A Bands and Brews Session with Jukebox The Ghost

"Everyone is boring," sings Jukebox the Ghost. "Everyone is lame." And as much as we all don't want to admit it, that's often the case. So, in order to break up the monotony of your existence, Baeble is delighted to bring you this special session at Industry City.

Jukebox the Ghost had a lot to celebrate with this session, recorded a day before the release of their newest album, Off to the Races. They started their set off with an old favorite, "Somebody," before treating their audience to some acoustic versions of their newest songs, "Boring," "Jumpstarted," "People Go Home," "Everybody's Lonely," and "Fred Astaire."

Although it continues to push their sound in a forward direction, this new album stays true to their sound that they've been developing for a decade. They've perfected their combination of warm sounds and honest, biographical lyrics. The resulting feel-good songs have earned them a small but dedicated legion of fans. The fact is, if you don't know who Jukebox the Ghost is, you're out of the loop.

So, whether (like the live audience of this session) you need something to warm you on a snowy night, or you just need something to cheer you up when you've had a bad day, you can rely on Ben, Tommy and Jesse for songs that will bring a smile to your face.

I want it I need it
I want somebody
I want it I need it
I want your eyes to turn
I need it I want it
I want somebody, baby
Now this is my turn
I don't want any more doors 'Cause I'm walking on string
They only slam any more Like we're pulling our teeth
And I could just see your eyes Just above your shoulder
And you were scanning the skies for me
I dreamt like you were some long-forgotten soldier
Like I was someone that you cared for
I want it I need it
I want it I need it
I want somebody
I want it I need it
I want your eyes to turn
I need it I want it
I want somebody, baby
Now this is my turn
Ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh
I don't want any more heartbreak I'm tired of the sound it makes
Trying to shut out the dark at night You close your eyes, but it won't erase
You were walking beside Some other person's shadow
And it was more than I could take I wouldn't see what I couldn't know
But there might be somebody after me
Oh, I want it I need it
I want it I need it
I want somebody
I want it I need it
I want your eyes to turn
I need it I want it
I want somebody, baby
Now this is my turn
Ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh
I need that new vacation Where nothing that's spoken is known
Let the winter be my station I'll let the cold teach me what to know
That there might be somebody after me
Oh, I want it I need it
I want it I need it
I want somebody
I want it I need it
I want your eyes to turn
I need it I want it
I want somebody, baby
Now this is my turn
Ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh
a lot of songs for the first time acoustic tonight. We've... we're trying new things out.
This one is about getting older, becoming an adult and it's called Boring.
The seasons are changing But my world always stays the same
Children laugh behind my back They're younger every time
All my friends are having kids But nobody's sure why
I guess they'll procreate until they die
Everyone is boring Everything is lame
Everybody thinks they're not the same
So why don't we get boring? Let's get old and lame
Let's get a house and kids and change your name
I'm torn on the inside A little ashamed to say
The house out in the suburbs calls my name
I'm not insane, but maybe I should be It would explain some things
I Web-MD'd myself, but somehow nothing's ever wrong
Everyone is boring Everything is lame
Everybody thinks they're not the same
So why don't we get boring? Let's get old and lame
Let's get a house and kids and change your name
Now, it's really bringing me down
That the house with the picket fence is calling out
Oh, I'd rather rot in hell
Than watch you become someone lame with someone else
That'd really bring me down That'd really bring me down
So, let's get old and boring Let's both become lame
Let's get a house and kids and change your name
Because I don't think you're boring I don't think you're lame
Let's get a house in summer up in Maine
Let's get old and boring
Let's both become lame
We could be so boring
Let's get a house and kids and change your name
- Take it, Ben.
is called Off to the Races.
I think the biggest surprise is going to be...probably going to be Jumpstarted because it's totally insane.
I wrote that song over as series of, I guess, days and weeks and each time I sat down I sort of gave myself the goal of I'm just going to add a new part.
I'm going to write another section of the song.
For example, the track has over 120 of my vocals stacked on top of each other.
So, I built it out and arranged it and sort of Frankenstein'd it together and then brought it in and we sort rerecorded all the essential parts in the studio.
But I think, you know, 119 tracks just didn't have the flavor I was looking for.
I added that one more and I thought, done.
- Jessie and I, when we heard it, we were like this is what it must be like to be inside of Ben's brain.
- Terrible.
They were both weeping.
Strictly business, nothing more As I held the door
When a saint walked in As two hearts started dancing
The new story begins
Oh, my poor soul Starts flying like a cannonball
What goes up must come down
Take my advice and run while you still can
To the races, got my love jumpstarted
The only one I want is you Say it again
I hear the bells and the ringing already
Four kids and a big ol' wedding
Singing you Say it again
Now as I make the long walk home
You got me feeling like an overdose Singing you
Hey, don't act surprised A goldfish wouldn't love you twice
And your gravity, my depravity Won't take my advice (so, so nice)
I never run while I still can
To the races, got my love jumpstarted
The only one I want is you Say it again
I hear the bells and the ringing already Four kids and a big ol' wedding
Singing you Say it again
Now as I make the long walk home
You got me feeling like an overdose Singing you
Then my heart starts attacking and the arteries clapping
Trapping all the bits of poison in the morning
I was sure that she was slipping me God damn, maybe
What goes up must come down
Take my advice and run while you still...
Off to the races, got my love jumpstarted
The only one I want is you Say it again
I hear the bells and the ringing already Four kids and a big ol' wedding
Singing you Say it again
Now as I make the long walk home
You got me feeling like an overdose Singing you
What goes up must come down
Take my advice and run while you still...
- Thank you.
Every time I play that, I'm like this is a silly song.
- I think people are going to be excited by the harmonies on this record.
I think that this is the first record where we've really, truly geeked out on harmonies on the bulk of the record.
We've had one or two songs on other records that sort of hinted at it.
But this time it was just like, nope, we're going to do, you know, 50 voice harmony sacks on every song.
We had a lot of fun with that and I think people are going to be excited about that.
called People Go Home which is unreleased.
I think fans are going to be surprised by that one.
It kind of has...takes this punk rock influence that Tommy's been... Tommy writes punk songs on the side and I feel like that is going to, kind of, take fans for a spin.
Days that can't be counted by the money spent
Today was just another better left unsaid
Days that can't be counted by the time 'til rent
Tomorrow's just another like the one that comes next
The car to the highway that leads to the job
At the desk by the boss with the elegant watch
The tick of the clock and the tick of the clock
Mark the moments 'til the ticking stops
But over time the expectations grow
People go to work and then people go home
People go to work and then people go home
People go to work and then people go home
People go to work and then people go home
Desk with the calendar, pull off a page
Toss it in the bin where you throw them away
Think of all the things that you do with a raise
Yesterday's another today going to waste
The car to the highway that takes you back home
To the wife and the kids and the dog with the bone
The tick of the clock and the tick of the clock
Mark the moments 'til the ticking stops
But over time the expectations grow
People go to work and then people go home
People go to work and then people go home
People go to work and then people go home
People go to work and then people go home
But over time the expectations
Sick of themselves and become replaced with
The thing you hated and always hated
Know what I mean, yeah
People go to work people go home
People go to work and then people go home
People go to work and then people go home (go home)
People go to work and then people go home (go home)
People go to work and then people go home (go home)
People go to work and then people go home (go home)
People go to work and then people go home (go home)
People go to work and then people go home
Dragged into another heartbreak Like a moth into a flame
Are we programmed for broken romance? Everything just sounds the same
Why's every song about love Or drinking too much?
Yeah, maybe that's because Everybody's lonely
On your radio There's another song that goes
Babe, I'll never let you go Everybody's lonely
Everybody's lonely
Digging through another playlist Searching for a piece of art
A Jackson Pollock Some piece of gossip
Why can't we tell them all apart?
Why's every song about love Or drinking too much?
Yeah, maybe that's because Everybody's lonely
On your radio There's another song that goes
Babe, I'll never let you go Everybody's lonely
Everybody's lonely
Yeah, everybody's lonely Everybody's lonely
Everybody, everybody's lonely
Why's every song about love Or drinking too much?
Yeah, maybe that's because Everybody's lonely
On your radio There's another song that goes
Babe, I'll never let you go
Everybody's lonely Everybody's lonely
Ooh, everybody's lonely Everybody's lonely
Ooh, ooh, everybody, Everybody's lonely
Everybody's lonely
Why's every song about love Or drinking too much?
Yeah, maybe that's because Everybody's lonely
- You know, Everybody's Lonely is the track that we're like... It's the single on the record for right now.
It's the one that we're pushing to radio and hoping that that goes out into the world and starts to make a difference beyond our fans and Fred Astaire may be the one that follows quickly on its heels.
Digging through another playlist
- You know, I think when you first start playing songs for people that we haven't played before, most of our focus is on getting the songs right.
So as we get more comfortable then we look up and be like, "Oh.
" - There's been a very particularly good reaction to Ben making his debut on the Keytar on this album cycle.
So, during Jumpstarted, he gets to take full foot plant style Keytar solo.
to happen tonight? - Not tonight, no.
It's an acoustic set.
So, yeah.
- I bet that'd be nice.
- Sorry.
If someone wants to hold the piano, I could play it at an angle, but it's not quite the same, is it? Thank you all so much.
Thank you, Baeble, for having us, again.
And thanks for being in this wonderful tent with us on a lovely winter day.
It seems like I can do no wrong to your eyes
Sing the wrong lines to my own song, you don't mind
Make it up as we go All the words we don't know
Even when I'm a drunken mess, you don't care
Still like me better than the rest, I swear
I don't understand it How you like me when I'm dancing, yeah
Those eyes, damn those eyes, they get me every time
Those eyes, in those eyes, I can do no crime
When I dance like I don't care You can call me Fred Astaire
Those eyes, damn those eyes, they get me every time
Those eyes, in those eyes, I can do no crime
When I dance like I don't care You can call me Fred Astaire
All my idiosyncrasies, you like 'em Annoyed at all the little things
I know I can be frustrating but you still like me when I'm dancing, hey
Those eyes, damn those eyes, they get me every time
Those eyes, in those eyes, I can do no crime
When I dance like I don't care You can call me Fred Astaire
Those eyes, damn those eyes, they get me every time
Those eyes, in those eyes, I can do no crime
When I dance like I don't care You can call me Fred Astaire
When I lose myself There is no one else
Who ever sees through me Quite like you
Those eyes, damn those eyes, they get me every time
Those eyes, in those eyes, I can do no crime
When I dance like I don't care You can call me Fred Astaire
Those eyes, damn those eyes, they get me every time
Those eyes, in those eyes, I can do no crime
When I dance like I don't care You can call me Fred Astaire
You can call me Fred Astaire
- Thanks so much.
- Oh, and if anybody wants one of our brand new records signed, we'd love to do that for you.
Why's every song about love Or drinking too much?
Yeah, maybe that's because Everybody's lonely
On your radio There's another song that goes
Babe, I'll never let you go
Everybody's lonely Everybody's lonely
Ooh, everybody's lonely Everybody's lonely

The appeal of a modern, on the rise indie band like Jukebox the Ghost is simple: They write catchy songs. On top of that, they're dynamic, skilled musicians. The band's records are carefully structured, yet wildly diverse affairs. And the live show? Energetic, crowd-pleasing, cathartic.

The Philly trio's new album, produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National) and set for release this fall on Yep Roc, highlights all of these elements over 11 tracks, each one leaving its own unique sonic footprint. But constructing and arranging the songs to their full potential took years of preparation, both on the road and in all of the basements, houses, hotel rooms and studios where the songs were born.

Since their 2008 debut, Let Live and Let Ghosts, a sunny, piano-led explosion of pop exuberance, JTG has logged hundreds of shows and thousands of hours on tour - all of which helped the guys develop the patience and perspective needed to deliver a more intricate and serious second record.

Originally formed during college in Washington D.C., Jukebox the Ghost (the name's an amalgam of Captain Beefheart and Nabakov references) won accolades for that first record, Let Live and Let Ghosts, which Spin called "a refreshing reminder that the lighthearted electricity of a fantastic pop song is still filled with live wires." The band - Thornewill, Siegel and drummer Jesse Kristin - jelled quickly, despite their disparate musical backgrounds in everything from classical piano to prog to indie to 80s Brit-pop. Collectively, the group delivered an unabashedly upbeat, playful sound with a sly dark streak (see: the aforementioned apocalyptic lyrics).

With new songs and a new direction in hand, JTG plan to spend the next year on the road, hopefully matching the 300+ shows the band did between albums one and two.