Release Date: 01/10/2012
Formats: 12″
MA Limited Series #1: 150 copies on vinyl only!
The Poison Control Center’s never-before heard rock opera is ready to be heard!
At the birth of the band in 1999 – before The Poison Control Center had ever performed live – they set out to make a sprawling 30-song debut opus rock opera, entitled A Nice Old-Fashioned Romance With Love Lyrics and Everything. Although the album was never released, it still beams with unfettered creativity, even 12 years later.
Like the legend of the Beach Boys’ Smile, A Nice Old-Fashioned Romance With Love Lyrics and Everything, was never finished. In fact, the original computer files were thrown away out of frustration with the project. Over the years as PCC gained notoriety from the likes of Pitchfork and AV Club, the unreleased record has become a much-discussed Iowa music myth – you could get a sense of what it might look or feel or sound like, but not see it, touch it or hear it for yourself.
The record, informally known as “The Bethany Album,” existed only as a few burned discs labeled with Fleming’s scribbled handwriting.
We at Maximum Ames Records are excited beyond belief that A Nice Old-Fashioned Romance With Love Lyrics And Everything is finally getting the proper release it deserves. We are only pressing 150 copies of this unheard, unfinished gem of an album and the historical blueprint to what would become one of our favorite bands. For the first time ever you can hear where it all began.
The story stars a college-aged rugby-playing girl named Bethany, her family, her boyfriend, and the songwriting boy who is obsessed with her and also can’t get over his high school rock band. The album incorporates a slew of influences that blossom on this home recording project that morphed into a piece of Iowa music history.
But wait, there’s more! As with any great historical release, A Nice Old-Fashioned Romance With Love Lyrics and Everythingcomes jam packed with replicas of PCC history – original handwritten lyric sheets, photos of the band from the era, correspondence between band members, photos of the real Bethany, and detailed liner notes from Fleming and various other musicians who recorded on the album – all in a handmade package by Des Moines artist Avalan Wilson.
Watch this interview with Marc Hogan and Patrick Tape Fleming! They discuss the history of this album and how it came to be. You’ll also get a sneak peek at the process of letter-pressing each cover by hand.
Tracklist:
- Stars, That Butterflies, Dream
- Book
- My Hand Smells Like Breast
- Not So Wild Honey Pie
- Knock Knock
- Soft Silence Approaches Violence
- Paul Is Dead
- Full-Time Temporary Secretary
- Dandelions (Time Invested)
- Scary Monsters
- Soft Violence Devotes Silence
- Midnight Showing
- Way-O
- Biggest Fan
- Love At First Sight (I’m Sure It Happens All The Time)
- Brand New Van
- You’re No Stevie Ray Vaughan/The Rise And Fall Of Commercial Rock
- Go Inside Out
- Destiny March
- A-E-I-O-U And Sometimes Why
- You Mean The World To Me (But Not A Wonderful World)
- Ruggers
- Hard Love Eats Noise
- Change The Litter Box
