Wussy - What Heaven Is Like

One Per Customer 04:46
Cake 03:32
Gloria 04:37
Tall Weeds 04:19
Firefly 04:51
Aliens in Our Midst 04:01
Skip 03:52
Oblivion 03:40
Nope 04:53
Black Hole 04:19

---

WUSSY - What Heaven Is Like
Shake It (US) / Damnably (UK)

“For well over a decade, Lisa Walker and former Ass Ponys frontman Chuck Cleaver have been co-leading Wussy, one of Cincinnati’s great rock ‘n’ roll exports. Like Gloria Burgle’s policing, Wussy’s music is hearty and out of step with current trends: guitar-powered rock songs steeped in Midwestern twang and ’60s psych, marked by two rugged voices intertwining at great heights. They simply do what they know how to do, and they do it well. And now they have a whole new album of it.” – Stereogum (March 2018)

---

Cake

(Words: Chuck Cleaver, Lisa Walker / Music: Cleaver, Walker, Wussy)

I’m out of the picture frame
Cause I’m shedding my skin
So far down a hole
I can never go home
Riding over Lake Pontchartrain 
In a hell of a state
There’s so many things 
That I didn’t get done

It’s not the type of picture
That you would ever want to take
These aren’t the kinds of colors
That you would want them on your cake

Floating in my favorite dress
So far outta state
Catching too much heat
Just for saving my skin
Have a little laugh I guess
If it’s funny to you
Now I sleep on the ground
With the needles and pins

It’s not the sort of summer
That you’d spend 
Swimming at the lake
These aren’t the kinds of colors
That you would want them on your cake

It’s not the type of picture
That you would ever want to take
These aren’t the kinds of colors
That you would want them on your cake

One Per Customer

(Lyrics: Chuck Cleaver / Music: Cleaver, Wussy)

Don’t you wish you could’ve been an astronaut
Back when astronauts had more appeal
Or the one who jumped the canyon as an afterthought
Feeling like a god behind the wheel

I’m sorry, sir
There’s only one per customer 
I’m sorry, sir, I’m sorry sir

Have you ever dreamt you were an atom bomb
Lighting up the sky on the atoll
Relocating residents you landed on
And sadly living life without a soul

I’m sorry, sir 
There’s only one per customer
I’m sorry, sir, I’m sorry sir

Don’t you wish you could’ve been an astronaut
Back when astronauts had more appeal
Or the one who jumped the canyon as an afterthought
Feeling like a god behind the wheel

I’m sorry, sir
There’s only one per customer
I’m sorry, sir, I’m sorry sir

Tall Weeds

(Words: Chuck Cleaver, Lisa Walker / Music: Cleaver, Walker, Wussy)

It appears we may have finally found a sweet spot
Somewhere between the grove of cedars and the lake
Was that commotion an explosion or a gunshot
A firecracker’s just as likely and it’s easier to take
Look away look away don’t watch me
A silhouette against a watercolor sky
Look away look away don’t watch me
From the tall weeds
Don’t wait, don’t wait up for me tonight 
I left my memory in the evergreen

It looks as if we may have come across a camp site
A moldy blanket and the remnants of a fire
An open space illuminated in the moonlight
I’m getting thirsty, kind of sleepy
And I’m starting to perspire
Look away, look away don’t watch me
A frightened rabbit wishing it could disappear
Look away, look away don’t watch me
From the tall weeds
Don’t wait, don’t wait up for me tonight 
I left my memory in the evergreen

There’s a chance we may have landed in an ambush
I took a bullet and I’m bleeding pretty bad
Was that goodbye a salutation or a hard push
I bet my money on the latter and I’m anything but glad
Look away, look away don’t watch me
A fellow traveler going anywhere but here
Look away, look away don’t watch me
From the tall weeds

Don’t wait, don’t wait up for me tonight 
I left my memory in the evergreen
I don’t know your expression in the moonlight
But I still have your picture to remind me

Aliens in Our Midst

Cover of a song by The Twinkeyz

Oblivion

Cover of a song by Kath Bloom

Gloria

(Words: Lisa Walker / Music: Walker, Wussy)

She drives through the spirits like
The haunted flashing lights on County Road Nine
And as she fades into the dark
You wonder who will stay to put it to rights

Now he checks the page again
To find the thing he might have missed
Is she a phantom or a memory
Or the girl that you once kissed
So he is typing in her name
To prove that she does not exist
Her name is Gloria

A hundred wolves pursue
But she is hunting every one before they arrive
And she can’t fear the seasons
Cause the sun, the wind and the rain 
They keep her alive

Now she walks into the cabin
Packed with nothing much to show
She is looking over baseball fields
And fairgrounds in the snow
Until the stranger in the window seat
Declares “Look out below -
Her name is Gloria!”

He is looking everywhere
And sees that she cannot be found
She was the only light the lonely night
The night she turned around
But she believes in something
Brighter than the darkness that surrounds
Her name is Gloria  

Skip

(Words: Lisa Walker / Music: Walker, Wussy)

Summer haze much sweeter
We all form in two straight lines
Following the leader
I’m bound for fire this time
Words were falling from your eyes

I know all the back roads
This used to be my home
I replaced the needle so
It won’t skip when you come
Words were falling from your eyes

Sleeping in your tangled hair
And words I didn’t mean 
Language just the frozen air
That we kiss between
Words were falling from your eyes
Don’t know who was more surprised

Black Hole

(Words: Lisa Walker / Music: Walker, Wussy)

All the voices keep on singing
As the pieces fall away
But I don’t know the sea of faces
On our graduation day

It’s the last time around
It’s the last time around

Are you afraid of all the monsters
In the folding metal chairs
As you walk across the platform
And count the seconds down the stairs

It’s the last time around
It’s the last time around

And I wonder will they notice
When the yearbook goes to press
I don’t know if it’s all the mutations
But I like you less and less

It’s the last time around
It’s the last time around

Firefly

(Words: Lisa Walker / Music: Walker, Wussy)

When the thieves of time
Come to wait outside your door
We will take to flight
You will light the way and soar
Just like a firefly

The winds will surely blow
The rains will fall but you abide
Shining like the stars
Lighting up the northern sky
Like a firefly

Just like a firefly
Like a firefly

Nope

(Words: Chuck Cleaver, Lisa Walker / Music: Cleaver, Walker, Wussy)

You’ve exited the freeway
And you’re sitting at the light 
And the man there with the homeless sign
Is looking right at you
So you fidget with the radio
And pretend to fix your hair
As you’re slowly pulling forward
So the mirror blocks your view

Obsessed with the all-seeing eye
We live our lives on film
We’ve all but given up on private space
This is what you had for lunch
And here you’re hanging with your friends
I got to know your breasts
Before I ever saw your face

Welcome to the world of tomorrow
It’s all over now

Open your eyes
Get out of bed
You’re nearly dead
You’re nearly dead

You’re crying as the legends die
And I understand the loss
But what about the woman down the block
It was weeks before they discovered her
Because she lived alone
And all that you could manage was
‘Well that’s the way it goes’

Open your eyes
Get out of bed
You’re nearly dead
You’re nearly dead

Pretty fly now rest your head
Sleeping in your water bed
Birdie finally knows you’re dead
Crown of hyacinths instead

Waiting for the preacher
Pressed against the window pane
Leaning on the everlasting 
Notes of your refrain
Rifle on your knee
You  sing the descant all the same
The fly went to the river 
And was never seen again

Wussy - Forever Sounds

WUSSY - Forever Sounds
Shake It (US) / Damnably (UK)

“As one of American indie’s premier songwriting projects, Cincinnati-based five-piece Wussy have set high standards of consistency over their decade-and-change career, patiently amassing a hefty songbook courtesy of head writers/guitar wranglers Lisa Walker and Chuck Cleaver.” - SPIN

“Swirling, psych-rock riffs that expand outward seemingly without end” - A.V. Club

“If Michael Stipe co-wrote songs with Morrissey.. then hired Neil Young, Crazy Horse and the Cowboy Junkies to play them, and asked Kevin Shields to mix them, then the results would be… a bit like Forever Sounds.” - The Sunday Times

“The album is full of darkly valiant shoegaze, music that is cozy enough to hibernate under.” - Pitchfork

“If you’re not familiar with the fuzzy dream pop psych of Cincinnati’s Wussy, you’re in for a treat.” - Noisey

---

For Sale on Our Site

“To certain fans of Lucinda Williams, Crazy Horse, Mekons and REM, Wussy became the best band in America almost instantaneously with the launch of their cult classic debut, Funeral Dress, in 2005. Their flawless document of ragged songwriting and modestly adventurous arrangements has only grown in dynamism in the years and albums that followed.. Still, the Cincinnati quintet’s upcoming sixth album, Forever Sounds is their most challenging and densely textured to date… America’s best songwriting band might now be among its best soundscaping ones.” – SPIN

---

Videos and Press

Wussy - Attica!

WUSSY - Attica!
Shake It (US) / Damnably (UK)

“To certain fans of Lucinda Williams, Crazy Horse, Mekons and REM, Wussy became the best band in America almost instantaneously with the launch of their cult classic debut Funeral Dress in 2005. Their flawless document of ragged songwriting and modestly adventurous arrangements has only grown in dynamism in the years and albums that followed. It was 2014’s schizoid Attica!, though, that put them on the map in a whole new way — notoriously cantankerous Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave them an A+ rating — with anthems like Teenage Wasteland interspersed with threadbare items like Acetylene. – SPIN

“In which the best band in America remains the best song band in America while passing the Sonic Youth consortium on the outside to become the best distorto-guitar band in America, and although the competition in both categories has thinned out, how many ever dared combine it? Television? Nirvana? The Thompson Couple? That is the territory here. (A+)” - Robert Christgau Consumer Guide

Best of 2014

Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll: #24 - Attica!
Slate - Only Critics Love the Band Wussy (the Critics Are Right)
Slate - Slate Music Club Best of 2014
SPIN - Best Songs of 2014 (#55 Teenage Wasteland)
Guardian - Hidden Gems of 2014

---

For Sale on Our Site

“Remarkable.. This guitar band's rangy Americana jostles alongside melodic punk blur and semipopular drone with the same deftness as fellow urban pastoralists Yo La Tengo.” 8/10 - SPIN

“Mindful drone-rockers from Ohio are alternately terse and liquiform in all the right places” - New York Times

”This is a first-rate band doing first-rate work, and if you honestly care about American rock at its best, this is music you should get to know.” 4/5 - AllMusic Guide

“Walker pays homage to The Who in first track ‘Teenage Wasteland’, a pop song that rivals its namesake.. At Wussy’s best - and Attica! is pretty close to that - they’re capable of doing for us what Pete and Roger and Keith and John did for them.” (7.8) - Pitchfork

---

Videos and Press

Wussy - Strawberry

WUSSY - Strawberry
Shake It (US)

“Mindful drone-rockers from Ohio are alternately terse and liquiform in all the right places” – New York Times

“We’re talking Beatles-Stones consistency here.” – Robert Christgau, Barnes & Noble Review

“Every stick-in-your-head chorus seems like a small triumph” ★★★★☆ – Rolling Stone

“A truly classic record, one that will be talked about at length this year and for many more to come” 8/10 – Pop Matters

“They don’t make bands like this anymore.” ★★★★☆ – Boston Phoenix

---

For Sale on Our Site

---

Videos and Press

Wussy - Funeral Dress 2

WUSSY - Funeral Dress II
Shake It (US)

An acoustic reworking of the band’s debut album Funeral Dress. Recorded on a couch over the span of eight hours at Ultrasuede Studios in 2010, then released as a limited edition record store day exclusive - first on CD and later on LP.

The original run was limited to 500 hand-stamped and numbered CDs. The CD is long sold out, but we have a few of the vinyl copies left.

“Acoustic guitars, brushed drums, occasional accordion. And a finale you never knew was so agonizing. Try to break up to that. I dare you.” - Robert Christgau’s Consumer Guide

Funeral Dress II came in at #2 on the 2011 Dean’s List, with Strawberry at #8!

---

For Sale on Our Site

---

Videos and Press

Wussy - Wussy

WUSSY - Wussy
Shake It (US)

“Not a weak track on this album.” ★★★★☆ – Rolling Stone

“A concept album propelled forward by the band’s buzz saw guitar riffs..” – Ken Tucker, Fresh Air NPR

“For exposing ordinary life’s flaming weirdness, you can’t beat the shabby folk rock on this witty third album.” 8/10 – SPIN

“Their country-drone guitars and locked-in rhythm section never give up..” – Robert Christgau, MSN Consumer Guide

“Few bands since the Velvet-steeped heyday of the Feelies, Yo La Tengo and R.E.M. have abandoned themselves so completely to the ebbing, flowing currents of keening, droning guitars.” – Washington Post

“Recalling a roll call of adventurous boy/girl-styled indie bands – Yo La Tengo, Handsome Family, X – Wussy draws on plenty of yin/yang sexual and existential tension, a charmingly shambling, rough-hewn sound” – Uncut

“There’s no humble way to sell one of the best bands in the world, so I won’t lowball it: Inside the basic-on-paper four-piece framework that is the Cincinnati rock band Wussy, you’ll experience marital intensity like peak X, amplifier squall like great Crazy Horse, and oddball folklore panoramas like early R.E.M.” –  Village Voice

“Midwestern alt-country oddballs stay weird, bleak, funny.” – PopMatters

“Lyrically, [they’ve] done prouder for that old Southern Gothic, Raymond Carver standby of minor-record storytelling than just about anyone in the 2000s..This band has one more interesting thing to say about romance and Ohio with each passing note.” – Crawdaddy

“Their most fully realized work on their 3rd and best album yet.. A number of standout songs combining distinctive imagery with dark raw emotion.” – KEXP Seattle

---

For Sale on Our Site

---

Videos and Press

Wussy - Left for Dead

WUSSY - Left for Dead
Shake It (US)

“Imagine a Yo La Tengo too tight to get cute or far out dispensing a Velvet Underground derivative fluent enough to warm the erectile tissue of anyone with a thing for guitar drones.” ★★★★☆ - Robert Christgau, Rolling Stone

“Velvet Underground-inspired distortion and drone, with the ragged melodic sensibilities of The Replacements and country charm of The Flying Burrito Brothers.” - Goldmine

“Alive with the gritty, imperfect glow and wry humor of coed combos X and the Mekons.” - Magnet

“Rural dystopia, recalling everything from the drone of Scrawl to the sexual high drama of the Afghan Whigs.” - Boston Phoenix

“On this more assured follow-up, Cleaver largely cedes the spotlight to Walker, but the best moments come when his warbly falsetto mixes with her bruised alto.” - SPIN

---

For Sale on Our Site

---

Videos and Press

Wussy - Funeral Dress

WUSSY - Funeral Dress
Shake It (US)

“11 three-minute songs, all about perfect, one after the other after the other. Small, but about perfect, with Walker handling the human detail and Cleaver tossing off metaphors–a sideshow horse, a shunt to drain the fear from his brain. It’s an ideal partnership–vocally and lyrically, Walker grounds the old guy and he lifts her..” - Robert Christgau, Village Voice

Funeral Dress landed at #4 on the Christgau Consumer Guide Best of the Decade List (for the years 2000-2010), with Left for Dead coming in at #14. Check out the full list here.

---

For Sale on Our Site

---

Videos and Press