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Bells Below

by Lil Sluggers

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So Sorry
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So Sorry I've watched from the corners of the sweaty basements where the most beautiful boys in the scene saw Lil Sluggers. How many understood? I couldn't say. Few, I suspect. It meant the world to me. That Bells Below is the swansong of a band not given their due reminds one of every great painting moldering in the attic in some country town or every poem discarded by bitter lovers and never read again. I remember, though. Favorite track: Dry Socket.
Drew Bligh
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Drew Bligh Lil Sluggers is everything. This one-of-a-kind record reinvigorates my belief in independent music. Favorite track: Bells Below.
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1.
Tell me this will all wash out in time A sieve for your ideas of what life could look like You dull yourselves repeating what is right O thou of evil luck, defined in compromise We’ll dry you off one eye at a time It’s kicking in my stomach Some unacknowledged promise A question five years asking No harm, no foul, no feeling One thought betrays another A cage of straight desire Is only mine for breaking One turn deserves another but- Who did this to you, and what did they take? Who was it made you feel this way? What is the thing now that you fear most? Not sick, not death, not hunger, but the one you were Come on boys, scream my name If you love me, I want to feel it There’s nothing to lose but all your Piled-up pausing inhibition I'm starting to feel like dawn comes Only when you’re ready to rise I don’t know what I deserve But at least I know what I like But tell me- Who did this to you, and what did they take? Who was it made you feel this way? What is the thing now that you fear most? Not sick, not death, not hunger, but the one you were Tell me this will all wash out in time The slush of fresher wounds, from your left hand to my right My heroes all died young but I’m alive Now I’m here with you, and Jesus wouldn’t mind So dry me off one eye at a - Who did this to you, and what did they take? Who was it made you feel this way? What is the thing now that you fear most? Not sick, not death, not hunger, but the one you were
2.
Allometry 03:32
You - Come into me You - Motion and heat You - Rise and repeat You - Allometry What do you take me for? Hope it’s not much Now I am fully grown Begging your touch You - Naming your price You - Nothing required You - Sharing your vice You - Hopelessly tired Now we are paid in full What should I do? Take off the make believe Charms of my youth You - Bring in the tide You - Hallowed in light You - Bloodied cliffside You - Dead on arrival Now that you’re lying there Sterile and blue I’m just an animal And I’m dying, too
3.
The Pull 03:37
Not a prince but a queen, such a laughable scene, You caught me blushing I can’t take it back now Stranger-king, humbling, dressed to please, said “You can always pluck out any eye that offends thee” Cause why should I have to be the visible one? Take what you love and cover it up Come on, baby, don’t give them your life First the cream and the red, where you shave and you bled And your cover only catches their attention Then the red and the pink, on the lip and the cheek And the beauty of a bluff that can't get called But why should I have to be the visible one? Take what you love and cover it up Come on, baby, don't give them your life Cause the chain is the pull and the weight is the word I’m all dolled up, I can never get hurt What’s a place, what’s a scene, what’s a girl, what’s the harm? It’s a joke, and better keep your nose out Truth is pattern, truth is habit, truth is cutting when I have it If I had it, would it kill me to act nice once? Come on, baby, don’t give them your life Just a hint, just a bite, just a collar at night And a feeling that you‘ll come out of the water dry Tell the mirror in your head recognition is dead Counterfeits double truth in a dim light And why should I have to be the visible one? It works better when it's not the work they want Come on, baby, don’t give them your life 4, 3, 2, 1 Cause the chain is the pull and the weight is the word I’m all dolled up, I can never get hurt What’s a place, what’s a scene, what’s a girl, what’s the harm? It’s a joke, and better keep your nose out Truth is pattern, truth is habit, truth is cutting when I have it If I had it, would it kill me to act nice once? Come on, baby, don’t give them your life
4.
When you are lonely You think of me only, I know That no one compares You're sick of the sunlight But darling, I'm so bright I'm burning your cheeks and your thighs When I am lonely It's bountiful, baby I smell just like callery pear Your wavy blue eyes and those wide river sighs Might sound nice but they're leaving me dry So why do I find Some stupid constellation In every little thing that I've seen? The green grassy green That follows me swallowing Licks your lips, Gets those gums clean When we are lonely So noisy and needy All it takes is one little shove To give up completely There's nothing so easy But darling it wouldn't be right I'd love to just love you But nothing’s so easy And you know how I love to disappoint
5.
Jubilee 01:54
Every man not for another Was the wisdom of my fathers And ever should you falter it’s your fault and no one else In a race straight to the bottom Where everyone’s a winner Take a bow and hail your victories Oh, jubilee, rotten apples from the tree! Every one for you is two for me And the flavor that much sweeter When you’re not your brother’s keeper Reaping what you sow in fallow earth When everyone is starving Can't no one help another While some make sure there'll never be enough to go around To the ones who came before us With their fallen moral fables Who do you think set us up for this? Oh, jubilee, rotten apples from the tree! Every one for you is two for me And the flavor that much sweeter When you’re not your brother’s keeper Reaping what you sow in fallow earth
6.
Dry Socket 02:25
Hollow bone, tooth and comb, clearing tender realty Neatly stain, tie and chain, pushing pilgrims past my teeth Well isn’t it an awful shame The reflex never hit my brain And now they fill a longing mouth I’m eating pride Framing houses, now our homes, right inside my cavities Eagerly I’m swallowing dreams of you and me Well isn’t it an awful shame The reflex never hit my brain And now they fill a longing mouth I’m eating pride Let me see you love me Let me see you love me Let me watch you fuck me Let me see you, love Licking now and feeling how others bring a heavy doubt Time is come, diaspora, tears and spit are mingling Well isn’t it an awful shame The reflex never hit my brain And now they fill a longing mouth I’m eating pride
7.
400 Flights 03:33
Baby don’t you know that it’s not safe here? Tell me can’t you see that it’s not fine? There are some who will say to you stasis is safer But come on now, that can’t be right Who was that with the never-same rivers? Well I think that he must have it nice Always figured I’d be there to save you Did you really need saving at all? I could swear I was Orpheus, dancing down four hundred Flights of hell, charming them all Now your pious eyes focus right through me And what’s true for you is lost on me But the look you just gave me - it felt so like an end And we count all our blessings just to find out what we’ll miss What was it that made me so uptight? History, posterity in mind So I wrote little roles for us, cataloged dialogue Falls apart when it hits life You were more than I ever gave credit And I never was fit for this But the look you just gave me - it felt so like an end And we count all our blessings just to find out what we’ll miss
8.
Bells Below 05:56
We are barren and we starve them Sounding bells from down below With beaten feet they scrape along the floor And they tumble through my windows Down the drain they fall from grace And pile up around the doorway I can’t make it out of this place They call with voices all together: The agony is to wait For what could never be forthcoming You must get out of this place. I answer back with hesitation: Do you remember how it felt? When they spent the night together, And you - alone with yourself Do you recall the keys you pounded? The hammer falling on felt That melody could only take you To endings you know well And think of when you lit upon them The sunrise slantwise again When you were one that you now envy Just as you were then And what about touching another? Have you the strength to summon up A little bit of the old radiance That you quickly forgot And their reply came on so tenored: We know exactly these things As we bear witness to shadows Silver cast on a screen But knowing couldn’t buy us feeling It couldn’t let us understand And what you feel you do so strongly Just because it can end
9.
You're not the first, you're not the last You’re not the best or worst of anything That's a fact Your stupid rhymes, your sovereign ease Oh it feels like something done to me And no, we can't have that You're the best and worst of everything You've got a nose like John Lurie in the 80s, You know what I mean You're the most beautiful boy in the scene You're the best and worst of everything You sweaty, crowded basement king And I, I know just what you need Cause you're the most beautiful boy in the scene And oh you’ve got a lot of nerve, you’ve got a lot of nerve Weakness, it graces all of us, but it looks so good on you You've no idea, you're nothing new And if there were any justice here Well then you'd never have a clue That you're not the first, you're certainly not the last But presently you’re everything, oh god, I think you’re everything There’s nothing you can do for me, no nothing, no nothing You're the best and worst of everything You've got a nose like John Lurie in the 80s, You know what I mean Cause you're the most beautiful boy in the scene You're the best and worst of everything You sweaty, crowded basement king And I, I know just what you need Cause you're the most beautiful boy in the scene Oh you’ve got a lot of nerve, you’ve got a lot of nerve You boys keep swinging, and we'll keep slugging, You're nothing to me, you're a wet dream, the most beautiful boy in the scene You're the best and worst of everything You've got a nose like John Lurie in the 80s, You know what I mean You're the most beautiful boy in the scene You're the best and worst of everything You sweaty crowded basement king And I, I know just what you need Cause you're the most beautiful boy in the scene
10.
Nemorensis 02:42
Home is only seen in mirrors And if I can’t feel the years, I’ll see them there Could you know how many doors are closing now, just as we speak? Listen to me- I’ve loved people I barely remember Powder forests, tinder to light Strike a match, it’s drier now than was before, and days are shorter You’ll need the warmth Cross a mountain vivisected Borne on amber winds of heat I’ll go where I live without a history, you’ll come around soon Don’t be long Don’t be long Don’t be long Don’t be long

about

First & last album by LIL SLUGGERS. xoxoxo

credits

released November 18, 2022

Vox and guitar: Annette Before Tucker
Percussion, additional vox: Dan Deutsch
Accordion, organ, piano, electric piano, additional vox: Daniel Rice
Bass, additional guitar: Chris Connelly

Written by Annette Before Tucker. Recorded and mixed by Andrew Oedel at Ghost Hit Recording, West Springfield, MA. Mastered by Anni Abigail Casella.

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Lil Sluggers Baltimore, Maryland

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lilsluggersband@gmail.com

LIL SLUGGERS is theatrical art rock from MD, CT, and MA. The band is ANNETTE BEFORE TUCKER (Vocals, Guitar), DAN RICE (Accordion), CHRIS CONNELLY (Bass), and DAN DEUTSCH (Percussion). We love you VERY MUCH. ... more

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