"We had recorded an album, it just wasn't released. Some of the material was from that record and that was interesting, because we knew what we had done wrong in the past and how we could make the songs better. About half of the record was like that, the other half were very new songs, written about six months prior to going into the studio. That was really exciting as well." “The biggest part of it was the money but that in turn allowed us to take more time. We never did this thing called pre-production before we did that this time around. Pre-production basically entails getting together with the rhythm section and running through the songs. Sean Beavan - our producer - and I trimmed the fat off some of the tunes so they were new for me too. We all rehearsed as a group and played the newer, leaner arrangements to see how everything worked out.”
Writing and composition
“I keep the music and the lyrics separate for a long time. I just collect and collect for both sides and then, when it comes time, they kind of just naturally come together. Lyrically, I get a lot of inspiration about what happens to me in my day-to-day life. And also Charles Bukowski and David Lynch are very inspirational to me.”
The hit single "I See Sound," had been around in one form or another since 1997. “I wrote that at a time in my life when I was losing focus about what the band and myself were about. I had to sit down and reevaluate the situation. Once I did that, the answer seemed really clear to me. The answer boiled down to the music. That is what I am about. As far as what I see, that is my vision. Sound is another word for the music.”
“In “Burning Down My Sanity” the girl combusts, as in flammable. She combusts all over me. It is more of a positive kind of statement—you meet that person and before you know it, they are infiltrating every single aspect of your life. They blow you away so much that everything else is falling apart.” That song is about meeting that specific person that you didn't plan on meeting.”
"It is a cyclical thing," says Stenz of the back-from-the-dead theme of "Last Night's Dream." "This couple are dead, but they are dreaming about the last night they were alive. That was a dream that I had. It was the last night I was alive in the dream; the next day, I thought about it and tried to put it into lyrics: 'In my dream last night I dreamt that you and I were both alive.” "I am not sure how the couple died," he continues. "I never got that far in the dream. It was just a bizarre circumstance. Who knows why they are there, but they are there for a reason."
"It is nothing I can get sued for," says Stenz, "but on "Cocaine Star, "I tried to come as close to the MTVguitar riff without actually stealing it. My riff is cooler. The song pokes fun at all those '80s rock stars that probably snorted more coke than they could produce. They were cocaine stars, not rock stars."
In "Plastics Campaign," Stenz sings about his utter discontent with people who perform and people who receive plastic surgery. "I am completely against it. Unless it is some reconstructive surgery as the result of a horrible crash or accident. I can understand that."
Stenz wrote "Not Really" one day while sitting on his couch. "That song took about fifteen minutes. I don't know where it came from. Lyrically it was about how I felt that day which was totally out of touch with reality."
Reception
The album received enthusiastic reviews from music magazines including Rolling Stone, Alternative Press and CMJ.
