The Max Levine Ensemble: The Elephant in the Room 7" (2011)

Y'know, former Lookout Records (more HERE) mogul Lawrence Livermore's can still spot a great pop-punk band, though I did balk when he first raved about The Max Levine Ensemble due to a lack of the sort of full-out hooks that power the genre. Now, a few years later, I've come around to their brand of pop-punk, which is musically idiosyncratic enough to be hated by disgraced punk singer Ben Weasel. The Elephant in the Room (my first purchase from Bandcamp) is a great single which shows off the band's musical versatility and lyrical smarts.

ADVENTURES IN PETSITTING

i feed the cats, they do nothing for me.
just fucking whine and complain a lot,
and feign disgust at the glow of tv.
it's a cold hearted caveat
i scratch their ears and they sink in their teeth.
though overwhelmed by the stink of it,  i clean their shit up
before i take off for work in the morn.

i feed the rats, and the roaches,
and these are just the vermin i know about
and this old dog she's been losing her teeth.
it's so sad they grow up so fast
her body's old, overrun with disease
i stick the pills down her throat and then,
she spits 'em up again... as if to say "let me die."
as if saying "please let me die."

the alarm's off and then i'm headed off to work again.
from the pounding in my head, to the notes left on your desk,
i think i'm cracking from the stress.
and you're greeted by the creeps in the street,
and they treat you like a piece of meat.
the fucking assholes in the bars,
driving drunk home in their cars…
i walk their dogs around the park…

i feed the cats, they do nothing for me,
just fucking whine, but i'm used to it.
the difference is with the creeps on the street there's no excuse
but the truth is that i find scum wherever i lay my feet,
i'm picking fleas off the dog and then you're mopping up again,
cleaning up the puke of the damned…
it's simply how we learned how to live in this land.





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