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Pope Killdragon

by Strand of Oaks

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1.
West River 02:34
2.
Kill Dragon 03:20
Lately he hasn’t been listening to me Lately he hasn’t been listening to me I guess he’s a man and he’s meant to leave Well I’m standing here right next to me I’ve got no God who’s going to listen to me What can I do, what can I do So I pray the child’s prayer I was taught As a little kid, before my head was stretched Before my mother died, before my brother died Before the plague, ruined my life I’m going to change my prayer (3) So Mary…(3) Mary, Mary, Mary won’t you marry me Mary, Mary, Mary won’t you marry me And me and you and Jesus could be a family Mary, Mary, Mary, if you’d marry me Me and Jesus could play and do childlike things Mary, Mary, Mary, if you’d marry me
3.
Sterling 06:59
I drank myself to sleep Every night of last week Then I walked to the Boscov’s store To buy a case of Crazy Horse I dreamt I stayed in the Sterling In the same bed as Kennedy Jackie and Johnny and Caroline would ride up the mainline The last stop is Carbondale Where John once found some Jermyn tail And his Irish and Jermyn son had Wrote a story called Kill Dragon It was a huge hit in the youth group scene Cause he pledged toward celibacy I saw him coming… This year I’m going to work on stability This year I’m going to try and keep My friends close to me And I hope one day to have half as much Of my grandpa’s integrity I saw him coming… I saw Kennedy, in the Hotel Sterling He told me everything, that I knew we’d both been feeling So we sat on the ledge and looked down toward the West end That’s where I drank myself to sleep Just to get some company I saw him coming…
4.
Bonfire 05:20
My wife sits with me Scorched earth, drying sheets Little bit of land, not much heat The suns been down for weeks Keep me warm, keep me clean… It’s just you and me… Bonfires burn and the hills they glow with light Children won’t care, if their mothers sleep tonight We’re all alone here We’re all that’s left here So let’s stay here and be calm Put down the phone, it hasn’t worked for years I’ll get the water, and we’ll plant a garden We’re all alone here We’re all that’s left here So let’s stay here and be calm Its’ just you and me
5.
Alex Kona 03:33
Alex Kona was twelve feet tall His mother got killed by bowling ball As she skipped across the wooden lane Two frames from a perfect game Ten years past the bowling crash Alex found a wooden shack Showered in the post war moon That’s where Alex began to bloom As the children left Sunday school In gas masks and body suits The reverend spoke of god’s revenge Would be coming down the mountain And the ground shook The mother’s cried The giant loomed in the yellow sky With a look of dreaded fear With a staff of pine and coat of deer The mother’s watched with worried ear’s Alex just laughed and stroked his beard He said…. No you don’t understand What its like Growing up here
6.
7.
Woke up early on Saturday My tie was still on and my hat was Resting on the bed post Sunglasses lost in the sheets Oh, who will I call Chevy’s an ass and Gilda’s got a cold I always took the fall It didn’t matter then Because John would always laugh But he’s not laughing now Rushed to call my agent on my Monday I need new work to get my head out of this It’s with a young kid named Murray It’s a ghost flick but the hell with it Oh, who will I call Chevy’s an ass and Gilda’s got a cold I always took the fall It didn’t matter then Because John would always laugh But he’s not laughing now I knew the guy he used to buy from I may have even introduced them He was a skinny guy from Brooklyn Arms always full of women So I decided to take my shotgun And take a long walk to Brooklyn I’d make him put the outfit on And strap him into the chair Then I stuffed everything in his mouth Everything he was holding I left him there to shout I had an audition And we have to, move on Without our brother John And everybody’s got to sing new songs So Elwood, it’s time To move on Oh, who will I call Chevy’s an ass and Gilda’s got a cold I always took the fall It didn’t matter then Because John would always laugh But he’s not laughing now
8.
Last to Swim 03:47
I lost all my teeth last night And held them in my hand Cavity filled and crumbling It happens more than I understand Then I understand So I put them in a velvet poach Carried them to the flumes That’s’ where I ‘m meeting you We used the steam as ropes And climbed with the hot air We can see so much clearer Up here When all the mosquitoes Are lying at my window My kids don’t know how to read I’m going to write you a letter Saying all the cities problems Are coming after me When the Wyoming Valley caves in I’ll be the first in the river and the last to swim…
9.
Walking 01:46
10.
I keep on dreaming Of the first time I ever saw your face The sun shone brightly Silhouettes danced behind your shoulder blades It was there that I knew That I could lay my problems down And you would listen to me Then they told me to leave Then they told me to leave They called me obscene Said that I couldn’t see you But I know when you want someone More than they need you It only builds intrigue There’s no better time To long for pure things The world is shame The world should be ashamed Every time I get this weight on my Every time I get this lusting need Every time I get these feelings And I want it to be alright… When you want it you know There is one thing that I need Oh my sweet Mary Would you marry me We could all do childlike things Oh my sweet Mary I just want it to be alright…

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Pitchfork 8.1


Timothy Showalter has a beard, an acoustic guitar, and a heartbreaking backstory-- on the surface, the confessional singer-songwriter start-up kit. But he'd prefer not to talk about his heavy history even if it would make you root for him. For one thing, he'd rather not relive some of the personal tragedy (a bad breakup, a house fire) that inspired his debut, Leave Ruin. But it also would obscure the otherworldly mythology he creates on Pope Killdragon, an astoundingly original twist on the loner-folk template.

He begins the mesmerizing "Sterling" like he's keeping an especially heavy secret, but Showalter is merely an observer and a confused one at that. If his lyrics are occasionally too loopy to pin down what it's "about," they're perfectly suited for an unreliable narrator trying to piece together lost time. In the darkly comic "Daniel's Blues", he inhabits Dan Aykroyd, racked with depression after the death of John Belushi. I won't spoil the ending, but it's by far the most pathos-laden song ever to recall the decision to take a role in Ghostbusters. Meanwhile, the spare "Alex Kona" is the stuff of Mastodon epics-- 12-foot monsters, sermons from the mount, mothers wailing in the streets-- and to drive that point home, it's immediately followed by "Giant's Despair", an honest-to-god doom-metal instrumental.

Those are the attention-grabbing tactics, but Pope Killdragon maintains these strange juxtapositions throughout: historical fact with whimsical fiction, a mournful delivery of absurd lyrics, an odd allure to the bifurcated sonics where synths sidle up with acoustic guitars. It's easy to envision the "next Bon Iver!" plaudits-- Showalter looks and sounds the part, but that would miss the deeper commonality. Auto-Tune, Gayngs, rolling spliffs with Rick Ross-- Justin Vernon has made the most of the spotlight by cutting against an image that requires him to continually hurt harder than others. Similarly, Pope Killdragon's playfulness and sense of humor allow it a broader range of emotion than the typical sadsack folkie. Showalter did a good deal of bloodletting on Leave Ruin, and now Strand of Oaks' horizons are limited only by his fantastical imagination.

— Ian Cohen, September 10, 2010

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released November 19, 2010

Self-Released

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