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Carey over 18 days last winter at April Base Studios in Eau Claire, WI, the album is Owen’s most inspired and evocative thus far, interpolating a group dynamic into what has long been an intensely intimate sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSongs like “The Desperate Act” and “Sleep Is A Myth” remain spare but with a distinctly outward shift in scope, their open-armed sonic range a perfect foil to Kinsella’s evocative explorations of marriage, melancholia, and modern middle age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFraught with hurt and wry humor, \u003cem\u003eThe King of Whys\u003c\/em\u003e is a portrait of a restless artist grappling with doubt and ghosts of the past but searching for meaning through candor, creativity, and an ardent need for emotional release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e“I think this record is totally romantic,” Kinsella says. “I told my wife, she wasn’t convinced. I said that this is how I get it all out of me. 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Together the combo crafts an expansive but still grounded backdrop for Kinsella’s candid confessionals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKinsella has made more than a fair share of records – “I sure have,” he says – so the remarkable fact that this is his first album in a 15-year span releasing music as Owen recorded outside of Chicago and his own circle must have had significant impact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e“I joined my brother’s band in seventh grade,” he says, “and then kept playing in my brother’s bands for the next fifteen, twenty years. Even American Football, that was with an old high school buddy so it was still very comfortable. Taking me out of my comfort zone definitely led to something different.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLeaving his scene behind offered an array of new possibilities but also opened up a very different emotional response. Though Kinsella was a fan and familiar with his collaborators’ work, he was still the newcomer to the gang, “a totally weird experience for a grown man.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e“They’re all really good friends,” he says. “They work together all the time, they have their own language, and then there’s me, going, here’s my songs. 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(“This is love\/This is love\/This is love\/This is everything,” she beams in the chorus.) “He was on piano I was on bass,” she recalls. “We just jammed that one out.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAll told, she worked on the album on and off over the course of a year—“day here, a day there”—with producer Tommy English (Børns, Tiësto, Dark Waves), whom she met through her L.A. neighbor, tattoo artist\/musician Kat Von D. “We sat in a room and would jam around, play around with ideas. Or he’ll sit there making a beat,” she said, of their organic process. “I instantly knew when something inspired me. That’s when we’d run with it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFor the first time, making an album was effortless for her. “I usually have to fight the voices in my head,” she says. “‘I can’t do this. I can do this. I can’t. I can….’” I’d overthink it.” With the first record, “I was kind of like this overexcited naïve kid,” she explains. 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The question too feels very of its time—as outdated ideas about gender and attraction are being overturned—but it's also a fair ask whenever \u003cstrong\u003eof Montreal \u003c\/strong\u003edebuts an album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe project's 14th LP follows two full decades of mercurial creative mania: swallowing up '60s psych-pop, Prince-ly funk, and glammy prog in turn; morphing freely between full-band affair and cloistered confessional booth; comprising lyrics both painfully personal and absurdly fantastical; and recently drawing site-specific inspiration from culture capitals like San Francisco or New York City. The thread that runs through it all is Athens, GA's Kevin Barnes, and \u003ci\u003eInnocence Reaches\u003c\/i\u003e finds them at their most light-hearted in years, working a Parisian stint, Top 40 sounds, and their newfound single status into the kaleidoscopic swirl. Even as they continue to sift the sonic and emotional detritus of their past, Barnes sums up their current mood in the opener's title: \"let's relate.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe most immediate surprise is the sound.\u003ci\u003e Innocence Reaches\u003c\/i\u003e is touched by contemporary electronica, indie pop, and EDM. For the first time in their career, Barnes tuned into now. \"Forever I've been detached from current music,\" they say. \"I got into this bubble of only being in some other time period. I came up picking apart the Beach Boys, The Beatles, and symphonic pieces. But last year, I was hearing Jack Ü, Chairlift, Arca, and others, thinking about low end and sound collage. It was an extra layer to geek out on.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eParis helped with that. Barnes lived in a friend's studio for two weeks. It was in an apartment complex and, as they prefer to work at night, they couldn't thrash loud instruments for fear of noise complaints from the neighbors. But the in-house arsenal of vintage synthesizers and drum machines was fair game—check the skittering beats of \"a sport and a pastime\" and thick hum of \"chap pilot.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBy day, Barnes wandered Père Lachaise Cemetery, sat at cafés and wrote poems, read Jeans Ganet and Cocteau, or eavesdropped on conversations they couldn't translate. \"Being in that place where no one looks at me twice and I can't even understand the language was like entering a parallel universe,\" recalls Barnes. \"It was cathartic and inspiring to amputate myself from my normal life and feel like an individual outside of all the baggage and memories.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEnjoying anonymity, they sorted through the inner wreckage left by their divorce two years prior, and took stock of the briefer relationships since. \"my fair lady\" bids adieu to a familiar figure over sax-streaked disco-funk, but we soon meet Sarah from Detroit on darkwave dream \"ambassador bridge,\" and Gabrielle the Athenian Beach Goth amid the trappy space-glitch of \"trashed Exes.\" In \"les chants de maldoror,\" our hero cooly declares, \"We only act nicely when we're ruining hotel beds\/I greeted you in a hundred doorways.\" \u003ci\u003eInnocence Reaches\u003c\/i\u003e continues of Montreal's recent autobiographical streak, which finds Barnes \"fetishizing reality,\" as they put it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBut they're concerned with a broader reality as well. \"it's different for girls\" is an exploration of the \"dilemme féminin\". Combining Daft Punk's aptitude for groove with LCD Soundsystem's wit—an endlessly quotable track that has Barnes outlining the dangers inherent in binary gendering: \"It's different for girls,from when they are children they're de-personalized, aggressively objectified...\" and later Barnes sings \"It's different for girls, they are mercurial creatures, not a masculine dissonance or sexual currency\". The song is less feminine anthem and more pop exegesis of societal codes. \"though some women are demons all of them are God\". Indeed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eApropos, Innocence Reaches' cover design was an attempt by a new first-time father—Kevin's brother David—to express their \"wonderment for the female anatomy.\" And the aforementioned \"let's relate\" was indeed inspired by trans issues, a subject dear to Barnes' heart. \"I have a history of gender-bending in performances, but that's also always been a part of my identity as a human,\" they say. \"I'm thankful to have an outlet for that, to express that and not get chased out of town or beat up. I think we're moving in the right direction now.\" The song is a call to find common ground in simply being human: \"I like that you like you\/I think that you're great\/I want to relate,\" they sing cheerily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eInnocence Reaches\u003c\/i\u003e features darker moments to be sure—isolation, anger, indifference, and the feeling that, like a Truffaut film, madness lurks just outside the frame—but as Barnes explains, \"Epiphany comes from breakdown. If you can stay open and vulnerable, the nebulous becomes transparent. 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The band had built a strong following in its native Portland and connected with fans around the world, and from the outside, the path seemed clear enough: find a great producer to work with and further develop the smooth, space-age doo-wop sound that had put them on the map in the first place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBut on the inside, things weren’t so simple. Cameron Spies and Lizzy Ellison, Radiation City’s founding couple, were falling apart. Rad City, a tight-as-family band that always seemed to work so effortlessly off- and onstage, was on the verge of calling it quits.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThen a funny thing happened: Spies and Ellison got together to record some new, urgent and semi-spontaneous songs and rediscovered that old magic. “None of it felt rushed, or belabored,” Spies says. “It was honest and unafraid.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eOf course, it was also the product of just 40 percent of the group. So, in the face of ambivalence and the band’s impending implosion, Ellison and Spies decided to do something they’d never done before -- they transformed Radiation City from a democracy into a monarchy. They curated a new tracklist for the third full-length (half new songs and half old ones), enlisted Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Riley Geare to be their studio drummer, and found their great producer in John Vanderslice (Spoon, Death Cab For Cutie) of Tiny Telephone Studios.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe band’s issues didn’t end with these revelations—Spies and Ellison broke up temporarily and called off their wedding, one band member was let go, and only half of the group went to San Francisco to record the tracks for the new album—but the die was cast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRadiation City was not going to polish up its old style for \u003cem\u003eSynesthetica\u003c\/em\u003e; it was going to completely overhaul both its process and its sound. After recording with Vanderslice, the band took its new directive back to Portland and turned to Jeremy Sherrer (Modest Mouse, Gossip) at Ice Cream Party to flesh out its studio sessions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn contrast—or, perhaps, in response—to all the human drama involved in creating \u003cem\u003eSynesthetica\u003c\/em\u003e, the album itself turned into something otherworldly. “We were trying to get to a place where cultural constructs didn’t mean anything,” Spies says. “We wanted to destroy the barriers between all the things we keep separate in our daily lives.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBased on the condition known as synesthesia, whereby a person links one sensual experience with another (for Ellison, who experiences it, that means seeing specific colors when she hears different musical sounds), \u003cem\u003eSynesthetica\u003c\/em\u003e is a place where multi-sensory experience is commonplace; where feelings and definitions blend and melt, and surreality becomes reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSynesthetica\u003c\/em\u003e means a lot of other things for Radiation City, too. The band is sensual and synthetic in equal turns—just check out the Bond-worthy “Butter” or the explosive “Milky White” for proof. Synthesizers comprise a major piece of the band’s musical puzzle, especially on the trippy “Juicy” and the minimal “Sugar Broom,” which nods toward Portland legends (and Rad City homies), STRFKR. And an interest in retro-futurism, which the title subtly implies, has been a hallmark of its sound and visual aesthetic from the get-go (as the sweeping space-tango, “Futures,” reminds us).\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe word synesthetica is the summation of a pivotal third album that, from the outside, probably seems as effortless as every other Radiation City release. \u003cem\u003eSynesthetica\u003c\/em\u003e almost killed this band, but instead, it serves as the opening salvo of a monumental second act, and Radiation City is invincible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50818983985459,"sku":"PRC-308CD","price":3.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":52708197892403,"sku":"PRC-308DIGITAL","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/Radiation_City_-_Synesthetica.jpg?v=1789768261"},{"product_id":"jacco-gardner-hypnophobia","title":"Jacco Gardner - Hypnophobia","description":"\u003cp\u003eTo call \u003cstrong\u003eJacco Gardner\u003c\/strong\u003e a daydreamer may not be as farfetched as he’d have you believe. Its meaning may refer to a fear of sleep, but with \u003cem\u003eHypnophobia\u003c\/em\u003e, the brand new album from ‘baroque pop’ prince and Dutch producer\/multi-instrumentalist Gardner, he’s all set to cast a majestic and vibrant psychedelic spell that will hypnotise listeners at the point dreams and reality meet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e“I came up with the title “Hypnophobia” while falling asleep and part of my brain just didn’t turn off,” explains Gardner. “I often have trouble letting go of reality, even though I prefer the world in my dreams... \u003cem\u003eHypnophobia\u003c\/em\u003e comes from a place where fears, darkness and creativity collide, like a slightly scary lucid dream. Fearing a loss of control definitely plays a big part of it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIf there’s one thing \u003cem\u003eHypnophobia\u003c\/em\u003e hasn’t lost, it is control. Since unveiling his \u003cem\u003eCabinet of Curiosities\u003c\/em\u003e in 2013 (released on the Trouble In Mind label), tastemakers and fans alike have been drawn deeper into Jacco Gardner’s fantastical fairytale kingdom. Between clocking up the miles all over the world, playing as member of band The Skywalkers, being enlisted by California’s Allah Las to moonlight on keyboards, and jamming with studio auteur Frank Maston, Gardner has honed and refreshed his intoxicating sound with meticulous precision; “Touring all over the world has completely changed me,” he says. “I’ve seen places I’d never seen before or didn’t even know existed. I think \u003cem\u003eHypnophobia\u003c\/em\u003e has got some of its adventurous character from all those amazing experiences.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCapturing a true sense of exploration, \u003cem\u003eHypnophobia\u003c\/em\u003e combines Gardner’s newfound love of travel with his continued passion for collecting and playing vintage instruments. A stunning exhibit of lush instrumental tracks as well as songs that boast lyrics worthy of any great pop number, the record features a Wurlitzer electric piano that was purchased on tour, waltzing alongside mellotrons, harpsichords, an Optigan, and an antique Steinway upright piano sold to Gardner by a local church. Akin to the sonic boom of maverick contemporaries John Maus, and Tame Impala, his is a sound that holds fast next to fellow paisley performers Syd Barrett and Curt Boettcher, with the airy dynamics of Stereolab or Simon \u0026amp; Garfunkel. Yet what truly marks Gardner from his musical ancestors and accomplices is his forward-thinking, hi-tech approach; “\u003cem\u003eHypnophobia\u003c\/em\u003e is the next step into an alternate reality influenced by the present. I’m so inspired by today’s technology that many things I do were not possible in the past.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFusing fantasy with sublime twisted reality, \u003cem\u003eHypnophobia\u003c\/em\u003e was recorded in its entirety at Gardner’s ‘Shadow Shoppe Studio’ oddly juxtaposed in the heart of an industrial estate located midst the village of Zwaag, 30 miles north of Amsterdam. “In Zwaag, everyone leaves after office hours so it’s perfect for music recording... there's also lots of beautiful green meadows, water and trees close by so it’s not hard to find a quiet place to think.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAs drum beats throb whilst trucks come and go, and ethereal vocals ricochet between corrugated factory units, swirling instrumentals such as the cinematic ‘Grey Lanes’ (an earlier incarnation of which included lyrics about changes in Gardner’s hometown following months spent abroad) and the harpsichord sound of ‘All Over’ weave alongside ‘Before The Dawn’s cosmic eight-minute prog-out epic whilst ‘Face To Face’s airy drones only complement lyrics that resemble ‘80s film classic \u003cem\u003eTron\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMatching these new sonic explorations with the album art, Gardner only had one man on his mind - Julian House - who is best known for his art for Stereolab and Broadcast, co-owner of the Ghost Box label and as a musician with The Focus Group. “I’m a big fan of his stuff and really like the album he did together with Broadcast called “Broadcast And The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age”. That record was a big inspiration for me and the direction of the new album so it was amazing when he agreed to do the artwork.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFor most tradition enthusiasts, it’d be all too easy to rehash the past. But that’s where Jacco Gardner’s differences lie. Playing all instruments except for drums (provided by live band member Jos van Tol and latest addition Nic Niggebrugge) \u003cem\u003eHypnophobia\u003c\/em\u003e brilliantly captures a unique artist and future-vintage aficionado operating at a far higher state of consciousness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003chr\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eArtwork \u0026amp; Packaging Design\/Layout by Julian House ( \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.intro-uk.com\/category\/creative\/julian-house\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePortfolio\u003c\/a\u003e )\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polyvinyl Records","offers":[{"title":"Vinyl (180-Gram Black)","offer_id":52708197826867,"sku":"PRC-298LP","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50818979791155,"sku":"PRC-298CD","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital","offer_id":52708197859635,"sku":"PRC-298DIGITAL","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0881\/7655\/8387\/files\/Jacco-Gardner-Hypnophobia-Black.jpg?v=1746216021"},{"product_id":"of-montreal-aureate-gloom","title":"of Montreal - Aureate Gloom","description":"\u003cp\u003e“A golden despondency” is how Kevin Barnes translates the meaning behind \u003ci\u003eAureate Gloom\u003c\/i\u003e, the title they gave \u003cstrong\u003eof Montreal\u003c\/strong\u003e’s thirteenth full-length album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe oxymoron is one Barnes says best describes the overall state of their life and mental outlook while working on the record: first on a writing retreat in New York City, then while demoing tracks in Athens, before finally recording at Sonic Ranch, just across the border from Juarez, Mexico in the Texan desert.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIf you’re wondering what exactly would lead Barnes to use this epithet to describe their reality at the time, look no further than the songs themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWhile many bands rely on vague platitudes as an attempt to make their songs universally applicable, Barnes chooses to take the opposite tact — penning lyrics so personal they sound like entries ripped from a journal that should be permanently kept under lock and key.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e“I was going through a very stormy period in my life and felt like I was just completely trashed,” reveals Barnes. “I might be guilty of sharing or exposing too much of my private life, but to me the best albums are those that help people connect with an artist on a deep, human level and that do so without too much artifice or evasiveness.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFor inspiration — and to put a bit of distance between themself and the events and people they write so unequivocally about — Barnes spent two weeks in New York City this past spring.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eWhile there, they wandered around Chelsea, Greenwich Village, SoHo, and Chinatown, imagining what it was like 40 years ago, picturing themself as Tom Verlaine or Patti Smith, or James Chance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eLead single “Bassem Sabry” (named for the Egyptian journalist who died tragically in the spring of 2014), is perhaps of Montreal’s most political song to date, with Barnes proclaiming “Every leader is a cellophane punk,” while handclaps and danceable drums incite the listener to follow their command: “If you hear me, say ‘Yeah!’ ‘Yeah!’ ‘Yeah!’”\u003c\/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe energy remains high for “Last Rites At The Jane Hotel,” which channels Barnes innermost T. 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It was written in 2012 by Brian King at the behest of Polyvinyl Record Co., and describes in detail all matters of concern with respect to Japandroids' 2nd album \u003ci\u003eCelebration Rock\u003c\/i\u003e. It is the second semi-factual promotional biography written by Brian King at the behest of Polyvinyl, the first describing in detail all matters of concern with respect to Japandroids' 1st album \u003ci\u003ePost-Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e. For convenience sake, the aforementioned document has been distilled into two concise paragraphs as to negate redundancy as much as possible, while at the same time provide the necessary context by which to appreciate the existence of \u003ci\u003eCelebration Rock\u003c\/i\u003e, irrespective of its quality:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eJapandroids is a two piece band from Vancouver, BC. This 'band' started in 2006 and consists of Brian King and David Prowse. 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Finding it difficult to write and record a second album in the midst of such a heavy touring schedule, Japandroids released a series of 7'' singles throughout 2010, each one recorded during a brief interval between tours. The same year, Japandroids re-released their first two EPs as a compilation titled No Singles, which included a booklet detailing their early history.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e5 long years in 2 short paragraphs. Not bad.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps the most pertinent detail omitted from said paragraphs is the fact that at no point during this time did Brian and David even discuss the possibility of writing, let alone recording, a second Japandroids album. With the band having more or less imploded late in 2008 (after what was considered to be a valiant but ultimately fruitless effort), one single regret still lingered, and despite their wounds and subsequent estrangement, continued effortlessly to slander them and their attempts to move on, like the subtle scent of skin on the sheets days after the desecration. Ipso facto, the sole motivation for revisiting the band many months later was simply to see if they could exploit their sudden newfound internet popularity and take Japandroids on the road. Due in part to the unexpected (and untimely) discovery of the band early in 2009 by certain online entities and their congregations, what previously seemed reserved for only the most ardent hearts, presented itself to Japandroids like a deal from the devil himself. Cautiously seduced, Brian and David decided in favour of their romantic notions of the open road, and set upon a crusade to swindle the soul of a continent. Tour was the fire to which they fed themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs days became weeks, so too did months become years. Finally, having exhausted themselves, as well as the immediate charm of \u003ci\u003ePost-Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e, and with only one final recording session looming on the horizon, the boys found themselves at a crossroads. Would they abandon their days on the wind and nights on the rocks in favour of the gentle lull of a geographic coma? No one knew; not even the boys themselves. That is, until one cool New York night, when under the spell of the city's swill, they cast off the demons of doubt, having come in through the out door, back out through the window. For months, they laboured. Through the endless rains and windless chills of a northwestern winter, Japandroids fought tirelessly against their own creative limitations, struggling to expand their sound beyond the simple sloganeering that dominated \u003ci\u003ePost-Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e. Stuck knee deep in the swamp of summer, time had chased them down, and caught them waiting patiently. Had it not been for the fever of fall, with the boys back on tour where they belong, all might have been lost. Run out of town, they vowed not to return in anything less than triumph. Settling under the sulfurous skies of the south, Japandroids continued to labour through the dying months of 2011, returning reluctantly with nothing short of an album.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs with countless previous recording sessions, the boys would bestow their faith solely upon Heaven's native son, Jesse Gander. An inexhaustible rocket of patience and dedication, Gander's unique ability to build cathedrals out of criminals was pushed to its absolute limit, as Brian and David demanded he coax only the purest nectar from their delinquent hearts. And so he did:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Let's make this one a little more cruising down the highway, and a little less doing crystal meth on New Year's…\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"That take was the perfect mixture of pee and poo - it had the fluidity of pee, and the solidness of poo…\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so on and so forth, until not even the deepest and darkest of nights could extinguish what can only be described as living fireworks. \u003ci\u003eCelebration Rock\u003c\/i\u003e - a title in and of itself so controversial that at first utterance, it was so feared and hated that Polyvinyl felt compelled to plead for an alternative. But the band would not yield. Hell was just going to have to come and get them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo there you have it. 1 year, 8 songs, 35 mins. Not bad.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs for everything else, I've got no answers. 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