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Luxury Collection: The Early Demos (2004 - 2015)

by United Shapes

supported by
Matt Curtis
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Matt Curtis I happen to like smart, funny, original pop music, ok? Now leave me alone. Favorite track: Raw Honey.
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1.
Raw Honey 03:23
I can feel my heart beat in my chest When my mouth is pressed against your neck I can feel my hairs standing on end When we are becoming more than friends I can feel the goose bumps on my arms When I am succumbing to your charms I can feel you breathing honey breath When your mouth is pressed against my neck Don’t need to buy it by the side of the road Cause honey we can make our own Raw honey Smear it on your body in place of clothes It’s OK if just the two of us know Raw honey Alls I ever wanna do is make raw honey with just you And if you dig this metaphor then you know what raw honey’s for We can drink it until we get sick We can both stick out our tongues and lick Raw honey We got something only you’s and me’s Straight from the hardest working worker bees Raw honey I can feel the blood rush to my head When you drag me by my hair to bed We can put it on our breakfast toast And if you want I’ll lick it from your toes We don’t need to go to work today We can stay inside all day and play Drinking honey’s all I want to do You can call me your Winnie-the-Pooh People selling honey on the street At the farmer’s market we can eat Raw honey We can dip our fingers in the jar Do it with me baby it’s not hard Raw honey We should get a natural sugar high Then love each other ‘til honey runs dry Raw honey When we’re done we’ll smoke a cigarette Then come inside and start to make it again Raw honey
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Half A Book 02:15
I've been thinkin bout the pages in this book I've been thinkin bout the letters on this page I've been thinkin bout the shelf in my library but I do not think that this book came from there but I'm reading this book anyway I am at the beginning now Someone told me that this book was very good but that there was a part he could not read past There must be a scary monster in this book but I can't be sure cause I forgot to ask why it was that he couldn't read anymore I'm almost to the middle now This book is so good I cannot put it down The characters are well-rounded and the plot is deep Every chapter is suspenseful and profound I'm reading faster cause I cannot wait to see what happens next is anybody's guess I'm at the middle now But when I turn the page to read what happens next I can't believe what I see The second half is blank There's nothing left I've been thinkin bout this stupid book I read I've been trying to get the story out of my head All I wish is that the second half was done All I wish is that I never had begun to read this book with half blank pages now everybody Why is this book half a book?
4.
This is not a metaphor And I am not fucking around I am pushing wind up my neck And out my mouth to make this sound Designers made them simple and right And traffic made us see what they do I'm a line, but I'm more than a line I've got direction and style And I cannot tell a lie Arrows are honest Arrows are honest I mean what I say And I point where I mean Arrows are honest Arrows are honest I mean what I say And I point where I mean This is telling, and there's no need to ask This is knowing, this is not a surprise Here's the thing, won't you look at the thing? This is looking, this is open your eyes On the plane on the safety belt sign At the market in the checkout line There's a service that I'm drawn to provide And if you look at me nice I'll tell you when where and why I mean what I say and I point where I mean Which means I'm gonna say what I would like you to see I mean what I say and I point where I mean I've got something to say, and I hope that you'll agree with me That this is not a metaphor And I am not fucking around I am showing at the speed of look And I am telling at the speed of sound And if you think that I am playing a game, If you think that I am playing a song, I've got a way to make it easy for you To understand the subtle ways in which you got it all wrong
5.
Muddy Wendy 03:10
Muddy Wendy Once a Bottlecappa Kappa Pi I was underwhelmed Until I saw her with her guy friend Eating fudge from the jar like she was starving Making out in her car while she was driving I was underwhelmed Til I had her for myself Muddy Wendy gets clean before she Goes to bed in the evening, but Wendy gets muddy in between getting clean And going to bed in the e-vuh-ning Wendy grabbing my arm Dragging me to every show Wendy double shot of whiskey Me a cup o' joe With the Hindenburg tattooed on her lower back And some kind of steam punk motif above her rack Every time her bell rings An angel gets a nosebleed Muddy Wendy gets clean before she Goes to bed in the evening, but Wendy gets muddy in between getting clean And going to bed in the e-vuh-ning Wendy gets around And around And around W the wondering If she likes me at all E-N-D the ending That her Xs all foretold of Y the question I ask when I look back on you ? cuz it amplifies the W I was overwhelmed Til I lost her for myself Muddy Wendy gets clean before she Goes to bed in the evening, but Wendy gets muddy in between getting clean And going to bed in the e-vuh-ning
6.
Voodoo Doll 03:57
Undo the evil spell That has me sweating in my sleep Stop telling everyone All of the secrets that I keep Who drove the pins deep in My little voodoo doll? I know you are up to Not any good at all Hold my head to the flames Make me remove my woolen cap Twist my spine all around Until you’ve made me a hunchback Who drove the pins deep in My little voodoo doll? I know you are up to Not any good at all My skin of cloth and thread The better to manipulate The vice around my head To squeeze my brains into a paste Who drove the pins deep in My little voodoo doll? I know you are up to Not any good at all Tie my legs up in knots So that I’m sitting Indian style Then place me on the tracks And make me wait there for a while Who drove the pins deep in My little voodoo doll? I know you are up to Not any good at all Finally bury me Under the flowers in your bed And leave me there for weeks Until my friends all think I’m dead Who drove the pins deep in My little voodoo doll? I know you are up to Not any good at all
7.
No one should have to be A stranger in their own skin Nor play the walk-on role In lives their friends are starring in This is a human game, so first make sure that you are one of those People are made for people I did not make the rules Some people fit together like puzzle pieces And some have to use Blunt instruments to fly into a temporary fit And I can't can't can't get used to it These hands are lion's hands And I've got a lion's tail And I'm walkin all around Inside my padded lion cell And wouldn't it be nice to pick the kids up from their mom's and bring em here On this fine afternoon? See me walk all around Take pleasure in my presence Delight in this rare treat you found But when you leave I'm still a lion walking all around And I can't can't can't get used to it If I fell in my apartment Would it even make a sound? Would I hear the upstairs neighbor Shout that I should keep the noise down? This is a lion thing, so don't come round or you could lose your head And that's not something that comes back No matter how you try it Cause no mind that gets out of its head Would come back in its right it And things that never happen never ever will because they Can't can't can't
8.
When it's nice outside I like to keep the windows open Let the night roll in and smell the overlapping seasons Now it's dark inside, can't see the things in my apartment But I know they're there and I think something is crawlin on em Cats broke in my house I tried, I couldn't keep them out They wanted it so bad They wanted in Get home late from work, take comfort knowing I'm alone Greet my furniture like normal "honey I am home" Then across my path, hey what the hell is hap'nin Then right out the door, them crazy cats was back again Now I'm all alone again and that's the way I like it Patched the hole in the screen where the cats made their unlawful entry Now it's straight to bed or I won't get any Christmas presents But guess what I find more of as soon as I turn down the covers All the cats in the town want something that I have.
9.
I know, I know How it goes Dangerous shapes never know their place In the world, make a home in a junk drawer A dangerous space For a tender place Somebody better come And turn these lights back on And file the edges down so we don't cut our fingers off when We try to touch each other in each other's sleep Sleep safe Dangerous shapes Are always on the make Until they find A friendly face To make them feel Make them feel less dangerous It's a lonely and a sad affair That wonderful and rare Are words that have become synonymous to you and me and The time we spend together Rubbing up against each other with our Dangerous shapes We're in a ragged state So we'll stand perfectly still Like chickens with our heads still on But not for long Cuz we can only do wrong In the nighttime, broken glass rattles in the sack like Dangerous shapes We gotta watch our backs Until we find A friendly face To make us feel Make us feel less dangerous Well look what we did! A play-related injury There's body parts for picking up and picking the ones to save You're a train wreck And I suspect That things are dangerously close again to shaping up that way Until we find A friendly face To make us feel Make us fell less dangerous
10.
Shake Ground 03:15
some day you'll see the ground shake me a romantic necromancy now that i'm back from the dead what would you have me do i'm waiting for orders from you the one that i'm indebted to you seem so surprised that your crazy ritual actually worked by bringing me back around you might have seen some change, but i'm still the same though i've decayed i've spent some time underground for ten long years the worms chowed down on my remains not too much left of me now but your incantations made my old bones a home again and called my spirit back home
11.
Subtraction 03:25
That girl is a liar and she knows too much About the thing and another thing is this what I thought it was I guess it’s not Black lights like cobra strikes all night long That burn like fighting words in a song I’d never write it would be wrong Like throwing up when you turn me on Just kick me out and put your clothes back on Hey wait hey hey Subtraction! My captain! Are the bones in the mouth are the xylophone sounds That they make When they shake Are the bleed in the nose are the tooth in the ache Wear hot pants do a dance just for me Or if not gimme tea and sympathy Another Christmas on TV You gave me your black mirror for our art class But then got married and wanted it back Are you for real I have to ask Or just a ghost from my art class past? I thought we would but we didn't last Headaches like rattlesnakes in a sack That girl’s a liar when she says she has A kiss for me for the plane ride back These pants don’t fit because I’m not the same As I was when she drove me to the plane I’ll never wear these pants again You said I looked like a dead salesman Comic relief with shaky hands
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15.
Calculations 04:01
A guy came by here today said he was from some kind of bureau Wanted to know if I was OK my lucky number and my brand of smokes Told me to wait in the car for a while taught me to drive around in perfect circles He had number that I'd never seen scratched problems in the dirt at his feet then scrubbed them clean Said he could fix me up and make me happy again Let's do some calculations Let's build you a nice new friend Some guys came by here today and one of them looked like he could've been you from a different life His hair was longer and he wore nice pants He showed me how to separate the light Wanted to know if I knew what made airplanes fly He took some measurements and wrote things down Tore off long sheets of paper let them float to the ground Said he could fix me up and take me back into time to the year it was soft and cold for months on end and the sun barely shined We can fix you up and make you good as new Let's do some calculations Run our hands all over you.
16.
Marches 03:44
of all the ways we have to get down to B from A the organized walk in time creeps me out the protest the funeral the municipal "come one come all" and speaking of funerals i hope i never have to ever carry your pall i hope i never have to ever carry your pall so line up the lost toys in endless columns of rows and send them down to first and main with the band when we are numerous in our discontent we will sick in and we will walk out and we will circle the block until you meet our demands we will circle the block until you meet our demands
17.
I've never lived here but I've always been here like the guy in the black and white picture at the end of the movie it turned out he'd been there his whole life but he'd never lived there except for the once and it didn't work out right He died outside, had a fight with his wife and he ran all around in the maze of the mind of the ghost of the love that was trapped in his heart And speaking of love there's a heart on my sleeve not the sleeve but the front of this white t-shirt not a shirt but a mug not a mug but a glove not a glove but a No. 2 pencil When it's sharp and I hold it straight up on the desk it's a relative I know from pictures But a picture's enough to rekindle the love Like a sister you see just at Christmas And the people who aren't from here wish that they were And the people who are know they're smarter than the people who dream of New York cuz they know that the grass isn't greener it's harder And it grows to incredible heights and it turns into metal and glass and burnt coffee And the light from the sun is that guy from the maze with the axe trying to hack through the city They thought that they knew us Well how could they know us? They read in the shape of a cloud we'd been bad So they blew into town and they took souvenirs from a place that I had never seen though I had But instead of a snow globe they took the whole thing leaving only the snow and a hole in the globe By the time that I got there I got there too late to do anything even say that I'd been there. I love New York I love New York I love New York It's written on my shirt.
18.
Hydroxyzine 04:07
X-Y-Z Hydroxyzine Cutest little pill I’ve ever seen Not afraid to go to bed not afraid of anything Somnus X-Y-Z Hydroxyzine You’re the only one I really need That’s not true I need all thirteen Somnus X-Y-Z Hydroxyzine What once was hell now’s a dream Take it for yourself and see what I mean Somnus X-Y-Z X-Y-Z Hydroxyzine Laying on my bed and staring blankly Beats wanting to strangle everybody I see Somnus X-Y-Z Hydroxyzine One does the trick don’t need to take three Not afraid to talk to people not afraid of anything Somnus X-Y-Z Hydroxyzine Cutest little pill I’ve ever seen Not a wolf in a cage or a ghost in a sheet Somnus X-Y-Z Somnus
19.
False Point 04:34
When I get back from where I'm going I expect to see your fancy luggage Packed and by the door Take your piggy banks And snow globes with the skylines Cuz I don't want to shake those anymore I hope I'm making myself clear I'm going back on the pills You drove me off of I've heard about a place I've seen some photographs That made me feel like when I was a child I know that I'll fit in there I've got a matching hat I'll sign the breakup papers that you filed I hope I'm making myself clear You'll never see me again Unless you come on down to False Point Your welcome in False Point Where nothing's for sale No circular treadmills for chasing your tail Evolve at your leisure Hold on to your wings Don't busy your pretty head with material things The mayor is a bird The D.A. is a bird The warden is a bird You think about the future I'll think about a hole You always said that I would die alone You're right about the one thing I'm probly gonna die But how and when you couldn't be more wrong I hope I'm making myself clear I've got no business here
20.
I am a shell of my former self I am a shell of my former shell I am the ghost of the husk that I was yesterday I am that man in the photograph reading his own epitaph I never know if I'm dead or doin' OK You can sleep for days and hide yourself from the scene You can do a J with Socrates if that's your thing If you want to speak with management just ring the bell Enjoy your life in Hell I was a hat in a former life I would go back at the drop of me and see the world from a salesman's head again But now I'm here wedged between these rocks feelin' the flames lick my thermal socks and a three-headed dog brings the paper in everyday People with their noise and lights might really scare you but you can talk on couches you can scream your prayers you can take as many pills it takes to make you feel well Enjoy your life in Hell I was in love with a brown-haired girl I sent her poems from the underworld with little hearts where the dots of the "i"s should be I played her voice in my brain like a song from a tape I'd make my hands feel her hands feel her face on my face She's real for sure but before she was more real to me You can think of Sarah but you can't embrace her You can scrub your memories of her with a pink eraser You can disinfect your life of all the love that you felt Enjoy your life in Hell Third circle Second circle Outer circle Your floor, sir So now I'm back in my bed asleep Feelin' the drugs in my brain at work And when I wake she'll be sleeping there next to me You might take forever You might bide your time And you might write the memoirs of your crowded mind You might sing the blues forever - only time will tell So enjoy your life in Hell Yes, enjoy your life in Hell You better enjoy your life

about

A gravy-dripped musicopia of only the very listenablest songs from our first eight demo albums. Yes. They still sound like garbage. But it's remastered garbage!

credits

released May 12, 2020

Joseph Devens - keyboards, piano, drums, vocals, additional guitar
Drew Cave - guitars, trombone, drums, vocals

All songs recorded between 2004 and 2015 at home in Austin, Texas on high-tech computer machines using the free software machines. Whichever one of us is singing the song, that's who wrote the lyrics. The original recordings have undergone rudimentary re-mixing and mastering to usher the gravy comfortably into your holes. Goodnite, Doctors.

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United Shapes Austin, Texas

United Shapes are an alternative pop/rock duo formed in 2004 in Austin, TX by Joseph Devens and Drew Cave. New studio album Confuseograph now available on Flim Flam Records.

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