Obliterate, by Mark Lenover

Obliterate

by Mark Lenover

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of A Small White Flag, All Dressed In Rags, Wandering Stars, Every Time It Rains, We're In Motion Pictures, Obliterate, Signs of Violence, The Arsonists, and 6 more. , and , .

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1.	I Bought Your Record 02:37	lyrics	buy track
I’ve got your number written down in my book and I’m onto you I’ve got the talk and the look of an old cutter a cold blooded killer I saw you chopping at the glitter with a gash in your foot I caught a chill when you smiled at me from the TV I decoded all the messages you whispered to me through the spaces that skip their way through your songs I’ve got that gun you told me to keep until you got home I bought your record I got your message from that guitar magazine but I don’t get it My soul is already clean I don’t care for the colours that I see when you sleep I don’t care for the kind of company that you keep They can’t cope with our kind of people Let me take care of them, I can make it peaceful Kingdom will come, dressed in red, satin sheets Dressed in forever, dressed up in you and me I bought your record
2.	Brickfingers 01:35	lyrics	buy track
The crystal palace is too delicate for human beings to live under it So let us have it Let us have it The crystal palace is too intricate for human beings to comprehend it So let us have it Let us have it Brickfingers Brickfingers
3.	Madeline 03:57	lyrics	buy track
Madeline, what have you done with the sweater your grandmother knit you? Madeline, how’d you get lost and lonesome out there in the winter Madeline, where did you go when you walked out on us? When you planted your shell in the snow were your last thoughts of us, or of sleeping? Did you dream? Were you looking for me? Madeline, who keeps you now that memories won’t let you grow older? Did you make it to your throne in the city somehow or did it go, unattended, to seed? Madeline, where can I meet you when my eyes won’t shut? Did you sing yourself softly to sleep or are you aging somewhere in the distance Are you waiting somewhere for your close-up? When I sleep, are you smiling for me? Madeline, who are you now that the river is all frozen over? Are you somewhere out there in the snow or is it a blanket you’re under? Madeline, how have you changed? It’s been too long… Madeline, what’s your new name? Does it sound like the songs that come praying? Does it sound like the songs that come praying? When I sleep, are you winking at me?
4.	I've Got Your Apocalypse 02:25	lyrics	buy track
She came very well recommended carefully made up, and heavily scented She was an advocate for heroine chic and well-accustomed to the customs of freaks She was a well-domesticated rebel A little pot bent on pissing on the kettle When we met she tried to show me her teeth I wasn’t listening when she tried to warn me She said: “I’ve got your apocalypse It’s got two black eyes, it’s got two fat lips It looks just like you and it’s easy to talk to It’s done all its homework and it’s eager to meet you.”
5.	Sterilizer 03:00	lyrics	buy track
How do you understand failure? Is it a place you can go, or is it in you? How do you feel about lovers? Is that charming embrace a safe place? Turning something to nothing is the loneliest thing played to the beat of two wings clapping together Turning something to nothing makes the ugliest mess played out by two empty vests fucking in collars How do you cope with devastation? Do you dress it up, or does it dress you? Does it rest on your back, or in the corners of your eyes? Does it bleed you? Does it wear you down? Turning something to nothing is the loneliest thing played to the beat of two wings clapping together Turning something to nothing builds the ugliest scene It’s such a heartless thing to do
6.	The Attic 03:03	lyrics	buy track
This is where you left me hiding under two year’s worth of skin and grief It doesn’t look like much to me anymore but once I would have sworn it looked like God to me all wrapped up in holy sheets I know more than I wanted to know to tell you the truth I wish I’d never fallen in love with you This is where you kept me waiting ‘till you found a cleaner place to sleep beyond the jokes you made of me This is how you say you’re sorry mouthing nonsense on your knees but you aren’t smiling up at me I know more than I wanted to know to tell you the truth I wish I’d never fallen in love with you
7.	Honey 02:05	lyrics	buy track
Honey I’ve got the sickness again Can you hang up the telephone? Would you come back to bed? If I sing to you softly will you kiss my forehead and make me better? Honey I’ve got the palsy again I can see what you’re doing but I can’t move an inch so I’ll watch your romances unfold, trick after trick If that’s what you wanted Honey I’ve got the sickness again Can you break it more lovingly? Can you tell me his name? I guess I forgive you as long as you take the blame for everything Honey
8.	Obliterate 02:44	lyrics	buy track
I had trouble locating my heart after the mirror tore its subject apart I have trouble asking others for help so I went and did the job for myself This bit goes here and that bit goes there This part fits here and that part fits anywhere Sew it all up and dress it in a nice suit There you go boy, you’re just as good as new How many times can you put yourself back together? There was an awful pressure on my brain when my reflection fell to pieces again And the television wasn’t much help No matter how hard I looked at it I couldn’t see myself This bit is ugly, and that bit’s a mess This needs replacing and that looks distressed Rearrange your stuffing and disinfect your wounds There you go boy, you’re just as good as new How many times can you put yourself back together?
9.	Fun 01:47	lyrics	buy track
I’m bored Let’s have a drink We’ve got nothing but time and the booze helps me think Are we having fun yet? Hey there, how are you? I’ve seen you around Let’s get together Let’s go out on the town Are we having fun yet? How’d you get to be so pretty It makes me want to throw up I want to write you a poem I want to sketch your face on napkins Are we having fun yet?
10.	Acid Fascist 02:04	lyrics	buy track
I’m not a genius I’m just a misfit I’m not a scholar I’m just full of shit I’m not a poet I’m just a drunk This ain’t an ivory tower baby it’s just a bunker It’s just a bunker I’m not an answer I’m just a guess I’m not a messenger baby I’m just a mess I’m not a prophet I’m a mute draped in boasts I’m not an angel I’m just a ghost I’m just a ghost
11.	Peroxide Girl 03:54	lyrics	buy track
You’re an unhealthy mixture of hubris and shame You’ve got mommy to love you and daddy to blame You’ve got inches of varnish and wind up your skirt and you don’t mind abjection as long as it hurts Strobe lights, porno and celebrity news You comply with it You get high on it and you spend all your money on tickets to places you won’t want to go Hey peroxide girl Peroxide girl I think you’ve had enough When the music stops you’ll give them what you’ve got You’ll make it easy Through thick, blank-eyed throbbing and patio lights the radio blesses you with second sight of cash-cattle hedonists, smothered in dreams In expensive skins that’ll never come clean Limos, blue eyes and expensive champagne You won’t stop with them You get off on them and you spend all your money on tickets to places you won’t want to stay Hey peroxide girl Peroxide girl I think you’ve had enough When the music stops you’ll give them what you’ve got and you’ll make it easy
12.	Blame Delilah 03:45	lyrics	buy track
I blame Delilah when I can’t get to sleep I blame Delilah when there’s nothing on TV I blame Delilah for every gray hair I blame Delilah ‘cause Delilah won’t care I blame Delilah for the blood in my coffee cup I blame Delilah when enough is enough But it’s really not her fault I blame Delilah when I can’t stay awake I blame Delilah when I can’t catch a break I blame Delilah for the cracks in the stair I blame Delilah ‘cause Delilah’s not here I blame Delilah when I can’t come around I blame Delilah when I tear myself down But I know it’s all my… I blame Delilah for the hole in my mouth I blame Delilah when I can’t cut it out I paid Delilah for a stroke and a smoker’s cough I hate her because she won’t miss me at all But it’s really not her fault
13.	Good Enough for Government 03:58	lyrics	buy track
Salt the bed and count yourself lucky to be kicked around Resolve to make the journey out from cancer to the sea Your cheeks are crests Her eyes are coal and every vent’s a rabbit hole Her chilled, ecstatic caterwauls lie quiet at your feet Good enough for government Your money’s gone and your hour’s been spent clutching at the covers, grinding up against an old china doll Cut the lights and grab your hat You lost your voice when the stage collapsed Now there’s nothing left for her to do but laugh There will be no encores Your last hope and your epitaph are hiding in her photograph They’re bound to become one at last if you can’t keep your nose clean Wake up and collect yourself Pray and comb the gray hair out Tear her dusty curtain down and sing her ghost to sleep carefully lovingly Good enough for government Your money’s gone and your hour’s been spent clutching at the covers, grinding up against an old china doll Cut the lights and grab your hat You lost your voice when the stage collapsed Now there’s nothing left for you to do but laugh There will be no encores
14.	A Penny for the Old Guy 02:31	lyrics	buy track
Let’s throw a party for the hollow men They aren’t themselves lately They never listen They never answer They can’t remember I can’t remember… Can I get a penny for the old guy? Let’s take collection for the hollow men Now fill your hats, don’t be stingy They’re at the river waiting together They can’t remember I can’t remember… Can I get penny for the old guy?
15.	The Walking Dead 03:18	lyrics	buy track
The wraiths of correction are editing their way through the tenebrous kaleidoscope you sleep in every day They’ll find your place of hiding and they’ll find out where you’ve been Then they’ll take a pound of finely ground scar-tissue for your sins These specters of justice will uncover your eyes then they’ll scavenge through the ghost town you clumsily disguised as a bustling new haven for the clever and the dead There’ll be nothing left inside your head to cover your loose ends They just want to calm your fraying nerves They just want to be your comforters They just want to clear your aching head They just want to calm your fraying nerves They just want to be your comforters They just want to wake the walking dead the walking dead

about

'Obliterate' functions both as a break-up narrative and as a sweeping criticism of popular culture, focusing specifically on a range of topics such as celebrity obsession, gender politics, break-up psychology and the wide-spread normalization of drug and alcohol abuse. The album is mainly comprised of punchy, grungy and plainly structured rock and blues compositions enshrouded in swirling clouds of industrial noise and waves of ethereal reverberation. Stylistically, Obliterate is most directly influenced by such proto-punk icons as The Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop, and by post-punk acts such as Joy Division. Far from being a typical break-up album, Obliterate ultimately qualifies as a singular and uncommonly ferocious piece of social commentary.

credits

released March 4, 2014

All songs written, performed and recorded by Mark Lenover
Mastered by David Disher
Artwork by Mark Lenover

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about

Mark Lenover

Through a distinctive fusion of folk, rock, theatre and electronica, Mark Lenover critically examines pop culture’s ubiquitous influence, its moral philosophy and the potentially devastating effects of drug abuse and mental illness. His recent work frequently challenges an increasingly pervasive culture of celebrity, self-indulgence, distraction and desire. ... more

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