Fewer Moving Parts

If crushing truths perish by being acknowledged, David Bazan is the grim-news reaper. As the principal player in Pedro the Lion and Headphones, his music summons up an atmosphere of absolute candor and first-thought confession. On the occasion of a baby being born, if the father's initial feeling is one of dread and regret, Bazan's song will say so. His lyrics puncture all forms of defensive optimism and unmask the ways our use of words (winners, success, progress, going places) often appear engineered to avoid perception. He chronicles the subtle forms manipulation assumes, and the moving target of his satire is the brainwash we often administer unto ourselves. Like a Dostoevsky for our all-at-once world, Bazan tells the truth and tells it slant. - Paste Magazine The new David Bazan EP came out today, cementing Bazan's decision to disband Pedro the Lion and go it alone. Sadly, I forgot to pre-order the album. Fortunately the entire disc is streaming online over at Pure Volume. That should tide me over until Thursday, when Bazan is playing at Schubas. Beautiful. Backwoods Nation (yes, that's a free and legal download, courtesy of Riot Act Media) Calling all rednecks to put down their sluggers Turn their attention from beating the buggers Pick up machine guns and kill camel fuckers Backwoods nation... Calling all doctors of spin and the smoke screen To whip the new hate-riots into a frenzy Of good versus evil ignoring the history Of the backwoods mation Ain't it a shame When due process Stands in the way of swift justice Calling all frat boys To trade in their hazing Their keggers and cocaine And casual date raping For cabinet appointments And rose garden tapings Backwoods, backwoods, backwoods......nation