hawking up blood in the morning, catching sickness I’m so damn rundown Must adhere to 47 schedules, dividing and serving out time I collapse when I finally recognize how superficial each moment’s become Each action’s a duty, each joy is a chore, and who cares if it even gets noticed? Just keep busy. Just keep busy. Just keep busy, busy, busy. Busy disease, busy. Just keep busy to hinder your mind Keep it double preoccupied with the tedious So it can’t breathe, can only succumb Your life is now prepackaged Forget making your own
12.
I don’t believe your apathy’s really your inhibition You act as if your preference is just a coalition I finally got kissed in my band uniform after nostalgic festival of marching indecision You know it’s hard when you’re dating your skeleton when your expiration is still years away and you’re sick of raw femurs and shoulder blades and you know you’re the only one to blame The eggs just don’t understand the mastery of art, cynical of coral reefs and Eskimo insulation First encounter belly dancing Guess they’ll prefer false sanity of reality television But I’ll keep on spelunking ‘til my soul falls off holding a Northern Light into the dark I’m playing checkers with Lucifer on a board of white squares just us, and Persephone ballet-ing in his hair He’ll use his intangibility while in the Marines, and ship my presence to Nostalgia My pocket’s got stars and atoms next to my keys It’s astounding how high nostalgic rates can be! Well, I’ve resigned to this somewhat melancholy content, with this skeleton in the next cinema seat It’s sometimes lonely, and conversation’s, frankly, quite bleak But I’ve found he’s the only soul who’s really perfect for me!
13.
Dressed up like a cupcake, erotic like toast yet you refuse to sing to me I’m such a pushover, can persuade me of anything, but I can’t even convince you to sing But if you mix my passion with your apathy, and my ideals with your smooth reality, the equation creates an arrangement that might just work out between you and me I know my history can be intimidating – freshman year of serial dating – but I know that those romantic mishaps were just my education So you stifle my tongue, and send me to Wisconsin, when my domestication’s in Wyoming And I’m not sure how I feel about our different breeds, but you know, that’s all right with me Manatee hickies and melee-strung fools, but with ground rules of no PDA So I stroke your sock with my half-hidden toe, hoping you won’t tickle, but stay
14.
Sheridan 03:51
I heard she moved to Wisconsin, to hole the winter away Painting and living in an anarchist colony, closer to the Brahman than I’ve ever been And I know that she’s wiser than most will ever be, and when I see her, I realize how truly we’re all free She dropped out of college to pursue happiness – to learn instead while hitchhiking across the Midwest Knowing knowledge isn’t tangible – it’s all around us Absorb it with your petals, like the sun, like a kiss And she knows that money simply won’t suffice, that there’s so much more that cannot be diminished with a price She was the first from Vermillion to discover my wings With Molly – both of them could sense metaphysical things For logic can only get one oh so far, but Sheridan looks past it to see things just as they are She rekindled my faith in magic, and she’s helped me to see what’s important And I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again That would’ve used to bother me, but now it’s different For now I know that whichever ways we go, there’s pieces of me with her imprint And I know that she’s wiser than most will ever be, and when I see her, I realize how truly we’re all free
15.
When I said a relationship with you would be catastrophic, what I really meant to say was, simply, I was scared Scared of the realizations you'd inspired within myself Scared of surrendering myself to an unknown destination Scared of your spontaneity and your reckless explorations Scared of exposing myself in ways I was not prepared But those times I gave in, followed your lead, turned out to be so sweet like that time on Coral Island you convinced me to feed the fishies which turned out to be one of the most perfect moments of my life seeing coral for the first time, tropical fish nibbled my fingers and to this day there still remain sensations that still linger and to think, it would not have happened if you'd given up on me Singing: "Let's feed the fishies! It will be so much fun! Let's feed the fishies! Come on everyone Let's feed the fishies! before it gets too dark Let's feed the fishies! and hope we don't meet sharks But now I've come along quite a bit since that day in Erfurt Heaven forbid, not 'grown up' in that age-old compromise But I've grown beyond the parameters of my pathetic comfort zones and have realized the value of abandoning hesitations which have ruined so many moment of beauty or creation I've developed a newfound sort of light around my eyes And you saw it in its beginnings, when you noticed it in Easton and Sheridan saw it radiate from a distance of three blocks and you coaxed it diligently, though at the time I wasn't ready to embody all those aspects of who I was to be many of which you too embodied, and did so effortlessly It would take a few more months for me, more new faces and conversations Singing: Let's feed the fishies! We'll feed them mangosteens Let's feed the fishies! and hope they're not too mean Let's feed the fishies! La la la la la Let's feed the fishies! La la la la la Now I've developed a healthy perspective of having no regrets but with you I can't help wonder if I've missed an opportunity but we can't regret the past because it remains unchanged and besides, it doesn't exist, and neither does the future so we'll just have to be present, though it's still a bit unsure and eventually it will reveal just what we'll grow to be When I said a relationship with you would be catastrophic, what I really meant to say was, simply, I was scared
16.
We build empires of storage units to hold our unnecessary stuff a fortress of moth-eaten memories, guarded with whimsical boundaries – a providence for buying things we crave, but really do not need – the materials to which we cling, that we think will bring happiness Generations addicted to television, and other mind-numbing distractions, keep us focused on brainwashing remedies to pessimistically veto individuality Acquire our thoughts and mindsets from celebrities, or preachers, politicians, and quacks – whose regimes we follow religiously to avoid the stress of formulating our own thoughts Today it’s hip to be cynical – assume the worst, right from the start. Pass judgments on things we know nothing about, or have obtained only first impressions. People are easy to consume and discard, the result of McDonaldization. Nearly nothing in this world’s sacred anymore – just gets used, thrown away, fully wasted! Important is only the future, and achieving a lucrative job. Start planning your life back in middle school, choose your way of reaching the money. Strive for deadlines, paydays, and release dates, and simply tolerate the present. It all won’t come fast enough, so just rush through your life. If you’re bored, just watch more TV! The soul has rather little power anymore. Our dictators are our own bodies. Our physical assets define who we are – especially if we’re fat, or ugly. Our skin pigment’s especially vital as well – skin tone apparently defines personality! Let’s get skeptical if someone’s not beautiful – actions discredited by their own bodies. Nothing’s enough – everything’s never enough! Greed has manifested gratitude. The paradigm’s stuck on the external things, and thinking of oneself as most important. Shallow’s the fashion, self-obsession the fad, and everything seems quite hopeless. But if we first work on rearranging ourselves, and directly start fighting the Feed, we’ll have more individual unity, all without committing mutiny. We could achieve a state influenced by love, and peacefully destroy this empire.
17.
Unity 03:08
With my favorite song on my headphones, with the worst over I walk home. It’s a cold winter’s night, and I am all alone. Nothing can stop this feeling, and I look up at the sky. No branch obscures the beautiful view of the stars so far and high. Then I look at one particular star, then a planet, then a being, doing the same thing as me – light years away, still this I’m seeing. This being I look at is a creature quite like me – both from troubled planets, joined in unity.

about

Few artists can make a masterpiece for their first album.

Well, Scott Erickson was no different. His second and third albums weren't that great either.

So, after he'd improved a bit as a musician, he decided to go back and re-record some of the songs from his first few albums, and invited his friends to come along for the ride. This album is the result.

credits

released April 10, 2012

All songs written by Scott Erickson except for a few quotes in Pieces of the Known ("La. La. La. I am following my fish" is from "The Kindly Ones" by Neil Gaiman, and "There's no such thing as a weird human being, it's just that some ... require more understanding..." is from "Another Roadside Attraction" by Tom Robbins). The chorus of Catastrophic was adapted from some improv by Justen Ray on Coral Island, Thailand prior to going snorkeling. The phrase "There will always be pheasants" was invented by Morgan Carnes.

Musician credits listed by individual song

Produced by Aaron James Gates and Scott Erickson
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Aaron and Scott in the living room of Care-a-lot (Olympia, WA), the Evergreen State College (Olympia, WA), Nora Zeller's house (Santa Cruz, CA), and Tuesday's living room (Vermillion, SD).

Cover illustration by Scott Erickson

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Scott Steven Erickson Olympia, Washington

Upbeat, quirky, and just a tad bit nihilistic.

contact / help

Contact Scott Steven Erickson

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Scott Steven Erickson recommends:

If you like Mauled By An Otter, you may also like: