BARBWIRE GARDEN (Carrie: Bass Guitar / Flores: drums & keys  /
 Myrh: vocals / Scotty: vox, guitar, xylophone, keys ) Special thanks to Flores for the amazing beat and Myrh for upping the ante with magical vocal stylings! 

yes, friends, the world Has been set afire of late. as the prophet once sayeth: "strange days indeed!"

. in march of 2020, the Secret Caves took a pause, a planned "brief hiatus" that then extended on as things got more and more....  you know. you were there. I saw you there.

BUT in august Carrie and Scott ventured back into Room 8... driven by the need to keep going, to try and make Something happen...  thus, masked and staring across the room at one another, they started making some noise. 

and so! between august and... well, yesterday, C & S have been working up music sketches and ideas down at room 8... some of the songs reflecting on the wolves at the door, others drifting into fantasy worlds full of monsters and sinister revelation, and then also the usual doom gloomy love affairs that one might expect from these two ne'er-do-wells.  using drum bits begged and borrowed from a few friends and allies (including, on several tracks, Cave member Peder!), and then playing some drums themselves along the way (the credo being "whatever gets it done"), Carrie and Scott found themselves with a growing arsenal of demos...   but what to do? here was a large stack of songs with bass guitar and vocals. for awhile, they despaired. what shall we do with all this unfinished songs?

suddenly, various and sundry pals stepped up, instruments leaning over their shoulders as they came whistling down the lane, a veritable rogue's gallery of 15 collaborators who helped finish 'em up, remotely adding keyboards, guitars, synth, lap steel, and yes, even saxophone (some might say Especially saxophone!). it's basically a party and you are invited. step right up, chum o' mine!  we are excited to share these 24 new songs with whoever deigns to listen!  deign, won't you? "Plague City Demos: songs by Carrie & Scott" will be released on our bandcamp page on June 12, with choice cuts also being shared here on Soundcloud.  

album cover images created in collaboration with and photographed  by Flatchestedmama. find more of her work at www.flatchestedmama.com

a preview of our video for this song features on this month's Surrey Muse Live Stream, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6EowlMLmho
the video was made by our pal Timbertoe, who also collaborates on another song that'll be on the album! check out his musics here: https://soundcloud.com/timbertoe

now Annie’s been fiending
in the tunnel of love
she don’t wanna see you no more
dancing all night
with the junkie priest yeah
spinning across his trashed up floor

and the widows with their haunted hearts
to sing to your desire
they tend their barbwire gardens where
no one mentioned that the world was on fire

now Bertram’s going 
subterranean
no he doesn’t got a choice.  — NO MORE
spitting up pills 
through the latest manias
wonders 
can you hear his voice. -NO MORE!

and the widows with their hungry eyes
have come here for to feast
they lay their paltry weapons down
want one more night at least

and i don’t need this love
i don’t need this love
but i’ve got nowhere to go

… and down i go, down i go
laying in the path of a hungry world
down i go
i don’t need this love

now Bev couldn’t even
bring her piano
had to leave everything behind
she’d been moving on out
through the neon graveyards
weaving through the bump and grind — NO MORE

and the widows with their haunted hearts
they chew through their desires
they call out to the ghosts they’ve claimed
and swing them from the wires

and i don’t need this love
i don’t need this love
but i’ve got nowhere to go 

and down i go, down i go
laying the path of a hungry world
and down i go
crushed by my own
laying in the path of a hungry world
i don’t need this love
i don’t need this love

(c) 2021 by Secret Caves Productions

Carrie & Scott -- Barbwire Garden  featuring Myrh (album details & video link inside!)

A little xxxmas stocking stuffer from your Cravepals!   Carrie - Bass guitar;  Chad -guitar ;  Scotty - vocals;   Skip Tarantula - drums  ... and featuring guest stars The Christmastime Choirgirls Of Doom providing yuletide caroling when appropriate

it's ok if you cry (this christmas)

come creepy crawl right through 
my mansion 
in these crooked halls
we are so damn handsome 
so show me where you’ve been
cauterized 
now come make love to your 
former lives, she said 

come spend some time 
in my open grave 
when the stars fade out
i’ll be your slave 
now dance up close 
to the phantom queen
beg for candy sweet
from impaled machines, she said

come creepy crawl this
burning house 
feel the fever soak 
through my scraped up blouse 
the wax witch
does not want your laughter 
she’s got a secret for you
but she’ll tell you after, she said 

come creepy crawl right through
my mansion
in these crooked halls
we are so damn handsome 
oh the wax witch
does not want your laughter
it’s so hard to tell
just what she’s after….  

(c) 2017 PetPetPet productions

feverskull

Creepy Crawl With Me!

you lay it all down
on that broken highway, yeah
between the flames and the night
and the trill of the sirens
the girl with the witchcraft fever
is calling
…saying baby come on

the devil will collect
but he wants you to come correct
and to come alone

you’re fiending all night 
with the junkie nurses
through the sizzle of the rain
come their shiny hearses
the witchcraft fever
it is turning you on YES
… saying baby come on

the devil will collect
but he wants you to come correct
and to come alone

you get so high 
on the witchcraft fever
seek a white noise inferno
through your hacked receiver
you’re striking up a pose
with that bent up cleaver
…saying baby come on

the devil will collect
but he wants you to come correct 
and to come alone
i said the devil will collect
but he wants you wants you
gotta gotta have you

last night i saw the devil 
he was wearing my raincoat and i said
hey, don’t i know you?

(c) 2017 PetPetPet Productions

cave dolls

the witchcraft fever

Secret Caves June 2017   Carrie: Bass Guitar   Simon: Lead Guitars  Caligula Jr: Vocals, Acoustic Gtr, tambourine   Ghostie Jo: piano, feedback   Slappie: Drums


i don’t wanna know
all the causal dangers
you told me where you go
and all about your strangers
god save
the pawnshop angels
‘cause they’re going down alone

where you gonna sleep tonight?

i don’t care
if you see another lover
and i don’t stare
when you tell me keep it covered
god save
the pawnshop angels
‘cause they’re going down alone

where you gonna sleep tonight?

slowly goes the night
for pawnshop angels
where you gonna sleep tonight
my pawnshop angels?
god save
you’re waiting on the signal
god save
waiting on a signal
god save 
the pawnshop angels
god save 
the pawnshop angels
‘cause they’re going down alone

where you gonna sleep tonight?

(c) 2017 PetPetPet Productions

secret caves

pawnshop angels

Secret Caves summer edition: carrie, simon, caligula jr

come and ride with me
inside my ambulance
i’ll show you what i want
tonight
the lonely hearts of winter
clutch their splintered balustrades
they’re so gallant
tonight

oh in winter…. oh in winter
i know you didn’t mean it…

come and ride with me
inside my limousine 
i’ll show you what i need
tonight
the cityscape is blazing
it’s amazing 
and we’re screaming “let it feed!”
tonight

oh in winter…. oh in winter
i know you didn’t mean it…

come and ride with me
inside my ambulance
i’ll show you how i feel 
tonight
caressing me with broken fingers
through these bandages 
is just part of the deal
tonight

oh in winter, winter
i know you didn’t mean it…

(c) 2017 PetPetPet productions

Winter (the ambulance song)

SECRET CAVES summer edition, guest guitar: Rizzer

with a grin
like carving knives
she holds you back
got the medicine in hand
as she makes her sad demands 
from the cul-de-sac

…in your secret cave

what you fail to understand
in the tunnel of love, in
a secret cave,
she says shut it down,
takes off your dress
and gives you kisses in a grave

…in your secret cave

while you’re blacking out the moon
they lay you down
right down to the bottom 
and the gold coins,
they pour down your throat
till you beg their pardon

…in your secret cave  

you can tell me what you saw
you can tell me what you saw
you didn’t see no ghost
you’re a liar
you’re a liar
and i’d like to lay down in your 
funeral pyre
and propose a toast
…in your secret cave,

(c) 2017 by PetPetPet Productions

kisses in a grave

Secret Caves expanded summer 2017 edition, Carrie, Simon, Rizz & Caligula Jr 


cry
if your hollywood’s bleeding
your reflection is deceiving
it’s been leading you round
and round

hesitation 
why so violent, this vacation?
asks the shivering outpatient
who’s been leading you round
and round

bride,
is your hollywood bleeding?
and where are you leading?
you’ve been leading me down, down

we’re all clouded
and the bullets we doubted
the night sky is our shroud, it…
it keeps leading us down, down

the greasepaint preacher came in
lingering down by the hallway door
he wondered what the bullets
in your palm were for
we kept interrupting his sermon
with questions and laughter
he held us close though
in the storm that came after
he reminded us: friends
the night shapes can be deceiving
one thing is certain though
hollywood is bleeding
and then he revealed 
that he had been joking 
as we lay in the dirt
fiending and choking

ride on
hollywood’s bleeding
and the tide is receding
it’s dragging you down, down
i will remember
how you begged, you were so tender
but that part of me is dismembered
and it’s dragging us down, down…. down

(c) 2017 PetPetPet Productions

hollywood bleeds

Secret Caves summer edition: Carrie, Simon, Caligula Jr  with guests Rizz and Alec, a fine collection of gentlemen and ladies 

i can turn the cheek
and twist the bayonet
i can bunch that leash
for the winsome silhouette
i am a gentleman
i am a gentleman

i can videotape
that righteous mongrel
i can kiss that flicker
off the hangman’s candle
i am a gentleman
i am a gentleman

i can trade your cause
for a wilting flower
i can train your claws
for a hungering hour
i am a gentleman
i am a gentleman

i can sell my prayers
on the trashheap mountain
and dance my way 
right through one hundred drownings
i am a gentleman 
i am a gentleman

i can trade your cause 
for a wilting flower
i can train your claws
for a hungering hour
i am a gentleman
i am a gentleman

(c) 2017 by PetPetPet Productions

i am a gentleman

Secret Caves Farewell Summertime edition: Carrie, Simon, Joe, Caligula Jr

i got lost
courting in the forest
surrounded by the strangler tourists
they have come
to mesmerize
leave me bloodstained in my tie dyes

lay me down, down in the ditch now
lay me down with my clever witch now
she has come
to show me the magic
lay me down with her violence emphatic
yeah

cinemas of night time teeming
with the wild eyed lovers 
screaming
i got caught out in the moonlight
a tempest toss’d 
i will
never do right, yeah

… then, from beneath the trapdoor, 
someone called out my name.
it was not a voice i recognized,  but
i beckoned “come closer” just the same….

i got lost 
courting in the forest
surrounded by your comely chorus
they have come 
to mesmerize
leave me bloodstained in my tie dyes

lay me down
in my ditch forever
lay me down
with my witch so clever
she has come 
to show me the violence
pay in blood for a night of sirens

(c) 2017 PetPetPet Productions

Blood On My Tie-Dye

Secret Caves is Carrie, Simon, Joe & Caligula Jr

i don’t wanna lose control
i just wanna scream
all through the recitation
come and help me dig this hole
there’s a knife 
between my teeth but
i’m holding a flower

i don’t wanna be a friend
i don’t wanna dream
about your celebration 
i don’t want this day to end
there’s a knife 
between my teeth
but i’m holding a flower

hide inside a fire hide hide

i don’t wanna lose control
i don’t wanna feast 
upon the plans you’re scheming
i just want the bell to toll
there’s a knife 
between my teeth but 
i’m holding a flower

hide inside a fire hide hide

perched atop that chainlink fence
in the terrible violent summer of love
i spied a girl like a ghost
with a dress made of needles
led me down to the beach
sand streaked with blood
and we held hands with the 
vampire starlets
as the pesticide formed a gorgeous cloud
and i said oh kill kill kill
but i didn’t say it out loud

i don’t wanna lose control
i just wanna jig
through the indoctrination
come and help me dig 
this hole
there’s a knife 
between my teeth but
im holding a flower

(c) 2017 by Secret Caves

Bride Of Scream Machine

Secret Caves LoveSongs edition: Carrie, Simon, Joe, Caligula Jr

the night tide creatures
want your love
come see about 
the most beautiful girl
on the gallows
she’ll stroke your stitches
it’s never enough
so come ride 
the white lightning 
whip her shape shift
through the narrows

night tide creatures
hold my hand
oh! the chemical preachers
man bold double features
on shifting sand
night tide creatures
let me go
all the spidery teachers
with sickly stained features
spray “on with the show”

and you can 
flash that revolver, come on
and you can swear 
your broke heart
to the river
well she was here last night, yes
now she’s gone
the most beautiful girl
on the gallows
the most beautiful girl
on the gallows

night tide creatures
hold my hand
oh! the chemical preachers
man bold double features
on shifting sand
night tide creatures
let me go
all the spidery teachers
with sickly stained features
spray “on with the show”

and you can flash that revolver
come on

the night tide creatures
want your love
the night tide creatures
oh they want your love
oh they want your love

(c) 2017 by Secret Caves

love song 666

1 moment of weakness 2 more lies who cares 3 you & me and the devil makes three(*) 4 hotel beds 5 drugstore kisses (*) 6 throw your guns into the river 7 fake out 8 drainbow 9 let the river carry us away 10 this gun 4 hire

album cover photo by Greg Connors (@greg-connors)
album design by Connors & Caligula Jr

"let the river carry me away" PHOTOS, LYRICS, and MORE Secret information here: secretcaves.livejournal.com/631.html

Secret Caves: Carrie, Simon, Joe, Caligula Jr, Peder(*)

recorded march 27 - June 12 in Room 8, Seattle
except track 10, instruments recorded aug. 31, 2017
all songs (c) 2018 by Secret Caves

let the river carry me away LP

Secret Caves summer fun edition

i’m drinking with a friend
it’s such a lonely life
you know baby in our sea sick town
we dance upon the knife
each friday night

the devil knows your name
he knows what’s in your heart
he knows what windows
you’ve been peeking in baby
he knows that 
you’re a narc inside your heart

do you believe me
when i tell you 
that the surf queen
is not your friend
do you believe me 
when i tell you that she kisses 
like a poison pen yeah

now lay beneath the waves
you’ve got it all for sure
you carry all your dull disguises
but are they really yours
and are you really sure? 

i’m drinking with a friend
there’s nowhere else to go
we tell each other
the sad sad truth yeah
that  every lie we know can only grow

do you believe me
when i tell you that the surf queen
is not your friend
do you believe me

(c) 2018 by Secret Caves

surf queen

Secret Caves Disco Edition: Carrie, Simon, Peder and Caligula Jr

and we can dance 
mr disco
we can dance
mr disco 
and we can dance

and when we scale the catacombs,
god you’re gullible
i’m gonna shake those lazy bones
to see what you’ve been through
mr disco 
i want you to hold me
hold me like you know me
mr disco 
send me a letter
tell me that you love me better

lover, spider
i wanna feel you come in close
traitor in the crater
fashion now a double dose of that poison

and when you climbed the guillotine
did you do it for love?
ya cut yourself to pieces, no 
i still don’t think it’s enough
mr disco
sing me a song now
make me feel the belief
mr disco
drag me along now
as i’m pulled down underneath

mr disco
i want bloodshed
on the dance floor
i want bloodshed mr disco


(c) 2018 by Secret Caves

mr disco

from our new LP, Sour Candy 10 Love Songs by Secret Caves, available for lovers only!!!  find it here: https://secretcaves.bandcamp.com/releases
art by Syd! https://twitter.com/bugfactz
close your eyes
for every night has its secrets
come claim your prize
from this tub of filthy trinkets

defy the wind
let me come in
though all the doors they might 
swing wide
you slashed for days
and walked roads unpaved 
but you will lay here with me tonight

a clever child
oh but you grew up so haunted
the flames run wild
oh, was this not what you wanted?

defy the wind
don’t let them in
for you are sworn now to me 
my love
the saints parade
while dancing profane
but still they pray on their knees
for love

and so we cast off 
in that burned balloon
returned up to the sky
then a fabulous fall 
and farewell to you all
well i never was much of one 
for goodbyes

open your eyes
now you are just another secret
the serpent unwinds
you ask “darling, can we keep it?”

yes i’m the wind
and i’m coming in
and all the doors 
they shall swing wide
we slashed for days
and walked roads unpaved
but you will lay here with me tonight

(c) 2018 by Secret Caves

trinkets

one final blast from your Cave Pals as we bid farewell to 2018. hoppy hollerdays to you all and don't forget to dance dance dance

on monday morning
my guru told me
your fake jazz mantra’s gonna
do you right
leaned his thumb 
to the highway said 
I’ll see you later
with a mouth full of wasps
do the mashed potato

when the bouncer said
sir i do not want to fight you
i replied, you’ve got no choice
put ‘em up
then i leaned my back
against the ole dumbwaiter
with a mouth full of wasps
did the mashed potato

lay it down
fake jazz fake jazz! 
do the dirty dog
lay it down
fake jazz fake jazz!
do the dirty dog NOW

down in the orchestra pit 
chrissy held herself and cried 
and she whispered to me:
no-one else will EVER do 
the electric slide
like HE can

on sunday evening my guru returned
he said, you miss me boy?
i said who are you
save your fancy words for
the space invaders
with a mouth full of wasps
do the mashed potato

lay it down
fake jazz fake jazz! 
do the dirty dog
lay it down
fake jazz fake jazz!
do the dirty dog 

with a mouth full of wasps do the 
mashed potato 

(c) 2018 by Secret Caves

mouth full of wasps

from the SLITHER ON! 6 song EP, now available on bandcamp: https://secretcaves.bandcamp.com/album/slither-on  )

take off your hospital gown
tonight we taste
the sweet fruit of this revenge
i am your madman now
and lo! the storm is rising rising

ohhh the siren strangely cries

let’s spill your hungering heart
with carnage 
we shall cradle amidst the gore
as this world comes apart
we’ll fan the flames they’re rising rising 

ohhh the siren sadly cries

here comes the funeral train
come tell me 
is this someone that you recognize
i’ll pull upon your chain
this day has been surprising surprising

ohhh the siren faintly cries

there goes your haunted friend
you nod your head
pretend that you can handle it
he won’t return again
and lo! the storm is rising rising

ohhhhh  and the siren sadly cries

remove this hospital gown
i wanna show you
who i really am
i’ll be your madman now
let all the flames keep rising rising

ohhh
the siren strangely cries

and so
i let you push me down
into that burning street and we 
revealed our true natures at last
and i said
don’t worry darling
the hospital won’t forget who you are

the siren sadly cried

the hospital won't forget who you are

Hey everyone! Follow this here link to see your pals Secret Caves in action! https://youtu.be/2MmLy6hJqqg ... Here's the scoop:

The Caves recently performed on the fabulous talk show IN THE ATTIC WITH PIPER.  The show is hosted by the inimitable Piper, a true princess and also? a true puppet! Secret Caves sat down for an interview with Piper, who is known for her insightful inquiries and merciless pursuit of the truth, and yes the band revealed ALL the dirt. We also performed a couple of songs, including one from our new 6 song EP "tell the devil i can't be late" (currently FREE on our bandcamp! https://secretcaves.bandcamp.com/album/tell-the-devil-i-cant-be-late-ep) ... and there's more! Lucifer himself stopped by to hobnob with the band and Piper, sing a pensive little song, condemn an unlucky puppet to hellfire... you know, good clean fun.  Watch now!! (well, after 1pm PST): https://youtu.be/2MmLy6hJqqg

meanwhile, here's the words to THIS song of ours, also from the new EP...
i wanna fill all my heart with moonshine
and make it clear why you’ve never been mine
i wanna sell out a lie that comes true
i wanna walk with the devil for you
i wanna waltz in the martyrs parade
and then i’ll strip on the overnight train
i wanna pierce through your bleak ballyhoo
i wanna walk with the devil for you

come inside now
there’s no need to face it alone
let it ride now
come inside

i wanna twist up my soul on the wheel
and sling my wares in the valley of steel
i wanna break all the vows we renewed
i wanna walk with devil for you
and when you finally limp back to shore
i’ll take you out for the 3 dollar tour
i wanna burst through your bleak ballyhoo
i wanna walk with the devil for you

come inside now
there’s no need to face it alone
let it ride now
come inside

i don’t need much
just one single taste of that destruction
just one single touch
come lay your hands on my corruption

i wanna walk with the devil for you
I wanna break the vows we renewed
I wanna walk with the devil for you

walk with the devil

watch us perform Drugstore Kisses and other songs here: youtu.be/2MmLy6hJqqg   on In The Attic With Piper, a show hosted by Puppet Princess Piper! we sit down for a brief interview, play songs, sacrifice another puppet to the devil.... the usual.


i’m putting on a show 
for the tawdry chemist 
he knows just what to do
you play it all off
but you couldn’t care less
as long as i keep coming through

i take it all off
for the vicodin cowboys
take it all off
gonna make some big noise
take it all off 
for the vicodin cowboys
you know how i do
when i do it for you

i’m getting real lost
in your drugstore kisses
you know i’m gonna
stay the night
and even if this world
gets a little bit vicious 
i know it’s gonna be alright

i take it all off
for the vicodin cowboys
take it all off
gonna spread some big joy
take it all off 
for the vicodin cowboys
you know what i’ll do
when i do it for you

i don’t beleive in phantoms
i don’t believe that you’ll be 
coming back to me
i don’t believe in the anthems
of them carny code priests
who say they see right through me
i don’t believe in your drugstore kisses
i don’t believe in forbidden wishes
i don’t believe in some lucky star
or the way you strum that tin guitar
i don’t believe in the vicodin cowboys
i don’t believe in the vicodin cowboys

i’m putting on a show
for the tawdry chemist
he knows just what to do
you play it all off but you couldn’t 
care less
as long as i keep coming through
and i keep coming through

(c) 2018 by Secret Caves

drugstore kisses (WATCH the Caves perform this song! link in Description)

a track from our EP "tell the devil i can't be late" 
https://secretcaves.bandcamp.com/album/tell-the-devil-i-cant-be-late-ep

my pockets stained 
from bloody dollar bills
i should lay low
but then i can’t get my thrills
you know the lord 
loves a stickup man
this pistol’s 
feeling mighty fine in my hand

while stealing cars
outside the town of Slaughter
i lost my heart
to the hangman’s daughter
she held me close
while i whispered all my plans
she knows the lord
loves a stickup man
that’s what i am

baptized with the bullets
baptized in the ring of fire
baptized in the sewers
yeah you’ll be baptized get those
hands up high

i am a stickup man
oh the lord loves a stickup man
that’s what i am

we had to leave my partner
slim behind
while robbing banks down
on the county line
he said my friends
it’s time to make my stand
cuz the lord he loves a stickup man

my lady love is crying
out in the streets
my blood is spilling 
in the desert heat
as the sheriff’s shouting
show your hands
oh the lord 
loves a stickup man
that’s what i am

baptized with the bullets
baptized with a noose
baptized with tequila fire
and the fearful shame 
i cannot shake loose

i am a stickup man
o lord i am a stickup man
that’s what i am

(c) 2019 by Secret Caves

stick-up man

New LP  ***TERRORS*** Coming in January 2026!

Secret Caves

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