OUTSIDERS
We have anchors tied to our ankles
Should we go down with the ship?
Or should we swim to the surface and deal with it?
There’s a fire inside of our bellies and you fueled the flame
You may have won, but this isn’t a game
And the the way that you played, you should be ashamed
We are the outsiders
That you don’t represent
Not my chosen leader
Not my president
Surround yourself with liars
So your bullshit becomes true
But we are the outsiders
And we’ll be watching you
You tweet from your ivory tower
While we take to the streets
In unison we sing, march to our beat
We know we’ll just have to scream louder
If we want to be heard
As long as it’s true, we’ll scream every word
Cuz the things that you say are so absurd
We are the outsiders
That you don’t represent
Not my chosen leader
Not my president
Surround yourself with liars
So your bullshit becomes true
But we are the outsiders
And we’ll be watching you
OPERATE
We here to operate
We here to demonstrate
Remove, eradicate
We here to operate!
We here to operate
Gonna set the record straight
No hate, appreciate
We here to operate!
We here to operate
We here to decided your fate
No time to hesitate
Open up and initiate
We here to operate
This time we’re cutting straight
Remove, eradicate
We here to operate!
We here to operate
We here to operate, yeah
Remove eradicate
We here to operate
about
It’s 2017 and there are two new Thunderbirds Are Now! songs to listen to. We haven’t recorded new music since the release of our 2007 album “Make History,” and given the current chaotic political climate, now seemed like a good time to come back. We took two older songs that we never captured to “tape” (or a computer’s hard drive, as it were), reworked the lyrics, and came out the other side with perhaps the best two songs we’ve ever written. Although we’ve never been the most overtly political band, we felt compelled to not only say something about what is going on, but to do something, too.
That’s why all the proceeds we collect from the Bandcamp downloads of these songs will go directly to benefiting the ACLU. It’s not the most we can do to give back, but it certainly isn’t the least either. There are injustices in this world that need fighting, and so if these songs compel you to donate to a worthy cause, then all the better.
We recorded “Operate” and “Outsiders” in one day at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor with Geoff Michael at the wheel. He indulged our requests to add synthetic drums, live piano and to run a guitar through a Leslie speaker without batting an eye. He is a calm, gentle man, and the perfect person to capture a band who hasn’t seen the inside of at studio in 10 years (or ever, since these are the only tracks we have ever recorded with Julian on bass). The tracks were mixed by Andy Reed of Reed Recording Co. One of our first shows was with Andy’s old band in a basement in Lansing, MI, so it seemed fitting he master these final tracks. Our keyboard player Scott Allen created the art.
We hope you sincerely enjoy these songs. We’re immensely proud of them, and they act as a bit of closure to a band that gave our all in everything we did. Please blast them as loud as you can whenever you play them, whether to annoy your hick neighbors, to soundtrack your morning run, to dance around with your kids, or to remember what it was like to be young and slightly more carefree. We hope these songs help - even a little bit - get you through this mess we’re in.
credits
released July 7, 2017
Thunderbirds Are Now!
Ryan Allen - guitar, vocals, drum machine
Scott Allen - keyboard, piano, percussion
Matt Rickle - drums, drum machine
Julian Wettlin - bass, keyboard
“Outsiders” and “Operate” were recorded and mixed at Big Sky Recording in Ann Arbor, MI by Geoff Michael. Andy Reed mastered the songs at Reed Recording Company in Bay City, MI.
supported by 5 fans who also own “Outsiders b/w Operate”
A fantastic album. I can see why they didn't continue under the name The Evens, as it's a different sound with the bass added. Coriky is the Evens + Joe Lally from Fugazi on bass. If you can imagine The Evens with a slightly more funky, aggressive sound like Fugazi... that's what you get! And there's no way that can ever go wrong. What a great debut album!! smiledozer
supported by 4 fans who also own “Outsiders b/w Operate”
I like both tracks the same, it made me choose 1, These are dark times. The fact that this is The Hold Steady sounding like they should is a lantern of hope. I never thought I would hear new Hold Steady like this again. Joy is reborn. john parsons
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