We had our first practice a week after Marco moved to New York. It was a rent by the hour place in Greenpoint where you had walk out onto the fire escape to get into the place and the snare stand kept falling over. We quickly followed that up with a number of practices in the Garment District, after which we settled into our comfortable home in the Pfizer Building in Bed-Stuy.

We wrote these songs there over the next year and a half. Dan played the drums, kept us from fighting too much and drove us around far too often. Ryan played the guitar, constantly tinkering until finding his tone and often running from practice to take the bus back to Prospect Lefferts Gardens’. Marco played the bass, sang and used practice as an excuse to eat pizza on Friday night, and adapted the lyrics in the bridge in Jilted Lover from the song Graduation Card by the band Friend of My Youth from Corvallis, Oregon.

John Meredith invited us into his word at Mollusk Studios in Ridgewood and let us spend a weekend in February soaking in his wisdom and making an awful racket. He continually blew us away with his knowledge, skill, ideas as well as his ability to put up with all of our idiosyncrasies while recording, mixing and mastering this record.

Dominic Armao biked over from Clinton Hill to give his two cents both when he wanted to and when we cajoled it from him. It was much appreciated.

Mike Borth sent us the recording of a poem he wrote all the way from Lima, Peru even though he was busy getting ready for a move to Brazil that same week.

Dan found the photo on the front cover in the form of a 35mm slide laying on the subway platform in the Rockefeller Plaza station. The photo on the back cover is of Marco’s Aunt Rosemarie and his cousins.

Thanks.