Broken Van
Broken Van is a compilation of early and previously unreleased material by The Broadways. It completes the band's discography alongside their sole full-length album Broken Star with two exceptions: "Fuck the Church", available only on the Drive-Thru Records compilation Where's the Beef? and the original version of "Ben Moves To California," originally simply called "Ben," which appeared on the We All Know You Can Do It 7", but was not included on this collection, due to being rerecorded and included on Broken Star.
| Broken Van | ||||
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| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 1-7 in May 1998, others at various times, all at Atlas Studios, Chicago | |||
| Genre | Punk rock | |||
| Length | 40:30 | |||
| Label | Asian Man | |||
| Producer | Matt Allison | |||
| The Broadways chronology | ||||
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| Vinyl cover | ||||
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Tracks 1-7 were new and unreleased, recorded in May 1998. The songs were intended for release soon after, possibly on a split CD with Baxter.
The remaining tracks originally appeared on the band's early 7" vinyl EPs: tracks 8-10 from We All Know You Can Do It (released on the band's own Bicycle Records) and tracks 11-15 from Big City Life (Asian Man Records).
In 2007 Asian Man Records announced plans to reissue both of The Broadways' albums on vinyl and CD. Broken Star had long since sold out on vinyl, while Broken Van had been CD-only; both had for some time been out of stock on CD. In late 2007 Mike Park posted a topic on the label's forum stating that he could not find a CD edition of Broken Van from which to produce the vinyl edition, and would require a fan to provide one in order to proceed. The record went on sale in July 2008.
The title is a reference to the band's van that broke down in 1998, having to be towed by Dan Hanaway's parents. At the time, the band members couldn't stand each other, Dan even spitting on Brendan on stage. They decided to end the band when they got back to Chicago.
Track listing
The primary vocalist/lyricist for each song is specified.
- "Floundering" (Kelly) – 1:37
- "Not Necessarily the News" (Hanaway) – 2:42
- "2nd Grade Cells" (McCaughan) – 3:41
- "One Man Board Of Directors" (Kelly) – 3:54
- "Natural Disaster" (McCaughan) - 2:06
- "Under My Belt" (Hanaway) – 2:36
- "It Was Pancho Villa" (Kelly) – 2:22
- "T.V. Song" (Kelly) – 2:04
- "Broadway and Briar" (Kelly) – 2:29
- "Rainy Day" (Hanaway) – 2:14
- "I Think I Shall Never See..." (Kelly) – 3:06
- "Lake Michigan" (McCaughan) – 2:19
- "What Happened?" (Hanaway) – 1:40
- "Dropjaw" (Hanaway) – 3:28
- "This Routine" (Hanaway) – 4:12
Personnel
- Brendan Kelly – bass, vocals
- Dan Hanaway – guitar, vocals
- Chris McCaughan – guitar, vocals
- Rob DePaola – drums
Trivia
- The title Broken Van appears nowhere on the album's original packaging, but is given on Asian Man Records catalogs, labels on later copies of the same edition, and the new cover art of recent editions.
- There was an error on the rear track list whereby the order of the songs "What Happened?" and "Lake Michigan" was swapped.
- "I Think I Shall Never See..." was originally titled "I Think That I Shall Never See...", a quote from Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees", when it was originally released on Big City Life. Brendan stated during a live show that the friend referenced in the song is the same one from Broken Star's "25 Degrees North".
- "This Routine" was a hidden track at the end of "Dropjaw" on Big City Life. The spoken word at the end of the song was read by Chris and is a quote from Rigoberta Menchú's I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala.