second section of guitar overdubs is done. after all the fucking around, i stuck with less is more, but i'm going to convert one of the counter-melodies into a vocal part, instead.

vocals? yeah. i think i'm going to get back to them, but generally release the material in instrumental form, as well. i know what it's like to enjoy a piece of music and despise the singer, so i'll provide that option.

i do consider myself handy enough with words, but i'm not a poet and have never aspired to be one. for all my rambling about the sanctity of art for art's sake, i'm pretty harsh on poetry as being pretty much useless. see, it strikes me either as a pretty base and unimaginative form of expression or as the height of pretension, with almost no middle ground. i'm more interested in observational writing.

but, maybe observational writing is sort of like poetry and i'm just being semantic. maybe it's actually the middle ground i seek. this could go around in circles for a while, so i'll be clear on the line i'm drawing; you can attach that line to different concepts as you see fit. the difference is in getting an idea across vs mentally masturbating around the language of a turn of phrase. the more obfuscated and layered your statement is, the less valuable the statement becomes. development is key in getting a point across, but the point is getting across the point, and i like to be as clear and straight to it as i can be. if you need a book to explain your poem, you've failed at communicating a message and might as well be just jerking off in the corner by yourself.

to me, this whole dialogue is a big part of what punk rock is really about.

it's not really a break. i've always used vocals, i've just jumped from using them liberally to using them sporadically, and it was mostly because i just didn't have anything i wanted to get across in the medium. if i had something to say, i would - and did. i actually think i can trace this decision back to about '06 or so, meaning it was only really in the early mid 00s that i mostly shunned vocals (although, again, it was never total). it's just that i have very little completed work to show for myself since '05.

anyways.

systems collapse is being stuck in the middle of an alley closing in on all sides. so, let the factories turn to rust and let the buildings fall apart. if you need me, i'll be rocking out with the horn section...