As most of you know, the new Londons Falling: Saturday Evening Underground CDs have finally arrived. We are ecstatic about the result of this project, and we want to thank everyone for their patience and believing in us that we weren’t bullshitting you that we were gonna get this fuckin’ thing done. We like to extend our deepest thanks to Jim Nau & Jon Hasz for their diligence, time, and mastery of their skills to this project. We are indebted to them for making our vision a reality.

So in the face of human struggle (which is a constant theme nowadays) and the carnage that accompanies its’ ugly face, we decided to give back to organizations that truly make a difference, not only by our physical actions, but fiscally. So when you purchase the new album, a portion of your money will go towards San Diego Youth Services Storefront Night Shelter. This emergency shelter is a place of safety for homeless, runaway, and “street” youth. I’ve been volunteering there on and off for over two years hangin’ with the youth, playin’ music with them, and listenin’ to their stories, dreams, and ideas.

We encourage people to be active in their communities by volunteering or donating money to organizations like San Diego Youth Services. Thanks for helping us out and thanks for helping the youth of San Diego. Let’s truly try to make a difference in 2010.

Rodeo-Records (2010)

Recorded at:Blue Horse Studios by Jim Nau

Mixed and Mastered at:Ramona Music Center by Jon Hasz

Line-Up: Kev, Trav, Nick, Brant

Download Full Album

Tracks

1. /music/seu/01 Sets.mp3Sets
   download | lyrics
2. /music/seu/02 Bombs In Baskets.mp3Bombs In Baskets
   download | lyrics
3. /music/seu/03 Activists Can Be Poseurs Too.mp3Activists Can Be Poseurs Too
   download | lyrics
4. /music/seu/04 Talent Is Overrated.mp3Talent Is Overrated
   download | lyrics
5. /music/seu/05 Return to History.mp3Return to History
   download | lyrics
6. /music/seu/06 Alarm.mp3Alarm
   download | lyrics
7. /music/seu/07 Human Side of Enterprise.mp3Human Side of Enterprise
   download | lyrics
8. /music/seu/08 Objection.mp3Objection
   download | lyrics
9. /music/seu/09 These Kids Can Kill.mp3These Kids Can Kill
   download | lyrics
10. /music/seu/10 Ad Hominem.mp3Ad Hominem
    download | lyrics
11. /music/seu/11 God In Uniform.mp3God In Uniform
    download | lyrics
12. /music/seu/12 Saturday Evening Underground.mp3Saturday Evening Underground
    download | lyrics

Mr. Zinn was much more than an author to me and I’d like to share important aspects that this man had on my life and Londons Falling. His books led me through a tumultuous time in my life, and his ideas, thoughts, and historical references can be heard throughout the album Dichotomy. Songs such as Breathe, Blisters and Deserted Wolves, are references to his teachings. Robber Barons and Rebels (one of our songs) is the name of one of the chapters in A People’s History of the United States. The song references the rise of industrial corporations and their transformation into dominant institutions, with corruption resulting in both the industry and the government. These types of songs became the foundations of which I had applied my life to be: a service to the impoverished and abject societies. Zinn’s teachings enabled me to truly analyze the scope of life to which I wanted to live and exert my efforts towards progress and change within a society and community. Anyway comrades: read, think, share, and be progressive……

It’s been a while since we last had given an update on what’s been happening in the LF Camp and we have to say that it’s been nothing, but good news and good times. For starters, the album is finally fucking done, and we are pretty damn proud of it! We would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to Jim Nau and Jon Hasz for putting up with all of our bitchin’, complainin’, shittin’ and whinin’ throughout the entire recording process. Those men are living Buddha’s and we were fortunate to have them help us create this monster of an album. Sooooo, all that’s really left is the artwork; the printing and the pressing and we are set. We are hoping for an early-mid February release, so look for our CD release show(s) (we think we need more than one).

So for some show info, we’ll be whoring at O’Connell’s on Friday, January 29th w/The Regime & stripping for our pre-Valentines Day show @ The Ken Club on Friday, February 12th w/The Arson Academy (we’ll be the ones’ with the ominous, glowing white attire….. well, it’s actually our skin). 2010 has arrived, comrades, and another chapter of LF has begun, maybe even another book……What will this year bring……….

From the dungeon and the desk of our scattered minds,

LF

It’s difficult to decipher how the morning transpired. There were a lot of ins and outs between Cheebs and me in the recording area of the studio. He would be recording a song, and then I would step in and record a little track here and there. Cheebs redid the solos to Ad Hominem and the apocalyptical solo in God in Uniform. The solos were definitely shredding as his fingers were performing like a searing white hot calamity of life changing events. I almost sobered up.

The back-ups vocals were a breeze as opposed to Day 6. I actually practiced them a little bit more so that I wasn’t walking into an uncomfortable moment. Kind of like the moment in Day 6. A couple of hoo-hoo’s, hee-hee’s and ho-ho’s and I was done shitting myself, now it was time for the back-ups (j/k, I was done with the back-ups).

When Jim said, “Is that it?”, my ears began to rise on the side of my head as a leering, demonic grin, fangs bearing, began to grow on my face, yet it was quickly extinguished as Cheebs said, “Wait, I have to do this one part.: Then, after Cheebs did whatever it was that he had to do, Jim asked again, “Are we done now?” Cheebs and I looked at each other with satisfaction that the tracks were complete. Then Cheebs popped a Mentos in his mouth.

So, the tracks are currently off on their magical mystery tour with Jon Hasz as he’s whisking away on the soundboard like Mozart. So now, we can finally say, “The new Londons Falling album, Saturday Evening Underground, is coming soon!!!!” Fuck yeah!

Peace,

Kevy Hallous

There wasn’t much of an itinerary, but more of a, “Lets see what’s left”. Cheebs strapped on his man-rod with strings and began to solo out Bombs in Baskets. He attempted a couple of takes and he was finished with the composition. I shouldered my man-rod with strings and belted a couple of shitty single string lines and I was out for the night as far as fondling my musical instrument. Cheebs re-did the most powerful shortest solo ever composed in an LF song in God in Uniform (literally destroyed it) and then quickly moved on to Ad Hominem (Fuck Song). Cheebs double-tracked this solo again, but not using the single coil like he did in the previous recording attempts. It was a double thumbs-up the ass for him on that one. Good job! After Cheebs finger flailing, it was on to the back-up vocals….

Now, in the past years, recording an LF album with back-up harmonies was a no-brainer to us, but for some reason, these songs left little room for (in Cheebs words), “the epical choral background” A few of the songs, such as Bombs in Baskets, Return to History, and Activists Can Be Poseurs Too were pretty easy to come by, but the rest were like a scene where a guy sees a girl at a bar and he wants to talk to her, but he doesn’t have the courage so he gets a couple more drinks in him to talk to her, and he finally builds up the courage to talk to her, and he walks over to her, and he opens his mouth, but nothing comes out so in desperation, he does something stupid like grabs her vagina. Kind of a deranged analogy, but it gets my point across. We basically didn’t want to do anything stupid to the songs. (okay, so maybe it wasn’t a great analogy). Anyway, the back-up vocals were an uphill battle (some parts were fitting, others were not) until finally, Cheebs and I agreed that the songs probably did not need as many back-ups vocals as previous albums did. These songs are a lot stronger and placing back-up vocals within the songs in the right spots would only compliment certain aspects of the songs, not necessarily adding more to the songs. Whoa, I think I just had an epiphany! Anyway, the night lingered on and we were fucking tired. So, we called it a night, drove the long way home to have one day off from recording, think about what’s left and to return Saturday morning for what should be the last day. See ya then, comrades.

Peace,

Kevy Hallous

Cheebs and I arrived at the studio around 9am for what was going to be an arduous task. With 8 songs ahead, and some of Cheebs shredding solos, we were up for the challenge to lay the foundation. Well, the second we walked into the door, it was right up to the mic that my cracked parched lips would meet as I began to croak through the first song, Talent is Overrated. The second song came in the form of Bombs in Baskets. I had to squeeze my butt cheeks together during this song as it takes a monster of breaths to get through this with lungs the size of an elephant. Somehow, I made it. The third song was God in Uniform. I really enjoyed doing this one as I was able to double-track the singing. This song really came to life for me as it’s been in my library of ideas for quite some time. Objection was the next song that I fought through. By the end of this one, I needed to take a break, so I passed the baton to Cheebs so he could grope his strings.

Cheebs kicked off his solos with a couple plucks, ham-haws, scoots, and bucks, and the solo to God in Uniform was done. Once you hear it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The next song was Ad Hominem (aka Fuck Song). He ended up double-tracking the solo using a single coil pickup to accentuate the plucks and minor hits that his little digits could massage. The next song was Activists Can Be Poseurs Too (aka Protest). Cheebs started using the single coil, but it wasn’t delivering like we thought it would and he ended up using the humbucker which gave it that sensual sound that Cheebs can only deliver. The next song, Alarm, was of a different sort. I think Cheebs used the single coil on this one because the sound that resonated from the amp was just goddamn beautiful. This song is becoming a band favorite. The final song on Cheebs agenda was SEU. Cheebs tracked three solos for each of his solos in this song (he has two in different parts). He used his wah pedal on his epic 3 minute solo and it just melts the mind. I could just sit and listen and get lost in that solo. Great job, Cheebs! Well, it was time to spew more mucus on to the spit guard, and belt out some more out of key notes.

I went for broke and started with Alarm. This song has a good healthy yell to it, so I had to pretty much prepare myself for the anguish of either hitting the note, or at least coming close as the veins in my head and my throat were at a near combustion. I was so thankful to get through that I decided to reward myself with Ad Hominem. This song didn’t kill me as bad as I thought that it would. I did a double-track of vocals on this one as I had some run on verses overlapping the subsequent verses, so it allowed me to take minor breaks in between the next parts. If you want to talk about it, we can, but I’d rather that you listen to the album and guess where it occurs.

-Lunch/Dinner Break-

I started with what we call Death March (not the song title). It was only four lines and I literally wrote the words standing there. This song is more of a sound byte song on top of our shitty playing, but the small amount of words reveals a lot of what the theme of the album is trying to convey. Finally, there is nothing like a healthy Mi Ranchito burrito to help me throw-up the next song, Human Side of Enterprise. Boy, was I happy after that song was over, and boy, does “Jon Hasz has his work cut-out for him”.

After 8 songs, 4 solos (and we forgot to do the fucking solo to Bombs in Baskets), a pack of soy jerky, a tub of mixed nuts, 50 trips to the bathroom, a chocolate milkshake (Cheebs), and 12 hours later. We had finished Day 5 of recording. Well, until next time. I’m fuckin’ exhausted……

Peace,

Kevy Hallous

The first song that I sang was These Kids Can Kill. I was pretty goddamn proud of that one.I sang a second vocal track to layer my voice. I guess the layering gives us options. So the first song went well, and then I proceeded to do the second song, Activists Can Be Poseurs Too, which is also known as Protest. This song, vocally, kind of goes something like this “Chibbity, chabbity, zippity, zappity,” You say that three times fast and that’s kind of along the lines of what I was dealing with. If I had a swollen tongue, I’d be in some serious trouble to lay that track down. The third song was the title track, Saturday Evening Underground. This song just delivers. That’s all I can say about it, and I was pretty happy with the outcome of the vocals. The next song, Return to History, is a band favorite. I happened to make it through the first vocal track, but the second vocal track was a bit laboring. I could feel the strength in my voice begin to wane and I had to be honest with myself that I couldn’t go on.

We sat in the studio and replayed what I had laid down. I closed my eyes and just listened. I have to say that listening back put a smile on my face. Me and Cheebs were pretty happy with the outcome. The target date for the next four songs is this Friday and somehow, I am going to minimize my speaking to preserve the vocal chords. I’m not too sure how I’m going to do that, so maybe I’ll carry a notepad around and just write down everything that I want to say. I’ll be living in a text message world for the next few days. Til next time…..

Peace,

Kevy Hallous

Looking through the sleep in our eyes, the recording day began around 5:30pm. Cheebs and Jim began moving the amps around, changing tones, listening intently for that specific sound that Cheebs’ porcelain links would evoke from his custom made Cheebocaster. The first take that we listened to had a heavy, deep sound with a lot of balls, but we didn’t want to literally blow the grille off of the speaker box, so we took it down a couple notches. We finally got the sound we were looking for and Cheebs was off to let his fingers dance. Cheebs ran in the same brick wall of confusion that I, Kevy Hallus, ran into. However, he persevered through it as only Cheebs can. It was around 3 hours later that the last track was laid and we were all pretty beat as Jims’ slave labor of irrigation work had caught up with him and my lethargy of sitting was encapsulating. We decided to hold off on Cheebs slaying solos until after I laid down my T-Rex like vocals. Another day and another dusting off our hands of recording as we walk to the edge of the world to clean up the coast on Saturday which is also known as Day 4.

Peace,

Kevy Hallus

Cheebs and I arrived at Jims around 7:30am with great anticipation as reflections and memories of Anxious Season began to set in. We set up the “wall of amps” to get a specific tone for the guitars. Trav and I really like the “wall”. There’s just something about its’ presence that emanates a connection between the man and his guitar. I opted to go first, so we were shifting amps around, turning knobs, and running in and out of the control room to get the specific sound that we were looking for. After numerous shifts, turns, and runs, we finally looked at each other with an approved consensus that we had found the right sound. The first few songs weren’t too bad. I relaxed a little and was flowing smoothly through my takes until I ran into a brick wall of confusion. I wanted to throw my goddamn guitar on the floor and quit. It’s something about recording that really tests your skills as a musician since recording is really all about precision, and as a sloppy guitar player, I vomit in the red on the sound meter. Luckily, Jim is a man of patience and I somehow got through my personal horror and trauma of exposing my shit-filled talent. The next few songs I began to settle back into a rhythm and soon enough, I found myself facing the last two tracks. I guess, in the air of refection, I began to think, “Goddamn, Trav and I wrote some of these songs 7 years ago, and here we are, finally putting a stamp of approval on them to incorporate them into our library of songs”. For not being a band of recognition or revenue, I felt a small tinge of success in my mind. After I was done, it was around 11am and I was ready to pass the axe (not the body spray), however, Trav would not be able to lay his tracks down until another day, and so we saddled, packed, and strapped our belongings and rode into the sunset until Day 3 of recording approached.

Peace,
Kevy Hallous