Get all 13 Torture and The Desert Spiders releases available on Bandcamp.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of blood on the reef, 23 (the birthday single), The Tooth, The Gap and the Filling, Sinéad, I'm Afraid / New Brighton, clean slate, Live at the Sennheiser Studios, 21, Scarlet / I am Oregon, and 5 more.
1. |
21
03:44
|
|||
|
21
I’ll be an installation conversation piece
and you’ll wrap your words around me
Sit me at the bar I want a front row seat to
the art house jam where we kick up our feet
It’s really not me
I’m sorry to give up so easily.
it’s not our fight
I think I’ll leave tonight
It always takes me two then I sort myself out
Words come together where my brain calms down
It’s not the circus of the world
It’s all in my mind
Wishing i was quicker
That I was unkind
If I procrastinate then it’ll serve my right
Wasting away on the dock all the time
Public indecency is better with whiskey
But I imagine I could die right here.
Pretty content if the sky’s stayed clear
Wind me up then give me the wire
I’ll punch tickets I’ll sell them myself
And the people are great even if you aren’t great but if you manage to escape
They’ll plan your birthday
Sing me the song oh please get it done
I’m not ready to be twenty one
I was born helpless and they gave me the world
I’ll sink to the bottom
Mamas little girl was never gone
Was never here
Was only old enough to drink this year
What a joke
I hardly laughed
I set aside a toothbrush and some cash
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
Step into the frame
where the image is bigger than the reflection
You’ve been living a double dream
but its not yours forever
Waiting on the time
by trial or by fire you’ll be set free...
But thats not what you wanted is it?
You want to be consumed by the mirror image
Just like me.
So you go,
dip your toes,
into nostalgia and its bitter
but its kind
on the eyes
and tastes sweeter than you remember
And your still waiting on that time
when one of many transit lines fails ya
when your dumb on a hook,
pretending not to look- but you can’t help it
still waiting on that time
by trial or by fire you’ll be set free
But thats not what you wanted is it?
You want to be consumed by the mirror image
Just like me.
I'm almost famous, almost nothing, almost burning all my clothing
Beyond possession, there's no exceptions- I must elevate all frequencies.
I'm almost dead, almost starving, I'm purgatoried, mornings-darling
I'm a fool, I’m a kid, but who is kidding me?
You're still waiting on that time
by trial or by fire you’ll be set free,
But thats not what you wanted is it?
You want to be consumed by the mirror image
Just like me.
|
||||
3. |
Ashtrays
03:25
|
|||
|
my god is wholesome
my god is pure
the ants are eating me alive
I was not cut out for this business
my love is Holy
I eat dinner every night of the week
and if those cats from the alley try to come shake me up
I'll give em nothing, cuz I've got nothing
I was alone at home
with no source of vitamin-C
I soaked up the sun with baseball cards and gum
I was a whole-ass human being
my ashtray is empty
but they are parties every night of the week
and the key to the door is alright but out of use,
it's alright but it is out of use
I was alone at home
with no source of vitamin C
I soaked up the sun with baseball cards and gum
I was a whole-ass human being
|
||||
4. |
Best I Ever Had
02:12
|
|||
|
Shiny blurry words
appear on the floor
can’t feel my face anymore
and after it’s all done
we’ve all gone mad
but it just may be
the best I’ve ever had
fourteen glasses down
cuz moneys gone thru
lucky to be breathing the same air as you
I’m sorry for my words
they fog up my mind
I need some whiskey and a little time
and if I’m long gone
someday you’ll find me
100 miles from where you’re sitting
the best I ever head
the best I ever had
and it’s fleeting
the best I ever had
the best I ever had
tattoo these thoughts cuz my heart is receding
|
||||
5. |
Big Head (Newman / Kunz)
03:15
|
|||
|
blue sinner in white
why did you call tonight?
over sink and canvas hold-
sorry if your bloods’ run cold
blues singers’ aint got no tone
[you] managed to steal that as well
no use in a telephone to admit to a dry spell
big head (that’s what I call you)
big head in the clouds, no lord, yer never coming down
big head (that’s what they’d call you)
big head in the sky no lord yer never coming down
Running wild in my mind
i gave it some thought i admit
you tried to be kind
but I’m just a kid
and if we go nowhere lightly
we will never fall
to die on a hill
or to die not at all?
big head (that’s what I call you)
big head in the clouds no lord yer never coming down
big head (that’s what they’d call you
big head in the sky no lord yer never coming down
|
||||
6. |
Cadillac Freeway
03:36
|
|||
|
Left her on the other side of the world
she was a superstar of her own dimension
'er father took her driving on a Cadillac-freeway
all the way down to the fire-station
she was burning, alright
September came and it still tasted like summer,
if you blinked you would've missed it in it's entirety
by the time they woke up it was a picnic
-couldn't tell you what had happened, for the life of me,
it was a dream
and the thing is that nobodies sure how she got home
probability and sweethearts don't hold hands...
but if I looked at lightning and said very softly
'theres just one, one, one, thing on my mind-
how do my legs-legs-legs look in this light?
theres just one, one, one, thing on my mind-
how do my legs-legs-legs look in this light?"
- it was a dream. it was a dream.
Filled up her pack and she was blazing skyward-
no-one knew, no questions unanswered
but give her five minutes and a dollar to take her away from here, away from here
September came and it still tasted like Summer
and you knew that it would be gone in an instant
oh you could just cut those red tapes and maybe you'll be free...
and the thing is that nobodies sure how she got home
probability and sweethearts don't hold hands...
but if I looked at lightning and said very softly
'theres just one, one, one, thing on my mind-
how do my legs-legs-legs look in this light?
theres just one, one, one, thing on my mind-
how do my legs-legs-legs look in this light?"
- it was a dream. it was a dream.
|
||||
7. |
||||
|
carpet drains and old blood stains
oh I can't even keep count
and we're all losing our heads,
slowly going insane,
maybe thats what life's about
but its too cold inside
broken-necked guitars sing,
but they never sound the same
and unexpectedly we brand the name,
no-one here's to blame
but its so bold of you to fly
while its so cold inside
patiently we abide
and we'll save it for a rainy day
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
The two spikes in the sky wrote a melody
I’ve been singing for ten years or so
I got it while it was good, and I left after the show
It wasn’t hard to answer for somebody else
I’ve got a bed and a ticket cuz I’m on the run
The city was cool for an hourglass, but it kept me up all night
With nothing to do I was watching my step underneath the neon signs
But it wasn’t hard to believe that great things may come
But I'm not the one its coming to
Weary-eyed- i'll get there okay,
I’m watching the train on my homecoming
The last four digits of your credit card came to mind
but I'll pay it forward
Weary-eyed I'll get there okay,
I’m watching the train on my homecoming
The last four digits of your credit card came to mind
but Ill pay it forward
Ill pay it forward , Ill pay it forward
|
||||
9. |
||||
|
I said that I was going the first chance I get
Then the world fell and cracked and rolled into my bikes basket
Then my bike got stolen and my mother kicked the street
And they told her theres nothing left here but candy for me
So I took off running and I hit the water and Jesus wept
He was embarrassed cuz I smoked his last cigarette
I found my body in Wisconsin in a dream
I was 10 years senior I was morbid on a silver screen
And the doctors took me in and I took them by surprise
Was so charmed up by the glitter in their eyes
I get why you dont wanna go
But I reckon id go
I sailed from New York to Paris on a car tire
Wasn’t much for water but the truth, it was inspired by a movie from my teens
She said lets go to Paris, well, I would if I could
But i've been locked up in the jail room for good
I guess I ought to keep that, there's no room for error
I get why you dont wanna go
But I reckon id go
|
||||
10. |
||||
|
oh to be home
living in ambiguity
spilled coffee on my sleeves again
walk the yellow lines
and I'll feed that other side of me
and see if that other side is a friend
oh to be lonely,
but home is so lovely when I'm with you
come see the other side of me,
see the other side
cut my teeth with the rich girls
just to see if that shoe would fit, girl,
and I see inside of your world
like a fixed manger scene
I don't want to feel important
I just want a place to hide
but you've come to my shelter
like a moth to light
oh to be lonely,
but home is so lovely when I'm with you
come see the other side of me,
see the other side
two-tall-tales, two-tall-tales
and I'm stuck in the mirror
with my past, passing behind me
and I can't seem to find the end
I'm drifting closer to the edge
oh to be lonely,
but home is so lovely when I'm with you
come see the other side of me,
see the other side
|
||||
11. |
||||
|
I killed the cat lives in brain
I don’t know what I’ve done, I feel so ashamed
Reaching Out is easy but it’s harder when you get pulled down
Reaching out is easy but it’s hard
He died easy, what a happy life
My best movements are now riddled with strife
I run ragged I reckon I ought to go
Live in the woods with a bag of wine
Make love to the trees and the stars will align
Giving up is sexy in the moment but not for long
Giving up is sexy in the moment but not for long
I’ll have the stereo set in no time,
be jamming in the moss with the gods divine
Living it up is better just keep on the pulse
And if I’m my tired, won’t you hold onto me
And if I’m cold give me bread
I’m not gods daughter
I’m not their son
This artifact of sin not yet dead
Reaching out is all you ever wanted my love
How does that feel?
I killed the cat lives in brain
I don’t know what I’ve done, I feel so ashamed
Reaching Out is easy but it’s harder when you get pulled down
Reaching out is easy but it’s hard
|
||||
12. |
||||
|
Flower pot and a rocking chair,
smell of smoke in the air
and it uses me
gets me where it wants and it uses me
ash on your nose, that freckled-choke
relax my eyes and then I go
and it chooses me
gets me where it wants and it chooses me
*all of the abundance - how'd I get so lucky?
sky full of lightning and love’s all mine
Present , without a care
coffee brain and unbrushed hair
i choose me, oh I choose
got no lens and I’ve got no pull
but I know I’ve got that bit of soul
and it’ll never lose me
oh it chooses me
*all of the abundance - how'd I get so lucky?
sky full of lightning and love’s all mine
I don’t want an angel or a stamp no getaway
I just want my lucky and a dead bouquet
I feel lucky , may not have weed or money
but lord i know someone out there loves me
all of the abundance - how'd I get so lucky?
sky full of lightning and love’s all mine!
|
||||
13. |
||||
|
is it my good name or my good fortune,
that weeds me in and kicks me out?
I'm a sucker for the brilliant things
but I've no real use for money, I just want to be somebody
I was a fool once, only yesterday-
I married the city, if she would forgive me,
for all that I had to say
I'm not good on paper,
from when I lost my mind-
your strings held me tightly,
and moved my heart slightly
but it wasn't what you hoped to find
I sat there naked in the pouring sun
when I say it, I don't mind if you laugh,
but I still believe that I might be someone
you can't outgrow it, it'll follow you wherever you go
you've got drive, don't blow it
this fool will give you the world.
I was a fool once, only yesterday-
give me up for the things you've got to say
is it my good name or my good fortune,
that weeds me in and kicks me out?
I'm a sucker for the brilliant things
but I don't want to have a use for money, I just want to be somebody
you can't outgrow it, it'll follow you wherever you go
|
||||
14. |
||||
|
many lovers know
how it feels to wait
and many lovers feel
the sun when it breaks
memories taste sweet
memories taste sweet
sit back to back
Breathing low
with everything easy
the world moving slow
such a simple thing
Such a simple thing
|
||||
15. |
||||
|
I don’t need morphine
I don’t need morphine
Gods good ghosts came running at me
A bullet short of a Christmas tree
Just a happy American family
good thing we don’t believe in tv
The carpets stained, no the carpets destroyed
An acorn hatched a baby boy
and they turned him blue with all of our frustration
with the labels on baby shower decorations
No I, I don’t need morphine
Why are you crying ?
I don’t need morphine
|
||||
16. |
||||
|
See the thing that sets you apart
is the reason youre gonna go
Some people try and make you change
but you stay alone in that mind of yours, for a little longer
And that call that you cry is a bit of a loss
Because everyones watching now
Soak your feet in limelight
then step back when you take a bite
Im certain its not as good as it feels
But by the time you realise
You’re caught in someone else’s life
You’ll be caught in your own wheels
I guess I’m gonna move on
All my life I guess I’m gonna move on
The pulse that sends you there
Its all coming back somehow
And theres nothing id want to say
To make you think twice about
But that call that you cry is a bit of a wash
And everyones watching us now
Soak your feet in the limelight
Then step back when you take a bit
Im certain its not as good as it feels
And by the time
That we realize
We trapped in our mothers, our lovers life
We’ll be caught in our, own wheels
Oh my life, I guess im gonna move on
Oh my life, I guess I’m gonna move on
|
||||
17. |
||||
|
Started my day, I was a walking wreck
By the beach
I went to my room, ate food on the floor
Sat alone…
•And I stared at the street lights
It asked me a question
He Said “how long do you think you’ll be here?”
I pulled out my pockets, Said I’m staying right here
Started my day,
Was a walking wreck
Picking out of place
A place to hide
But a Cowboy hat put me in pretty plain sight
•And if you’re in my life the words they just come to me
I got with someone else, I’m not sorry
Start of my day,
I was a walking wreck
And the hotel ghosts they spoke barely a breath
•So I’ll say I’m sorry for the dinner plates they pile up in my room
When I stack em orderly I only think of you
And I know you can’t understand
That I’ll never understand
It’s true
New New new
Brighton
|
||||
18. |
Nightmares
04:09
|
|||
|
ghost walking in the limelight, beyond the city sun
told my mother that I'm alright, seems I'm the only one
She's got nightmares, wondering where I am
she's thinking too hard, she can't understand
make a breakfast and eat it well, well I don't feel a thing
my friends say they can never tell cuz I keep my bed unmade
They've got nightmares, wondering where I am
they're thinking too hard, they can't understand
get a shirt, a button down, feels pretty rock n roll
50 calls from 50 burner phones,
how the fuck did I think they'd know?
That I'm having nightmares, it's not the time to sleep
it's too late for consolation, just let me be
and I'm rising in the windows frame, stretched beyond the rays
standing there, unafraid, like a Jesus-Iscariot, in mid-range chariot..
I'm having nightmares, it's not the time to sleep
it's too late for consolation, just let me be
They've got nightmares, wondering where I am
they're thinking too hard, they can't understand
ghost walking in the limelight, beyond the city sun
told my mother that I'm alright, seems I'm the only one
|
||||
19. |
||||
|
my friend’s got no anthems, they’ve got no song
but when I hear them calling, I come run
and dance in the Summer to the cool evening wind
but when I wake up I ain’t around them
how are you doing with that coat of arms?
did the world learn to service most of your charms?
and tired it left to see other things
it don’t know the joy that travel brings
don’t call us now, I’ve got you later
left my words for you on a little sheet of paper- it’s gone
Lower me down, I’m losing my cool again
my friend’s got no anthems, they’ve got no song
but when I hear them calling, I come run
and dance in the Summer to the cool evening wind
but when I wake up they’re not around them
Lower me down, I’m losing my cool again
|
||||
20. |
||||
|
If I was a kid from any other city
I would’ve made it to New York by now
Penniless and forgotten but proximity gave me wings
If I was a kid from any other city the yearning would’ve killed me by now
Instead I’ve built the blessings of New York into my veins my bones my heart
I’d be alone, Thats all I know
It’s not the whole damn part
it’s the city that starts to breathe
To be open and kind and learn to be wise I hope that’s all I need
If I was born in a different part of the country
I’d have trekked here by now
Doesn’t matter the weather or the money
I’d be knee deep in the fountains I’d be found
Let the streets rise
And I’d find pieces of genius skies
That rained down and sank into the ground
And bore the days of before so I left without a sound
*While the sun goes down, Tattooed by mud and stone
Bleeding I won’t limp home, Needing no country of my own
If I was born in any place at all
I’d need the city like a gas mask
I’d very quickly fall
Into the habit of making plans
Be full of music be the mouthpiece be the band
Never to play alone
To sing on street corners prophet Jones
Please please say what you mean, there’s no place to speak so clear
But the bottom of the Music inn stairs
Uptempo
If I should die In any other city
I’d need the spirits to all leave me alone
Leave me alone
Cuz I wouldn’t buy coffee for a ten dollar favour
Wouldn’t lose my business to a money match matcher a loan?
(Just give me a loan)
How clean streets bore me,
Rushing just to be on line
Busy-top-dollar for the beautiful people
All tryna get whats mine
Leave it alone,
Needing no country of my own
|
||||
21. |
||||
|
Yer desire to be hip
Drips off your sleeve
I loved a menace
to the gallery scene
We regret nothing
But the superstar glow
That you wanted so bad
Like your own shadow
And still it cuts thru
Like a glove like a knife
That you carry at all times
at the heel of yer life
In the edges of yer talk
When you walk around brick
We all stagger on the stones
you taste another dip of yer
Key, it’s me, it’s modern sensibilities
To walk in the morning or crawl on yer knees
It’s not good it’s great
It shines like yer teeth
In the daylight it’ll
Wake you in the evening its just
Bad romance
You wouldn’t give it to yer plants
Not the rainwater loving
Not the stars in the evening
It’s bad romance
Don’t go cancelling yer plans
Cuz no matter how yer conceding
The heart will take a beating for you
Poets ain’t nothin
That’s what I learnt of myself
Shove me in a bar
I’ll be as good a hell
But poets ain’t meant for the cultural elite
Lyin on paper
Ain’t far from lying on a sheet
sheet, it’s me, modern sensibilities
To walk in the morning or to crawl on yer knees
No, not good it’s great
It shines like yer teeth
In the daylight it’ll
Wake you in the evening its just
Bad romance
You wouldn’t give it to yer plants
Not the rainwater loving
Not the stars in the evening
It’s bad romance
Don’t go cancelling yer plans
Cuz no matter how yer conceding
The heart will take a beating for you
|
||||
22. |
||||
|
Wouldn’t it be nice if I was crime painted blood red
Then the visibility of an altar would be seen by the tilt of your head
I’d be the champion of the kettle, oh to be housebound
In the communion of the recluse
The extrovert has drowned
I gave myself the answers
I cheated, I self diagnosed
And the pragmatic side took me for a ride
and made love to my Holy Ghost
Oh teachers tell your children not to do what I have done-
Once again I fumbled,
but she swallowed a gun
Locks were made to shatter
And maybe I’m in on that joke
Maybe I upset too easily,
I oughta learn to cope
I know on the tv screens at home,
with my head under running water,
with my eyes closed-
All that passes through he millions and the masses
Its not fun
But I know that swallowed the gun
Oh teachers, tell your children not to do what I have done !
Once again I fumbled
Oh I swallowed a gun
|
||||
23. |
||||
|
If I wet my skin this month then I’ll need some more to eat
my body would surely recognise that I've been hoarding groceries
put me in your water and I’ll cry like it’s springtime
I decease in varying degrees
Isn't it wholesome
to sit, and read, and shiver
like a girl in the night,
with her lamp in dull fade?
If I brush my hair this week then I ought to pay rent...
but reasoning is piled high, same as my afternoon was spent
too much time wondering in childlike comparison-
I decease in varying degrees
It's no wonder
that you want to let go.
just the other day I was punch-drunk sitting on the airliner waiting for my brother - he made it.
Now we're both undiagnosed, I’m unclassified, undignified-
Well, I’ve got my reasons
If I see to all these things, is that what life’s about?
a smattering of daily tasks and waiting till my teeth fall out?
I’m sorry I’m unsatisfied beyond my reasons
I decease in varying degrees
but I could speed them…
I could live and write and teach them-
but I won’t, I’m just a girl in the night with her lamp in dull fade.
just the other day I was punch-drunk sitting on the airliner waiting for my brother - he made it.
Now I'm undiagnosed, I’m unclassified, undignified-
Well, I’ve got my reasons!
|
||||
24. |
||||
|
the big man’s got a ticket to ride
but he don’t want me to go
I celebrated with my baby tonight...
Now I know that nothing’s happening
it shot me like a dog in the morning fire,
I thought it was greatness calling-
Send me to the floor with the big old bands
now I know that i was wrong
But they will take you, you money thing
you poor-heart, you bleeding soul
and they’ll tell you that you’re not enough
Should've sold yourself to the highest bidder
But they will take you, you money thing
you poor-heart, you bleeding soul
and they’ll tell you that you’re not enough
that you didn’t make the highest bidder
send me consolations not a big idea- I’m ambitious enough.
Play me for the first time, I won’t be waiting on dollar signs
guess I oughta learn when it all comes
you got a life to earn
so I'd just take it by the morning sun
But they will take you, you money thing
you poor-heart, you bleeding soul
and they’ll tell you that you’re not enough
Sell yourself to the highest bidder
they will take you, you money thing
you poor-heart, you bleeding soul
and they’ll tell you that you’re not enough
that you didn’t make the highest bidder
big man’s got a ticket to ride
but he don’t want me to go
I celebrated with my baby tonight
but now i know that nothing’s happening
|
||||
25. |
||||
|
White doves hanging over me
White doves far as I can see
And I’m sorry for letting you down
White doves hanging over me
And you lost me out here in my mind
This desert plane always feels the same
Empty but a beautiful kind
For the moment
For the moment
I’ll do just about anything
Do doo
And I’m sorry
For weighing you down
White downs would at man stand down
|
||||
26. |
||||
|
women and their sensitivities
Hard to breathe when hearts are heavy
look at me- I'm dry-heaving
losing the will to unpin the dirt from my ears
aint it so, my dear?
aint it so?
losers- we spontaneously combust-
losing trust in all the wrong reasons...
and anxiety, what will you do to me?
Convince me my world is failing?
watch it fall...
watch me fall, me dear.
watch me fall.
well, I'm sorry,
I'm not sure what's come over me...
the doctor cost too much to see
so I've resorted to deep breathes and deeper glasses of whuiskey
and buy, buy, buy, buy me some time
to rationalise why its always about me,
well, fuck knows, that it is never about me
ain't it so, my dear?
ain't it so.
ain't it so, my dear?
ain't it so?
Watch me fall
watch me fall
but still, there are women
and their sensitivities
hard to breathe when hearts
are heavy
|
||||
27. |
23
03:12
|
|||
|
23
What are the things they’ll say about me
when I turn twenty three and know a little better
I consider my words in my head
Then I read the crowd
And choose what’s said
It’s all in motion
Drank my last potion
In bed
Heard the news about the venue signs
Those kids hurt each other on their own time
I cried the first time but I won’t cry today
I won’t stand my ground I’ll just pass it by
I’m not bothered by the people who feel anger inside
Loose as a paper bag
Slip through the underside
I don’t understand
What it takes to be alive
I’m not sorry for the antidote I’m sorry for the whole ordeal
I’m on credit and I’m not in the position to steal
What are the things they’ll say about me
when I turn twenty three and know a little better
|
||||
If you like Torture and The Desert Spiders, you may also like:
Melbourne-based Slush's debut EP is filled with feminist, punky-pop tunes that make for an exciting introduction to their music.
go to album
The new album from Italian psych-rock outfit Bee Bee Sea has heavy punk and power pop notes.
go to album
Rays’ post-punk explorations of existential dread hang together effortlessly.
go to album
Shybaby kicks out the jams on “Is This Intimate,” a snarling rock record that takes no prisoners.
go to album
Os Segredos Do Espaço e Tempo
by Futuro
Sao Paulo's Futuro return with another high-energy, perfectly rough-around-the-edges punk EP that effortlessly balances melody and speed.
go to album
The punk legends return with their first studio album in 35 years, featuring reworked fan favorites as well as all-new material.
go to album
Susan - As I Was LP
by Susan (LA)
A second full-length of skittering guitar pop and kooky harmonies from L.A. trio Susan.
go to album
