b"Both of those facts concerned Joe. There was noUnited by their shared mission, the crew were allleast not the way I would have been earlier in the guarantee that we would come up with anything. Iwilling to do whatever it took to capture the soundsday, so I ended up doing this draggy, drugged-out had sent them demos, which were the shapes ofJoe heard, however taxing that might be. Pinkertonstrumming thing. It ended up being beautiful with-the songs and not even all the lyrics. Lots of la la la.remembers the toll the title track took on him: Weout being exploitive of the contents of the song It could have all ended up sounding like shit, andtried out six guitars before we settled on this reallyitself. In the wrong hands, it could have been a I would have had to go to Sub Pop and say, Sorryheavy Travis Bean, which must have weighed 20cartoon, but we made it work.we took your money and made a shitty record. Ipounds or more. I had to hold this chord up high on was not super confident. the neck throughout the entire chorus, and I hadStill, Joe had to fight for the songs finest flourishto arpeggiate through the entire chorus until thethat flugelhorn solo, played by Mike Jones. At the But he and Monahan had assembled some ofchord change at the end. It was killing me. My handtime there were a couple of people who didnt want New Englands finest indie musicians for thesewas cramping and twitching, but we couldnt havethe horn solo. But I insisted. Its a nod to Bacharach. sessions. There was Michael Deming, who ownedany fret noise or finger squeaks. I was biting my lipIts a nod to Herb Alperteven though its not a Studio .45 and wrote string and horn arrangements.just to get the adrenaline going. It must have takentrumpet. I love that sound and it really spoke to me. Hed worked with Monahan and drummer Aaronfour hours, and my arms were jelly afterwards.Its not an easy part to play, either. Theres a little Sperske on Lilys 1996 album Better Cant Maketrill at the end of it, which is not in an easy range. It Your Life Better. In addition to playing bass andThese moments were important to Joe, perhapstook several tries to get it right, but Joe remained engineering the sessions, Monahan recommendedeven the most important part of the entire process:steadfast that it was crucial to the song. Often I Peyton Pinkerton, the guitarist for New Radiantmore rewarding than writing the lyrics or playingcant enjoy my songs, because I know whats com-Storm King. None of them played with anythingthem night after night or hearing from fans whoing next. But I enjoy that song. It goes right through that might be mistaken for twang. I remember Joeloved those songs. Around this time I realized thatme. Peyton starts playing that guitar part and the specifically wanted people who were not I thinkwhat I love most is the creation of a thing, he says.flugelhorn comes in and its like, Fuck me, man.he said spoiled by country music, says Pinkerton.Even if you think youve written the greatest song, He didnt want any country riffs at all. The Perniceit will never hit you the same way as your favoriteBut the ultimate moment of connectionthe Brothers were about going back to what he grewsong by someone else will. So I quit writing withinstance that sticks with Joe the most, even after up withAM radio and weird fades, stuff likethe idea of the payoff. Instead, I thought about howall these yearscame late in the process, when thatso he wanted people with more of a popI connected with the song and how I felt when Ihe first heard an actual orchestra, complete with background, who could capture some of the stuffwas making it. That process is what gets you theharp and oboe, playing on one of his songs. Of he couldnt describe. payoff. That became my way of engaging withcourse Id never recorded with an orchestra before. the song. It became all about the moment. WhenThe Scud Mountain Boys never had the money. I Bob Pernice even showed up for a few days, bring- I think about the best parts of making Overcomeremember Joyce came in when we tracked the ing with him lab coats for Monahan and Deming toby Happiness, its Peyton and I singing a backingstrings and the horns and the harp. We sat in the wear. In the context of this new band, they werevocal to Wherein Obscurely. We were singingcontrol room as Mike Deming moved the faders up considered old-school technicians, scientists even.into the same mic together, but we would get intoand brought the strings in. Joyce grabbed my arm They were both incredibly good engineers, sayslaughing fits. Finally we nailed the part, and weso hard when they did that. She couldnt believe Joe. Mike knew his studio, knew the equipmentcould feel it in that moment. it, and neither could I. Hearing that was one of the he had, knew the sounds of his mics and pre-amps.greatest musical moments of my life.Thom was at that timeand still isone of the bestAnd then there was Chicken Wire. The Most guerilla engineers Ive ever seen. I could say, Hey,Exquisitely Sad Song in the World was recorded lets make a kickdrum out of this coffee can and Illlate in the evening, after a long day of tracking. It hit it with a ruler. And Thom would know just howwas one of those things where being exhausted to mic it.paid off, says Pinkerton. I wasnt quite on, atRecording the Jimmy Coma b/w Monkey Suit 7-inch single at Bob Pernice's Home"