Right-click to download any of the tracks, or each release as a .zip file.
All tracks 320 kbps MP3, yo.
The concluding single:
These were the last recordings the High-Steppin’ Nickel Kids made. Recorded in the semi-mythical Mansfield Street basement by Steve “Albini” Foote. Me on scruffy mid-range vocals, Morgan on shouty higher-range vocals, Tigger on bellowy lower-range vocals, Joe on screamy backup vocals.
I wrote “Scratch & Win,” Morgan wrote “Adventureland” and “27,” Tigger wrote “Midwest.” These ten or so minutes were our finest hour.
Is It Wrong to Imagine the Impossible?
The “intriguing” middle period:
Also recorded by Steve in an Allston basement, but a different one. Cleaner, more polished, these tracks (not the basement) contain more Tim and zero Tigger, which is unfortunate. Tim was a swell guy, but Tigger’s joining up (some time after Tim left) was when the Nickel Kids finally got real.
Still, these songs are the best-recorded versions of our earlier period’s sound, style and approach. Not to take anything away from them; they’re a lot of fun and are good examples of Morgan’s songwriting skill (lyrically and musically). He wrote them all, except for “Tammy All the Way” (and my verse in “Indiana”).
Where Do We Go Now?
We’ll Always Have Indiana
The Jell-O Shot Heard ‘Round the World
Download the long-lost, unreleased “missing album.”
The early demos:
Except for the live tracks, these songs were all recorded at the practice space we shared with the Allstonians (we also shared Morgan with them, for a while). Morgan did all the “producing” on a borrowed four-track. Yes—these were made direct to cassette, but you can barely not even tell, hardly.
So, let’s see. Morgan wrote pretty much all of these, except for “Erica Online” and “The Line,” which were me, and the lyrics for “Obligatory Avail Patch,” which were raw, uncut Hoosier pathos, channeled by Joe. “Girl/Planet” was by the Only Ones and “You Can Get It” was, of course, by Jimmy Cliff.
Incidentally, the first three songs in this collection are the same “middle period” versions as the ones above. They must have been mixed and ready to go sooner then the rest; can’t think why else they’d have been stuck on this CD with the older stuff.
Killing You Softly With Our Songs
Who Will Run The Frog Hospital?
Hello, I Must Be Going
The Jell-O Shot Heard ‘Round The World
Erica Online (Live)
We’ll Always Have Indiana (Live)