Peep

by Leigh Marble

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  • CD

    The debut album, in a shiny jewelbox with 4-panel insert.

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about

Leigh's debut album!

-- QUOTES --

“A folk-and-run firebrand.” - Willamette Week

“Shimmers with compelling acoustic riffs.” - Harp Magazine

“Every song has a massive hook...Peep is an idiosyncratic delight.” - Comes With a Smile

“In a world where singer/songwriter types are a dime a dozen, this talented chap stands out from the crowd.” - Big Takeover

Read more press for "Peep":
www.leighmarble.com/press.html?album_id=LSR003

-- ABOUT --

Peep, Marble's long-awaited solo debut CD, reveals a talented young artist grounded in the naked truth of American folk, while pushing the envelope out defiantly in all directions. Songs born of critical thought are buoyed by memorable melodies, then pushed out to sea amongst clouds of subtle fuzz. At turns a gentle crooner and floor-stomping rocker, it's like Beck calling a square dance to a crate of Clash records. Sure, there's the authentic sneer to put the vitriol in your veins, but there's also moments when the pretty polish outshines the dirt.

Peep was forged at Leigh's subterranean sonic workshop, Fishboy Studios. After months of solo production, Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Sleater-Kinney, The Standard) stepped in to mix the album, which was then passed to John Fischbach (Stevie Wonder, Circle Jerks) for mastering. From the stark, folk reveille of the opening "A Rock From the Sky," to the sensuous groove of the closer "Last Chance," Peep spans an impressive emotional gamut.

credits

released 09 November 2004
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-- CREDITS --

Leigh Marble: vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, accordion, saxophone, programming, drums on 2 & 11

Scott Garvey: drumkit

Justin Durrie: double bass on 10

Mike Murphy: double bass on 11

Jeff Stuart Saltzman: tambourine on 4

***
produced & recorded by Leigh at Fishboy Studios, Portland OR
mixed by Jeff Stuart Saltzman at Mysterious Beard
mastered by John Fischbach at Piety Street, NOLA

cover photo by Elena Wiesenthal
album design by Brian Lambert

Thanks to Jeff, Elena, the Buttery Crew, Kira, Larry Crane, Jay Horton, Cory & Jim, Natalie Cohen, and Polly.

tags

tags: americana rock dark americana folk rock folk-pop singer-songwriter Portland

license

all rights reserved

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Track Name: A Rock From The Sky
Maybe it was a rock that fell from the sky
Or maybe it was a writer from the New York Times
But now you bear the mark
Yeah there's a special spark
When you enter the room
But it's got nothing to do with you

Yeah now you've been tagged, now you're it
Son, can you tell the folks at home how it feels
To be such a hit?
And you'll flash your trademarked grin
Say "Well I was just born to win"
And when you lie awake counting cracks
You just keep telling yourself that

Now all the king's lawyers and all the king's men
They could not put your career back together ever again
And it's your final cue when the curtain falls on you
And now you can try and put back
Every pretty thing they cracked

Maybe it was a rock that fell from the sky
Or maybe it was a writer from the New York Times
But now you bear no mark
No there's no special spark
When you enter a room
But it's got nothing to do with you
Track Name: Killed Instantly
Killed instantly the second you stepped out the door
It was all in the cards, it was written in the stars
And you saw suddenly how it had always been in your face
From the word go, equator to pole

Run through and through with a dark desperation
That you couldn't quite shake, born too early or late
And it took the alignment of just the right planets
For everything out of joint to sharpen to a point

The smell of death, around the corner of every breath
The only time there's any peace is when you sleep

Woke up shuddering to the memory of arguments
And the wind-up mouths, finally run themselves down
With the ice on your wings and the fog that a hangover brings
What was the last sound before you touched down?

The smell of death, around the corner of every breath
The only time there's any peace is when you sleep

Killed instantly the second you stepped out the door
Track Name: Pale Blue
Today the sky fronts pale blue which last night yielded stars;
I look sidelong at your face and see nothing.
Today the sky fronts pale blue which last night yielded stars;
I stare sidelong at your face and get nothing.

And I think of all the things I would do
If I didn't have to do everything perfectly:
Like make myself a fool just to catch your eye
Throw out the feed for bait but you're too wise.

You throw off a stare like a harsh winter glare
Til nobody wants to look at you, let alone talk.

Today the sky fronts pale blue which last night yielded stars;
I stare sidelong at your face and get nothing.
That is what you give at the expense of straddling a fence
Between the doing and the going of excuse and defense.
And I've seen too much evidence in your purse to ignore
That you'd take it or leave it behind on the floor.

You throw off a stare like a harsh winter glare
Til nobody wants to look at you, let alone talk.

Today the sky fronts pale blue which last night yielded stars;
I look sidelong at your face and see nothing.
Today the sky fronts pale blue which last night yielded stars;
I stare sidelong at your face and get nothing.
Track Name: Long Overdue
The smell of rain in this town's church basements
The smell of rain in this town's church basements
Makes me hopeful that one day you will stop dating fools

You always fell a little short
Yeah you always fell a little short
At finding people who were good for you

And I am no exception to the rule
And I am no exception to the rule
But I'm gonna try to be a friend to you now

This is long overdue

I saw you first waiting at the bar
I saw you first waiting at the bar
Your nervous leg drilling holes through the floor

When you're wrapped up tight and covered in their spit
You feel sick enough now to admit
That there's no escape but you could try to commit
To something that takes the weight off your chest

This is long overdue

Around the back of the liquor store
Around the back of the liquor store
Is the redemption center and I will wait for you there

But now the sound of rain in this store's empty gutters
Yeah the sound of rain in this store's empty gutters
Has got me thinking maybe you have stopped dating fools

This is long overdue
Track Name: Unwound
Brightly the chain comes unwound
The coils that keep me up off the ground
And my orbit drops a step
But don't place your bets
This ain't the bottom yet

I've been trying to lose my taste
For the shape of your hips and the look of your face
I throw myself at the floor
And break my bones
But they mend the same as before

It's a story like you might read
The boy who would rather watch himself bleed
Never getting the bandages right
After the afternoon fight
Just puts it off another night

Now all of the altar girls cry
At the eulogy delivered from the pulpit high
I'll kiss them all in time
One by one visit me
Now in my sleep

Slowly my shirt comes undone
And then my shoes, and my belt, and everything under the sun
Gives way to the terrible wind
That blew in with you when you came back again
When you came back again
Track Name: Parting Shot
Like an addict always knows the way home
And that there is only one way home
I'm looking for the thing that I know:
A hole in this here time and place
Just big enough to make my escape

I feel stupid and I feel lame
Someone lights a cigarette and I fly straight for the flame
Every party it's the same
I get tangled in their hair
Til they let me go find that there's no there there

And now the curtain's opening
And good luck is all you got
So kiss me once at center stage
Exit left for the parting shot
Exit left for the parting shot

So when your mouth is full of tape
And your mind is primed for escape
Grab your hat and close your cape
Step back once and if you find relief
Turn and run, take no grief
From no one for this
One way home that I know
Where I know I won't be missed

And now the curtain's opening
And good luck is all you got
So kiss me twice at center stage
Exit left for the parting shot
Exit left for the parting shot
Track Name: Five Years
You were five years ahead of me
And a lifetime apart
And I know I'll never ever see
Into your heart of darkness
There's a blackness over my mind
When I realize
You and I will never have the time
All the conversations, confirmations
Validations that I will never receive
Or just a simple benediction
For a man down on his knees

And though I wrap my mind around your art
Still I never believe
That I was any closer to you
Or you to me

Like a cowboy you headed west
Herding the groupies from town to town
But they were blind to your colors
They mistook you for a prophet
Or a four-letter clown

And I can touch, I can possess
The mere evidence of your trespass
But I can't keep anything I take
And picking up everything you drop
Has been my worst mistake

And though I wrap my mind around your art
Still I never believe
That I was any closer to you
Or you to me
Track Name: Focus
Not everything you desire is impossible
And the focus you bring to this room
Is your focus:
Immense, intense, you bend space
Just to see it your way.

You'll gather up clues to fit your case:
The way she brings the cup to her face.
But all your efforts won't sustain you
When you ignore the core that pains you.

Driven to distraction, a series of escapes;
You learn to read, you learn to drink,
To do whatever it takes.

I've been to the north pole
And i've been to the south pole
And it's caffeine and alcohol and no rest
In between

Now your focus is building up constructs
And your constructs into calamities
Crashing down around you.
It's not so mechanical,
The getting inside is not so mechanical.

You planned out your evening
And the fortune cookie promised adventure
Between the sheets.
But you'd better keep a lookout,
You'd better keep breathing -
You know there are just no guarantees.

Driven to distraction, a series of escapes;
You learn to read, you learn to drink,
To do whatever it takes.

I've been to the north pole
And i've been to the south pole
And it's caffeine and alcohol and no rest
In between.

Not everything you desire is impossible
And the focus you bring to this room
Is your focus.
Track Name: Peep
Talking shit behind my back
Well soon we'll be turned around
And you can sit down in it
You're always trying to make my bed
But I'm the one who's got to sleep in it

You turn our little fun into sin
A can of worms in a cookie tin
You turn our little fun into trouble
And now I'll think double
Before I open my mouth around you

Not a peep, not a peep, not a piece of this
Not a peep, not a peep, not a piece of this
So take your smokes and your bitter jokes
And your typewriter trash when you leave
But not a peep, not a piece, not a piece of me

You got a head of bad ideas
And you spit them out like dandelion seeds
This year I wasn't gonna plant any weeds
Yeah I was gonna keep my harvest small

For all your danger you needed a protector
And for all your romance you're just a collector
Who always wants something to keep
But you won't hear another peep from me

Not a peep, not a peep, not a piece of this
Not a peep, not a peep, not a piece of this
So take your smokes and your bitter jokes
And your typewriter trash when you leave
But not a peep, not a piece, not a piece of me
Track Name: Two Pairs
There's two pairs of glasses on my dashboard
One pair's prescription and the other's dark lens
And one helps to clear my vision
And the other acts in my defense
Yeah the dark sunglasses conceal me from crowds
Or cast me a shadow when the bar gets loud
I only wear prescription when the scene's not sore
When I like what I see and I wanna see more
So I wonder next time I see you which pair I'll reach for

Will I laugh when I see you at the size of it all
At the smallness of you that makes the big dominoes fall
The tiny little stopper builds up a head of steam
And now it's vent or get bent or stay stuck in between
Wondering next time I see you which pair I'll reach for

Should I stay or should I run
Set the blasters for kill or stun
Are you a raisin in the sun or a juicy grape
Flypaper waiting for a piece of masking tape
To call your own

Well light travels fast, really really fast
I mean really super awful goddamn fast
But still everything you see
Is just a bit in the past
So the faster I drive towards the onrush of light
That's travel through time so I could see you tonight
While the miles pile up like reasons I might
Push on to your house or just pull over to the right
And I'm wondering next time I see you which pair I'll reach for

Between the fall and the winter's night
There's a moment at dusk where the colors are right
I'll capture you then and remember you now
Cause a faint memory is all my eyes will allow

There's two pairs of glasses on my dashboard
One pair's prescription and the other's dark lens
And one helps to clear my vision
While the other acts in my defense
So I wonder next time I see you which pair I'll reach for
Track Name: Airlift
From harmless to careless
Every caress an airlift
Rarely or barely, like charity
Not as before

The idea flashing:
Heaven's just a moment that's passing
And you walk on eggshells
But you stay cause sex sells

The idea of love to you
Compromise the best you can do
When one bad look can take
All the love that a good night could make

So headlong and headstrong
You go right ahead, dead wrong
And you march to the beat of a drum machine
Yeah you keep it clean

Never a foul for you
Call the shots, strike one and two
When one more slip will make
My whole game forfeit and fake

From harmless to careless
Every caress an airlift
Track Name: Last Chance
Your date is rattling on
About the copy machine that puts the aches in her joints
And your eyes are already glazed
Was there an easier way to score some points
At the office?

You're sitting in the middle like Switzerland
Like a giant porcupine
And you've covered all your fronts
But you don't see what's creeping up behind

Is this the last chance, your last chance,
Is this your last chance to get out for good?

So tell me who's idea was it to have me here
Some distraction for your eyes and ears
But if you're not careful you might learn something
Or you might learn nothing at all
Cause no one wants to hear panic
When they just came here for a few drinks
And no one really cares
What that kid in the corner thinks

Is this your last chance, your last chance,
Is this your last chance to get out for good?

So when you leave here tonight
Maybe it'll be with her, for better or for worse
And you can take these words from me
You could take them to be
A blessing for you or a curse
And tomorrow well you might find
That you don't even know your own bed
Cause through the cracks in the conversation
You caught a bit of what that kid in the corner said

Is this your last chance, is this your last chance,
Is this your last chance to get out for good?
To get out for good?