I started working on this album in 2015 or 2016. It seemed like a fun idea to structure an album about relationships around vague allusions to U.S. history. I was thinking about mid-2000s indie stuff like Sufjan or Of Montreal where there would be an overarching concept for an album where the concept somehow remained fun throughout and didn't just smother the music. It also seemed like the world had completely moved away from "indie music" as I'd known it so I wondered if I could cash in on some nostalgia other people might be having.

Speaking of nostalgia, something you may or may not be familiar with is the phenomenon of official songs for each branch of the U.S. military. Because my dad is a veteran, military historian, and geek, I went to a lot of events as a kid where I would hear these songs played: any kind of Memorial Day concert, the regional symphony's salute to service, or bagpipe event (both my parents were in bagpipe bands). The rule is that when the band plays the official song of the branch you served with, you stand up. So the band plays all these songs in a medley, and you watch as different people throughout the audience sheepishly stand and then you watch as everyone in the audience applauds them. I grew up looking up at my dad from whatever folding chair I was in as this patriotic music played. I grew up marching in July 4th parades in my Cub Scout uniform. I grew up with one of two veteran uncles or three veteran grandparents yelling at me to pick my flag up off the ground. And now I'm 29 and reflecting on some of my happiest childhood memories being enmeshed with nationalistic rituals that often simplify, smooth over, and erase the country's failures, historically and presently.

I wish I wasn't someone who has affection for this alternative, simplistic history that explains a simplistic world, but I am. Beyond that, I'm drawn to characters coming up against their own simplistic narratives, of which there are a few in these songs. Thanks for reading all this--it might make for a better listen. I hope you have fun.

U.S. History 05-28-2021

James W. Marshall

Nobody Kills The Archivist

Silverware

Look Away (My My, Hey Hey)

George Washington

A cover album of Animal Collective's Strawberry Jam

Jeremy Good Job

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