This is the second EP that came out of the would-be Topanga album. I had wanted to release it a few months later in 2004, after the Love Chewed Off Its Leg EP, but I didn't. I was trying to get the songs in the form I wanted them in, only tinkering with them on and off (I wasn't in a very musical mood for most of 2004 and 2005, only releasing Strawberry Explosion singles more or less), and then I waited for Liza to do her vocal parts. She recorded them herself at her place in Austin and mailed them to me here in Edinburg to work with, just like The Postal Service does, so now I'm a true indie kid.
This is one of the weirder Mnemonic Devices recordings. The "Take Me Down (To the Bad Part of Town)" bookends of the EP used to be one song without any real way to put lyrics on them, so I split the song in two and made one an instrumental and the other a song that might as well be an instrumental. The other "dance" number is "Take It Higher" which is based around a keyboard sample I liked. I put minimal lyrics on that song too, letting the dance and sample stuff stand out. "She Was a Mortal" is an immortal song by The Frogs. It's the oldest song on the EP, and it's weird too. "Young James" is the most real song, and the prettiest.
I found the pictures for the cover somewhere on the internet. I thought they were kind of funny and I liked the color scheme. The idea of someone taking a picture of a girl taking a picture of a boy posing almost like a girl was funny and interesting and seemed to work for The Mnemonic Devices. The photos are probably porn and -- again -- I'll probably get sued eventually for using them without permission.
So there. Originally the ten songs from the two EPs were released as tiny albums to get the songs out quicker, but that didn't work. Then again, every album by The Mnemonic Devices never quite comes out in the way I planned it, but I'm always eventually happy with the results. I hope you enjoy them too. Rusty.
Copyright (c) Sep 2005 by The Mnemonic Devices and Love and Letters Music