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The Consistent Brutal Bullshit Gong

by Market

supported by
Mat Cotton
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Mat Cotton this album is just perfect. You start listening and inevitably comparing to all kind of artist and... in the end it's just Market,and this is it. Favorite track: NBA.
Karl Ward
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Karl Ward It's incredibly rare that a songwriter puts into a song the actual feeling of songwriting. "Old" will be painfully, beautifully familiar to anyone who has ever written a song. Favorite track: Old.
IAmContent
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IAmContent Totally obsessed with this song. I can't wait to hear the full album!
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    • Blue vinyl version of The Consistent Brutal Bullshit Gong
    • Features design by Katie Von Schleicher
    • Includes 12" insert with lyrics

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    • CD version of The Consistent Brutal Bullshit Gong
    • Features design by Katie Von Schleicher
    • Packaged in a 4-panel gatefold wallet

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Consistent Brutal Bullshit Gong via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Bag of Jeans 02:49
I understand we’re all turning into our parents But you’re not the same as your mom It’s the thing that you fixate on I’ve got the psyche of a dropbox or google docs It’s the thing I get from my pops and that’s not wrong 
 Bag of genes 
 And just last week you wondered if we were held too tight Maybe that’s why I’m risk averse Unless I’m drunk or it’s summer Baby there’s always a first You were held but much less tight and for much less time Is that why you lied about the ski team Cause I don’t mind 
 Bag of genes 
 And every time we fight you send me the same ten lines You forgot you sent it before, but it makes me laugh each time You even preface it the same exact way to me The poem says we should end the cycle but you disagree You disagree You disagree 
 Bag of genes 

2.
Scar 03:15
Maybe I’d like the scar I might not mind being reminded every time that I find it Baby I’ll be a star You never will forget the month my leg turned purple, blue and red I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead I can’t quit scraping away at my body every day Our special month was interrupted twice by death What’s the point of breathing if you will run out of breath? 
 Maybe I’ll call you up I’m 26 years old and still have trouble knowing what to pack Anxiety bad luck Two hours early to the gate and still forgot my medication, fuck I’m gone, I’m gone, I’m gone Call the pharmacy, ask what antibiotic am I on Sometimes I cannot even answer my own needs What’s the point of thinking if it cannot set you free? 
 What’s the point of wordplay If you’ve got nothing to say What’s the point of anxiety if it still won’t go your way? 
 What’s the point of wordplay If you’ve got nothing to say What’s the point of anxiety if it still won’t go your way? 
 You lack the capacity To help me in my time of need And I can’t take your help so ultimately that’s just great
3.
When am I gonna stop writing songs about Being an asshole to my friends And just start never being An asshole to them 
 I caught on to admitting my faults So I’ll never have to change Something I think I read In college days 
 You were surprised, you were surprised Things I admitted to Revealing my anxieties Over Chinese food 
 You were surprised, you were surprised But I could not be fooled I’m alright and I’m always fine But I am never good 
 Oh Todd Why’d you let me treat ya Like a lesser creature I don’t want To have to worry bout ya Cause i’m the worst around ya And oh Todd I don’t wanna teach ya Cause I’m a shitty teacher You’d just nod And I’d just nod 
 It wears on you, it wears on you It doesn’t wear on me An easy time, a healthy mind A hard thing to believe 
 When is it gonna stop If it’ll ever stop Or can I just unsee? 
 It’s not how it goes Unfortunately Did you ditch your ego Dissolving it in LSD? Did you ditch the east coast To get a graduate degree? Or was it about other things And are those things the same for me? 
 Oh Todd Why’d you let me treat ya Like a lesser creature I don’t want To have to worry bout ya Cause I’m the worst around ya And oh Todd I don’t wanna teach ya Cause I’m a shitty teacher You’d just nod And I’d just nod 
 When am I gonna stop writing songs about Being an asshole to my friends And just start never being An asshole to them
4.
Watergate 04:55
On the night that I turned 25 You were nowhere to be found I was in my lonely light It was the same day James Comey testified 
 Reminds me of my parents when they were just children Obsessed with Watergate hearings They were just eight or nine then Sitting on the floor next to the television Watching, losing faith in government 
 I guess it’s just what you told me, I’m all alone and I’m getting old These crooks are not to be trusted any further than they can be thrown A mutual fascination is a reason to connect from Midwest to East Coast You’re just a kid, you better learn to take it slow 
 Ask me how it connects Ooh you’re such a skeptic I’m a skeptic too, I just won’t admit I’ll undress you You’ll undress me too, god bless it 
 Comey’s off the big screen Parents spreading margarine They’re both well past 50, still they’re holding steady Now my baby can see just the way they raised me Watching, gaining faith in baby 
 I guess it’s just what you told me, I’m all alone and I’m getting old These crooks are not to be trusted any further than they can be thrown A mutual fascination is a reason to connect from Midwest to East Coast You’re just a kid, you better learn to take it slow
5.
Oh dear, it’s not the same As things once were No fear, I feel the same I would do that anyways 
 I would do that anyways I would do that anyways I would do that, I would do that, oh 
 It’s hard to always be checking in Are we on the same page? I would do that anyways 
 I would do that anyways I would do that anyways I would do that, I would do that, oh
6.
Old 01:44
Half of these feelings aren’t my feelings anymore And I am getting afraid that the album is a bore How long have I been working on it for? 
 Half of these feelings aren’t my feelings anymore By now I’m overjoyed that I am rid of her I’m still singing sad songs but the songs no longer hurt 
 I play saxophone A silver saxophone A shiny silver saxophone And it’s sitting at home This piece of shit Work ethic Makes me move so slow I wanna quit 
 Half of these feelings aren’t my feelings anymore But I guess I could still enjoy the notes and chords Maybe that’s just the way it goes We always sing about things that are old
7.
Control 03:51
I don’t have control, I don’t have control I need to know the things that just aren’t worth Worrying about anymore Running through these weeks I am just unrecognizable to myself 
 Why did you start to cry while sitting on the couch? Is it the infinite impossible small things to worry bout? Natie gives you a good talk Takes you to deli and drinks to your health 
 I heard a kid ask a teacher today What is a memory? Man sometimes life is great At 4:15 I was awake and a mess My mind’s a broke machine Sometimes I’m not okay 
 I need to draw my lines and take some power back If she loses me I’m not the one who’s missing out on that The deli’s bout to close but we take that shit to go We’re back on track 
 I don’t have control, I don’t have control But baby I have got the parts I need to make my heart feel whole Writing these reminders I can sing myself When anxious thoughts are back 
 I heard a kid ask a teacher today What is a memory? Man sometimes life is great At 4:15 I was awake and a mess My mind’s a broke machine Sometimes I’m not okay 
 I don’t have control, I don’t have control
8.
NBA 04:02
I don’t want to do the work And I know you don’t either Paper bag over my head Honey can I have a winter cap instead? 
 Trouble with your free throw game Won’t fly in the NBA But you’re not feeling yourself Tell the press conference about your mental health 
 Photos hanging on a wall In the Boston area I will write down every name So I don’t forget the cities where they came from 
 Chew your gum What the fuck you running from? Douggie’s finally someone Douggie’s finally someone Don’t tell me now you’re scared of where you’re at Put your money where your mouth at least used to be Why’ve I got such a problem with that? 
 I’m not tryna break your heart Three alarms, five minutes apart Stressful to communicate It’s a complicated type of inspiration 
 Chew your gum, I don’t wanna interfere with ya Take two months I’ll get a head above water I’m hurting the order of everything 
 Mute the call I don’t need to hear it Always a new version but of the same story You’re sorry, me too, can we handle everything 
 I go to Montana, bring back a bandana that’s got a map on it I show you my heart and you take a crap on it Everything 
 Chew your gum, I don’t wanna interfere with ya Take two months I’ll get a head above water I’m hurting the order of everything 
 Chew your gum What the fuck you running from? Douggie’s finally someone
9.
26 (Therapy) 04:39
I don’t keep it all in, but I don’t let it all out either It won’t fester, it won’t peter out It will just stay the same I have always wondered if sitting on a couch would help Like gangster movies on my shelf, I guess I’ll try it for a change 
 Erotic transference, psychosexual occurrence How could I write a thing about processes that I’ve never seen? Therapy might be the key 
 Will there be a time where my metabolism flips And I cash in my fish and chips to keep the calories in line? And will there be an age I need emotional assist? My father swears it’s 26, it might be both at the same time 
 I ended my internance, and upped the daily life disturbance How could I choose a philosophy, that’s just not for me? Everything is fine, baby 
 I wonder half the time Is everything fine, baby?
10.
Little Wants 06:17
I’m not that religious about things I mean I am not religious at all But I know better than to look past the little wants The moments I find words The old man at the party said take good care of her But it’s the 21st century, she can take good care for sure Am I the selfish one? I no longer need to know that I’m being good 
 I was standing on the train car A guy walked in through the door He sat and I thought I saw his hand slide to comfort the arm of his neighbor Do they even know each other? Is this such a rare sight? Til I noticed it was her left arm just resting on her right Oh, I comfort myself too I no longer need to know that I’m being good 
 Dad said when you’re settled call me up When I got on the bus I called him up He said Grandma had another stroke she cannot speak right now She probably won’t die but she could, death is abrupt 
 You always said it’s sad but it’s okay Said death is a big deal but it’s okay After the first stroke five years ago she was no longer herself So half the sadness is behind us anyways 
 Well I felt something, but I felt nothing too Sat on the bus just watching Bojack, it’s my third time going through I’m sad but more stressed out, logistics win without a doubt Has the web age made a mannequin of you? 
 I thought of my friends and if one of them should pass That kind of tragedy would really kick my ass A speeding car would end our good times playing lawn games and free jazz Grandma would beat us all at Scrabble, I felt emotional at last 
 Dad thought that maybe I could write a song about The processing of grief and fear, indifference and doubt And that seems forced to me but at the same time I know better Than to look past times when words come tumbling out 
 The little wants 
 I’m not that religious about things I mean I am not religious at all But I know better than to look past the little wants The moments I find words Imagine me a car crash, imagine me alone At the party, on the train car, on the bus ride heading home Do you make it up too? I no longer need to know that I’m being good

about

On their debut for Western Vinyl, recording engineer and multi-instrumentalist Nate Mendelsohn and his band use lyrical maximalism for the powers of good. Where Market’s previous home recorded releases shifted genre restlessly, on The Consistent Brutal Bullshit Gong Mendelsohn took a core band of longtime collaborators to a house in rural Massachusetts where they carved out space for his words to speak through with humor and intensity.

Though he comes from a background in experimental music, Mendelsohn’s ear for pop has prevailed. Certain moments on Bullshit Gong reveal his stranger side, as on the thundering bridge of “Scar,” which sounds like a more unhinged Parquet Courts, or the angular “I Would Do That,” which takes cues from Cate Le Bon. On the whole, though, this band of close friends insists on directness, their arrangements clear despite the intricacies. Guitars and synthesizers tangle fluidly atop the rhythm section’s tight bedrock, evoking the tenderness and backbeat-centric qualities of Elliott Smith or Big Thief.

After college, where he met most of the members of Market, Mendelsohn became an engineer and producer at the Brooklyn studio Figure 8 Recording. Through that community he’s recorded artists like Frankie Cosmos and Wendy Eisenberg, and played with Yaeji, Vagabon, Katie Von Schleicher (who co-produced Bullshit Gong with him), and Sam Evian, who mixed the album.

While writing Bullshit Gong, Mendelsohn grappled with long-gestating OCD, watched a formative relationship dissolve, and experienced a mental health crisis that lasted a full year. During this turbulent time, Mendelsohn began to consider the ways he has approached friendship, partnership, and especially family. Those observations and partial conclusions make their way into the songs in an essential capacity, as he mixes the small with the very big on a dogged search for empathy. On “Control” he sings “I heard a kid ask a teacher today / ‘What is a memory?’ / Man, sometimes life is great / At 4:15 I was awake and a mess / My mind’s a broke machine.”

The words flow in much the same way as Mendelsohn’s thoughts, with observation and memory giving way to moments of profound anxiety. This emotional heft is met in crucial ways by his band. On the tender “Watergate,” a love song set against both the Watergate scandal and James Comey’s senate testimony, the arrangement is simple and trusting, adding depth and intimacy to each word as he compares his life, love, and temperament to that of his parents.

While recording “Old,” the band sat around an omnidirectional microphone shaking percussion instruments and singing out certain lines. In the background, you can hear Mendelsohn pick up his clarinet and eke out a few notes, a spontaneous act of playfulness that made the final cut. These tonal shifts matter deeply, as the words he sings could be interpreted differently in a darker setting: “Half of these feelings aren’t my feelings anymore / But I guess I could still enjoy the notes and chords / Maybe that’s just the way it goes / We always sing about things that are old.”

Creating intimacy out of manic self-reflection requires a delicate balancing act, one Mendelsohn tackles with abandon. His words never skew too poetic or grandiose, and when he invokes the ugly it’s met with a sonic tonality that sets him right again. In tender moments, his voice is often flanked by bandmates Natasha Thweatt or Von Schleicher, who help skew his words toward the universal. Still, Bullshit Gong is an obsessive look inward, one in which Mendelsohn simply asks himself if he is good to those he loves. It’s an act of trust between the artist and the imagined listener he takes with him.

credits

released April 29, 2022

Nate Mendelsohn - vocals, guitars, keyboards, electronics, clarinet
Natasha Thweatt - vocals, keyboards
Stephen Becker - vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards
Duncan Standish - vocals, drums, percussion
Katie Von Schleicher - vocals, guitars, keyboards
Adam Brisbin - guitars on 2, 4, 7

Produced by Katie Von Schleicher and Market
Engineered by Adam Hirsch at Figure 8 Recording in Brooklyn, NY
Additional recording by Katie Von Schleicher and Nate Mendelsohn at Gravel Mountain in Monterey, MA
Mixed by Sam Owens at Flying Cloud in West Shokan, NY
Mastered by Eli Crews at Spillway Sound in West Hurley, NY
All songs written by Nate Mendelsohn
Design and layout by Katie Von Schleicher
Photos 1 & 2 on cover by Allison Kaye
Photo 3 by Nate Mendelsohn
Gong graphic by Hannah Perry

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Market Brooklyn, New York

Brooklyn-based band of songwriter / multi-instrumentalist / producer Nate Mendelsohn

The Consistent Brutal Bullshit Gong out April 29th via Western Vinyl

Previous albums at: cowsattheedgeoftheearth.bandcamp.com
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