Bad Machine

Video by Bailey Elder

Bad Machine

by Boon

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Vinyl edition of 300 pressed at Softwax Record Pressing in Philadelphia, PA comes with high quality jacket and printed inner sleeve

Includes unlimited streaming of Bad Machine via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 3 days

$25 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Limited edition Bad Machine LP and Boon T-shirt bundle. Cheaper when purchased together ;)

Includes unlimited streaming of Bad Machine via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 14 days

$40 USD or more
T-Shirt/Shirt
Original Boon Artwork "Duck" T-shirt printed on "Next Level" tee

This is a preorder all T-shirts will ship on / around August 20th

ships out within 14 days

$25 USD or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Pictures of Mom 04:36		buy track
2.	Talking To 02:24 video	lyrics	buy track
On the earth There are trees Full of fruit, and birds, and leaves Look and see I know you (need a good talking to) I know you (do what you have to do) I know you (catch all those bugs at night) I know you (know you don’t have to fight) There are dogs in the street Crying for the taste of meat Hear them weep I know you (need a good talking to) I know you (do what you have to do) I know you (catch all those bugs at night) I know you (know you don’t have to fight) Talk it over, talk it over Talk it over, talk it over Warmer, colder Warmer, colder Warmer, colder Warmer, colder Sing a song to makes it better in the meantime Fold the laundry, do the dishes, watch the tree line
3.	Figure It Out 05:06		buy track
4.	Candle 03:38	lyrics	buy track
Puddles of deserted ideas pooling Clicking camel scrying on a wood floor Moisture teasing sinkholes pulling upward Kill switch in here hiding but it’s hard to See from the car At a certain speed Where you are Crying places smiling all over the walls are drying faster than they were Before tomorrow fell on top of you and what you spent all morning trying not to See from the car At a certain speed Where you are Spider living in the oven Tries to fill its empty stomach Hums a tune to calm himself A web will come in time No one wants a fickle present Hands unfolding waning crescent Giving and ungiving every time Not sure if you’ll ever be completely whole without a hand held through the mirror Turning, turning camel laughing at your Candle burning from both ends won’t help you See from the car At a certain speed Where you are Spider living in the oven Tries to fill its empty stomach Hums a tune to calm himself A web will come in time No one wants a fickle present Hands unfolding, waning crescent Giving and ungiving every time Spider living in the oven Tries to fill its empty stomach Hums a tune to calm itself A web will come in time No one likes a fickle present Hands unfolding, waning crescent Giving and ungiving every time
5.	Gallop 04:12		buy track
6.	A Shape, a Shell 05:08		buy track
7.	The Light 05:58		buy track
8.	Barky 04:51		buy track

about

If we’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s how little is really under our control. There’s terror in that realization, and despair. But there’s also potential for joy and wonder and beauty. What makes the difference is trust. Blind, stupid, desperate trust. On their fourth LP Bad Machine, Philadelphia experimental rockers Boon explore that trust – what it takes to get there, its dangers and its potential rewards.

The experiment in trust started with the writing process itself. Bad Machine marks the first time that the band’s lineup has remained consistent over two albums. Where the band was previously a loose cast of friends and collaborators orbiting around frontman Brendan Principato, it is now a solid group, with Andrew Senken, Drew Sher, and Dan Lynch all taking part in building Bad Machine from scratch.

“This time around, with a solidified lineup and renewed resolve, we decided to lean into the chaos,” Principato said. “Rather than trying to control where the songs were going to end up, we recorded the skeletons of the songs in a single day and let the tracks blossom naturally.”

And blossom they did. Listening to the album, it's hard to believe that songs so lush and full of life were ever mere skeletons. The final product, which was recorded by Jesse Paller (Snail Mail, Tall Friend), mixed by Ben Etter (Deerhunter) and mastered by Carl Saff (Woods, Protomartyr), has a density and intricacy of sound that that disguises the simplicity of those initial recordings.

Yet at the same time, it’s hard to imagine such intricate melodies and unexpected moments coming from anything other than blind trust in the chaos. The ecstatic yodel that punctuates “Pictures of Mom,” the industrial Depeche Mode electronics on “Gallop,” the sunny guitar tone on “A Shape, A Shell” that sounds ripped from some long-lost Graceland outtake: these are things that shouldn’t work together but do. Things we don’t see coming, but are glad when they arrive. Out of trust, surprising beauty.

Trusting the process is one thing, but trusting each other can be more difficult. Boon ruminates on the breakdown of trust and relationships in “Pictures of Mom.” On “Gallop,” Principato puts the problem succinctly, singing “I don’t want to be far or near, somewhere in between…” How can we have the benefits of closeness of trust but the emotional safety of distance? Trust is scary, so we try to carve out an “in between,” and much of Bad Machine is an exploration of whether this “in between” is adequate.

The vibrant "Talking To" further explores how we relate to others, focusing on the constant tug-of-war between caring for others and dominating them. The chorus "I know you / need a good talking to," can be read as empathy or discipline. Rather than coming down on one side, Boon opts to keep the ambiguity alive to emphasize that tension in all our relations, and the need for trust that tension creates. The final line of the chorus: “I know you/ know you don’t have to fight” is a resignation: we can (and must) accept this ambiguity, the tug-of-war between caring for and controlling. We have to trust that space between.

And what of our trust in those forces outside of our control, be they societal, emotional, or digital? At a time when most interactions are literally or figuratively pre-programmed, Bad Machine poses the question: is it even possible to commit to surprise and wonder to find joy anymore? The refrain of "Figure It Out" - "I don't want to figure it out" - ultimately becomes a mantra. Somewhere between a surrender and a dedication to letting go and trying to find the unexpected happiness in the machinations that rule our lives.

Bad Machine is not another “pandemic” album – it was largely written during the band’s 2018 tour. But its struggle with trust versus apprehension is well-suited for this moment as we awkwardly try to come back together all while grappling with the inescapable knowledge that we are at the mercy of so many forces beyond our control.

Are we a part of the bad machine or is it part of us? Can we trust the bad machine? What choice do we have?

credits

released September 2, 2022

Boon is Dan Lynch, Jesse Paller, Brendan Principato, Andy Senken, and Drew Sher
All songs written, performed, and produced by Boon
Recorded at Artifact Audio (Maspeth, NY), various houses in Philadelphia, PA, a motorcycle shop in New Jersey, and a small shack on a river outside of Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Engineered by Jesse Paller
Mixed by Ben Etter at Maze Studio (Atlanta, GA)
Mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering (Chicago, IL)
Original artwork, design, and layout by Andy Senken

Brendan Principato: vocals, guitars, synthesizers, piano, mandolin, bells, bowls, chimes, autoharp, xylophone, crank ratchet, shakers, tambourines, field recordings, samplers, screams, assorted mouth sounds, noise, and electronics
Drew Sher: vocals, guitars, piano, keyboard, synthesizers, assorted mouth sounds, noise, and electronics
Andy Senken: bass, synthesizers, banjo, whistles, tambourines, organ
Dan Lynch: drums, samplers, wooden boxes, 11 string guitar, bells, shakers, screams, assorted mouth sounds
Jesse Paller: vocals, electronics, screams, assorted mouth sounds
Additional screams and other various mouth sounds by Zach Gottehrer Cohen and Dan Howard

license

about

Boon Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

food water atmosphere

email: iamboonmusic@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/iamboonmusic/

shows

Sep 1

O Beach Ibiza

Sant Antoni de Portmany, Spain

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