Truancy

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Thermos:
When it comes to drumming, Louis says he likes “the train,” referring to a snare drum pattern reminiscent of the rhythm of an old steam engine (found on many a countrified tune).  However, he used to have a slight problem with tempo, also similar to a train: we begin at a slower tempo and finish at another, much faster tempo – kind of like a train picking up speed until it hits a nice cruising velocity.

This wasn’t always such a bad thing, but for this recording of “Truancy” it was a bit rough for me to play what was then a tough bass part at such a high speed – remember, kids, I’d been playing bass for only four or five months by the time of these sessions.  I do believe I had a few grumpy words to share after we finished.

If the track listings for the basement demos and the final studio sessions are compared, “Truancy” may be found among the latter, but not the former.  This is also the case with “Taking a Fence.”  Due to the difficulties of the first night, we abandoned “Crystal Pools,” and we either chose not to record or were prevented from recording “Up & Down.”  Since we were aiming for sixteen songs, we had to adjust.

Ingus:
The mix on this track is weird.  I remember walking out of the studio with Louis to take a break and wondering why the guitar and drums couldn’t just sound like they did in the room.  We didn’t know the answer at the time, which is “ungodly amounts of compression”, but we knew what it sounded like on our side of the windowless wall, and this wasn’t it.

In fact, I think this is one of the first tracks where nobody liked the mix, but all three of us understood that this was what Jim wanted it to sound like, and we weren’t going to change his mind.  Listen to the demo or even the EP version.  This one sucks.  Which is a shame, cause Louis’ harmonies sound really good.

Louis:

I only speed up on the songs that I like to play…which is almost all of ‘em.

I don’t believe that I’ve ever sped up Lawnchair.  Just sayin’.