Society Glue

This song started out as a way to explore modes of communication from the long past to now and think about what has changed but also remained the same and the impact that may have had on humanity. Looking in the mirror for humans has been a tool to gauge reality, although not always accurately, going back 8,000 years. 

 

As the thousands of years have gone by, that search for truth has constantly changed, some might say it’s more complicated today than ever before. We started out being able to talk to each other with grunts and eventually words, then our technology evolved and we could communicate over time and distance. That distance shrunk again when that ability became instant and virtual too. 

 

As all of our ability to communicate grows because of our technology, it becomes more glaringly clear and sometimes dangerous where we lack it. Which sources can we trust? It becomes less clear as more sources need to be questioned and can be hard to vet. Where do we get our news, how do we know it’s true? The details matter but it’s harder to discern what’s correct. It could be something our life depends on or a silly piece of misinformation that simply inconveniences us. 

In this confusion, our instincts guide us to rely on what we can see. Even though it has been proven that eyewitness testimony is utterly unreliable, it still feels solid because that’s how we work. Ironically when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we see the most intimate and distorted reality. That’s why it’s important that no matter what we do in that moment, we calm ourselves and say, it’s ok to not be ok.

Buy on Bandcamp

Hanging On OK

Winter (demo)

Demos 2016 - 2018

Hills

Rough mix of basic tracks, produced by David Gans and Jeremy Goody, engineered by Goody at Goody Sound.

Personnel: 
David Gans on guitars
Dan Brodnitz on piano
Myles Boisen on pedal steel and lap steel
Joe Kyle Jr. on upright bass
Joe Craven on mandolin and percussion
Christian Crumlish on vocals

Moses (Took Us to the Water) 
© 2022 At Swim-Two-Birds Music

Well now, Moses took us to the water (uh hmm)
Moses took us to the water (uh hmm)
Yes when Moses took us to the water, it was
Like leading lambs to slaughter
Moses took us to the water, yes he did

Pharaoh sent us off to catch him (oh yeah)
Well, that Pharaoh set us to catch them (uh hmmm)
So when Pharaoh sent us off to catch him then we
All got drownded when the waves came crashing
When Pharaoh sent us off to catch him (yes sir)

(first plague)
Well, Pharaoh made Ra angry, uh-hm
Yes, Pharaoh made Ra angry, yes he did
Turned Iteru into blood, fish guts poisoning the flood
Somehow Pharaoh made Ra angry, uh-hm

(second and third plagues)
Well, the river frogs that swarmed were bad enough
Yes, the frogs that swarmed up on us were enough
Until our bodies teemed with fleas from our heads down past our knees
But the river frogs that swarmed were bad enough

(fourth and fifth plagues)
Then our goats, and pigs were dyin’, uh-hm
Cattle, goats and pigs were dyin’, oh no
When wild wolves they took their lives, or the pestilential flies
And our livestock just kept dying, uh-hmm

(sixth and seventh plagues)
There was soot that gave us boils, uh-hmm
Yes, it gave us painful boils, yes it did
Then the lightning, hail and fire only took our suff'rin’ higher
When the coal-soot gave us boils, uh-hmm

(eighth and ninth plagues)
Well, the locusts all descended from the sky
Endless locusts kept descending from the sky
When the darkness fell for three days straight we shuddered at our curséd fate
As the locusts kept descending from the sky

(tenth plague)
Then I woke up and my firstborn son was gone, uh-hmm
Yes, I woke up and I found my son was gone, that’s right
Told us Moses was to blame, Pharaoh’s boy died just the same
When I woke and my firstborn son was gone

Six hundred chariots followed him on down
Six hundred o’ the best chariots followed him down
Oh, Six hundred chariots followed him down
And none came back when we all did drowned
And the officers of Kemet all went down

Well now, Moses took us to the water (uh hmm)
Moses took us to the water (uh hmm)
Well, when Moses took us to the water, it was
Like leading lambs to slaughter
Moses took us to the water, yes he did

Yes when Moses took us to the water, it was
Like leading lambs to slaughter
When Moses took us to the water, uh-hmm

'Cause when Moses took us to the water, it was
Like leading lambs to slaughter
When Moses took us to the water.…


Words and music by Christian Crumlish.

No One Does It Solo Only

Moses

Moses (rough mix 6)

His demons were well known. Maybe much more than they should be.
But that’s the price of fame, so they say.
And sure, you can focus on the would be’s and the could be’s, 
But that’s never gonna change a thing.
You must admit, he sure could sing.

If Chrissy had lived, if Cass had survived,
But that’s the price of death, so they say.
And sure, you can think about just how he could have done better
But that’s never gonna change a thing.
You must admit, he sure could sing.

CHORUS
Stephen took the melody, and Graham was soaring high.
He would find the middle ground and  fit in perfectly.
If life was a song, he might have been the king 
You must admit, he sure could sing.

He never found his true place, unless out on the water.
But that’s the price of fame, so they say.
And sure, you can speculate ‘bout lines he drew on the table.
But that’s never gonna change a thing.
You must admit, he sure could sing.

CHORUS
Stephen took the melody, and Graham was soaring high.
He would find the middle ground and  fit in perfectly.
If life was a song, he might have been the king 
You must admit, he sure could sing.

He Sure Could Sing

21 minutes of de-construction, eclectic, avant-jazz? who knows, but there is a whole lot happening here and it's beautiful.

Douglas Wilkerson composition, drum set and other percussion, vocal reprise / Michael Grimes, composition, synths, piano / Paul Richards, composition, guitars /Michael Billings, vocal reprise / Kyle Fraser modular analog synth magic / Colt Kraft, vocal reprise

Mixed and Produced by Doug Wilkerson and Michael Grimes (Dh8R's)

Flipping the Script

Sonic Youth - Teen Age Riot

Slip Sliding Away

First

There's a tattoo of a river on your shoulder
There's a mind that'd like to know what it means
There's hands wondering if the water's warmer or colder
Is it Thames in London or Mississippi in New Orleans

There's a tattoo of a river on your shoulder
There's a half chance you'll tell me when I'm older

One flows down from the north into gulfwater mists
One flows east from the west toward Southend-on-sea
One flows from your neck along your arm to your wrist
And it shimmers like a silver charm calling out to me

In the right light, your skin glows gently like silver
River banks look as lit as city street grids at night
But then I blink my eyes just to catch the afterimage
Reversed for an instant so you glimmer in my sight

River on your shoulder

Making an album with Perfectible Recordings.

Moses (rough mix 6)

Layers of Meta