the gifted children - mastering the buddy system

Release date: October 13, 2000 

A 7-song lo-fi indie rock EP. Summed up nicely by a couple of review snippets:
"Songs that alternate between quick pop gems and experimental freak outs." - buffalo beat (4 out of 5 stars)
"the songs have a strange beauty." - Shredding Paper

Credits:
instruments and voices by jeff suszczynski except: 
tim grimaldi - drumset on 2 & 6 
bill trautman - upright bass on 5

recorded late fall 1999 on Yamaha MD8 (Grand Island and Buffalo, NY)
mastered by Tony Gross @ GFI Studios (Webster, NY)

all songs by jeff suszczynski

Lyrics and individual track credits:

01 deathtone chambers

deathtone chambers we have velocity now
but we cannot steer around
the threshold made of sound
quicksand eyes are all about pollution
we always ask them when they board -
How will you land?

jeff suszczynski - acoustic and electric guitars, drumsets, bass, voices

02 the weeping room

The kids are crying again -
shuffle them off into the weeping room
They’re dripping with amazement -
someone towel them off.

We’ve accumulated thousands of resentments
We’re predictable and plain until we show the pain
And suddenly we’re more than average
suddenly you want to cry
and show us that even you have got a softer side.

tim grimaldi - drumset
jeff suszczynski - acoustic guitars, bass, keyboard, voices

03 Charm School Dropouts

We are dusty
need to be lathered
I am starched white collars
you are lacquered

I’ve come across the room just to speak to you

We are the same
but you don’t know it
I’m glad you came
but I don’t show it

I’ve come across the room just to speak to you
Instead I do the punchbowl salute
and wave passionately at strangers...

jeff suszczynski - acoustic and electric guitars, voices

04 I’ve got noise.

I’ve got noise
collaborate with rival sounds
imparting knowledge in exchange
for the best angles possible

I’m able to see more than your smile now
and everyone has gathered around now

and I will keep you
and you will keep me
until the time has come for us to leave.

jeff suszczynski - acoustic guitars, drumset, voices, tapes

05 Trance Called Superstition

You’re in a trance called superstition
collecting and believing
the voices from the past
created by lesser men,
never forgetting their names
Every blinking eyelid holds a dream.

I know that you can see shadows
but this time I think you’re mistaken
And when the night has gone badly
and headlights are screaming at me
I have one more question for you -
What is it you think you see?
I have one more question for you -
What is it you think you see?

jeff suszczynski - acoustic and electric guitars, drumset, voices, harmonicas
bill trautman - upright bass

06 kaleidoscope eyes

When the cortisone kids were clearing
everyone said, “The sky’s gone out.”
Entering into unseen contracts
Smiling their way into a black and white world.

Now everyone is lining up
and no one knows what for
Plastic man-machines are merely fodder for us.

If you squint you might be able
to imagine what this used to hold...

She’s got an attic where she holds colors hostage
Releasing them for view but only through
her kaleidoscope eyes.

tim grimaldi - drumset
jeff suszczynski - acoustic and electric guitars, bass, voices

07 the receiving end

recovery hindsight
anyone can trace their steps
if they just try hard enough
i will peruse your memory
for an ancient untruth
and stagger you out
in front of everyone
i’ll drag you down
but somehow
the further you go
the further i follow.

jeff suszczynski - acoustic guitars, voices