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Scrambles (album)

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This article is about the Bomb the Music Industry! album. For motorcycle racing scrambles, see Motocross.
Scrambles
Studio album by
Bomb the Music Industry!
ReleasedFebruary 15, 2009
RecordedOctober–December 2008
GenrePunk rock, indie rock
Length37:41
LabelQuote Unquote, Asian Man
ProducerBomb the Music Industry!
Bomb the Music Industry! chronology
Get Warmer
(2007) 		Scrambles
(2009) 		Adults!!!: Smart!!! Shithammered!!! And Excited by Nothing!!!!!!!
(2010)

Scrambles is the fifth studio album by Bomb the Music Industry!, released digitally and physically on February 15, 2009. The album was released a year and a half after Get Warmer, making it the longest gap between the release of two chronologically adjacent Bomb the Music Industry! albums. Frontman Jeff Rosenstock aimed to record the album on a limited budget of $50; up to that point, the band had never spent that much money on the recording of an album.

In 2019, to celebrate the album's 10th anniversary, a compilation of demos for the album was released by Rosenstock.

Recording and composition

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In November 2007, the band announced they were in the demo and writing phase for their next album; alongside this, they posted a demo of "25" on their Myspace profile.[1] A demo for "Fresh Attitude Young Body" was posted online on March 30, 2008, followed by several others for a limited time.[2][3] In September 2008, the band played a few East Coast shows with the Riot Before.[4] On October 6, 2008, the band entered the studio to start recording.[5] A day prior, the group released the album's track listing and mentioned that the album would be released in early 2009. Frontman Jeff Rosenstock said it would contain "a ton of weird stuff on it."[6] Recording concluded by December 2008 with the completion of gang vocals.[7]

Like most of the band's records, several songs feature samples as transitions between tracks. A clip from Green Day's performance at Woodstock '94 is played at the end of "9/11 Fever!!!" A clip from Ol' Dirty Bastard's song "Dirt Dog" is sampled at the end of "25!" A clip from the movie Milk is played at the end of "It Shits!!!"

Release

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Towards the end of October 2008, the band went on an East Coast US tour with Shinobu, prior to a Canadian tour with Mustard Plug, leading up to an appearance at the Skanksgiving ‘08 festival.[8][9] On January 7, 2009, the album's artwork and track listing were posted online.[10] "Can I Pay My Rent in Fun?" was posted on Asian Man Records' Myspace profile on January 19, 2009.[11] Following this, they embarked on a tour of the United Kingdom through to February 2009.[12] The album originally was due out in January 2009,[6] but it was delayed to issues with programs that were used to help record it.[13] Scrambles was released digitally on February 15, 2009, for free through Quote Unquote Records, as well as being released physically on Asian Man Records.[6] The physical version includes a 32-page zine by friends of the band including Latterman, Mustard Plug, Kaiju Big Battel, Bridge and Tunnel, and Cheeky. In March, the band appeared at the Harvest of Hope Fest.[14] They went on a short tour of Florida in May 2009 with Fake Problems; it was bookended by other shows on the East Coast throughout the month.[15][16] In June and July 2009, they went on a cross-country US tour with Laura Stevenson and the Cans.[17][18] During this trek, the band released a split 7-inch with Stevenson and her band.[19] On August 7, 2009, a music video was released for "Wednesday Night Drinkball", which was directed by Bryan Schlam.[20] Shortly after this, they performed at The Fest in October 2009.[21]

Demos

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On February 15, 2019 (the ten year anniversary of the original release of Scrambles); Rosenstock announced the release of a collection of demos on Twitter.[22] Along with a link to the demos and the original album, there was a short piece of writing where he reflected on the creation and release of Scrambles. He concluded with "Thanks for reading, listening, and giving a shit. – Jeff". The demos appear to only feature Rosenstock. Several of the tracks contain musical and lyrical differences from their finished versions; "Cold Chillin' Cold Chillin'" is performed almost entirely on unadorned acoustic guitar and vocals, "It Shits!!!" contains different chords and lyrics, and "Wednesday Night Drinkball" lacks its climactic coda.

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Punknews.org[23]
Alternative Press[24]
Exclaim![25]

Reviews of the album have praised its perceived cohesiveness and clever lyrics.[26] One reviewer wrote that, "Rosenstock's songwriting, which has always been quirky and introspective, is at its best here, mixing the personal and the humorous, and finding the difficult balance."[27] Another reviewer declared that "Jeff Rosenstock is slowly becoming the only voice in punk that matters."[28]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."Cold Chillin' Cold Chillin'"1:45
2."Stuff That I Like"2:53
3."It Shits!!!"2:42
4."Fresh Attitude Young Body"3:38
5."Wednesday Night Drinkball"2:30
6."25!"2:47
7."$2,400,000"5:58
8."Gang of Four Meets the Stooges (but Boring)"1:11
9."9/11 Fever!!!"1:43
10."(Shut) Up the Punx!!!"2:34
11."Can I Pay My Rent in Fun?"3:01
12."Saddr Weirdr"2:38
13."Sort of Like Being Pumped"4:29
Total length:37:41

Personnel

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  • Sean Bonnette – vocals (track 5)
  • Neil Callaghan – melodica (track 13)
  • Mike Campbell – omnichord (track 1)
  • Chris Candy – trumpet (track 10)
  • Mike Costa – drums (all tracks except 1)
  • John DeDomenici – bass (all tracks except 1, 6, 7, 10)
  • Dino – vocals (track 3)
  • Kepi Ghoulie – vocals (track 3)
  • Joel Hatstat – sleigh bells (track 1)
  • Rick Johnson – theremin (track 7), bass (track 10)
  • Matt Keegan – trombone (tracks 1, 10, 13)
  • Christine Mackie – bells (tracks 1, 13), claps (track 4)
  • Tom Malinowski – guitar (tracks 4, 6, 8, 12)
  • Sean McCabe – trombone (tracks 1, 10, 13)
  • Jeff Rosenstock – vocals (all tracks), guitar (all tracks), piano (tracks 1, 4, 5, 6), saxophone (track 1), tenor saxophone (tracks 10, 13), keyboards (tracks 3, 10, 11, 12), claps (track 4), synthesizer (tracks 4, 6, 11, 12), wurlitzer (tracks 4, 5, 7), mellotron (tracks 5), key bass (tracks 6, 12), fuzz bass (track 7), bells (track 11)
  • Laura Stevenson – vocals, banjo (track 13)

References

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  1. ^ Paul, Aubin (November 29, 2007). "Bomb The Music Industry: '25'". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  2. ^ August, Justin (March 30, 2008). "Bomb The Music Industry!: 'Fresh Attitude Young Body' (demo)". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  3. ^ August, Justin (April 6, 2008). "Bomb The Music Industry!: New album demos *updated*". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  4. ^ White, Adam (August 10, 2008). "The Riot Before detail 'Fists Buried in Pockets'". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  5. ^ "Bomb The Music Industry! to enter studio tomorrow, detail album." Punknews.org. October 6, 2008
  6. ^ a b c "Bomb The Music Industry! set to record, detail next album". Alternative Press. October 5, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  7. ^ Paul, Aubin (December 16, 2008). "Bomb the Music Industry! gives update on new record". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  8. ^ "Ska Is Dead Tour presents Skanksgiving '08 Fest". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. July 20, 2008. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  9. ^ Paul, Aubin (October 24, 2008). "Bomb The Music Industry with Shinobu, Mustard Plug". Punknews.org. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  10. ^ Paul, Aubin (January 7, 2009). "Bomb the Music Industry finish album, post tracklisting/artwork". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  11. ^ Paul, Aubin (January 19, 2009). "Bomb the Music Industry!: 'Can I Pay My Rent in Fun?'". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  12. ^ Conoley, Ben (January 22, 2009). "Bomb the Music Industry!: Episode 1". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  13. ^ Paul, Aubin (January 20, 2009). "Bomb The Music Industry delays album". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  14. ^ "Against Me!, Bouncing Souls to play Harvest Of Hope festival". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. December 18, 2008. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  15. ^ Paul, Aubin (April 28, 2009). "Fake Problems / Bomb The Music Industry!". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  16. ^ Paul, Aubin (May 7, 2009). "Bomb the Music Industry!". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  17. ^ Paul, Aubin (May 28, 2009). "Bomb the Music Industry!". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  18. ^ Paul, Aubin (July 3, 2009). "Bomb the Music Industry / Laura Stevenson and The Cans". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  19. ^ Yancey, Bryne (June 11, 2009). "Bomb the Music Industry! and Laura Stevenson and The Cans detail split 7'". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  20. ^ White, Adam (August 7, 2009). "Bomb The Music Industry!: 'Wednesday Night Drinkball'". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  21. ^ Paul, Aubin (July 21, 2009). "The Fest 8 announces lineup". Punknews.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  22. ^ @jeffrosenstock (16 February 2019). "Damn, it's been brought to my attention that the Bomb the Music Industry! record SCRAMBLES is 10 years old today. H…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ Punknews.org review
  24. ^ Alternative Press review
  25. ^ "Exclaim! review". Archived from the original on 15 April 2012.
  26. ^ "WRPI 91.5 Troy Indie Music Blog: Gold Sounds: Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles review". Ilikewrpi.blogspot.com. 2009-02-15. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  27. ^ Sutherland, Sam. "Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles • Punk Reviews •". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  28. ^ "Bomb the Music Industry! - Scrambles". Punknews.org. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
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