Conshafter
Your Day Job
© 2002 Dork Epiphany Records (617664205629)
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An irreverent yet hopelessly endearing blend of feedback-drenched garage rock, nu-wave,and sampledelica, Conshafter's potent pop speedball is cut with instantly hummable melodies, surprisingly insightful lyrics and clever production.
tracks
- 1 Road Trip
- 2 In It For the Money
- 3 Myte as well Rawk
- 4 Wanker
- 5 Porn Star Mustache
- 6 Day Job
- 7 Still Around
- 8 Subtly Losing Wisdom
- 9 Next Galaxy
- 10 The Schwartz
- 11 Kerouac
- 12 Dying a Slow Death
- 13 Midlife Crisis
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notes
One of Conshafter's many critical successes...this courtesy of Induged Magazine (www.indulged.com)from sunny Massachusetts:
Reprinted with the kind permission of Indulged Magazine
Hey, remember those days when you first heard Weezer and you were bobbing your head like there was no tomorrow?... Wanna do it again?
Conshafter is a very clean-sounding, catchy, Weezer-influenced garage rock band. And since Weezer's too busy with their hash pipes, this CD may just be what we needed. With an almost-genious impromptu lyrical style, Your Day Job is a great CD to put on whenever you want; you don't need to be in a particular mood or anything. This CD is what a band sounds like before they quit their day job and enter the music business. You can tell Conshafter had fun recording this album, and that they want you to have fun, too.
I was immediately reminded of Weezer when I heard the first track "Road Trip," and sure enough the lead singer, Chris Konstantinos, mentions that he has Pinkerton (Weezer's sophomore album) in the song. You'll also find a striking similarity to Jimmy Eat World in the vocal department, and in the clapping department. The three-piece also reminded me of Ozma, possibly because of the keyboards and 80's-influenced lyrics in "Wanker." And, finally, they reminded me of Jimmie's Chicken Shack, primarily due to the care-free lyrics, proclaimed laziness, and catchy riffs in "Day Job" (Jimmie's Chicken Shack have a tune called "Lazy Boy Dash").
I highly doubt the shelf-life of this CD is even close to that of a Twinkie, because of all the references and modern day slang. But, this is a great CD for all you geek rockers looking for more fun than you can have on an "Island In The Sun."
Andy
reviews
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Familiar yet original vibe with an added 3rd dimension....depth.
author: CraigQuite a variety of music on this one! Road Trip, Might as Well Rawk, and The Schwartz have a rock-out approach. Subtly loosing wisdom/Next Galaxy, Kerouac and dying a slow death are deeper musically & lyrically. In it for the Money is my least favorite and I think has the hardest time fitting into the rest of the CD. Next in line would be still around. They're both good songs but could have used produced a little more. I like the way subtly loosing wisdom and next galaxy tie together. The transition is hypnotizing and grabs your attention. This is what I mean about depth. Overall, a very strong original sound that rocks and makes you think. I can picture the middle-age man drunk in his basement with fists clenched looking at his trophies and wondering how things got so bad. Usually you'd have to watch a movie or read a good book to picture this kind of thing. How many other songs out there paint such vivd pictures like Midlife Crisis? I give Your Day Job a solid 4 stars.
"...a potent dose of reality tinged with humor and insightfulness ..."
author: In Your EarTwo guys, a few guitars, and an idea. This beautiful trinity struck a chord (excuse the pun) with the two founding members of Conshafter, Chris Konstantinos (lead vox / guitarist / songwriter / producer) and Dave Cykert (lead guitarist / songwriter / backing vox) and led them to fashion Your Day Job. The group, now based in Virginia, released their second album, Your Day Job, on the indie label Dork Epiphany Records in July of 2001. As implied by the title, the album is a satire, an interpretation, and an exploration of what the band calls the "horrors of the working world." The band applies just about every musical variations and style to the sound of the album, making it an extremely diverse - and strange - set of alt rock songs. The first and undeniable influence to be found on Your Day Job is that Weezer-like sound Conshafter have so warmly embraced. The same careless and irreverent attitude that makes Weezer so oddly appealing carries over to Conshafter. The band has also co-opted the best of the 80's by adding the keyboards of Jenn Hunt and the turntable stylings of DJ Bighead into their mix. Conshafter's album cannot be validated song by song but rather by the sequence of the songs. The album begins with the grindy "Road Trip." This song includes Hunt's nostalgic synth-keyboard paired with Cykert's winding guitar. The lyrics relate the final glow before the beast of burden and necessity of employment takes over, "Heading down I-76 / With my boyz in the back / And my hand on the mix / Tape of the stuff that we think is great / We got Pinkerton, Enema of the State / It's sad, but it's true / We all start work in a week or two." The tracks off Your Day Job tell the story of your day job. The disc cruises through tracks like "Porn Star Mustache" (girlfriend left him for a "Zima sippin piece of white trash" - obvious first single and video), "Day Job" ("We work here / To get money / For stupid stuff we don't need anyways / You can call me a slacker, call me a slob / But I've had enough of this day job"), and "Dying a Slow Death" (a semi-acoustic song about feeling stifled in a Technicolored, money driven world). The final track, "Midlife Crisis," culminates the conceptual album into three minutes of that tragic breakdown that feels inevitable at times. The song is more of a statement than a rock track, but it rings loud and clear. Although the sound of the album can be overbearing and somewhat tedious at times, Conshafter grow on you. The self-described garage rockers who only want to "rawk" deliver a potent dose of reality tinged with humor and insightfulness on Your Day Job.
The name's CONSHAFTER, remember it!
author: HoochyConshafter. A group of 6 young wannabes out of Richmond, VA, who turned their backs on their careers to pursue fame in a Garage Rock band. They have a growing fan base ranging from surf punks, aging new wavers, hip-hop heads and folk-rock junkies to mindless partyers and yuppie twentysomethings. Their album 'Your Day Job', (which they describe as a loosely constructed concept album on the horrors of the working world), is on national release in America on Indie label Dork Epiphany. Their first single 'Porn Star Moustache', appears on the 'Rock and Mudrestle' soundtrack, they're currently in negotiations for a Japanese tour and receiving airplay on a commercial radio station, not to mention being reviewed by magazines and publications world-wide including MTVi. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, they have a meeting mid-November with Sony Records. And how do they do it? All by themselves. From mixing and production, to website design, logos and album art. What pro's. 'Your Day Job' is a CD which caters for everything life can throw at you, a crap job, a girl you just cant get rid of, a midlife crisis and even a girlfriend who's run off with a porn star. Sounds depressing? It's not. They describe themselves as "Garage Rock" and "The result of throwing Weezer, The Cars, Beck, the Sex Pistols, De La Soul and Buddy Holly in a blender and hitting liquify" and that’s exactly what they are, and more. There are many different influences going on, as well as a lot of individual styles of music and that’s what gives them a new and original sounding edge. A style best described by themselves as an "everything in the kitchen sink approach to songwriting". The lyrics have the wit of Blink 182, but added with the obvious musical influences of Weezer this makes them good in a way that Blink 182 could never be. With songs as funny and influential as these, this 'Buddy Holly meets the Sex Pistols via Beck' band will make it big. Go buy their CD NOW! Rocking or Shocking? Rocking. 5/5 The name's CONSHAFTER, remember it!
"...Conshafter also have a good sense of melody, punkpop chord riffs and what ma
author: Soundsxp Alternative Music Webzine, United KingdomWhat’s this? Something that came through the soundsxp maildrop, and excellent it turns out to be. Who are they? Three slacker ‘suburbanite brats’ with a nice line in self-deprecating humo(u)r, an ear for a good tune and inability to hold on to a drummer for very long. What are they on about? Oh that’s easy – leaving education [best days of your lives – unbelievably, it gets worse kids] and having to get a job (road trip), hating the job (day job), seeing others getting better jobs (wanker), slacking (myte as well rawk), being pestered by a girl (still around), losing a girl (porn star moustache), driving around (the schwartz), and getting older and wondering where the time went (midlife crisis). It’s sort of a concept album. But I use the term loosely and besides, it’s funnily serious and vice versa. Who do they sound like? Well, the sleeve says ‘Conshafter – pathetic pop punk’, and I don’t think they can be done under the Trades Description Act (in the UK). Also Pinkerton and Enema of the State are namechecked in the autobiographical road trip. Are these enough clues? Could you tell me more? OK: songs that start gently/quietly with arpeggio/unadorned gtr intros and then turn to rocklitepop distortion gtr chordriffs (road trip, wanker); but some don’t get to the distortion (in it for the money) or do without the gentle intro (myte as well rawk). Also acoustic numbers like the strumming kerouac and solo arpeggiong dying a slow death. midlife crisis is an unchanging punkpop riff that builds up to a shout. Analysis is boring isn’t it? Anyway, Conshafter also have a good sense of melody, punkpop chord riffs and what makes a song catchy (I’ve been humming them for a week). All very clearly produced too. Not lofi at all. Do you have any favourite bits? Well any of the first seven tracks (but the remaining six tracks aren’t bad either). Fave lines : “My hands hurt/From a hard day’s work/On the playstation…. I’ve got no future/Yet no desperation…All our lyrics are senseless/So you might as well hum”. Where are they from? Weezerville, USA. Off I-76 (near I-82, Blink and you’ll miss it). Is that really a place? Yes, in the Atlas of pop. Anything else? Er. You do have to listen to the music. Reading about it isn’t the same. Check it out at www.conshafter.com So what do you reckon? 8/10. At least.
"This is easily the best unsolicited record I've received in the last year"
author: Madcap Music, Chicago, IlConshafter make no secret of their adoration of Weezer. The first song on Your Day Job name checks the band's Pinkerton record, and they all dress like Rivers Cuomo—right down to the nerdy glasses. They are not at Weezer's level yet, but in the humor department, at least, I'd have to give Conshafter the edge—at least in comparison to Weezer's last two records. Your Day Job is loaded with songs that display a sharp, worldly, sarcastic sense of humor. "Porn Star Mustache" laments that "My girlfriend did something rash / Left me for a porn star mustache." "Still Around" tells of another girl who just won't go away: "Check my caller ID, you're on there twice / A simple e-mail would probably suffice." The rest of the record grapples with everyman (or everywoman) themes like dead-end jobs, slacking off, escaping from society's conventions (usually in a fast car), and perpetual ennui. "Midlife Crisis (Ballantyne)" brings the suburban dream to its knees with one line: "There's only one good thing in your life / Turbo Cabrio in Arctic White." While not quite ready to match either of their idols (Blink-182's Enema of the State is also referenced affectionately) in the hook-writing department, Conshafter is an endearing band with a definite talent for crafting catchy tunes with poignant lyrics. This is easily the best unsolicited record I've received in the last year. At an apparently young age, the boys of Conshafter seem to have come to an understanding of what life should really be about—even though they haven't quite won the battle against conformity just yet. At the very least, they are aware of the absurdities that made the movie Office Space a cult favorite for closet corporate rebels, and they have managed to effectively channel them into pop-punk songs worthy of repeated plays. Nice job, guys. Let's hope you can quit yours soon.
"In nearly every conceivable way Conshafter gives you more than the average pop
author: Deep Fry BonanzaTo those of us who have lived most of our lives in the post-punk era, it's hard to gauge the influence of the mainstream on punk rock. This is a sTo those of us who have lived most of our lives in the post-punk era, it's hard to gauge the influence of the mainstream on punk rock. This is a subject of much debate (especially debates where the word "sellout" is lobbed back and forth), but I think that it might be even more interesting to study a more subversive aspect of punk: its influence on the mainstream. Though it's all but indetectable to us young'uns, according to most rock critics whose careers have straddled the original punk era it's undeniable. There's a certain swagger, a certain nihilistic attitude whose seeds were sown in John Lennon and Mick Jagger, but finally came to full flower in the guise of the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten. Conshafter play the type of pop music that couldn't have existed before punk happened. Not only is it too smart and too bitter to find much precedent in in the pre-punk era, but the attitude (nihilistic rage tempered with self-absorped hyper-sensitivity) is easily tracable back to Johnny Rotten's personae. But to get back on task here, this is pop music, not punk rock. Conshafter are definitely on the other side of that line that separates punk rock bands with mainstream success (Green Day and Blink 182) from mainstream pop bands with detectable punk influences (Weezer). If you listen to "Porn Star Mustache," (chorus: "my girl did something rash / left me for a porn star mustache") it's obvious; the big, simple-but-memorable riff, the immediately hilarious lyrics, and the whoa-enhanced chorus combine the best aspects of John Cougar Mellancamp and the Offspring. Musically, throughout the rest of the disc punk rock is clearly just an ingredient in the band's stew of influences, with hip-hop's staccato vocal style and the punchy beats of electronica (perhaps via Radiohead) playing a large part as well. That said, the combination is potent and Your Day Job is a strikingly-well-textured record. Each song's instantly hum-able tune is supplimented by some other identifying mark: an organ solo, maybe even hand claps. Nothing revolutionary, but taken as a whole it betrays a knack for putting the right sound in the right place. A similar knack is also apparent in the lyrics, which are some of the best I've read in a while. Perhaps it's because I spend so much of my time in a cubicle, but the fact that Your Day Job is a concept album based loosely around working in corporate finance is immediately appealing, and the countless clever observations and turns of phrase are like deja vu. "Day Job" in particular provides is a well of great images, my favourite being "As I walk down the hall / I hear my boss chuckle / At another dumb quip / Man, what a dumb prick." However, "Midlife Crisis (Ballantyne)" is definitely the album's lyrical high-water mark. Sort of like Blink 182's "Stay Together for the Kids" or "Adam's Song," the lyrical poignancy is magnified when contrasted with the rest of the band's words, but rather than dishing out abstract generalizations, lyricist Chris Konstantinos translates all of his thoughts into a series of vivid images of a man who engaged the cruise control on life's highway and doesn't like where he ended up. Eventually he decides to kill himself in the one aspect of his life that he genuinely loves: his sports car. In the space of a pop song that barely lasts three minutes the listener develops a rapport with the character so deep that s/he is genuinely saddened by the song's outcome. In nearly every conceivable way Conshafter gives you more than your average pop or punk band. The lyrical content, the songwriting, the production (well, except for that hollow drum sound... apparently their drummer was playing empty pizza boxes)... all of it is a step above and beyond normal fare. Head over to www.conshafter.com and check these guys out.. the mp3 downloads are conveniently situated in the same place as the album lyrics, so don't fight it, like it!