albums
Sessions
1988 Apostrophe
1988 Gourmet
1988 Induces Vomitting
1988 Best of IPECAC
1988 Fake Reverb
1988 Here and Now
1988 Leaping Leper Limousine
1988 Catharsis
1989 Best of IPECAC 2
1989 Fake Reverb 2
1990 Live at Carnegie Hall
1990 Extras
Compilations
1990 Complete IPECAC
2012 IPECAC Picks

Track List

# title lyrics time download listen started recorded rating
1 Intro Chatter lyrics 0:22 download listen locally - 1988-06-??
2 Trek (2) - 11:33 download listen locally - 1988-06-??
3 Better Drumsticks lyrics 3:24 download listen locally - 1988-06-??
4 The Corps of the Matter lyrics 3:57 download listen locally - 1988-06-??
5 Fake Reggae lyrics 3:41 download listen locally - 1988-06-??
6 Apostrophe Song lyrics 3:02 download listen locally - 1988-06-??
7 Share, Peace, and Love lyrics 4:00 download listen locally 1988-01-21 1988-07-??
8 Trek (3) lyrics 6:44 download listen locally - 1988-07-??
9 Share, Peace, and Love (2) lyrics 4:14 download listen locally - 1988-07-??
10 Outro Chatter lyrics 1:10 download listen locally - 1988-07-??
Total 42:07 play all locally album rating:

Notes

This was our first "serious" attempt at making music. We spent a few days writing songs separately and then recorded them together in my basement. We both liked the results and this time I saved the tape and created a cover for it.

We still called ourselves Apostrophe. After we finished the album, I discovered that Frank Zappa had an album called "Apostrophe". Since none of our friends and family thought our missing-audience reference was funny, we decided to change our name to something more obviously self-deprecating: IPECAC.

I created the tape cover after the name change. There might have been an earlier cover, but it probably sucked.

Songs

Intro Chatter

Introductory chatter. It was part test, part joke. Like most of IPECAC.

Lyrics to "Intro Chatter":

TRAV:
  can you hear us out there?
  can you hear us?
  let me - let me hear you say "no".
  hey, I hear myself, and it doesn't echo.
  but I'm there.
  that's all that counts.
  this is Travis Emmitt.
  this, this, this, this, this, this...
  is a ffff...
  oh.
  hear that?
  comic relief!
  

Trek (2)

This is the definitive version of "Trek". It's the first recording which contains all three sections: "God's Name", "Stop All Time", and "No Bull". I wrote out all the music by hand; it tooks me a few days to compose.

The first part ("God's Name") is painfully slow. Things pick up in the middle ("Stop All Time"). The last part ("No Bull") is okay; nothing special. Occasional bursts of static interrupt; I think the tape got damaged at some point.

But hey, I spent forever writing the thing, so we had to play it, right? Not only once, but three times (four if you count the short version on Apostrophe).

I'm pretty sure this was recorded after 1988-06-16, which is when I recorded my piano-only version of "Trek".

Also, although the tape cover says I played cornet, it sounds a lot deeper, more like a mellophone. Since I'm not sure, I'll trust the tape cover for now.

Better Drumsticks

Jon wrote the music, and I wrote the lyrics (which make fun of complainers). It's a sloppy shambles. For some reason we liked it enough to put it on Best of IPECAC as-is.

Jon's sleeve notes for the Kim Edition of Best of IPECAC:

Better Drumsticks (Jazz/Fusion riff)

This song demonstrates a special effect which involves speeding up the tape. You will notice the almost superhumanly fast tempo as well as the abnormally high pitch. The vocals were not accelerated, however.

I don't remember why we called it "Better Drumsticks". Maybe the implication was that if we got better drumsticks, we'd play more pointless percussion jams?

Jon and I traded off vocals in the second verse, which was kinda a neat effect. It was often hard to coax him to sing.

Lyrics to "Better Drumsticks":

VERSE:
  you want chivalry
  you lose women's rights
  you want faster days
  you get slower nights

  you want stonger arms
  you get longer fights
  you want more attention
  you get brighter lights

  you want smaller taxes
  we have larger debts
  you want fewer missiles
  they make stronger threats

  you want easy lives
  you'll have more regrets
  you want impossible dreams
  so that's what you get

CHORUS:
  if you want a quick drug
  you'll get a life-long low
  if you want a quick drug
  you'll get a life-long low

  wooh

BRIDGE:
  it's, it's so true

  you want chivalry
  you lost women's rights

  you want chivalry

VERSE:
  you want chivalry
    you lose women's rights
  you want faster days
    you get slower nights

  you want stonger arms
    you'll get longer fights
  you want more attention
    you get brighter lights

  you want smaller taxes
    we have larger debts
  you want fewer missiles
    they make stronger threats

  you want easy lives
    you'll have more regrets
  you want impossible dreams
  so that's what you get

CHORUS:
  if you want a quick drug
  you'll get a life-long low
  if you want a quick drug
  you'll get a life-long low

END:
  wooh yeah
  look at him go
  

The Corps of the Matter

This is a silly percussion improv. Jon picked the title. I had trouble pronouncing it. We both had trouble pronouncing our drum parts.

Lyrics to "The Corps of the Matter":

[spoken intro]

TRAV: this is, hey, wooh!
      it's in stereo

JON:  it is? oh that's good

TRAV: yeah, and it's our...

JON:  oh, are we in the right spot, oh?
      we might we recording over a good song

TRAV: hmmm. we're in the right spot

JON:  oh, what tape is this?
      i mean, what tape are we recording on?

TRAV: we're recording on the right tape

JON:  ok

TRAV: ok, ready?
      this is our drum feature

JON:  ok

TRAV: this is our drum feature
      and what do we call it?

JON:  uh, the corps of the matter, as in drum corps, you know

TRAV: the corps of the manor

JON:  the corps of the matter
      ok, ready?

TRAV: start us, jon

[music starts]

TRAV: wooh!
      yeah!
      hit it
  

Fake Reggae

Not the most original title. It doesn't even have anything to do with the song, which is just percussion.

The only cool thing about this song is the ending. You can tell Jon and I were having a lot of fun! The glee in our voices tells you exactly why we were doing IPECAC, and why I have persisted in making [silly, noisy] music my entire life.

Lyrics to "Fake Reggae":

[intro chatter]

TRAV:
  i think we need a break after this
  1...
  this is our second one
  and it's called "fake reggae"

JON:
  [???]

TRAV:
  yeah.
  ready?
  start it

[music starts]

???:
  wooh!  yeah!

TRAV:
  1,2,3

[outro chatter]

JON:
  wooh!  yee-haw!

TRAV:
  we gotta hear that!
  

Apostrophe Song

Jon wrote the music, and I wrote the lyrics (which originally appeared on Trex's "Five Dollar Drummer").

This was supposed to be our theme song. I wrote it before we changed our name to IPECAC. We might have performed it before the name change as well.

I distinctly remember writing the lyrics while sitting in the auditorium of my sister's middle school. I was supposed to be listening to her choir concert or a fashion show or something like that. I was really bored.

Lyrics to "Apostrophe Song":

[spoken intro]

TRAV:
  1,2,3
  1,2,3,4,5
  and a half and another half
  makes six

JON:
  take 8
  this is serious
  in stereo
  [beat-box]
  we should be ready

[music starts]

VERSE:
  hear us ring
  see us swing
  all of us dancing the bong-a-long

  hear us sing
  see our zing
  'postrophe crushin' 'cause we be king

VERSE:
  hey don't ding the pots
    don't ding the pots
  please don't dent the bowls

  try to spare the box
    to spare the box
  look at the holes

CHORUS:
  'postrophe crushin' 'cause we be king
  'postrophe crushin' 'cause we can sing
  'postrophe crushin' 'cause we can rhyme
  'postrophe crushin' all of the time

VERSE:
  crushin' crushin' crushin' crushin'
  crushin' crushin' crushin' crushin'
  bustin' bustin' bustin' bustin'
  bustin' bustin' bustin' bustin'

  crushin' crushin' crushin' crushin'
  crushin' crushin' crushin' crushin'
  bustin' bustin' bustin' bustin'
  bustin' bustin' bustin' bustin'

  'postrophe bustin' 'cause we got power
  'postrophe bustin' 'cause it's our hour
  'postrophe bustin' 'cause we can sing
  'postrophe bustin' everything

CHORUS:
  'postrophe crushin' 'cause we be king
  'postrophe crushin' 'cause we can sing
  

Share, Peace, and Love

This was my first "pop" song for IPECAC. I wrote the lyrics and music. I think we actually recorded this after Jon's version. I flubbed several of the lyrics. The music near the end is even worse.

My original version (with completely different music) was recorded for Trex.

Lyrics to "Share, Peace, and Love":

[spoken intro]

TRAV:
  this is my version of "share, peace, and love"
  i wrote it on january 28th 1988
  january 21st, and we've played this today

[music starts]

JON:
  wooh! yeah!

TRAV:
  here we go, 1,2,3

VERSE:
  i just wanna have a good time
  i don't wanna know what is mine
  why can't the world just learn to share?
  it would eliminate war and make life so fair

  just think of a world full of peace
  all those confrontations would cease
  no more bombs would rake the earth
  no more children dead at birth

CHORUS:
  we gotta share, make peace, and love
  we can't rely on aid from god above
  we need to talk, laugh, and sing
  but most of all we gotta learn to be free

VERSE:
  instead of locking armies we'd lock lips
  each day we'd [mumble] take a million pleasure trips
  we'd kiss and hug for the rest of our lives
  who says we can't have four or five wives?

  the fear of death would soon be unfelt
  and the leaders' iron hearts would soon melt
  the shadow of war would be lifted from us all
  and we'd tear down with our hands that very last wall

CHORUS:
  we gotta share, make peace, and love
  we can't rely on aid from god above
  we need to talk, laugh, and sing
  but most of all we gotta learn to be free

VERSE:
  we'd be united, yet liberated
  emancipated, yes, all that and free
  we'd live together, sleep together
  so many things we'd see

  we'd leave [???]
  no enemies this far along
  and then we'd join everyone to sing
  my worldwide, worldwide, worldwide [song]

CHORUS:
  we gotta share, make peace, and love
  we can't rely on aid from god above
  we need to talk, laugh, and sing
  but most of all we gotta learn to be free

END:
  wooh!
  wooh!
  that's the style
  'postrophe kickin'
  one more time
  gotta share, make peace, and love [???]

[outro chatter]

TRAV:
  look at him go
  a full 25 miles an hour
  

Trek (3)

This is the second full recording of "Trek". I don't remember why we put both versions on the same album. We probably recorded them a few weekends apart. I think this second version has overdubs, unlike the first one.

The intro is pretty painful. So's the first section, with all the instruments out of tune with each other. The "fast" middle part doesn't change tempo like it did in the previous version. The third part seems the best; there's more harmony. However, even that has lots of tuning problems.

Overall, this version is pretty lame. My grunting noises don't help.

Lyrics to "Trek (3)":

[spoken intro]

TRAV:
  all right
  this is Travis
  and i'm here to say
  this is "Trek"
  no, but it's Travis, not Trek
  is this on?

JON:
  uh, we're recording, so i'm gonna hit a tuning note
  ???

TRAV:
  1, trek trek trek
  1,2,3,4

[music starts]

TRAV:
  hit it!
  ???
  1,2,3,4
  

Share, Peace, and Love (2)

Somehow I got Jon to sing his own version of "Share, Peace, and Love". You can barely hear him. Fortunately. (He had a lot of trouble sticking to the tempo and pitch).

We might have recorded this one first. I'm not sure, though.

It didn't appear on our original version of Gourmet. I added it years later when I found it on an old tape.

Lyrics to "Share, Peace, and Love (2)":

[spoken intro]

TRAV: this is jon's, wait
JON:  no, no, no
TRAV: this is jon's way of singing "share, peace, and love"
JON:  i'm not singing!
TRAV: jon's version
JON:  are we/you recording?
TRAV: i'm recording
      this is jon singing and if he doesn't sing, i'm gonna play the trumpet
JON:  oh, god, ultimatum
TRAV: 1,2,3,4

[music starts]

VERSE:
  i just wanna have a good time
  i don't wanna know what is mine
  why can't the world just learn to share?
  it would eliminate war and make life so fair

  just think of a world full of peace
  all those confrontations would cease
  no more bombs would rake the earth
  no more children dead at birth

CHORUS:
  ??? love
  we can't rely on aid from god above
  we need to talk, laugh, and sing
  but most of all we gotta learn to be free

VERSE:
  instead of locking armies we'd lock lips
  each day we'd take a million pleasure trips
  we'd kiss and hug for the rest of our lives
  who says we can't have four or five wives?

  the fear of death would soon be unfelt
  and the leaders' iron hearts would soon melt
  the shadow of war would be lifted from us all
  and we'd tear down with our hands that very last wall

CHORUS:
  we ??? peace, and love
  we can't rely on aid from god above
  we need to talk, laugh, and sing
  but most of all we gotta learn to be free

VERSE:
  we'd be united, yet liberated
  emancipated and free
  we'd live together and sleep together
  so many things we'd see

  we'd love each other, one another
  no enemies this far along
  and then we'd join everyone to sing
  my worldwide song

CHORUS:
  we gotta share, make love and peace and love
  we can't rely on aid from god above
  we need to talk, laugh, and sing
  but most of all we gotta learn to be free

???
[scat]

what are you doing
???
  

Outro Chatter

More babbling. This is hilarious if you slow it down to half speed; it sounds like we're drunk! At normal speed, well, at least it ends quickly!

Lyrics to "Outro Chatter":

JON:  yeah

TRAV: which we haven't even written yet

JON:  right, but i'm working on it
      jonathon friesen and travis emmitt

TRAV: yeah, ho!!!

JON:  ok, uh...

TRAV: anything else? piano, piano

JON:  oh, piano

TRAV: no

JON:  yeah

TRAV: no, we haven't

JON:  hey, i've done keyboard too
      i'm a keyboardist too
      jonathon friesen
      but i'm not a bass player, basically

TRAV: or a trumpet player

JON:  right, uh, but the piano, well,
      that's true, that's true

TRAV: we haven't played piano

JON:  right right ok, no piano
      but if there is piano it will be travis emmitt or jonathon friesen

TRAV: oh and you know the little voices, uh, the...

JON:  oh yeah
      done by our special technician, travis emmitt

TRAV: but the voices are of two people

JON:  right

TRAV: and those are mainly travis emmitt and jon friesen
      so this is sort of one-sided
      if, i mean
      the two  people that get all the credit for this are...

JON:  travis emmitt

TRAV: and jonathon friesen

JON:  but actually the whole minds of operation
      are sam cubic and sarah johnson
      thank you
      just kidding
      jonathon friesen and travis emmitt

TRAV: i don't get that one

JON:  never mind; shut up!
      ok, you know it's one big happy family

TRAV: one yeah, huge, you know, monsterous

JON:  two person
      good bye