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Solid Chunks Of Energy

by Jake McKelvie & the Countertops

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    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
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  • Solid Chunks of Energy // MTR-004
    Cassette + Digital Album

    Limited run of 55

    Type II Chrome high bias tape lovingly dubbed in real time by either Matt or Greg. Includes the mustard yellow color cassette and a single panel color J-Card insert. All of this is housed compactly inside of a black/clear plastic case, and is tightly shrink wrapped to keep the freshness inside.

    We have five copies in stock here at the label, The Countertops have the other 50 to purchase from them at shows or their bandcamp: jacobcmckelvie.bandcamp.com/music



    Tape's cost a dollar because that's the lowest bandcamp will let us make it... Otherwise, spending money beyond that first dollar on any of the tapes on our bandcamp is entirely up to you! We just have to charge for any shipping costs, so invite us over to hangout instead and we'll bring your tape along.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Solid Chunks Of Energy via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Mini Monster 04:29
With a high speed slide projector, if i tape my arms together I will have twice the power or so they say If i start recycling every thursday morning There will still be bottles on the roadside anyway Just not clean enough to drink from or appear as though They’ve never been used I’m like a penny in the pocket of a rich man And you’re the rich man’s point of view You needn’t look at me again The number one insider, if mother nature were here I would probably fight her I don’t need a final decider just something to light the way I’m trying to ease you in, but my bristles and whistles are way too thin You’re just waiting for someone to wait for me to say What will it take to get the monster out of me, what will it take to get the monster into you I’m gonna find a mini monster in my sleep if it’s the last thing that I do There’s something swimming in my time now that you are mine I paid good dough to see her be her own beekeeper The combs have come to crash and carry me across this camp I don’t recall the score that’s why I’m not camping here no more It takes too long to wash the ‘x’s off my hands The juggler does not need another amputation It looks like we’ve got a crier in the plans I will not be here long enough to satisfy all your demands Needless to say the needle stayed You found another crown, you tried to bring me down You turned it up to loud now you’re gone You cosmonaut you cause me not to go just splinter Now i am gone again Of all the things that i have ever had to wish for, now I just hope that I don’t starve to death If I don’t get on wheels or nothing at least I’ll get you off my chest As long as it’s not on my spine now that you are mine
2.
Propeller 04:05
want to know a backward compatible companion A tired road, a sleeper in the grass The days are ruined, it’s like a thousand afternoons Just landed in my lap and swore themselves to secrecy But whatever they’re keeping is not worth me seeking It’s not too late for me to touch your virtual body And your estate isn’t all that heavily guarded It gets so cold that next time I break the mold I’m gonna wrap myself up in all of the pieces And I wanted you so bad, I wanted you so bad I’m getting old and I’m trying to keep my propeller Above the fold and on the bottom line There’s nothing more, I don’t know what this antenna’s for But as long as there is a 24 hour convenience store I’ll be conscious forever with my hands tied together It’s just one step above a stick and a torn up bandana It’s hard to love it’s harder still to join The highway stars in a world of high calorie protein bars And a trophy for the leader of the double dippers And I wanted you so bad, I wanted you so bad
3.
Wristwatch 05:04
I’m sick of the land lubbers, I’m sick of the tan lovers The tie dyes, the tired eyes and the rest So I’m going out to see what the water makes of me Or if there is just a lubber in my chest It’s not about cattle, I’m sick of committing So I might as well straddle the line between starting and quitting And if they don’t commend me they won’t get off easy, cause it’s hard for me I guess So the salt negates my bitterness, this silly situation is hit or miss My love for you is nearly gone Between a thorn in my side and a water bitten ride I will take the one with more wide open sky And if they publish me ever and I get what is coming About my endeavor and not about the fact that I’m running A magazine cover so your future lover will shiver when he reads what’s become of me It’s been a matter of months, I don’t matter to you So I guess there is something that you’d like me to do Find something abandoned or a deeper shade of blue or maroon or a darker night sky But it’s gotten to the point where I think I can see In the murkiest depths for several miles it seems But no publications have even mentioned my name So I started wearing earth tones again, I started feeling alone again I’ve started wondering where you are But it’s not like I’ve seen all the things I need to see and it’s not like I’ve done all the things I gotta But I miss you goddamnit, I hate to admit it I didn’t even plan it, but my head went and did it So I’ll stay a bit longer and I’ll hope to get stronger but I’m weaker than you think But if i can’t stop this restlessness then I can’t stop the rest of this I’ll take my longing to the shore And I’m going back westward, so I can counter-sequester Myself from yourself and yourself from the storm The streets are more quiet than they were when I left them I won’t start a riot but I guess I’ve got a couple of questions Like where the hell are you And what am I to do now that I’ve returned and my bridges have been burned But as my luck would have it, you quit your bad habit You started sleeping with the door closed And the curtains drawn tight and an absence of light And the feeling something bad is gonna happen So my shoulders pulled through just in time To find four hands in the air but none of them were mine So I’m going back out there, I’m going back out there in spite of you But I need you back sometime, I need you back sometime But any old time won’t do
4.
I could watch the days disintegrate or I could start rebuilding them with double clicks, triple titles, fire me just like a rifle Buy your kindness at the store and lay me out across the floor I do not need your money just like I don’t need you anymore I’ll hit the button like I should and leave you like a lover would And never try to make you mine like you my darling clementine Are you a sight for sore eyes, a reason to get more eyes, or a nonessential part in my escape And is there anybody watching over me, I better run before it’s too late Solid chunks of energy or liquid if you have to fake it Find the subtle outline, hold it up to light and try to trace it With your bland tasting, hand shaking, head racing past the coffee copy maker Always take a second to prepare for all the awful things you’re bound to see out there I saw two or three this morning, they were inching closer to your hair And riding in your shopping cart, making nests inside your heart And acting like they never knew your name But I don’t need this that bad do I My skin is getting thinner and the days are getting harder But at least the spots under my eyes are getting darker And my sleeves are getting shorter and my face is turning gray But it’s not like all the money here just shriveled up or walked away Or moved to another dimension, or simply stopped existing in the formal sense despite my best intentions And no one in the morning ever gives themselves to me So why do I offer myself to the morning And why do all the days continue passing without any kind of warning But forgetting all the ticket stubs and rubber gloves and tooth decay Driving home with heavy eyelids shaking my head half the way And leaning in the kitchen which is fine enough for me I guess And waiting for the ringing telephone not to scare me to death There’s frosting that is piled high caking up against my gums It’s thicker than the coat of dust that’s settling atop my lungs No matter how I sift through I’ll never sort your tangles Just forget about watching over me because I am the one who guards the angels But I swear my anger is not livid enough And my memories are not vivid enough And my nerves are not timid enough And you are not forgiving enough And I’m not really living enough to make any of this seem worthwhile No my anger is not livid enough And my memories are not vivid enough And my nerves are not timid enough And you are not forgiving enough And I'm not really living enough to make any of this seem worthwhile But there’s gotta be some reason to find you Aside from your hair blowing behind You there’s gotta be some reason to find you aside from your hair
5.
Coming Too 03:18
You’ve gotta sing it on your own time or at least when I'm out of town You know you’re gonna have to buy me jewelry now There are boxes in the attic, they are flattened from unpacking And I'll tape them back together for this I don’t care about your boots no more And I don’t care how many ways there are to leave you I am picking the first one I will know by the number of steel guitars on your next endeavor how sad you are But if your lips were any softer I would fall right through If your lips were any softer I would fall right through If your lips were any softer I'd fall right through So I'm packing your bags for the morning And the morning will take all my time and put it back where it needs to be Then I'm bringing you back to Nashville But that doesn’t mean that I am coming too No matter how many rhinestones No matter how many times you have been driven home and not known who has taken you If I had any answers, if there were any fewer square dancers If you were not a freelancer I'd be home with you right now You said it’s somebody else’s song Just something that you learned the other afternoon while I was at home sleeping On the couch, in front of the tv, I know that’s not your favorite place for me to be but it is mine But if your lips were any softer I would fall right through If your lips were any softer I would fall right through If your lips were any softer I'd fall right through So I'm packing your bags for the morning And the morning will take all my time and put it back where it needs to be Then I'm bringing you back to Nashville But that doesn’t mean that I am coming too
6.
Who let the time I watched slip by through the gate, and back into your place And under the stairs where I used to sleep And why is it I only miss you when you’re not around And I'm never that hungry until you don’t feed me Now your thinking is deeper I am on shallower ground There’s nothing to play with here and you won’t let me out Time is a chew toy and you’ve ripped out all of the cotton Everyone knows I'm a lover but now even that has gone rotten You lost what you’re looking for, you didn’t even check in the garden But that’s exactly where it’s been hiding Your eyes are still bluer than mine but my muscles are black And the tears came rushing out of you like they were under an attack Your caffeinated touch And the things that I've chosen not to think of very much Have gotten all their hands on me Now I'm in double dutch And there's something in the nothingness but nothingness is such Such a something or nothing or something or nothing So who let the time I let sneak by under the fence and over my head And back underground where it first came from
7.
Lockhart does not miss me like he said a thousand times There best not be a pigeon over there Born again my left foot, I've seen saner men than you Camp and eventually crumble Camp and eventually crumble Camp and eventually crumble just like you will soon Don't call me the ex-treasurer, it does not mean a thing You best not come crawling back to plea And don't my darling shiver when your fur collection fleas Because who in their right mind could love you Who in their right mind could love you Who in their right mind could love you, certainly not me And do not change a thing You just don't have the capacity to make those little critters sing And I don't have the time To get this leaking faucet off my mind And Lockhart does not love me, I guess I should face the facts He told me he would never disappear quite like that If the forest catches fire or the hares all up and go How long in this town would I last How long in this town could I last How long in this town would I last until everybody knows And since there's no one left in this town, I'm going down Where the clingers and the cats hang out And soon I'll be crowned the king of the horses Or the king of the torches When I pay off my mortgage I will be better off So flock hard, Lockhart
8.
You've got to get yourself together You better buy yourself a car There ought to be no one who knows how to evade me There ought to be some part of you in my coffee You've got to get up in the morning You better get yourself to bed I really don't mind you, I really don't want to I really have much better things in my head And so long the scrubber, I may not have needed you anyway I won't go kindly, I may not even go at all I need you like I need my body to escape me Or my body to escape me Or my body to escape me Now I'm a sucker for delivery Though I couldn't color you any brighter I am taking my time here and I'm making you mine here I'm driving all over the place again But if you are going to the center then you're going to cripple me But it's fine I've resigned I will never walk again And if you come in more, you don't know what you're in for But neither do either of the people that I've seen And so long the swimmer, I may not have needed you anyway I won't go kindly, I may not even go at all I need you like I need my money to control me Or my money to control me Or my money to control me And so I'm bringing you down And so long the spinner, I may not have needed you anyway I won't go kindly, I may not even go at all I need you like I need my body I need you like I need my body I need you like I need my Need you like I need my Need you like I need my body
9.
Woke Awake 03:36
I woke awake, I must have made a mistake Now I'm dying to make it again For the next thirty years or at least until I can stop screaming I'm here because I ought to be, not because I want to be Not that there's any place else I can go without running the risk of making a fool of myself There are lights overhead, there are kites in my bed There are lines in my head that go straight to you You gave me medicine, it didn't help me none I feel the same as I used to Ears ringing, eyes stinging, you bringing me back to life But I've found no reason for me not to breathe in This terrible translucent air Because I've been dying for hours, but I've been living for years so who cares There are pictures of me in the halls in my dreams There are pictures of me everywhere But I used to be lighter and quicker on my feet I used to dance like a fighter So now I mix my memories with a rusty old spoon And I taste them when I am all done For the grease stains and back pains and card games and migraines And my fame just melting in the sun But if there's anybody here who remembers me And if there's anybody here who remembers me Then tell me right now I'm just searching for a taste that's as bitter as my own And I don't know when I'm gonna find it
10.
Lots and lots and lots of money I go where the shuttle takes me So we're heading for the sun We are better off this time We are better off this time We are better off this time around So she doesn't know me by my name So I will sleep a hundred years I am not quite the tired man That I was when I left here Finally I will not shiver When my suit to you just shimmers I do not need you or something We are better off this time We are better off this time We are better off this time around What's the point evacuating It takes you back to our home station I will not fasten up a thing The slower I fall the better We are better off this time We are better off this time We are better off this time around

about

JCM & Tops' second album! Originally released on 05/09/2014

credits

released July 2, 2017

Jake McKelvie & the Countertops are:

Jake McKelvie
Nicholas J. Votruba
Matt Bacon

Recorded, mixed, and messed with by El Rancho Deluxe, aka Kevin Dremel

Mastered by James S. Tomaszewski, Jr.
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Moss Toss Recording Keene, New Hampshire

The Moss Toss Recording dudes are Matt Bacon and Greg Fisher.

Based out of a bedroom in Southwestern New Hampshire, we are an entirely DIY cassette label committed to making the creation of physical music accessible for independent bands anywhere. ... more

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