Scrambles (album)

Recording and composition

In April 2008, several demos from Scrambles were posted on the Bomb the Music Industry! MySpace for a few days before being taken down. On October 6, 2008 the band entered the studio to start recording.[1] A day prior, the group released the album's track listing and mentioned that the album would be released in January 2009. Frontman Jeff Rosenstock said it would contain "a ton of weird stuff on it."[2]

Like most of the band's records, several songs feature samples as transitions between tracks. A clip from Green Day's performance at Woodstock '94 is played at the end of "9/11 Fever!!!" A clip from Ol' Dirty Bastard's song "Dirt Dog" is sampled at the end of "25!" A clip from the movie Milk is played at the end of "It Shits!!!"

Release

In mid-November 2008, the band performed at Skanksgiving ‘08 festival.[3] The album originally was due out in January 2009,[2] but it was delayed to allow time for printing a zine. Scrambles was released digitally on February 15, 2009 for free through Quote Unquote Records, as well as being released physically on Asian Man Records.[2] The physical version includes a 32-page zine by friends of the band including Latterman, Mustard Plug, Kaiju Big Battel, Bridge and Tunnel, and Cheeky. In March, the band appeared at the Harvest of Hope Fest.[4]

Demos

On February 15th, 2019 (the ten year anniversary of the original release of Scrambles); Rosenstock announced the release of a collection of demos on Twitter[5]. Along with a link to the demos and the original album, there was a short piece of writing where he reflected on the creation and release of Scrambles. He concluded with "Thanks for reading, listening, and giving a shit. – Jeff". The demos appear to only feature Rosenstock. Several of the tracks contain musical and lyrical differences from their finished versions; "Cold Chillin' Cold Chillin'" is performed almost entirely on unadorned acoustic guitar and vocals, "It Shits!!!" contains different chords and lyrics, and "Wednesday Night Drinkball" lacks its climactic coda.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Punknews.org[6]
Sputnikmusic[7]
Alternative Press[8]
Exclaim!(positive)[9]
WRPI(positive)[10]

Reviews of the album have praised its perceived cohesiveness and clever lyrics.[11] One reviewer wrote that, "Rosenstock's songwriting, which has always been quirky and introspective, is at its best here, mixing the personal and the humorous, and finding the difficult balance."[12] Another reviewer declared that "Jeff Rosenstock is slowly becoming the only voice in punk that matters."[13]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Cold Chillin' Cold Chillin'"1:45
2."Stuff That I Like"2:53
3."It Shits!"2:42
4."Fresh Attitude Young Body"3:38
5."Wednesday Night Drinkball"2:30
6."25!!!"2:47
7."$2,400,000"5:58
8."Gang of Four Meets the Stooges (but Boring)"1:11
9."9/11 Fever!!!"1:43
10."(Shut) Up the Punx!!!"2:34
11."Can I Pay My Rent in Fun?"3:01
12."Saddr Weirdr"2:38
13."Sort of Like Being Pumped"4:29
Total length:37:41
Scrambles Demos
No.TitleLength
1."Cold Chillin' Cold Chillin'"1:39
2."Stuff That I Like"2:51
3."It Shits!!!"2:39
4."Fresh Attitude, Young Body"3:40
5."Wednesday Night Drinkball"2:01
6."25!"2:28
7."Celebrities Gone Wild Or $2,400,000"5:54
8."Gang Of Four Meets The Stooges But Boring"1:11
9."9/11 Fever!"1:37
10."(Shut) Up the Punx!!!"2:34
11."Can I Pay My Rent in Fun?"3:01
12."Saddr Weirdr"2:32
13."Sort of Like Being Pumped"4:43
Total length:36:45

Personnel
  • Sean Bonnette – vocals (track 5)
  • Neil Callaghan – melodica (track 13)
  • Mike Campbell – omnichord (track 1)
  • Chris Candy – trumpet (track 10)
  • Mike Costa – drums (all tracks except 1)
  • John DeDomenici – bass (all tracks except 1, 6, 7, 10)
  • Dino – vocals (track 3)
  • Kepi Ghoulie – vocals (track 3)
  • Joel Hatstat – sleigh bells (track 1)
  • Rick Johnson – theremin (track 7), bass (track 10)
  • Matt Keegan – trombone (tracks 1, 10, 13)
  • Christine Mackie – bells (tracks 1, 13), claps (track 4)
  • Tom Malinowski – guitar (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12)
  • Sean McCabe – trombone (tracks 1, 10, 13)
  • Jeff Rosenstock – vocals (all tracks), guitar (all tracks), piano (tracks 1, 4, 5, 6), saxophone (track 1), tenor saxophone (tracks 10, 13), keyboards (tracks 3, 10, 11, 12), claps (track 4), synthesizer (tracks 4, 6, 11, 12), wurlitzer (tracks 4, 5, 7), mellotron (tracks 5), key bass (tracks 6, 12), fuzz bass (track 7), bells (track 11)
  • Laura Stevenson – vocals, banjo (track 13)

References
  1. "Bomb The Music Industry! to enter studio tomorrow, detail album." Punknews.org. October 6, 2008
  2. "Bomb The Music Industry! set to record, detail next album". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. October 5, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  3. "Ska Is Dead Tour presents Skanksgiving '08 Fest". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. July 20, 2008. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  4. "Against Me!, Bouncing Souls to play Harvest Of Hope festival". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. December 18, 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  6. Punknews.org review
  7. Sputnikmusic review
  8. Alternative Press review
  9. Exclaim! review
  10. WRPI review
  11. "WRPI 91.5 Troy Indie Music Blog: Gold Sounds: Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles review". Ilikewrpi.blogspot.com. 2009-02-15. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  12. Sutherland, Sam. "Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles • Punk Reviews •". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  13. "Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
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