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Whole Hog for the Macho Jesus

by Shrug

supported by
davekillcountysmith
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davekillcountysmith This band can certainly pen a catchy tune, and are equally comfortable playing laid-back americana as they are proficient at a mid-tempo rocker. Can’t help but think they’re playing a bit within themselves, as they show flashes of genuine greatness as in the extended outro to She’s a Ballad. Favorite track: She's A Ballad.
catunderfoot
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catunderfoot Love this sound and songwriting! Great album all the way through, though! Favorite track: She's A Ballad.
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1.
Wake up, Sugarplum, it's time to be a genius Time to beat your brain into a perfect circle Wake up, Sugarplum, up off the matress Wash your face and face the faceless, muddled masses Wake up, Sugarplum, put on some coffee Hesitation breeds resistance And I'm not feeling your breath on my neck for nothing This time Wake up, Sugarplum, up from sedation Face the nation, they await your answer Wake up, Sugarplum, into the mainstream The time is right for you to be the one to save us Wake up, Sugarplum, gulp down the aspirin You've been asleep for way too long And everyone agrees that you should've known better This time It's nothing after all It's nothing but a freak out And after all It's tough for you to speak out So what if you got nothing to say today We love you anyway Wake up, Sugarplum Wake up, Sugarplum Wake up, Sugarplum 'Cause I'm not feeling your breath on my neck for nothing No, I'm not feeling your breath on my neck for nothing This time It's nothing after all It's nothing but a freak out And after all It's up to you to speak out So what if you got nothing to say today We love you anyway It's nothing but a freak out And after all It's up to you to speak out So what if you got nothing to say today We love you anyway We love you anyway We love you anyway We love you anyway We love you anyway We love you We love you
2.
Whole hog for the macho Jesus The pain medications never seem to please us anymore Hail Mary and the saints preserve us If Becky comes around tell her we're still nervous from the war Worse came to worse But if better comes to better Let me take you for a ride Until then, honey, I'll be mailing dead letters from the passenger side Five dollars on the coffee table Six picks, seven digits You're not quite able to recall Let's have a big hand for the real go-getter, The little homewrecker in the murder red sweater down the hall Worse came to worse But if better comes to better Let me take you for a ride Until then, honey, I'll be mailing dead ltters from the passenger side It's taking me further & further away Further & further & further away Further & further away from where I wanna be, yeah Further & further away Further & further & further away Further & further away from where I wanna be, yeah Skip ahead to the part where you say you want me Skip ahead to the day where your ghosts don't haunt me Skip ahead to the part where you say you want me Skip ahead to the day where your ghosts don't haunt me Further & further away Further & further & further away Further & further away from where I wanna be, yeah Further & further away Further & further & further away Further & further away from where I wanna be, yeah Further & further away Further & further & further away Further & further away from where I wanna be, yeah
3.
Laughter Tax 05:21
Back in the last days of Rome They went for Nero man Nero wasn't home He was playing sax and violin For all the slackers styling alone It was a major affair All the major movers and the networks were there Waiting for something to happen Through the smoke and noise and crap in the air He gave them something that they've never seen Kind of like what you did to me Give me laugher tax for my sins Burns at first, but it feels so nice when it begins When it begins Laugher tax for my sins I gave my life to the church I'm cloning Jesus through genetic research I'm the patron saint of grieving And the morals that you leave in the lurch Not gonna say, "I believe" I keep one in my hand, two up my sleeve With my rosary, my collar And the stack of silver dollars received I'll give them something that they've never seen Kind of like what you've done to me Give me laugher tax for my sins Burns at first, but feels so nice when it begins When it begins Laugher tax for my-- I'm dumbing it down I'm kissing the ground I'm living the life I'm leaving your wife I love it, I love it I need someone to covet A lover to smother To leave me for another So here's your thought for the day You only try and dog me when the cat is away I'll be conquered and divided Hoping that you have decided to stay You give me something that I've never seen I kind of like what you've done to me Give me laugher tax for my sins Burns at first, but feels so nice when it begins When it begins When it begins When it begins Laugher tax for my sins
4.
Your car will emerge through explosions of birds And huge half-truths and tiny words I was born to sift this sand And kiss the darkness where it stands All around the underworld Fame is just a pretty girl So sing her songs But not too long I am not the boss of me At least as far as I can see I'd like to bleed across the sky The comet age has passed me by And left me in the underworld Fame is just a pretty girl So sing her songs But not too long And I wouldn't want to be there When they pull the veil away To see this world for what it is and what it means today Isn't it a pity that you never know forever 'til it's not And this is not This is not forever This is not forever There's an old friend that I had Who just got tired of being sad She packed and moved this afternoon From Jackson Street up to the moon Looking down upon the underworld Fame is just a pretty girl So sing her songs But not too long Not too long
5.
Age Nowhere 04:22
I'm a Christmas tree On Groundhog's Day I'm fillet mignon On a TV tray I'm a wet cigarette In a lifeboat box I'm all about intentions But at least I'm here To your guns, to your guns Yeah the marching soldiers To your boiling oil I set a lump of coal In your diamond mine I saw your eyes light up Were they dollar signs? I'm only flesh and cold Whenever one winks out I'm hanging in suspension But at least I'm here To your guns, to your guns Yeah the marching soldiers To your boiling oil I try to salvage what I can From my weekend in the sun 'Til age nowhere strikes again Age nowhere strikes again To your guns, to your guns Yeah the marching soldiers To your boiling oil I try to salvage what I can From my weekend in the sun 'Til age nowhere strikes again Age nowhere strikes again...
6.
I never had the taste for the obvious adrenaline The subtle spiked fingers are more my speed And now these tiny violent symphonies of anger and acetylene Are rooted in my insides growing like a weed She's a nervous habit Anyone can see She's a ballad She's a ballad to be She'll be the ballad of me I tried to float away on some innocent oblivion To wash away your face in the rain of my brain I tried to change the luck of the lies I've been living in But all I ever get is try again, try again, try again She's a nervous habit Anyone can see She's a ballad She's a ballad to be She'll be the ballad of me Bring on the boys singing "be-bop-a-lu-la" Bring on the whores and the businessmen I can count on one finger the reason to do this again I save a little taste for the Cherubim and Seraphim In the all-night laundries and the opium dives I say a little prayer from the soft sanitarium For all the poor suckers with the love in their lives Go on and save yourselves It's too late for me Go on and save yourselves It's too late for me She's a ballad She's a ballad to be She's a ballad She'll be the ballad of me She's a ballad She's a ballad to be She's a ballad She'll be the ballad of me
7.
I don't think you're who you say you are You never could fool me Your magic lamp is killing What your truth could never be And you're just some deadly old idea Done up with mirrors and smoke And I'm nothing but some passerby Trapped in your inside joke I was talking to your daddy, girl He said to say "Hello" He asked if you're the same surprise That burned him long ago And my tongue turned into leather And my lungs turned into steel And I knew at once that I had got The wrong end of the deal Sing it loud Sing it clear Light a candle for the ones who cannot hear 'Cause I tripped and broke my halo And stained my brand new wings Paradise lost Color me gone Well I took a trip 'cross the railroad tracks Into your sordid past The one you left behind When you found out it would not last And your legions of admirers Victims stood as one And they drank a toast and cursed your name And hoped you're having fun Yes, they hoped you're having fun Sing it loud Sing it clear Light a candle for the ones who cannot hear 'Cause I tripped and broke my halo And stained my brand new wings Paradise lost Color me gone
8.
Heroin(e) 05:40
She's as dark as the truth and twice as sad With three times the pain of leaving A fourth as hard as coming back again She's a fragile china cup Of everything that leaves me grieving With a lump or two of sugar added in She interferes with how I think 'Til all I do is sit and drink her in My blood flows thick and warm with her I'll ride out any storm with her in wind I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) tonight I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) tonight, tonight She's a page from the book that teaches me However fast I'm learnin' There's a life's supply of things I'll never know She's a suicide of ecstacy That leaves my body burnin' And takes me where my darkest thoughts won't go She never fails and barely tries And through it all it's no surprise to me That every slow release of her Results in one more piece of her in me What I would give To lay down By her side as the stars circle 'round Not a word Not a sound By her side as the stars circle 'round She's as dark as the truth and twice as sad With three times the pain of leaving A fourth as hard as coming back again I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) I'm her fix and she's my heroin(e) tonight...

about

Whole Hog For The Macho Jesus, the new eight song disc from the long-time Dayton pop/rockers Shrug's, seems to be a kinder, gentler sort of Shrug than seen on previous releases such as Everything's Blowing Up Roses and their last self-titled release.

Whole Hog's opener, "Wakeup, Sugarplum", finds the rockers taking it a little easy - until the chorus kicks in, that is. Add in some well-placed bass walk-downs and an already great song becomes unforgettable. Next, the light, alt. country "Further and Further" checks in, followed by "Laughter Tax" - one of my favorites on the record (though it was a tough to pick just one). "Laughter Tax" is a melodic, mid-tempo pop song with a sweetly sung chorus - "Give me laughter tax for my sins/it burns at first but it feels so nice when it begins." The beautiful, folksy, "All Around the Underworld" spotlights Weidner's songwriting skills even further, with lyrics like "Your car will emerge through explosions of birds/and huge half-truths and tiny words/I was born to sift this sand/and kiss the darkness where it stands." The chorus then digs deeper into Weidner's melancholy subconscious - "All around the underworld/fame is just a pretty girl/so sing her songs..." He sings with a voice full of character, telling the story in a way that each listener can fabricate their own illusions. The remaining tracks, "Color Me Gone", "She's A Ballad", "Age Nowhere", and "Heroin(e)" are the kind of intelligent pop/rock Shrug is known for - although not quite the "I've got scratches on my arm/and I don't know how they got there" Shrug, but they still rock.

Weidner rolls his poetic lines off of his tongue like pearls and his strict use of perfect rhyme pays off each and every time. His words, paired with the solid musicianship make Whole Hog For The Macho Jesus a must-have.

Rhonda Everitt
i-see-sound.com

credits

released October 15, 2005

Tod Weidner: lyrics, guitar, vox; Eric Cassidy: guitar, vox; Dan Stahl: drums; Bryan Lakatos: bass; Patrick Himes: production and engineering; music by Shrug

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Shrug Dayton, Ohio

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