ULTIMATE LAGWAGON PLAYLIST

Felipe M

Today, it is, unofficially, Lagwagon Day.  Why?  Because it's May 16th!

The California punk rock band has been one of the more influential in the scene, but have been forgotten of late as they have not released a full studio album since 2005.  With that being said, I thought I would pay my respects to one of my favorite bands by compiling a "playlist" of sorts.  I will try to limit myself to 20 songs or fewer along with a favorite quote (or two) from each song.  Also, admittedly, I don't own any Lagwagon albums before 1995.  So not a lot of Duh or Trashed references on this list.  I apologize in advance:

1. "Alien 8"--Double Plaidinum: 
• "Are you a martyr for your pride?"
2. "Gun in Your Hand"--Let's Talk About Feelings: 
• "I'm not going to watch you kill yourself to live"; 
• "If you're not a rebel by the age of 20, you have no heart, but if you haven't turned establishment by 30, you've got no brains."
3. "Raise a Family"--Let's Talk About Leftovers: 
• "Maybe I'm just thirty and I don't want to go to parties anymore"; 
• "Marriage?  Mortgage? Can't afford it!"; 
• "We ain't got no money, honey, it's true, but there's vows in Vegas."
4. "Dinner and a Movie"--Blaze: 
• "It's already better than last time I ruined another girl's life."
5. "Violins"--Hoss: 
• "I assume the role, open my mouth, and clumsy words escape"; 
• "You put me out, the butt of a sick joke, into this ashtray life"; 
• "I assume the role, open my claws, and grasp for your heart."
6. "Change Despair"--...Feelings: 
• "Disappointment and odds in a costume you can't take off"
7. "Bro Dependent"--Hoss: 
• "I try to focus on what I hear and listen to what I see"; 
• "Your problem still remains: obsession, compulsion, overdoing everything."
8. "Making Friends"--...Plaidinum, but Live in a Dive version is much better: 
• "I can see you in the middle of a doubt"; 
• "I will be a freak show when the circus comes to town and I will rain on your parade without a sound"; 
• "I graduate this class with honors and I will never fail drama."
9. "Razor Burn"--Hoss: 
• "[Will] walk the earth alone, I'll never shave again"; 
• "On the night she left me, facial hair grew miraculously"; 
• "I look like a wise man, but I'm an idiot"; 
• "She found out I was lame so I grew a beard of shame."
10. "Mr. Coffee"--Duh: 
• "Where in the this hellhole is my coffee mug?"; 
• "I can now face the day on legal speed, the American way"; 
• "I drink the entire pot so now it's off to work"; 
• "Drinking coffee, I drink coffee everyday!"
11. "Hurry up and Wait"--...Feelings: 
• "We're never going to make sound check so I can't even take a shit, shower, shave, or drink coffee!"; 
• "Come on, we're already late man, let's go!"; 
• "Hurry up and wait!"
12. "Move the Car"--Hoss: 
• "The story it grows older, the story is no story here"; 
• "Just because I don't go to the church where you reside..."; 
• "I can be the hungry, as I eat my own word again"; 
• "Appealing yet appalling, rising to my falling, I'm going to extreme ends"; 
• "Feeling nothing more to hide, consider life a forgery"; 
• "Driven to this thought: death is certain, faith is not"
13. "Leave the Light On"--...Feelings: 
• "Leave the bed sheets unclean and they will reek of you still"; 
• "So please leave the imagery, I can twist it"; 
• "I'd give anything to bring you back to say goodbye"; 
• "Barry, why don't you play an 'A' for Steve?"
14. "Automatic"--Resolve: 
• "Compromise, build a bridge, sacrifice, sacrilege, sell yourself, automatic"; 
• "Everyone drives all day, but none of them have a goal"; 
• "Set a goal, make it happen, imagine love, fake a passion..."; 
15. "Alison's Disease"--...Feelings (Bonus Track): 
• "Murderous hands cripple her eyes and mind"
16. "Burn"--Blaze: 
• "For all the riddles solved and every puzzle you complete, can't seem to find the pieces to the heart that beats"; 
• "At arm's length, you never get hit.  There's too much to gamble when you let someone in."
17. "Infectious"--Resolve: 
• "One positive, one negative, desperate, holding on to healthy images"; 
• "Gained, lost, spent, but I won't think or speak of all that could have been"
18. "Coffee and Cigarettes"--Trashed (Live in a Dive version...): 
• "I'm getting used to getting old, but where's my ambition?"; 
• "I feel broken down inside because my words seem to be trite"; 
• "Recycled words don't justify, these words don't suffice; searching for the sharp words to drive the message in"; 
• "I put the last words down then I begin to question the truth."
19. "May 16"--...Feelings: 
• "There's no gain in failure, but you succeed at being mine"; 
• "I can paint a picture in a moment of memories and there aren't many left"; 
• "I am extradited, uninvited"; 
• "It's just another Saturday"; 
• "Liberate yourself from hell"
20. "To All My Friends"--...Plaidinum: 
• "Cup half-empty, cup half-full, perspectives and beers"

Enjoy!

Be sure to catch Joey Cape on tour as he and others will perform in tribute to the late, No Use for a Name vocalist, Tony Sly.

More Music is available here.