B i o g r a p h y (by J. Ryan Boyd)
The Organ are a Vancouver quintet, formed in 2001. In a short space of time, this all female ensemble gained rapid exposure with the release of their first EP, Sinking Hearts; and a live show that has spirited them on stage with some of the most significant bands today. A critical and popular favourite, The Organ write melodic and introspective music based on layered interplay between their instrumentalists - Debora Cohen, guitar; Ashley Webber, bass; Shelby Stocks, drums; Jenny Smyth, Hammond organ - and the intimate and doleful lyrics of their lead singer, Katie Sketch. In 2003, The Organ signed a co-record deal with both Mint and 604 Records. As a result, The Organ recorded their debut record, Grab That Gun, which was just released on May 25, 2004. The Organ's "sound" has been commented on and debated over from the very beginning, so great is the fascination that it inspires. "The Organ's melancholy melodies are intoxicating," writes Cyndi Elliot of Magnet Magazine. The band is consistently compared with the best songwriters of the early '80s new-wave, writing structured songs around minimal arrangements, and creating a nuanced, textured sound that can be brooding and catchy at the same time. The best of many bands can be found here - whether it is the weaving counterpoint melodies between organ and bass; the lean, bell-like intonation of sparkling guitars; the charmed tenacity of the snare; or the suspended lamentation of Sketch's cascading vocals - and much excitement is borne out of the desire to name The Organ's sound in precise terms. "The Organ does it so well, it's hard to believe these kids are in their early 20s," writes John Parish of The Big Takeover. "It makes me feel better than the electronic craziness of some of those 'I love the '80s' bands, and almost as sad as I used to feel in the 1980s, and I love 'em for it." For their own part, the band accepts the associations with an amused detachment. "Originally I was trying to do something a little more rock, like Elastica," says Sketch, "but obviously it didn't work out that way."
The Organ have played with a wide variety of contemporary bands such as Interpol, Hot Hot Heat, The Walkmen, The Von Bondies, The Soledad Brothers and Bratmobile; and most recently finished a tour across North America with Mint's New Pornographers. The band has become well-known for the somber intensity of their live performances, which they happily acknowledge as involving very little physical movement on-stage. "That's the only way we can be," says Sketch. "If I paid Debora a million dollars to jump up and down, she wouldn't. That's just her personality." "The Organ's approach is classic European detachment," writes Michael White of Calgary's FFWD, "It creates an enveloping mood, and fully complements the music's soulful melancholy." And perhaps it is a testament to the saliency of Sketch's dark lyrical themes - which range from interpersonal relationships to politics - that The Organ is so often perceived as a wholly melancholy affair. Organist Jenny Smyth is herself caught between the band's music and its rueful subject matter: "The Organ's music sounds really happy and cheerful so I always get really shocked when people say 'your music is so sad and emotional' and I'm like *really*!? I think it sounds like *la* *la* *la*..." With so much attention already devoted to The Organ's sound and presentation, there remains nevertheless a lasting captivation with their distinction as an all female band. "Other people tend to point it out," muses Smyth, "'Oh, an all girl band!' and I'm like, 'I'm a girl?'" "I'm just playing with my friends," says Sketch. "We wouldn't have cared if we'd found some really great boys to play with us, but instead we found some really great girls." Still, the distinction is not without significance, as drummer Shelby Stocks knows first-hand: her seventh-grade band teacher took her drumsticks away and gave them to a boy, informing her that girls don't play the drums. "There was a part of me that wanted to prove him wrong - that girls can actually play. What an idiot."
Grab that gun
Brother Here we go They're back again Look alive, warn your friends We are warm and we are safe Enjoy it while you can Before things change We have got to take cover Brother We have got to take cover Brother Lie down in a field if you can Look at the night sky Oh, where does it end Sometimes it hurts when you Care about me But it's going to hurt more when They take you away from me We have go to take cover, brother We have got to take cover, brother Here we go again Oh midnight knocks Oh explosions Maybe it's all made up in our heads This happens to me when i'm bored Or depressed Here is the best part of the song Where I admit that i might be wrong Because if they are good and if they are right Then they'll have their rapture one Of these nights But if they are wrong Steven Smith As I was saying I know that i've been one of the few Who walks away from you Steven smith, we all lose One look at you And they're suddenly covered in shrapnel too It's true, most die in your bedroom All the time i'm getting shot Oh, barrels roll and hammers drop Come on now Grab that gun and we'll go drive around Until there's no sound Come on, let's go I said I am driving and I am driving It's true, I've got something for you When everything is quiet The ringing in our ears will seem awfully violent And then there will be silence Then there will be silence
Love, Love, Love See the people sitting over there I want to kiss and touch them everywhere Oh no, not because i really care Oh God, no, no, I wouldn't dare Love, love I'd really like a small part of it Oh love I cant believe the word love He's had love in damp alleys In city hall, in city libraries We smoked it underneath the playground Slide Why did i try Oh love We cry so very much about it Oh love Obsessing in the night about it Oh love I'd really like a small part of it Oh love, love , love Okay , that's enough of that Okay, okay now that's enough of that I'm getting very tired of the facts I'm getting very tired of the fact that I must be right Oh, it must be right That's why i,m cold and alone again That's why i'm all on my own again That's why i'm throwing things around my Home again That's why I'm looking for love Basement Band Song If i pay you five dollars will you try to make my bed? If i pay you ten will you make me well instead? I love your baby baby harmonies You really brighten up my basement suite We should go down to the mall Look at people, judge them all Judge them before they judge us and leave there feeling bad We should sit and pick our hands I think you're a genius And when we make your hangnails bleed You deserve a phd We should put that record on The one you found when you were gone The one that has those sad, sad songs And makes you sing out loud We could start a basement band Guitar hooks caught in your hands Will travel through the west side nights And drown out humming street lights Sinking Hearts Remember when i left you I couldn't say your name Or other crucial things like i love you Oh, that's a shame Oh no, i think i'm falling Oh no, i think i'm fine Our hearts didn't come together But i saw the two collide I can the see the hearts sinking Remember when i left you I couldn't say your name Or other crucial things like i love you Oh, that's a shame I don't know if you're hearing My voice or the reprise Our hearts didn't come together But i saw the two collide I can see the hearts sinking A Sudden Death Day after day, they go They go to gain just a little more control And when they took yours away I couldn't sleep at all I lay in bed for days I died a sudden death I made an awful mess I didn't stand a chance I didn't stand a chance ‘Cause when we where our best I could care less if people bred themselves to death Oh, but now that you are gone I just know that everything is wrong Don't leave me alone now… There Is Nothing I Can Do My neck hurts ‘Cause i've been cutting moons My hands hurts ‘Cause i cut them from you So someone snuck into your room And it got back to me Now, i lie here in my room And there is nothing i can do But cut and think about you I Am Not Surprised I am not surprised I got my head caught underneath the ice No, i am not surprised That i got my big head Caught underneath the ice And on it goes… Someway , somehow I'm going out now It's all about myself And i'm on to someone else Well, i know that you are near But i feel alone even when you're here I know that you are near But i feel alone even when you're here And on it goes No One Has Ever Looked So Dead It really shook you when i said “no one has ever looked so dead” Well, it's over and i can't go there anymore And in the backseat of your car You showed me every single star And how the zenith and the sounds Change in every single town Well, it's over and i can't go there anymore Memorize The City Oh, darkness filled the sky as pools of water filled your eyes They sparkled like phosphorescence in the bay Although our lips barely touched I have never felt so much And i'd really like to feel that way again Oh, oh, when I walk through the streets and memorize the city I count every light until i reach the shore Sometimes i close my eyes and you're not very pretty Sometimes i can't believe i've had those thoughts before We pulled a boat down to the dock and stole two steady oars I pushed you off into the dark: acrisius favours And from above the great abyss You threw pennies in and wished for the feeling of wanting Nothing more Sometimes i close my eyes And hope that i can keep away all the darkened skies
Thieves EP
*** Thanx a lot to Jose for this one ***
Even In The Night Take all the time that you need, but I think you'd better find me I am down in a well or a ravine, I think you'd better find me I can't listen to neighbors speak, no, I can't take no more I can't listen to the leaves speak, no, I can't take it no more I thought it again and I had the dream again last night Of drowned children in the river, oh good God, you've got to find me Tons of children have drowned in my heart, oh I think you'd better find me I don't want all my clothes going back into charitable hands When your fists hit the table you said it's going to be alright When your head hit the table that's when I called it a night Come, come to me and say it's going to be alright Come, come here to me and say it's going to be alright It's going to be alright It's going to be alright It's going to be alright It's going to be alright Even in the night Even in the night Oh What A Feeling You let in the ghost of her Now I see it everywhere Take your body back But oh oh please leave me the fear Loneliness is in the air Even the birds are in pairs I can hear it in their peeping Oh what a feeling And I get the strangest feeling When I float up to the ceiling All the blubbering and moans come From my body down below They'll come in twos Follow when I lean my tomb I can hear it in their peeping Oh what a feeling They'll take whatever they want And they'll have whatever they want And they'll take whatever they want Swing a broom, bat them out And they'll have whatever they want Trash can lids aren't shields enough And they'll come whenever they want At quiet times, times for us And they'll come whenever they want
Let The Bells Ring That's the way that it is I live under a bell-shaped curve for being average I know you have been wanting to mention I dream of death because I'm dying for attention And then my hopes soar in my hand, and climb up a mountain And call the names of the people I know who will rock me in the end Lie rest assured you'll have your own reverberate the walls Lie rest assured you'll have your own reverberate the halls That's the way that it goes. I climbed so bloody high I couldn't stop my bleeding nose I dream of death and it feels good so I cheat more And when I spend, touching you's less of a chore And then I take a soar, in my hand, and climb up a mountain And call the names of the people I know who will rock me in the end But lie rest assured you'll have your own reverberate the walls But lie rest assured you'll have your own reverberate the halls Let the bells ring Let the bells ring Let the bells ring Let the bells ring Let the bells ring Let the bells ring Fire In The Ocean I hold hands with the fire in the ocean Whose bones are cold, never frozen The day is ending, I'm feeling edgy The dark is running, soon I will be coming Oh the ocean smells like my mother Who should love me oh like the ocean does We are so much like each other We don't see the need for each other I hold on to the fire in the ocean Whose bones are cold, not frozen Don't get me wrong, I'd gladly be the one To pick my teeth with the very last whale bone Take my garbage, throw it in the ocean Suck a man off, throw in the ocean No the moon is no fire in the sea No object like that could speak to me Who will love me oh like the ocean does Who will love me oh like the ocean does We are so much like each other We don't see the need for each other Take my garbage, throw it in the ocean Suck a man off, throw in the ocean We are so much like each other We don't see the need for each other Can You Tell Me One Thing I skateboard to your house and fall Skateboard's not a verb at all I go there every night You say you don't mind at all You say you're my best friend Some say you want me dead What's all the fuss about You should shout it all Can you tell me one thing Are you alright I don't recognize your verbs tonight Can you tell me one thing Are you alright tonight
Don't be angry
( Live ) I have to sneak in and put on your oil You will know where I've been But I need the protection Oh what a strange and miraculous thing To finally recognize what is driving me crazy All that I want was here now it's gone All that I want was here now it's gone Don't be angry I don't disagree It is clear that I left My clothes on the highway But I'd like to know If you ever told yourself I could have once given your life some meaning All that I want was here now it's gone All that I want was here now it's gone All that I want was here now it's gone Don't be angry I will die lonely Don't be angry I will die lonely Don't be angry I will die lonely Don't argue 'Cause you will see That I will die so very lonely Don't be angry Don't be angry
Non Albums Tracks
It's time to go If you're tired of the scene And rock doesn't mean a thing And all the girls look bad when they sing La da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da It's time to go It's time to go And your friends know all the words To the songs that you've already heard And as they get on the floor they sing: La da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da It's time to go It's time to go
We've got to meet Oh goodness me We've got to meet I need someone to have fun