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Twitch

by The Pleasures Pale

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  • Streaming + Download

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

    Get all 17 The Pleasures Pale releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of No, Joy (Not the Same Story), Twitch, Happy Love Ghosts (It Haunts Me Now), Lovely Lovely, How I Dreamt of You, Daily Living Is a Herculean Art, Champion My Cause, Happy Love Ghosts (2019 mix), and 9 more. , and , .

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  • Limited Edition 12" Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Four-song, 12-inch 45 RPM EP clear vinyl limited/numbered edition of the Pale's previously unreleased 1987 studio recordings. Deluxe packaging includes jacket with "Twitchfits" cover, complete credits and rare photos, printed spine, color labels and insert with lyrics and liner notes. Made by the master cutters at Little Elephant Custom Vinyl in Toledo, Ohio.

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

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1.
We play at mock decadence And carry torches for insolence With the cutest irreverence It’s only nerve that makes the difference Can’t you see by the patches on our jeans Our glamour is indicative That life is only what you think it is Only the rich can really, really twitch Only the rich can really twitch Society smiles at me. I laugh at it And when the world laughs back at me I intend to get revenge It’s the price you pay for your comedy As a last resort, drop your undershorts Only the rich can really, really twitch Only the rich can really twitch Love is lovelier with a satin pocket full of money But that won’t stop us now, will it honey? Only the rich can really, really twitch Only the rich can really twitch Ridicule is part of my life and I take it in stride With my strange desire — my strange desire Cry fratricide! Only the rich can really, really twitch Only the rich can really twitch Only the rich can really, really twitch Only the rich can really... Twitch
2.
You are where the heart is And, oh, the time it takes to fall An upright man goes to his knees I’ll not look back again — not look back at all Your grip was so hard But your ghost has the most tender hands Your tongue was so sharp But I’ll recall the most precious things you said No-oh, most precious things No-oh, most precious things you said Cool September winds will haunt me As will the day we died And I’ve relived that very last sigh And the days we spent entwined Your stare was cruel But your ghost has the most tender eyes Your moods as heavy as lead But I’ll recall the most precious things you said No-oh, most precious things No-oh, most precious things you said You are where the hurt is And, oh-no-no, won’t you go away? This house is where my art is Can’t you see I’m afraid you will stay? Now I must go to sleep — no-oh, I must go Though your ghost will dance ’Round and ’round my bed And I’ll dream the most precious things you said No-oh, most precious things No-oh, most precious things you said
3.
Not Fey 04:04
You say, so I hear you say You’re afraid you are... Uh-well, you thought you were gay You try and try ’til your blue in the face You try and try, oh, what a shame You try so hard it’s a dad-blame shame But you’re not fey — no, you’re not fey And it wouldn’t become you anyway Still, I guess, in the back of your pretty head You felt you hated men Still, in the back of your coyly tilted head You knew you loved women Still, you try and try ’til your blue in the face You try and try, oh, what a shame You try so hard it’s a dad-blame shame But you’re not fey — no, you’re not fey And it wouldn’t become you anyway Well, you found the right magazines And the most extreme books on such things But you’re not fey — no, you’re not fey And it wouldn’t become you anyway Ah.... What a shame, and isn’t it strange? The day I left I heard you say: “Somewhere in between is no place for me” The day I left I heard you say: “I gotta have something, gotta have it now” 26 years is quite enough I found you drowned it a paper cup! But you’re not fey — no, you’re not fey No, you’re NOT FEY! And it wouldn’t become you anyway Fey...
4.
Wilted flower, broken vine, don’t hide Don’t hide — no, not from me You know how a heart can bleed Punishment place, telling you to go Begging you to stay Punishment place whose shutters do sway Oh, hide guilt and decay Oh-oh, uh-no, no, no, no And now it’s merely pain Come to me and lie down Lie down and remain It was good. It’s been worse And now it’s all too plain Punishment place, telling you to go Begging you to stay Punishment place whose shutters do sway Oh, hide guilt and decay Oh-oh, uh-no, no, no, no And now it’s merely pain It’s pain Whose life? Oh, mother let me know And whose life? Oh, father let it show, let it show You know how my heart does bleed Punishment place, telling you to go Begging you to stay Punishment place whose shutters do sway Oh, hide guilt and decay Oh-oh, uh-no, no, no, no And now it’s merely pain It’s pain, it’s pain, it’s pain, it’s pain

about

Some stars shine brightest just before dawn. And like those stars, some musical acts shine brightest just before they disappear. It could be said this was the case with The Pleasures Pale.

With recording for their debut LP wrapped up in early 1987 and mastering finished in March that year, the Dayton-based band continued with a steady slate of performances throughout southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky. As May arrived, however, so did a significant change.

Drummer Jeff Keating left and original drummer Timothy Payton Earick returned. Though the songwriting core of singer/lyricist Jeffrey Bright, guitarist/composer Mitchell Swann and bassist/composer Luis Lerma remained intact, the switch marked a distinct alteration in the band’s sound. Keating’s tight, inventive drumming lent the band a crisp pop vibe. In contrast, Earick’s more kinetic approach gave the new-look Pleasures Pale a looser but heavier sound.

Shortly after Earick’s return, envisioning an expanded live presentation, the band began working in two new pieces: Lerma’s brother Terry Lerma on organ and various keyboards and Eric Olt as second guitarist. Excited by their fuller sound and anticipating a quick follow-up EP to the in-production LP, the Pale returned to Refraze Studio to record four more songs.

The world seemed full of promise — until fate so rudely intervened.

in October of 1987, with one of the new songs mixed, tracking finished on the other three, and the full-length LP on the way — and with major label attention at the doorstep — the band fractured. What began two years prior and appeared headed for a bigger stage was undone. Viewed across the distance of time, the reasons hardly matter. ​

The LP, recorded mostly in 1986 and entitled The Pleasures Pale!, or simply “!”, was finally released on 12-inch vinyl and cassette by Cincinnati’s Heresy Records in late January 1988 — fully three months after the breakup, delayed by numerous production delays. Aside from a trove of miscellaneous cassette recordings, what remained of The Pleasures Pale sat idle on two-inch magnetic tape in the storage room at Refraze, slowly decomposing.

In 2019, as a project of the Jeffrey Alan Bright Music Archive, the 24-track master tapes for the unfinished EP were located and carefully transferred into the digital realm by Gary King, the project’s original engineer, to be further restored, mixed and mastered for both digital and limited edition vinyl release.

These four previously unreleased songs reveal the band evolving, reaching for a full, orchestrated sound, poised for broader exposure. At the time of recording, “Only the Rich” and “Not Fey” were newer compositions, hinting at a shift toward an edgier sound and more challenging lyrical themes — misfit revolution and sexual confusion, no less! “Most Precious Things” and “Punishment Place,” on the other hand, were set list standards introduced in the band’s earliest performances, their focus more in line musically and emotionally with the material on the LP, spotlighting Swann and Lerma's uncanny guitar/bass interplay and further carrying a torch for Bright's adventures in male-gender recalibration.

As to what aesthetic territories the band would eventually inhabit, or what musical statements they would go on to make, we can only speculate. (A set of raw demos recorded to cassette in the band’s Third Street rehearsal space that same summer — also queued for restoration and eventual release — may provide clues.) But, for a brief while, from late May through mid October of 1987, The Pleasures Pale were shining their brightest and left us with the four signposts included here on Twitch.

credits

released January 7, 2022

jeffrey bright – voice
mitchell swann – guitars
luis lerma – bass guitar
terry lerma – organ, keyboards
timothy payton earick – drums
eric olt – second guitar on "Most Precious Things" and "Not Fey"

initial recording:
gary king
refraze studio
dayton, ohio
1987

tape transfer:
gary king
refraze studio
dayton, ohio
2019

additional recording, mixing, mastering:
JABMA
studio la casa
san francisco, california
2019-2021

cover design – jeffrey bright

c) 1987 The Pleasures Pale
p) 2021 JABMA
Fugitive Music Publishing / BMI

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The Pleasures Pale Dayton, Ohio

The Pleasures Pale was an influential indie quartet based in Dayton Ohio active from 1985 to 1987. Oft-compared to anglo groups such as The Smiths, TPP's influences can now be read as more diverse — taking cues from postpunk, rockabilly, swing, Motown and Dayton funk. A band for misfits, their extensive, lyric-driven output sought to light a way through the rust belt's post-industrial bleakness. ... more

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