Crimes (album)

Crimes
Studio album by The Blood Brothers
Released	October 12, 2004
Recorded	March–April 2004, Robert Lang Studios, Seattle, Washington
Genre	Post-hardcore, art punk
Length	39:04
Label	V2 Records
Producer	John Goodmanson
The Blood Brothers chronology
...Burn, Piano Island, Burn (2003) Crimes (2004) Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck (2005)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Pitchfork Media	(7.5/10)[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
Stylus Magazine	[4]

Crimes is the fourth studio album by the American band The Blood Brothers released on October 12, 2004. It is their second major label album and their first for V2 (a Virgin Records subsidy). Produced by John Goodmanson, the album was recorded in two months in the band's home town of Seattle and is currently ranked on Metacritic's list of the 200 best-reviewed albums, with a score of 85. [1]

Track listing

All songs written by The Blood Brothers.

1. "Feed Me to the Forest" – 2:23
2. "Trash Flavored Trash" – 2:38
3. "Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck" – 3:14
4. "Peacock Skeleton with Crooked Feathers" – 4:31
5. "Teen Heat" – 2:07
6. "Rats and Rats and Rats for Candy" – 3:52
7. "Crimes" – 4:00
8. "My First Kiss at the Public Execution" – 2:50
9. "Live at the Apocalypse Cabaret" – 3:12
10. "Beautiful Horses" – 1:47
11. "Wolf Party" – 3:28
12. "Celebrator" – 2:16
13. "Devastator" – 2:45

2009 Re-issue^[5]

1. "Ladies and Gentlemen" - 2:46
2. "Metronomes" - 4:55
3. "Crimes (alt. version)" - 3:55
4. "Peacock Skeleton With Crooked Feathers (alt. version)" - 3:30
5. "Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck (live)" - 3:21
6. "Trash Flavored Trash - Live" (Reading Festival 2005) - 2:44
7. "Peacock Skeleton With Crooked Feathers - Live" (Reading Festival 2005) - 4:39
8. "My First Kiss at the Public Execution - Live" (Reading Festival 2005) - 2:35
9. "Live at the Apocalypse Cabaret - Live" (Reading Festival 2005) - 3:45
10. "Rats and Rats and Rats for Candy - Live" (Reading Festival 2005) - 4:04
11. "Teen Heat - Live" (Reading Festival 2005) - 2:02

Album leak

The album originally leaked as a 19-track unmastered CD. The following tracks were on the leaked version but did not make the final version of the album:

• "Ladies and Gentlemen" (also known as "Champagne Party")
• "Metronomes"
• "Wolf Faced Gladiators" (also known as "Gladiators")
• "Crimes (Alternate Version)"
• "Rats And Rats And Rats For Candy (Acoustic Riff)"
• "Noise"

Of the cut tracks, "Ladies and Gentlemen," "Metronomes," and the alternate version of "Crimes" were released on the band's Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck EP released in 2006.

Lyrical Content

Much of the lyrics for the album are a political reaction to the mass media and the military policy of the Bush administration,[2] inspired heavily by the election year of 2004. “I thought the collective dissent of our generation would bring about positive change. When that didn’t happen I felt like the bottom had fallen out.” -Jordan Blilie [3]

• Feed Me to the Forest is "a picture of the hyper-industrialized times we live in."
• Trash Flavored Trash is "about the emptiness of news media."
• Teen Heat is about the distribution company Artistdirect with whom the band was having difficulties at the time.
• Celebrator and Devastator are direct criticisms of the United States military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Personnel

Performers

• Jordan Blilie - vocals, guitar, percussion
• Mark Gajadhar - drums and percussion
• Morgan Henderson - bass, guitar, upright bass, synthesizer, accordion, piano, laptop, backup vocals
• Cody Votolato - guitar, trumpet, backup vocals, percussion, whistle, E-Bow, baritone guitar
• Johnny Whitney - vocals, piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Farfisa organ, percussion

Additional Musicians:

• Nick Zinner - guitars on "Wolf Party"

Vinyl information

1st Pressing: 333 copies

• 333 Light Blue/White Marble w/ Black Labels & Screen Printed Cover (Hand Numbered) (20 of these are screened specially – pink ink goes light to dark from left to right)

2nd Pressing: 3,050 copies

• 508 Dark Red
• 503 White
• 513 Light Blue
• 510 Purple/White Marble
• 510 Pink
• 508 Orange

3rd Press: 979 copies

• 501 Light Green
• 478 Grey

4th Press: 1,014 copies

• 338 Half Translucent Green / Half White
• 338 Translucent Dark Blue
• 338 Black / Light Blue / Light Pink Tri-Color

Production and design

• John Goodmanson - producer, recording, mixer, engineer
• The Blood Brothers - co-producer
• Kip Beelman - engineer
• Justin Armstrong - assistant
• Jakael Trinstram - assistant
• Aaron Malasko - drum technician
• Johnny Whitney - layout
• Jordan Blilie - drawings

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Pitchfork Media review
3. ^ Rolling Stone review
4. ^ Stylus Magazine review
5. ^ http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1386022