Music — The Apocryphal Storyteller tracks! For free! Oboy!

A while ago, my friends Mark, Parker, and I finally got around to releasing that album for our band, Error-09, that we had always talked about. You know — the type of album that about 12.3 billion people swear they are going to make with their friends, only for that pledge to eventually fall into the gutter like a crumbled newspaper from last week that nobody would even use as a lining for the bottom of a parrot cage.

Well, it took us about a decade, but hey, we were still faster than “Chinese Democracy.” I had these files up previously, but now that you can actually listen to them right from the blog (just press the play button to the left of the title), I wanted to list them all as a group. And I can make some comments about each, as well. Yippee-skip!

Besides, it’s tough to explain what genre our band is in; we have a number of songs in the alt rock mosh crowd, but we also throw a drink back with rockabilly, chill out with reggae, get heavy with techno, and in some cases just get a touch weird. See what you think:

Error-09 - Down The Drain

This was the first song that we ever really worked on as a group. And, by golly, it’s still as much fun as when we first started it.

Error-09 - Hand Truck

I wrote the lyrics for this in about 15 minutes; it was pure stream of consciousness.

Error-09 - Jesus Walks With Me

This is a 100% true story. Honest — I couldn’t have made this up if I had tried.

Error-09 - The Quarry

Based on a quarry that Mark took Parker and I out to investigate for the fun of it. I got some great photos of the place, as well.

Error-09 - Serves You Right

Another early song, written when I was still learning how to play the drums. Hence, I think the drum track is a bit dull.

Error-09 - Get Lost!

My favorite version of this was actually an early rough Mark recorded, where about 1/3 of the way in, he suddenly realized he had misread the song.

Error-09 - Sittin' In My Cube With Photos Of A Dead Man

Again, based on a true story. I wasn’t 35 when I wrote it, but given that I am now, I’m glad that there is a song out there that relates to my age for a change. And I admit, that I was really happy when the way I handled the snare drum in this one; much fun.

Error-09 - She Got What She Wanted

This was written as sort of a callback to the Billy Idol songs of the 80s. Not the heavy punk ones, but the ballads. Mind you, the key phrase is “sort of.”

Error-09 - Red Right 88

Only Cleveland Browns fans will really understand why the title is perfect for the lyrics, but hey, it’s the perk of being part of the most diehard, loyal fans in the NFL. And currently, there aren’t a lot of perks to being a fan….

Error-09 - Letting Go

This one written by Mark, actually, and Parker and I whipped up the drums and bass in surprisingly short order, afterwards.

Error-09 - Burn That Bridge

I have to admit, this is one of my favorites, just in terms of the lyrics. I think the song would have been better with the shaker throughout, but it was dropped in a miscommunication, so oh well. We’ll fix that on the Greatest Hits album.

Error-09 - Indian Pizza

I wrote the lyrics for this song in high school, and you know, I think it’s still one of the best songs I ever wrote. The music, as well, fits perfectly.

Error-09 - Hanged

Another one of my favorite songs that we’ve made, and it was really one of the main reasons I took some singing lessons. I still need some work, but man, much better than first draft. Oh, and enjoy the backwards-speaking Parker at the very beginning.

Error-09 - The Ballad of Low Self-Esteem

Another song written while in high school about a joke band that my friend Randy and I claimed to be in; Mark and Parker created the music entirely on their own in a few hours, and when I heard it, I realized that there was nothing that could top what they had developed.