Track by Track: Gentlemen's Crow - Apparitions
Gentlemen’s Crow have spent time conjuring their unique blend of rock, indie, alternative, psych, and metal. Today, we have a track by track from the band’s new album, Quandary. Check it out below!
Let You Get Away
This was the first song we wrote and learned from the new album. Cam wrote the riff about two years ago and shelved it. Originally the verse was supposed to have more of a folk feel, but turned into a kind of dark alt rock/new wave feel upon writing with the band. The pre chorus for this song is purely instrumental but we did that on purpose. We were working on the song in practice one day and Zach just started playing this bouncing slap riff that was so catchy and exotic. Alex and Cam went ahead and added the harmonized guitar lead, which had a kind of middle eastern influence on it. The biggest change for the song was the chorus. Cam wanted it to be relaxed and catchy, a kind of break from the stressful tension of the rest of the song. It’s funny because the instrumental becomes happier in the chorus but the lyrics get so dark.
The whole song is kind of a trope on being stuck on someone that you can't be with, but at the same time not being able to let them go. I imagined Dracula keeping his bride a human, because he loves her so much that he can’t submit her to the hell of immortality, but at the same time not being able to let her go back to her normal life. Or something like that but written from the perspective of modern adults. Originally the song only had one solo in the composition.
There’s a sludgy breakdown after the second chorus that was just supposed to be for a rhythm drop. In the studio Cam played this gnarly lead that was just ripping and we left it in. Alex added his experimental solo in its spot during the outro buildup, and the rest was history. During the mixing process Ben had this idea to take the different takes of Alex’s solo and have them pan back and forth from each other. It’s a small touch but definitely really amazing once you hear it. Jacob got a chance to use a lot of double bass drums on this one, and it sounds epic when you hear it in context.
Scraping Truth
This song was crazy for us. We actually wrote it two weeks before we went to the studio to record. We needed one more song to fill out the album and we were scrambling. Cam and Alex had made this riff sometime in the fall of 2020. Cam had the verse and chorus done as well. We took it to practice and banged it out. It ultimately changed from the original idea, but we were so happy with it. This is definitely our “Sexy rock n roll song” if we have one. The lyrics all revolve around a chase of a romantic partner that you just can’t get enough of, but at the same time the narrator poses in the hook “Am i even known to you?!” Which presents the idea that maybe he's imagining the whole thing, or maybe this flame just isn't interested in him anymore. Let the listener decide. It's definitely one of our favorite choruses on the album. Brok gave Cam the idea for the harmony behind the chorus vocals, and it brought out this really nostalgic sound.
Did I Get The Picture?
This was another song that came about early in the writing process. It's very philosophical and deals with themes of self worth, self image, morality, and shattered egos. It's been a fan favorite ever since we started playing it live. Our favorite part is easily Alex's lead riff going into the verse. Such an amazing and catchy line. The chorus is all about just throwing yourself away, and shattering your ego, an ego death. The lyrics were kind of Cam imagining different situations of just letting it all go, destroying his ego for everyone to see and ultimately seeing the true version of himself taken as a picture on someone else’s camera.
It’s definitely his favorite lyrical content on the album. It's also his dad's favorite song of ours, which is special because he is so picky. The solo after the second chorus is another product of studio improv. We didn’t have a solid solo being played there, and Cam had some ideas but nothing solid. Cam tracked it a few times and on the fourth time everyone was just like “Shit, that was the one.” Brok turned around from the studio console with this wild look on his face. It was truly an awesome studio moment.
Taxi.To.Your.Toxic.Lover.
The name of this song is pretty revealing as to what the theme and lyrical content is about. But there is also something warm and fuzzy going on. Yes it is about a toxic love affair, but it deals mostly with heartfelt emotions that go with that. The chorus really lets you know that the narrator is so hard pressed to let go. Even knowing it's toxic he will still be there anytime “Just a yellow car away,” and reminds to always remember that piece of clothing when you're missing them “Put on that old polo, it still smells quite like you.”
The instrumentals here were so fun to write and record. We had a much chiller and more indie feel going on, but we also added blazing guitar solos and some really different background vocals. The middle of the song breakdown has a Beastie Boys-esque vocal beat-box with a very 60’s guitar solo driving in the front. The outro of the song hits even harder with Alex laying down classic solo moves. It's definitely one of our must genre bending songs, and a favorite to perform live.
Comical
A song to ride off into the sunset with. Easily the chillest song on the album. It was never meant to be on the album at all, but Cam wrote the verse and we had to build something out of it. We think it shows another spectrum to our sound overall. The verse is actually made up of lyrics that came from things that various women actually said to him over the past few years. It was a funny way to incorporate something real into the song. The theme here is definitely “we're broke and we have nothing, but let's run away together.” It's tropey, and somewhat cheesy, but also timeless and nostalgic.
Cam was imagining a 1950’s corrupted love movie, and a bit of Lana Del Ray influence on the chorus. Alex added the very catchy slide lead and we felt really solid about this one. This song also was the only song that we multi tracked in the studio. It's filled with TONS of layers (electric leads, unplugged electric picking patterns, acoustics, and mellotron keys). Cam and Jacob tracked the drums and rhythm together, and Zach added bass. From that point Cam and Alex went crazy adding all kinds of small guitar and keyboard parts throughout the song.
Parallel West
Alex was the primary song-writer for all the instrumentals of this song. The initial idea was a flip on a vintage western movie song. We wanted to make it a western song from a different dimension, and wanted to make it heavy. This was one of the songs that we nailed really easily in the studio. It just has a ton of energy and mojo going on throughout the whole thing. The lyrics definitely blur the lines between a story and a metaphor. A chunk of the lyrics are taking the listener on around with the narrator as he steps into another type of western world, but one that crosses between a real world and a movie set.
The chorus is short and sweet, with the narrator remembering the one thing that holds him to reality in this new place, “You.” But does he really feel that way? Or is he blaming this other person for his current situation?. It's a fun one. We always imagined the main intro of this song being in a Mustang Commercial or something like that. Brok (recording engineer) loved this one because he felt the whole song was just going back and tricking the listener with various verses and breakdowns, before sucking them back in through a wormhole with the chorus parts.
Driving Away (from the real me)
This was the first song we recorded in the studio, and it was a great start to the whole process. We got the rough cut back from Brok on the first day and we were so excited with what we had done that day. This one just had a groove that we really all fell in love with. Originally the song had a very chill and slow tempo, with the verse and chorus being a chord progression based on whole note strum hits. We were all writing on the song at our house one day and once again Zach struck gold with a very catchy and groovy slap riff that became the driving force behind the whole song.
Jacob added a really catchy drum groove to match and we had one of our favorite new songs. The lyrics here are very philosophical on this one as well. It deals again with ego and self image, but playing with the theme of the repression of oneself from the current world we live in. There are some nods to government, social media, and society trickled into the lyrics. The chorus sees the narrator “In the backseat, driving away from the real him.” A kind of metaphor to how easy it is to lose yourself in this modern world, and end up living as a person you do not even know.
Quandary
The name here tells you some, this song is a mystery. It's a mystery movie wrapped into a musical piece. There are some metaphors and philosophy trickled into the lyrical content, but mostly it follows a narrator trying to solve a mystery of a strange love interest, but falling into a disgruntled, angry, and lustful depression as the story unravels. The instrumentals are inspired by a variety of alt and indie music from multiple decades. There is some new wave, some alt rock, and some psychedelic tinges going on here. When we recorded this we had a slew of awesome background harmonies going on.
On the chorus you can hear Alex singing the chorus vocals an octave higher, but descending the scale as Cam climbs. This sounded a lot like a track from a Tim Burton movie at first, due to how high Alex was hitting the notes. It was beautiful and haunting at the same time. In the Solo/Outro you can also hear Alex again, doing a falsetto chant along with the instrumentals. He actually did this in three separate octaves. It was insane.
Howlin’
This was another song that Alex wrote through and through. It was probably the most challenging song we learned together and the hardest to record. We actually did multiple takes of this one in the studio to actually get it right. It was frustrating but also fun and we learned alot about recording while doing this one. The lyrics here are about frustration, lust, loss, and moving on from the past. Cam actually came up with the verse melody while tracking vocals in the studio. He had a different lyrical set and melody prior, but he re-wrote it and laid a new melody on the spot.
This song also has a tone of ear candy parts. You will have to listen closely to hear all the little details that we added on this one. It's definitely one of our heavier and darker songs, but it really plays up to our strengths as a rock band who can be heavy, but stay commercial and catchy. Listeners should stick around a few seconds after that last note rings out for a little surprise that we added to the end of the song. We think it’s a good time.