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Is A Locked Room

by Your Vice

/
1.
The panic sets in Anxiety grows Compare and Despair I destroy myself You just can’t turn off A damaged mind NO TRUCE NO MERCY NO SURRENDER NO REST NO MORE THIS IS WAR The fear of missing out on My whole life Doesn’t stop Just because Life has stopped NO TRUCE NO MERCY NO SURRENDER NO REST NO MORE THIS IS WAR ON MYSELF
2.
I’m so happy because for the first time in my life my lyrics actually match the state of the whole world I thought I was so alone in despair and existential dread but now everyone verifies my entire musical output and I wasn’t wrong. Finally. I can smile.
3.
Walk along the ridge of the Crystal blood mountain. Axe in my hand as I stare into deaths black eyes. I slit of the Cyclops throat who rules the Hyborean age Or at least in my mind. Honestly I’m kind of doing nothing. Just sitting round. Staring at the sky. Trying to mentally escape my house. But honestly not doing a great job of it. I fall into a rift as I cling to my dimension. Escaping the claws of the Gorax or was that a shape shifting grey. My fantasies are merging with conspiracy theories. I've lost track of what reality means to me. And I don't know what to do with my time. So I think about mountains and axes and monsters and other shit that is not what is going on in the world. But I swear this is all a metaphor. A metaphor for what I don’t know (I’m scared)
4.
STRAIGHT FUCKING EDGE If you’re not now You never were Especially now that the world fucking burns Nailed to the X like I’m nailed to my home Drugs and booze are still not for me. Even if I had access I wouldn’t drink Fist to your face Boot to your chest Straight fucking edge FOREVER
5.
Essential workers Help run society Now that I look at myself I don’t think that’s me. Looking at my resume. I'm feeling like Ive never had a job. I mean I've survived.  But it's unclear how. I'm an artist. I'm a musician. I know a lot about comedy. Not sure that translates into making money. Starting to get worried I don't have any actual usable skills. Essential workers. Help run society. Now that I look at myself. I don't think that's me Maybe I could learn how to build something or use my hands. Or I could just write about it. In theory Im starting to worry all my life choices were wrong. Starting to think... I'm fucked
6.
Drowning in negativity. No one is. Above the fray. No future. No horizon Tell myself. This too shall pass. Is it still pessimism If the whole world feels this way. I will try. To take every moment Every day Bird by bird by bird by shitty puke filled bird
7.
Thought we were brothers Thought we were friends Thought you had my back till the end Thought we shared the same hopes and same dreams Now we’re at the end and its not what it seems It’s not what it seems 
YOU LIED STABBED IN THE BACK BY THE WHOLE WORLD EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET ME I’M NOT PARANOID I’M NOT PARANOID Yeah I saw you online man. I sent you a whole bunch of text messages. Sent you a whole bunch of emails. Even a Google hangout. Bunch of Zoom meetings. I don’t even know how to use Zoom man. Guess you got time to talk to everyone but me. Guess I’ll talk to you next pandemic. STABBED IN THE BACK BY THE WHOLE WORLD EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET ME I’M NOT PARANOID I’M NOT PARANOID
8.
When the flies start to crawl so will your flesh Four flies on grey velvet poster right next to a Goblin 2013 tour poster hanging on the wall Just listing off the things I see for lyrics. These four walls are crushing my soul everyday I Laughed Until i Died Maryland Deathfest and Rolling Thunder a High on Fire poster and a Melvins poster. Halloween III masks, and too many records. Running out of things to sing about. I need stimulation.  I even think that I covered the same type of topic in another song on this project. Life is redundant
9.
Government sucks. And so do you. And so do cops and I do too Wanna think in black and white every single day but it feels a lot harder when the world paints in grey. Politicians and capitalists have got us on our knees but I also want to go to restaurants and movies please Government sucks. And so do you. And so do cops and I do too I just can't stand the whole human race. But I wouldn't mind interacting with the whole human race. Every day I feel more and more confused about my belief system.
10.
Yeah he was walking down the middle of the street. No one for miles and miles. And he walked right past Connie O’s. The place he used to wet his whistle every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday night. All alone and then right around the corner. There he was. VIOLENT JOE. The old one armed sailor holding a popsicle that he used to drink with. Arms wide open. Violent Joe came in for the flesh. So he took a deep breath, backed up and looked him straight in the eye and he said I’M THE KING OF SHIT FUCK MOUNTAIN And that sent him running man. he just kept running. No more. Six feet. Down. Those days were numbered. So he walked back alone the way he liked it. Spit on the street. Told himself “That was the last time the flesh will meet the flesh. It’s over and done. Well maybe we will go get one more drink one last time”
11.
Sometimes you write a song that you know is just no good. But in a panic you lie to yourself All Art Is Good But you know that this song just doesn’t work. NOT EVEN IN A PANDEMIC
NO
NO NO I don’t want to do this song. These lyrics don’t work. Just like all the of the rest of it. But I recorded this before I tracked this at my house so now you gotta deal with it. NO
Doesn’t matter anyway
12.
Monuments 01:05
What you leave behind. Is not what is engraved in stone But what is woven Into the lives of others MONUMENTS What you leave behind. Is not what is engraved in stone But what is woven Into the lives of others MONUMENTS These are the words of inspiration. Printed on an inspirational tablet displayed in my mother-in-laws house during isolation. LIVE BY IT!
13.
Disaster capitalism play into our fears. Trying to make me wear a mask I've been suffocating for years. Too Punk to live. Won't believe your lies. I listened to my heroes now i'm gonna die. Jello Biafra gave me the truth with his irreverent take on the news. Disaster capitalism play into our fears. Trying to make me wear a mask I've been suffocating for years. I really liked the song Goverment flu. But now I just don't what to do. Even in a pandemic I wanna stay punk. And even with Jello pedaling junk Disaster capitalism play into our fears. Trying to make me wear a mask I've been suffocating for years. It's the fine line between being a realist and being a contrarian punk asshole. What do you think Jerry Brown???? OK boomer
14.
Return to the birth of my destruction Here we are again The cycle continues on Crystal Blood Mountain. Mask upon my face Axe in my hand. I don’t think that we should be going anywhere As the world opens. None of this feels right So I return to Crystal Blood Mountain. The only place I feel comfortable We are all caught in a rip between space and time as dimensions open I am scared. Can’t believe we are doing this shit again HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING
15.
How much more can you take?!
16.
Unity Unity Unity Unity Punks and skins Straight Edge and Crusties Mall punks and Bike Punks Old hardcore kids and these young hardcore kids that like Nu-Metal too much Normos and actually interesting people Liberal, Conservative, and even weird Libertarians who love MMA Unity Unity Unity Unity If you’re wearing a mask Or if you are not wearing a mask Whatever side of this made up culture war you are on Well actually If you are not wearing a mask 
STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!

about

About ten years ago, Jayson Green(Orchid, Panthers, Ritual Mess, Violent Bullshit) and Geoff Garlock(me and Orchid, Panthers, Ritual Mess, Low Estate) were asked by our former record label Vice to make some music for a documentary. It needed to have no vocals and it was just the two of us. They wanted 20 songs so in a couple weeks. So I wrote 20 hardcore/metal/genre songs. I basically would pick a band I loved/important to hardcore. Listen to it 5 times and then bang out a song. Sometimes I would use the "telephone number" trick that our good friend Justin Chearno taught me (ask me if you know me). We then wrote out the songs in a space in one or two practices. No vocals so Jay played drums. We then went into our good friend Brendan Tobin's studio and recorded every song and did a basic mix in one day (it was supposed to be 20. we could only bang out 16. I wrote 4 extra John Carpenter rip off synth tunes to fill in).
Then.
They used like 2 seconds of one song and the songs sat on my hard drive for 10 years and the original "tapes" (the Pro Tools file..welcome to the future) was lost.

10 years later a pandemic happened and looking for projects to keep me from losing my mind I decided to record vocals to each song, matching the style of each song. I did all this while my toddler would nap. I would put him down, go out to my office, write lyrics and try to record the multi vocals in 2 hours. I tried to have all the lyrics use the tropes of the genre as well as address different aspects of the Pandemic. We have all learned to work with limitations and so that is also the theme of this record.

I then had good friend and old bandmate Will Killingsworth/Dead Air Studios mix and master the entire thing. He had to work with the limitations I imposed on him and did an amazing job.

Then I had my good friend Ramsey Ess make up an homage to the Brotherhood LP (and to a lesser extent Ray and Porcell seven inch..who really listens to that though right?). He knows nothing about this music so that was an extra fun level to me.

This is all friends working together to make a dumb idea come to life.

The lyrics are all deadly serious and a total joke all at the same time. As all hardcore and metal is. As all of life is.

Like all "funny" hardcore records, it will be a fun treat to see how quickly this album can feel out of date and irrelevant. Then you can marvel at how quaint it all feels. Luckily it is brutal as hell and full of too many inside hardcore jokes. Spot all the Easter eggs. Niche on Niche. Is there any better way?

We love hardcore more than anything. We love metal more than anything. And we hope you enjoy this in your own locked room.

Sincerely
Your Vice

credits

released March 6, 2021

Your Vice is:

Geoff Garlock- Guitar, Bass, Vo-kills
Jayson Green- Drums, Minor Threat rant

Recorded by Brendan Tobin 10 years ago

Mixed and mastered by Will Killingsworth(Dandy)/Dead Air Studios this year

Art by Ramsey Ess

Inspiration-the ever burning spirit of hardcore and being trapped in the house by the lyrical content of hardcore made reality

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about

Geoff Garlock Pasadena, California

Geoff Garlock was the former bass player in Orchid, Panthers and The Year Is One. He currently plays in Ritual Mess and Low Estate as well as composing solo synth recordings, featured here. Geoff is also a comedian and sketch teacher. If you needed to know more he would tell you. ... more

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