The Brooklyn indie alt rockers Two–Man Giant Squid, has unveiled their latest album: Intro to Basement. An exuberant display of their unique character and charisma, this album paints the vivid picture of the band’s journey.
Originating as a solo project, Two-Man Giant Squid evolved into a live sensation in New York City. Infused with the energy of raucous underground NYC rock clubs, the album is an invitation to dance, scream, cry, and immerse oneself in the infectious spirit of live music.
“Intro to Basement is the culmination of our first full year as a live band in New York City. When I started Two-Man Giant Squid, it was just a solo project.” – comments frontman Mitch Vinokur.
“Since then the shows we’ve played have led to new music which was inspired by my first time playing in a full band. Each song was written with a live atmosphere in mind. These songs are meant to be danced to, screamed along to, or cried to. They represent the feeling of going to your favorite underground NYC rock club and bouncing along in some sweaty basement to a band you’re just discovering.”
1. The Opposite: This track is our dance-punk freakout, our party starter. In alot of our early shows, we felt we were playing some dancy stuff yet no one was moving. I went home and wrote an angry version of this song with the lyrics “Why dont any of you f*ckers dance”. I eventually changed it to “Why dont any of your lovers dance” but the point remained the same – lets all freak out.
2. Junkie Talk: This is about one of my friends going to buy ecstasy from a man in a tesla on 16th street. On the way there, he had a pep in his step that he only gets when he’s trying to score. This became the idea for Junkie Talk, a song about a drug deal and the false promises that come with it. The ending chant of “You’re trying to punish yourself” became one of my favorite lyrics in the whole album.
3. Falling Little Ones: Though the name seems a little strange, its a direct metaphor for tears. The song is about seeing someone you love cry so many times that you’ve picked your favorite individual tears. Musically its one of the songs on here that we are most proud of. It came together with a lot of great input from the band and its one of our favorites to play live. I often think about it sounding like how Nirvana would play a Black Country New Road Song.
4. No End in Sight: This song started as a jam that we played in rehearsal. The lyrics are about my girlfriend (our synth player Sam) freaking out over turning 30. It tries to drive home the point that when you are 30, there’s still more life in front of you than there is behind you, so really there’s no end in sight.
5. Progress: This was the first single off the album. I was inspired by a lot of local bands I was going to see at the time to write something that people could really get moving to. At the time our previous single, “Versechorus” had started to get a bit of a moshing reputation and I think I wanted to piggyback off that a little bit. The song is a warning to be careful of snake-oil type salesmen who will try to get you rich and “sell progress” when in reality everyone’s journey to success is a little bit different. It’s a very tongue-in-cheek TMGS song which are some of my favorite to write.
6. Cold Fingers: Another one of our singles, Cold Fingers preaches to hold onto the good stuff before its too late. This was actually a song that we had been playing live long before there was even an idea for a 2nd album. It became a bit of a live set fan favorite due to its chill vibe in the middle of a punk set. The song really comes together at the end with an emotional chorus and a fantastic guitar solo by Robbie.
7. Love Is Exactly As It Seems: I was trying to write a song with a crooning type intro and it eventually turned into this. It kind of pokes fun at the love songs that are always like “love is so much different than you think! love can’t be explained.. its like a river..” Our song is like yeah love is exactly what you thought it would be, its hard.
8. Dogs: One of my favorites on the album, Dogs is about the human life expectancy and whether it would be better if we had the 15 or so years that dogs are given. “Don’t you think that dogs have it made now, did the math and I want the same, sit and wait underneath the pantry, and I wait for you to call my name.” It’s a weird thing to think about but maybe that shortened amount of time would cause you to do so much more? or maybe even less? Lyrically it’s one of my more ambitious songs but I love the way it turned out.
