Recorded and Mixed by Mr. Kurt Bloch with Pete Gerrald at Hanszek Audio July 26-30, 1995
Released October 24, 1995

It's only half the battle
I don't know the other half
that's not the point it's a figure of speech
It's only half the battle
but it's always worth a laugh
without it all the rest is out of reach

You'd think that knowledge would count for more than that
the end result of all that you discover
It maybe just a cliche
but you'll choke on it some day
if you can't get the words right
you're gonna suffer


I Hate Big Deal People
I hate big deal people, man they totally bog
It always seems like people gotta totally freak
on the most unimportant insignificant things
what's the point in being mad all the time
I don't know

I hate big deal people, man they're totally weak
We can't sit here and we've gotta sit there
can't you see that I don't care
What's the point in being there all the time
I don't know

Leave me alone, go away
If it's such a big deal
I don't wanna play

I hate big deal people and I'm sure that they hate me
If people could lighten up and have a good time
the time I gotta spend with them, I wouldn't mind
what's the point in being mad all the time
I don't know


Don't Ask Don't Tell
Over a coffee cup that's steaming up my glasses
is this another staredown or are you entering stasis
feels like the Star Chamber just ordered execution
way too mad to feel too sad
it's death by dissolution

Looks like you came here with a task
if you don't want to know don't ask
probably make you feel like hell
never saw it coming don't ask don't tell

Imagine my surprise I'm too numb to be embarrassed
another tactic you employ is this just meant to scare us
another cup of coffee and all is understood
glasses fogged up once again the future's looking good


60 Pound Mall Rats
Today I made the mistake
of entering their domain
I may never escape
my loss will be their gain

Hear their warning call
don't go to the mall
we need a bigger breed of cats
cornered like raccoons
hope they get here soon
save us from the sixty pound mall rats

They can smell your fear
and see the sweat drip off your brow
they will circle you and leer
make a run for it right now


The Dateless Losers
My friends and I we're a bunch of geeks
so none of us has got a date at the end of the week
and if there's no cool hip punk rock show
Denny, Robin, and Woodsy's house is the place that we go

Dateless losers we don't care
if our pathetic love lives go nowhere
No matter where my life has led
I still have a "L" stuck to my forehead

We are the dateless losers
and even though I can't get a date
I've got somewhere to be tonight

We sit around and eat ice cream
crack jokes and watch really bad T.V.
and if you're a dateless loser too
then startin' a dateless loser club is the only thing left to do


Cover Up
If I blow my head off talking to you
I know a tape recorder's got nothing to do
with a lack of interest in living life
when a hundred pound depression straps down tight

does anybody hear me
does anybody care
is anybody listening
is anybody up there

covered my eyes up Sunday morning
from the momentary lack of stable ground
looked for you and the room was spinning
you left me hanging with nothing but me around

If I pull my heart out thinking of you
and then the holes in the skin come bleeding through
what's the point in keeping on
when a whole and a half of the half's gone


Obsessive Compulsive Complainers
Obsessive Compulsive Complainers syndrome is taking over rock
it seems like no one feels like they belong
all of the kids can relate to self-hate
they don't want a pep talk
a million screaming outcasts can't be wrong

I don't wanna, I'm not gonna
my life's a fuckin' waste
and you're paying me to stand here and complain

I have gone nowhere but that doesn't phase me
I've done it for so long
and don't they say that it's never too late
and all of the girls I know are crazy
but they make for funny songs
don't understand why I can't get a date

I can't get no, I can't let go
I'm a basket case
and you'll never understand a thing I'm saying
but you're paying me to stand here and complain

Obsessive Compulsive Complainers syndrome
is my get-rich-quick scheme
keep the fame 'cause that's not what I'm after
but as long as I'm here then I'll shed a tear
and sing about broken dreams
My life can't be enough of a disaster


You Are A Space Alien
Looking at you from across the table
discussion is ready, willing, and able
but something's on your mind or maybe it's not...

I'm wondering what's going on
do conversations make sense where you come from
and then revelation hits me from out of the blue...

It's the simplest, most consistent, logical explanation
for why you are so weird

You are a space alien
what planet are you from
you are a space alien
I think that you're so dumb

There's a blank expression set on your face
are you communicating with friends in outer space
or are social connections a problem wherever you go

All the signs point to one place
you are an alien from outer space
and then there's the thing you've got green blood


Little A record box outside my door
coming home really late from work once more
and it made my day
such a little thing
It's the thought that counts
and the hope it brings

A little further
A little bit longer
A little package is more condensed
the little things make a big difference

I tried to carry you home from the bar
but I'm out of shape and it's a little too far
So far to go, so far apart
So far so good, and auspicious start


Believe
Could you believe anything was wrong in the world
on a night like tonight
Keep the beat up fast and everything's fine
and the crowd reflects a shining light

Telling me that I've done something right for once
Telling me that I mean something to someone
and I wish there was a way to say
just how much this means to me

This is the way that I had dreamed
I can't believe that this is me

Me, and 10 years gone
and this scene will not be replayed
your patient ears through all the shows we've played
the past four years, leave a debt unpaid


Escalator
It's a point of view problem
you've got no sense of distortion
I'm always right, you're never wrong
it gets blown out of proportion
maybe no one's right
but it's always worth a fight
and another win would sure help my extortion

Looks like I won again
I can't believe what you just said
I'll let you do the math
if you can do it in your head
darlin' you can't add
and your subtraction skills are sad
so let's call it even and start over instead

Sinking self confidence, ego deflater
why do we bother with it escalater
Waiting around for the crowd to disperse
the longer it drags just gets worse and worse

It's all over now
shaking like an oscillator
so many battles lost and won
that we need a calculator
Nobody won the war
now what were we fighting for
got lost in all the convoluted roar

Escalater see you later when you stop smoking out your ears
evaporation cools you down
some day you're gonna blow you've been smoldering for years
no one ever comes around anymore


The Inland Empire Strikes Back
Woke up today thinking about my hometown
thought about going back to see who's hanging around
remember back when we didn't have a clue
and how we used to sit and whine that there was nothing to do

Way too young to understand
you've got to make it what you want
part of me is still Spokane
that's never gotten off the track
just waiting for The Inland Empire Strikes Back

Mna Mna, Vampire Lezbos, and T.F.L.
whatever happened to those clowns
I think they ended up in jail
But there's no shortage of bands to get drunk for
There'll always be the Fumes and Flies kicking out Spokanimalcore


Computer Geek
The time has come to talk about the place I work
my name's Ean and I'm a computer dork
I'm not as smart as Jon Von Zelowitz
but I have a good time playing this techno weenie gig

I answer questions that come as phone calls
features, drivers, upgrades and net installs
and once I had to despite my total shock
tell some guy just how to use a number lock
he didn't know how to use a number lock

We're a bunch of computer dorks
and that's the way we wanna be
just having fun but getting paid for work
I must be a computer geek

We go home and play on the internet
email, ftp, and the world wide web
Friday night I hang out with all my friends
We go surfin' out on the internet
you'll find me surfin' out on the internet

Fields
August night swelters roll back the covers
and I remember a long lost summer
when you and I were a whole lot better friends

In skyclad fields we came together
hard to hold in moonlit heather
get off me boy, you're breaking my back again

And a mouth full of broken words
was all I had and all she heard
as the sun set down to disappear
into the haziest sunset of the year

So we drove for days and talked about nothing
as the fields rolled by an American discussion
do you remember when

Do you recall the place that you're from
who do you like and who do you love
who do you hate and who's your favorite band

Isn't it weird how things can change
in a year and some you look so strange
and you don't look at me half as dear
as you did sometime late last year...goodbye


On the Dole
My work ethic's been destroyed
and I'm glad I'm unemployed
I'm always broke so what's been gained
thank God for the government
stuck to the cough like rubber cement
FX Channel keeps me entertained

I'm on the dole, out of control
I wonder if they're on to me
and I'm in the hole, but I'm on the dole
and all I do is watch T.V.

I never leave the house
Woodsy thinks I'm part of the couch
the difference has become unclear
When she's gone I play musical chairs
while Robin's getting high upstairs
I can hear her hacking from here

My employer left me in the lurch
have you made an active work search
these claim forms are getting hard
can't afford to let down my guard
and all this time to kill
hangs over me like unpaid bills
waiting for the day that I can pay
and you bet I will

I'm on the dole, but I'm in control
and all I do is watch T.V. and wonder if they're on to me
I'm in the hole, but I'm on the dole
Imagine all the time to kill
I'm sure you can, I know I will


Bad Situation
Kind of a boy and kind of a girl
I drink drink drink drink drink until
I'm finding myself alone for a while
when the most I've got is a half eaten smile

I know that Speed Stick causes cancer but
you see there's seeds of hope in a cigarette butt
I'll drink and drink and think some more
'till I hang us both, maybe or...

try to make the best of a bad situation
try to make the best of a bad situation
your taxes mow your lawns in your old age contagion
but I try to make the best of a bad situation

A beautiful girl she twist her hair
I break my neck falling down stairs
I thought a lot about the world around
'cause when I thought about myself
it brought me down

There's a name for you on a bottle of bourbon
There's a name for you on a bottle of gin
There's space for you in a bottle of bourbon
is there room for me can you let me in


The Breakfast Song (LIVE)
When you're playing in a rock and roll band
you gotta eat eggs for breakfast every time you can
'cause they got lots of protein and cholesterol
they'll get you up and going and that's not all

Captain Crunch he's really really neat
he's got a red hat and two blue feet
he sails in a ship around the world
I hope he finds a crunch berry girl
in the Breakfast Song

Dinner is cool and lunch is neat
but a hearty breakfast just can't be beat
eggs and juice and cereal
toast and cheese all in a bowl
in the Breakfast Song

Rainy Day Song (Japanese CD Only)
Sometimes I recall nothing at all
but the patter pelt sounds of rain coming down
on the windows outside of my parents' house
when I was a boy in a rainy port town

And you know that it's true
when I was walking from school in the rain
and I was maybe 7 or 8
I splashed in the puddles and played with wet dogs
chased ducks, hide and seek in the fog

And I know those days are gone

And you know that my mom
she said take off your shoes at the door
you'll have wet dogs and puddles no more
you'll bathe and put on a clean change of clothes
I'm sure that you'll catch your death of cold

but then I didn't die

so it came to be
that I was supposed to keep my feet clean
and dry when rainy days coming were seen
mom said you'll walk straight to school and then
you'll walk straight home after again

but some things you can't deny

so even today
when I'm walking around in the rain
and I've got somewhere warm to stay
I'll splash in the puddles and play with wet dogs
chase ducks play hide and seek in the fog

and those days will never die


80 Dollars (Japanese CD Only)
No one seems to understand
why junk just sort of finds this band
it's high time we realize
let it come as no surprise
nothing ever goes our way
I'm losing hope today

God he must've been disappointed
never seen him so disjointed
It cost me 80 dollars

We really aren't that fucking dense
I swear to God we've got some sense
it ain't exactly shining through
Ean's face is turning blue
I wish this thing would work
you're gonna lose that smirk