Brent Gough (keyboards/vocals)
Chris Vail (vocals/guitar)
Pablo Puentes (bass, vocals)
Joel Nye (drums).
Influences
Sounds Like
Owls Of Getchü (track listing):
1. Our House Is Host
2. There's A Fire
3. U Cast A Spell
4. Back In Black Lagoon
5. Will O' The Wisp
6. I Am Invisible, Man
7. Silver Bullets
8. Buried Live
9. Music Works
10. Proud Tradition
1. Our House Is Host
Pulling weeds by the garden wall / swear I hear or felt the sound of a mist
Thought I felt a breath on my shawl / thought I felt an invisible fist
(wooh) there's no debate / (wooh) you're a hundred years too late
(wooh) our house is host / (wooh) who's afraid of, who's afraid of a ghost
I've seen your shadow, I've seen your face / I've felt you brush past my house robe in the night
You move my things to a different place / I won't leave my home without a fight
(wooh) there's no debate / (wooh) you're a hundred years too late
(wooh) our house is host / (wooh) who's afraid of, who's afraid of a ghost
(wooh) there's no debate / (wooh) you're a hundred years too late
(wooh) our house is host / (wooh) who's afraid of, who's afraid of a ghost
Brent Gough (keyboards, BGs)
Joel Nye (main drum kit)
Pablo Puentes (bass)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars)
Jay Crocker (horn arrangements)
Dan Meichel (bass clarinet)
JC Jones (trombone)
Howie Woiwod (trumpet)
Andrew Blizzard (clarinet)
Garrett McClure (glockenspiel, BGs, 2nd drum kit)
Carl Lukasewich (guitar)
Dolly Sillito (percussion, glockenspiel, BGs)
2. There's A Fire
Brush the cobwebs from your black cloak / lick the dust from off your fangs
Brush the bat hair from your black smoke / freak out since the mummy rang
There's a vampire in the bedroom in the bedroom / there's a mummy in the hall
There's a door ajar between them / there's a fire
You find it easy to suck on blood / but do you have the courage to unwrap the glove,
Oh there's a vampire in the bedroom / there's a mummy in the hall
There's a door ajar between them / there's a fire - there's a fire
I wonder what's under the dressing / has the whole body been embalmed
Will the love you make be messy / will your love ever be calm
It took a long time to find you / the mummy sneaks up behind you
You trade a lover for a foe / the bandage unravels slowly
There's a vampire in the bedroom in the bedroom / there's a mummy in the hall
There's a door ajar between them / there's a fire - there's a fire
The undead doesn't mind you / in fact he waits for you tonight
A hundred - thousand years of bad luck / would give any living man a god damn fright
There's a vampire in the bedroom in the bedroom / there's a mummy in the hall
There's a door ajar between them / there's a fire - there's a fire
Ooh - there's a vampire in the bedroom / Ooh - there's a vampire in the bedroom
Ooh - there's a vampire in the bedroom / Ooh - there's a vampire in the bedroom (I'm a knot in the wood in the wall)
Brent Gough (keyboards, BGs)
Joel Nye (percussion)
Pablo Puentes (bass)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars, percussion)
Dolly Sillito (keyboards, glockenspiel, BGs)
Chris Dadge (drum kit)
Rachel Wise (violins)
Dan Meichel (saxophones)
3. U Cast A Spell
Pull up my tattooed sleeves and the ink leaks out and I swear my arms are bare and black again
I'm asleep when I'm walking wake me up and I'm running and I'm cutting through the shadows through wind
You should be shy you should be cut off but sneak into my dreams and you swallow ever question like why
Half the time I am cold and the other half I burn for you
You cast a spell on me
Do you float or do you sink do you burn do you fly on a broom or do you bleed in blue oh do you
Can you see my face in water water or in mirrors do look into the air or in my eyes for the future
When you call me in the night without needing a word or a whisper do you control my system
In the forest in the fog anywhere can you see it come
And do you feel this love (feel this pain) / do you feel this love (feel this pain)
Can you feel this love (feel this pain) / do you feel this love (feel this pain)
You cast a spell on me / can you feel it
Do you feel this love (feel this pain) / do you feel this love (feel this pain)
Can you feel this love (feel this pain) / do you feel this love (feel this pain)
Can you feel it
Brent Gough (keyboards, BGs)
Joel Nye (percussion)
Pablo Puentes (bass)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars)
Dolly Sillito (keyboards, glockenspiel, BGs)
Chris Dadge (drum kit)
Rachel Wise (violins)
Foon Yap (violins)
4. Back In Black Lagoon
Say goodbye to the sailors / that I stole from the ships
Who disappeared one at a time / take them back to my home
Where I was left so long / a creature builds up a hunger
In the waters that never get sailed / these scales don't get any younger
Once I could fit in the palm of your hand / like a frog but not a frog
So I'm coming out / now a man but not a man
And I'll be back in the black lagoon / I'll be back in the black lagoon
I'll be back in the black lagoon / I'll be back in the black lagoon
Hiking through the rocks and the sand / in the water and still undercover
Could never be what you had planned / for all I know there is no other monster
In the waters that never get sailed / these scales don't get any younger
But what if in the waters that never get sailed / these scales don't get any younger
Uh oh and oh no / there in no other monster
Uh oh and oh no
Brent Gough (keyboards, BGs)
Joel Nye (percussion)
Pablo Puentes (bass)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars)
Dolly Sillito (keyboards, glockenspiel, BGs)
Chris Dadge (drum kit)
Gabriel Collins (field recording)
5. Will O The Wisp
You will see me in and through even if you think it's too far
I am underground I am above the stars
I can't return the hours to be when the owls flew with me
I can't tell now if it's true is there anyone to care for
When I stalled my death now who did it scare more
More of me or more of you
It's the will of the wisp and it's due
I can see / I can see
I can see / if you carve a little light out for me
And the nights are longer in this life when you leave
Even out of the world the weight of it's on me
The angry dogs are out tonight
Please don't blow out the light
I can see / I can see
I can see / if you carve a little light out for me
Carve a little light out for me
Brent Gough (keyboards)
Joel Nye (drum kit)
Pablo Puentes (bass, BGs)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitar)
6. I Am Invisible, Man
Bandaged up to the chin to be with you again
You can feel me but you cannot see my skin without a glove on hand
I know it's a miracle you have a power
But you'll never know until you get right in you'll never see it again
Head to toe in bandages and I'm over my head in this life
With hat and sunglasses
Head to toe and I'm soaking the sweat defends
I am invisible man those are my footsteps in the sand
I am invisible man that is me in front of the band with a mic in my hand
I dance and I clap my hands
It's a shame that you're never going to know me in the daylight
I'm all wrapped up and I'm sweating on the inside
I am invisible man you cannot see me as I am
You can't see me at all
Head to toe and I'm soaking
and I dance and I clap my hands
I dance and the sweat defends
Brent Gough (keyboards, BGs)
Joel Nye (percussion)
Pablo Puentes (bass, BGs)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars)
Dolly Sillito (keyboards)
Chris Dadge (drum kit)
Clea Foofat (cellos)
7. Silver Bullets
I know what I thought I saw / lycanthropic tooth nail and claw
You can't outrun at night the wolf's the law / unless you run like hunted animal
I'm afraid of what you've got in store / did you know they don't make silver bullets anymore
Please tell me what's in store / did you know they don't make silver bullets anymore
Can I shave you down so I can see your face (apply pressure to the bite tonight) / I know you mean a chunk when you say a taste
You make me kiss the skulls around your waist (apply pressure to the bite tonight) / and you make me lick the animal
I'm afraid of what you've got in store / did you know they don't make silver bullets anymore
Please tell me what's in store / did you know they don't make silver bullets anymore
They sure don't now no
Every wolf needs a friend / I can pretend
If you keep me alive / I won't tell
Every wolf needs a friend / I can pretend
If you keep me alive / I won't tell
Every wolf needs a friend / I can pretend
If you keep me alive / I won't tell
Brent Gough (vocals, keyboards)
Joel Nye (percussion)
Pablo Puentes (bass)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars)
Dolly Sillito (keyboards, glockenspiel)
Chris Dadge (drum kit)
8. Buried Live
They Buried us alive / buried us alive
Now we have been shamed / we have six feet of dirt on our face
We dig tunnel vision / we dig up and out
Crawling without veins / and breathing without names
Emerging form the earth tonight / we just made our hands come alive
Our feet come alive / your worst dreams come alive
The living dead have arrived / the living dead have arrived
The living dead have arrived / the living dead have arrived
We move slow and sober tonight / is it over are we alright
We move slow and sober tonight / it's not over
Brent Gough (keyboards, BGs)
Joel Nye (percussion)
Pablo Puentes (bass)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars)
Dolly Sillito (keyboards, BGs)
Chris Dadge (drum kit)
Clea Foofat (cellos)
9. Music Works
This is a terrible machine the voices sing in time
Then all at once all the lights go out and then I
There is a severed connection this really should be on
The click's in time / the click push me
The click pull me / I shuffle my feet
The perfect beat / the perfect melody
This is terrible machine / this is a terrible machine
This is terrible machine / this is a terrible machine
Consider me a sweet catastrophe
Hold down these keys
And meet me secretly
This music works / it moves and jerks
Some clap hands and / some kiss me
Kiss me
This is terrible machine / this is a terrible machine
This is terrible machine / this is a terrible machine
(This music works)
Brent Gough (keyboards, BGs)
Joel Nye (percussion)
Pablo Puentes (bass)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars)
Dolly Sillito (keyboards, glockenspiel, BGs)
Chris Dadge (drum kit)
Rachel Wise (violins)
10. Proud Tradition
The first time I learned to shave / was from a movie
If I ever have my own child / he's going to learn to shave from me
Sit him down on the operating table / like a body under the knife
Like a lightening to the rod / it's alive it's alive it's alive
It's a proud tradition from man to man
And I can guess as to the shape of the heart
You may not have built this man
But you supplied all of the parts
I built you up so strong / big man in a lazy boy
I learnt everything I know / I made you now you're on your own
It's a proud tradition / I can guess as to the shape of the heart
You may not have built this man / but you supplied all of the parts
Brent Gough (keyboards, BGs)
Joel Nye (percussion, 2nd drum kit)
Pablo Puentes (bass, BGs)
Chris Vail (vocals, guitars, percussion)
Dolly Sillito (keyboards, glockenspiel, BGs)
Chris Dadge (drum kit)
Rachel Wise (violins)
Dan Meichel (saxophones)
Key To The City is a 4 piece "Coldwave” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldwave) meets "New Wave" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Wave_music) band from Calgary, Canada.
As members of Vailhalen, Chris Vail (vocals/guitar), Brent Gough (keyboards/vocals), Pablo Puentes (bass/vocals), and Joel Nye (drums) had played music festivals such as Canadian Music Week, the Sled Island Festival, The Western Canadian Music Awards, and Austin’s Folk Alliance. The band has also toured extensively throughout Canada, in support of their 2005 critically acclaimed full-length album “Pop Violence” (Saved By Radio Records). They have been featured on Zed TV, CBC 3’s “In Session”, Much Music’s “Going Coastal”, and have earned features and cover stories in various Canadian music magazines, weeklies, and music web sites.
Vailhalen geared down for 2007/2008, allowing members to pursue other interests.
Drummer Joel Nye stayed busy with his other band, Hot Little Rocket, touring China, playing various music festivals and conferences, and recording an album in Chicago with engineer Steve Albini.
Bass player Pablo Puentes spent time working for a special effects company saving money in order to embark on in his current “day job”, as a tattoo artist.
Keyboard player Brent Gough took a sabbatical to travel extensively throughout Europe and Asia.
Guitar player/singer Chris Vail opened up a live music venue/bar in Calgary, before spending a year playing in The Dudes, touring with them through Europe and Western Canada, and recording with them for their upcoming album.
Since reforming, the four remaining members now share in all band-related duties (including songwriting), as opposed to early years when Vail was the catalyst and focal point.
Key To The City’s sound has been described as “rebellious” and “difficult”. Their new “Owls Of Getchü” recording is almost complete at last, even though recording for the album had begun years ago as a Vailhalen album. Since being on a virtual hiatus, the album has evolved steadily, morphing as the band changed.
Though songs from “Pop Violence” still permeate the live sets, the evolved group has adopted the name Key To The City to reflect the change in vibe. Despite there being less members, they are actually more of a “group” now than have ever been!
Owls Of Getchü was written, arranged, and produced by Chris Vail / Key To The City.
All tracks mixed by Jeff Drummond, except track 2 mixed by Chris Vail and Craig Newnes.
Track 1 recorded at Sundae Sound by Dave Alcock. Track 5 recorded by Chris Vail at Larkspur Studio, Hillcrest.
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10: Drums, bass and keys recorded by Dave Alcock at Sundae Sound, overdubs and vocals recorded by Gabriel Collins at Marquee Room and Chris Vail in various locations.
All songs mastered by Dave Horrocks at Infinate Waves.
Graphic design, logo and title treatment by Dena Seiferling, original owl illustration by Brent Gough.
Thank you Dawn Loucks / Saved By Radio, Foon Yap, Rachel Wise, Dan Meichel (rest in peace), Jay Crocker, Gabriel Collins, Clea Foofat, Phil Cimolai, Dan Christiansen, Garrett McClure, Pat Walls, Carl Lukasewich, Doug Wong / Canada Disc & Tape, Tyler Scollon, Dan Gaucher, Steve Fletcher, Dena Seiferling, Henry Hsieh, Andrew Blizzard, Chris Faulkner, Pat Flegel, Dave Alcock, Prince, Paul James Coutts, Vailhalen, and especially Chris Dadge and Dolly Sillito.
Just a reminder to listen to VAILHALEN(KEY TO THE CITY) on our ALL CALGARY special episode of THIS GREAT WHITE NORTH. It's an ALL CANADIAN music show FRIDAYS 4:30-6pm CST on 91.7 KOOP FM in Austin, Texas. You can listen online at www.KOOP.org.
