This is a continuation of Shannon’s post (total fake and completely Internet meme/bandwagon thing) about the beginning of Puny Express. (The completely fictional) Puny Express consisted of Shannon and Paul on guitar, Erin on bass and myself on drums.
After a few years on the local scene, and after a couple of more EPs recorded, we hit the big time – somehow, Tooth and Nail Records heard one of our EPs. I have my suspicions that Shannon sent it to them, but she denies the whole thing. We were soon signed, and released our first studio album, Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting. For some reason (which I’ve never figured out), critics loved it. We were hailed as fresh, original and the next big thing.
The track listing for this album was:
1. Mostly Harmless (inspired by The Hitchhiker’s Guide… this may also have been adapted by Shannon for the use of her blog.)
2. Make it Sad (emo as it should never be attempted)
3. Sara, Take Me Out (a sweet, melodic song with a bit of attitude)
4. Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting (the title track of the album)
5. Misbehave (you may remember this as our first big single)
6. Your Last Words (NOT as emo as the title would make it sound… driving rhythm with this kick ass bass riff going on)
7. August in Bethany (a cover of the song by The Juliana Theory)
Despite the critics (or perhaps because of), our first record never made the charts, but we still considered ourselves quite successful. We got to open for some pretty big bands for the first little while, and I would say that this was best time of my life. We had fun, saw some things that we can’t talk about on here, and did some things that some people may be ashamed of.
But it wasn’t long before it started to have a toll on us. We weren’t used to this kind of rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. I would have to say that this was about the time when things really began to spiral out of control for us. We partied All The Time, our music started to suffer, and I think that spending all that time on a tour bus just really got to us.
Not that that was the only album we released, but I believe that Erin wants to continue on with our story.
shannon March 30th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I never could figure out how we managed to not get sued by the estate of douglas adams for that one. You totally kicked ass on make it sad, btw. It’s still one of my favourites.
But you totally should have told people about what happened that night in Albuquerque. After all, that was really the turning point, wasn’t it? I couldn’t look Paul in the eye for at least a month.
raidergirl3 March 31st, 2009 at 7:45 am
awesome, you guys brought back all those great memories of Puny Express for me! rocking out. When you opened for Glass Tiger, it was the best. concert. ever.
I want to hear about Alburquerque!
any chance of a reunion tour?
Court March 31st, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Shannon – Ah, Albuquerque… things I wish I could forget.
raidergirl3 – You want to hear about Albuquerque? Let’s just say that you should never mix vodka, toothpaste an a live emu. That’s all I’m going to say. No plans for a reunion tour yet, but you never know what may happen in the future.