Lync, the short-lived ’90s Olympia, WA post-hardcore/indie rock/emo band fronted by the late Sam Jayne (latter of Love As Laughter), have just given their sole album, 1994’s These Are Not Fall Colors, an expanded reissue via Suicide Squeeze. (It was originally released on K Records.) It’s been remastered, it’s back on vinyl for the first time in over a decade, and it includes bonus track “Can’t Tie Yet” from the Remembering the Fireballs (Part 8) compilation. The vinyl release also comes with expanded artwork, a poster, and liner notes by Brian Cook (of Botch, Russian Circles, These Arms Are Snakes, etc).
To celebrate its release, drummer Dave Schneider (who, along with bassist James Bertram, was recruited as the rhythm section for Built to Spill’s There’s Nothing Wrong with Love tour because of how much Doug Martsch liked this Lync album) has given us a track-by-track breakdown of the full classic LP and the newly-added bonus track. Read on for what he had to say…
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DAVE SCHNEIDER’S TRACK-BY-TRACK BREAKDOWN:
B
Honestly I have no idea what this song is about. I have superstitions. In 1994 Sam and I lacked the responsibility to rent V.H.S. tapes at the local video store. We would watch the same movies, over and over again. We developed some favorites. The 1972 made for television movie “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” was one of those movies. It has absolutely nothing to do with outer space. John Travolta’s in it. Sam gave me his copy and “Shakes the Clown” for my 21st birthday. It’s kind of a downer. They don’t go to outer space. Totally bums out touring bands. Standard tuning but often out of tune. I get weird sometimes.
Silver Spoon Glasses / Pennies to Save
On the subject of alternative music. The first time I heard Beck on the radio I thought it was Urban Dance Squad. I like E.M.F., Jesus Jones, and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. Don’t tell anybody. Sam and I met in 1991 at 89.9 F.M. K.A.S.B. Bellevue High School Radio. The two of us would make joke public service announcements with E.M.F. or Jesus Jones as a backing track or sound bite. The station’s program program manager was pushing the newer alternative music of the time. We had mountains of that crap in every control room. Got to make the boss happy. Time and Temperature.
Sam and I had a methodology to produce these assignments. First we would record the backing track to tape. Second we would slightly erase the tape with an electromagnet to degrade the audio signal. Third, add reverb, lots of reverb. Four get the microphone to feedback into itself at the beginning and end of the announcement. Five, hit the reverb tank with your fist at the end. These were our first musical endeavors, and they honestly sounded similar to Lync songs. Sam talked me into playing drums around this time. We met James shortly thereafter. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin.
Clay Fighter
Sam liked to get answering machine cassette tapes from RadioShack or the thrift stores. They worked great for tape loops. I think he got the RadioShack-branded Moog used on These Are Not Fall Colors at a thrift store? Maybe even an Echoplex? You could do that back then. You just needed to know what to look for. Definitely was a fan of the Fisher Price magic microphone. You can get one at a toy store. It’s a big part of Sam’s guitar tone, seriously.
Cue Cards
This is the song we would hear on college radio. It’s a little bit more straight to the point than the typical Lync song. Sam’s lyrical content was often vague, and generally full of hooks. His bedroom was a mess, and his notebooks were even worse. This song was one of the cleaner pages in his book. Good work duder.
Angel Food Fodder and Vitamins
We ate a lot of Chick-O-Stick candy bars.
Heroes and Heroines
Earlier I said that Sam and I met in High School. Although this is true it is a bit misleading. We both attended different schools for the first half of the day. After lunch we would both respectively go to Bellevue High School for our broadcasting classes. The school was close to the mall. We went to the mall.
This song is about a girl, dugh. The year before I met Sam I was unwillingly attending ballroom dancing classes as a favor for a family friend. I was partnered with the future prom queen from Sam’s real high school. We also had defensive driving classes together, so we sort of knew each other. She thought I was a dork.
So Sam and I are at the mall one day. She noticed the two of us while shopping with friends. She politely ditches her friends to hang with us. Sam was shocked by the whole situation. We bought an Orange Julius. He had all these questions. How do you two know each other? How did this happen? Ballroom dancing? We had to explain to Sam how we never really got along until one day I accidentally lost a Jawbreaker tape in her mom’s car. She found it.
Turtle
Soundtrack for an imaginary fantasy role playing video game. Have you ever played The Legend of Zelda?
Uberrima Fides
“Uberrima FiIdes” is Latin for “utmost good faith”. We were big fans of locking nuts at the end of records, so annoying.
Can’t Tie Yet
A day or two before recording, at the end of band practice. James found a working 9 volt battery.
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Pick up the new reissue here.