BEST. LINER NOTES. EVER.
Okay, so like I said, I got my backordered MWK CDs (Judging a Bullet and Midwest Kings) the other day, and for one thing, they are very pretty and shiny and they are back in stock at CDBaby and I highly recommend them. HOWEVER, the reason I am here today is that the liner notes for JaB are so freaking adorable I actually had trouble breathing. NO SERIOUSLY. For one thing, they are all hand-written, including scratched-out mistakes and periodic capslock and emphatic underlines (♥!) but also? They are ILLUSTRATED. With TINY LITTLE DOODLES. Like so:
So… this is how you accessorize your angsty breakup album, Neal? You think that the best way to illustrate the pain of "don't try to turn this rotten apple into a seed" is… with a tiny little crosshatched apple? OF COURSE YOU DO. GOD DAMN YOU, TIEMANN, YOU ARE ACTUALLY TRYING TO KILL ME.
First, pretty much everyone has seen this already, but for completeness' sake, the front cover (click on any of these to embiggen, BTW):
BEHOLD THE SHADOWY GRAYSCALE ANGST. WHICH APPARENTLY REQUIRES THAT NEAL WEAR SUNGLASSES. And then, we get to THE GOOD STUFF:
NOTICE IF YOU WILL the clustered dates around the title for "Waiting Room." IN CASE WE WERE UNCLEAR about the significance of the 17th! Oh, NEAL. ♥ And the emphatic underlining and capslocking in "Railway Reality," AWWWW. But, like I said above, I think my favorite thing is the cheerful little crosshatched apple in "Call to Arms." WHO DOES THAT? I LOVE IT.
Next page!
HE DREW A ROSE (in color!). HE ALSO UNDERLINED "LIED" THREE TIMES. And the little lock at the end of "Passenger"! OMG I LOVE HIM. Also, tangentially, I think "Til I'm Blue" is sort of the Neal-est of all Neal's songs, by which I mean it has that combination of sweetness and semi-nihilism that I think is uniquely Neal. And which simultaneously makes me want to pet his head and also melt into the floor. DAMN YOU, TIEMANN.
Sigh.
HE DREW. A HAND. WITH A SCREW IN IT. THAT IS SO ADORABLE IT ACTUALLY CAUSES ME PHYSICAL PAIN. LET'S GO TO THE CLOSE-UP:
*IS DED*
Also I don’t quite know what the illustration is in "Drone"-a door? A cyclops Dalek? IDK-but it is ALSO adorable. I just… I do NOT understand how people find Neal threatening. I mean, musically badass, yes, smokin' hot, yes, intimidating because of these things, yes. But, like, gruff and threatening? COME ON. HE IS A GIANT PUPPYDOG. Which, I mean, not that he's incapable of biting-the couple of times I've seen him smack down presumptuous people online have been AWESOME-but in general? MADE OF KITTENS. YEAH I SAID IT. BUT IT'S TRUE.
And now: CREDITS:
Briggs is just "Briggs." HEEE. Also, for some reason I'm tickled by the fact that they thanked all the MEMBERS of Axium, and then later thanked Axium. AWWWWW. (I'm kind of fascinated by credits/thank-yous, actually-for example, I have derived WAY too much amusement from the fact that on DCTA, Dave thanks Mr. Sixx before he thanks Neal. HEEE. Actually, the thank-yous for that album are pretty much the sweetest thing ever, and that alone made it worth it to buy the physical CD. Aww, Dave. ♥ ♥ ♥ ) And Neal's copyright is under Match Army Music! AWWWWWWW. Also the art direction here was by Nick Gibson, which explains a LOT, really. (I think Nick Gibson is adorable and super-talented, but OMG he gets emo sometimes. I imagine him and Neal sitting there with a table-full of beers, brooding in silence that's only periodically broken by, "Chicks, man," and then, "Yeah," like my brother and his best friend used to do in high school. Heee.)
Back cover:
Both for completeness' sake and also because LOOKIN' MIGHTY FINE, THERE, ANDY P. SKIB. DAMN.
SO ANYWAY, IT'S THE MOST ADORABLE, YOU SHOULD BUY IT, THE END.
So… this is how you accessorize your angsty breakup album, Neal? You think that the best way to illustrate the pain of "don't try to turn this rotten apple into a seed" is… with a tiny little crosshatched apple? OF COURSE YOU DO. GOD DAMN YOU, TIEMANN, YOU ARE ACTUALLY TRYING TO KILL ME.
First, pretty much everyone has seen this already, but for completeness' sake, the front cover (click on any of these to embiggen, BTW):
BEHOLD THE SHADOWY GRAYSCALE ANGST. WHICH APPARENTLY REQUIRES THAT NEAL WEAR SUNGLASSES. And then, we get to THE GOOD STUFF:
NOTICE IF YOU WILL the clustered dates around the title for "Waiting Room." IN CASE WE WERE UNCLEAR about the significance of the 17th! Oh, NEAL. ♥ And the emphatic underlining and capslocking in "Railway Reality," AWWWW. But, like I said above, I think my favorite thing is the cheerful little crosshatched apple in "Call to Arms." WHO DOES THAT? I LOVE IT.
Next page!
HE DREW A ROSE (in color!). HE ALSO UNDERLINED "LIED" THREE TIMES. And the little lock at the end of "Passenger"! OMG I LOVE HIM. Also, tangentially, I think "Til I'm Blue" is sort of the Neal-est of all Neal's songs, by which I mean it has that combination of sweetness and semi-nihilism that I think is uniquely Neal. And which simultaneously makes me want to pet his head and also melt into the floor. DAMN YOU, TIEMANN.
Sigh.
HE DREW. A HAND. WITH A SCREW IN IT. THAT IS SO ADORABLE IT ACTUALLY CAUSES ME PHYSICAL PAIN. LET'S GO TO THE CLOSE-UP:
*IS DED*
Also I don’t quite know what the illustration is in "Drone"-a door? A cyclops Dalek? IDK-but it is ALSO adorable. I just… I do NOT understand how people find Neal threatening. I mean, musically badass, yes, smokin' hot, yes, intimidating because of these things, yes. But, like, gruff and threatening? COME ON. HE IS A GIANT PUPPYDOG. Which, I mean, not that he's incapable of biting-the couple of times I've seen him smack down presumptuous people online have been AWESOME-but in general? MADE OF KITTENS. YEAH I SAID IT. BUT IT'S TRUE.
And now: CREDITS:
Briggs is just "Briggs." HEEE. Also, for some reason I'm tickled by the fact that they thanked all the MEMBERS of Axium, and then later thanked Axium. AWWWWW. (I'm kind of fascinated by credits/thank-yous, actually-for example, I have derived WAY too much amusement from the fact that on DCTA, Dave thanks Mr. Sixx before he thanks Neal. HEEE. Actually, the thank-yous for that album are pretty much the sweetest thing ever, and that alone made it worth it to buy the physical CD. Aww, Dave. ♥ ♥ ♥ ) And Neal's copyright is under Match Army Music! AWWWWWWW. Also the art direction here was by Nick Gibson, which explains a LOT, really. (I think Nick Gibson is adorable and super-talented, but OMG he gets emo sometimes. I imagine him and Neal sitting there with a table-full of beers, brooding in silence that's only periodically broken by, "Chicks, man," and then, "Yeah," like my brother and his best friend used to do in high school. Heee.)
Back cover:
Both for completeness' sake and also because LOOKIN' MIGHTY FINE, THERE, ANDY P. SKIB. DAMN.
SO ANYWAY, IT'S THE MOST ADORABLE, YOU SHOULD BUY IT, THE END.