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Song Snacks Vol. 1

by Ryan Allen

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John Buckwalter
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    "Song Snacks Vol.1" is a collection of 20 2-minute and under songs, written in a flurry by Ryan Allen while living life on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 100 copies available. Assembled by Ryan and sent to you with love.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Song Snacks Vol. 1 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 10 days

      $20 USD or more 

     

1.
Inventing Sports 02:10
2.
Luke Warm 01:42
3.
Barking Up The Right Tree 01:48
4.
Real Palm Reader 01:54
5.
Trash Mountain 01:24
6.
Truth Surgery 01:03
7.
Airbrush the World 02:14
8.
Spike, Bad, & Blob 02:14
9.
Here Comes The Rain 01:26
10.
You've Been Electrocuted 02:24
11.
Leg Tattoo 01:18
12.
Pregnancy Fantasy 01:39
13.
I'm A Wizard Now 01:55
14.
Gem City 02:07
15.
Raspberry Ghost 01:21
16.
Throw The Shit In The Shoot 01:02
17.
Metal Youth 01:24
18.
Alone In The Sick Bay 02:17
19.
You're Lunch 01:19
20.
Predict The Future 02:12

about

Two mics. A handful of guitars. An amp…and some recording software to learn how to use on the fly. Add in a global pandemic, instructions to stay at home, and a burst of manic creativity and something is bound to happen. In my world, that something is my new 20-track hodgepodge of a solo album called “Song Snacks Vol. 1”.

I’m always working on songs. Some of them make it to records. Others get demoed but never fully developed. Others just exist and then seem to disappear as quickly as they arrived. But with no end to the pandemic in sight and an avalanche of songs that seemed to fall out of the sky, I decided to try and capture lightening in a bottle. And since I couldn’t see anybody, the record became an almost completely DIY project, featuring me as writer, performer (I played all the instruments), engineer and mixer (shout out to Andy Reed from Reed Recording Co. for the mastering assist).

“Song Snacks Vol. 1” attempts to follow in the tradition of classics like GBV’s “Alien Lanes”, The Wrens’ “The Meadowlands” and Olivia Tremor Control’s “Black Foliage”, turning out to be a genre hopping, home-recorded, fragmented journey that attempts to capture the excitement and magic that surrounds laying every idea you have to tape. I played it for my dad and he called it my “White Album.” It’s not that good, but I’ll take it.

You’ll notice that the songs are short (nothing over 2 1/2 minutes - no bridge? No problem!). But that doesn’t mean they are throw aways at all. Most were hatched from song titles I’ve been jotting down over the years, and instead of focusing on the hyper-personal content that I’ve been putting out with Extra Arms as of late, these tunes take more of a story telling and surrealist turn. In other words, the subject matter is a little weird - there’s songs about psychics, wizards, hoarders, and a fake band made up of my dad and his college roommates. So yeah, some weird stuff.

Indeed, these are truly bizarre times. But music has saved me from dire straits before, and working on this project gave me life while it seemed that everything was falling apart around us all. I hope these “song snacks” satisfy you in the same way they did for me.

credits

released August 7, 2020

All songs written by Ryan Allen © Can't Stop Writing Songs
Recorded and mixed by Ryan Allen at home in Elgin House Studios
Mastered by Andy Reed at Reed Recording Co.
Collage art by Scott Allen
Layout by Jodi Lynn Burton

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Ryan Allen Oak Park, Michigan

Ryan Allen is the lead singer for loud pop band Extra Arms. He spent his mid-20s fronting eccentric post-punk rockers Thunderbirds Are Now!, touring the world and getting props from the likes of Pitchfork, Stereogum, Rolling Stone and more. Since 2010 he has released an avalanche of material, including 3 Extra Arms full length records and countless solo albums, EPs and compilations. ... more

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