So we just recorded six new songs! We did it at Mad Oak Studio in Allston. Mad Oak is a beautiful studio and it was cool just to be around all the awesome equipment. It was like hanging out with cool dudes but getting stuff done at the same time. Lots of storytelling.

Everything went smoothly and it already sounds great. We have a couple days of mixing left and mastering. The Cheapskate Records 7" is going to be yellow vinyl, says Jason, so that will be very rad. But which songs will go on it? Yet to be determined.

So that's what's up in Lanterns land...looking forward to Fall, writing more tunes, and playing more shows.

The Lanterns- Last Generation
Engineered and Mixed by Jim Tierney | Mastered by Chris Decato | Recorded at Electric Cave, Portsmouth NH

The Lanterns would be a typical pop/rock band if they weren't so damn catchy. Last Generation is a collection of fast-paced pop tunes stripped down to their punk origins.

Courtney Denison's voice, though not unpleasant, retains its no-nonsense chick-power monotony throughout, but each song sounds different thanks in large part to the noodling bass and sharp riffs. "Someone Like You" features racing, almost rockabilly guitars that, paired with the rapid-fire vocals, could allow it to pass for Bad Religion's cooler little sister. "California Girls" is, unlike its Beach Boys predecessor, a slowed down, more introspectively longing number. However, the sleepy guitars and lounge-room drumbeats make it one of the only flat-lining tracks. Speed is their strength with songs like "Hey Joey" and "Riverside" where the jangly guitars and excited bass highlight the poetic stories of the songs. The rolling drums of "Massachusetts Can't Live Without You," introduce a contrast for the vocals as they subdue the music enough to let Denison actually sing and hold her notes. The title track, "Last Generation," presents a harder edge comparable to The Cure if Robert Smith took a few anti-depressants. The steady racing guitars are the same, but the overall sound is uplifting, cushioned by the rich bass and carefree drums. In direct contrast to this song though, the album comes to a hushed, and bittersweet end with, "Polar Grape Soda, 2 Straws," where the vocals are accompanied by a lone guitar, the other instruments pitching in to remind us they're still there as they harmonize to carry it to the finish. (self-released)

-Leyla Hamedi

http://www.performermag.com/nep.recordedreviews.0805.php

Exciting news to report...
We're playing with a lead guitarist, the formidable Jay Fortin, axeman for Scissorfight and Mess With the Bull. His leads sound totally great and add a lot to our sound, and he's a real nice guy to boot. We're taking him to Baltimore for INSUBORDINATION FEST and are planning on doing a new recording, probably a 7" and then a new full-length album. Exciting? Yes, I think so!

The summer is approaching, and with it, the next incarnation of the Insubordination Festival to be held Friday, June 27th, 2008 – Saturday, June 28th, 2008 in Baltimore. Last year, the lucky attendees saw the likes of Ben Weasel, Mr. T Experience, Teenage Bottlerocket, The Methadones, and Head blow the roof off the Ottobar.

This year, we're hitting two new larger venues to accommodate more of the ravenous nut-jobs who all travel from all over world to rage to bands like The Queers (with Lisa Marr of Cub!), Sloppy Seconds, Sludgeworth, Ann Beretta, Weston, Sweet Baby, and more! Did we mention SWEET BABY is being resurrected for this event? You absolutely cannot miss this year's fest. Our pre-order of tickets have almost sold the event out. However, there are a few remaining tickets available.

Order your tickets to Insubordination Fest 2008! http://www.interpunk.com/insubfest08.cfm.



Don't miss the Insubordination Fest Pre-show at the Ottobar on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 w/ Agent Orange. You can order tickets to the pre-show by visiting www.theottobar.com.

Here are all of the lyrics to "Last Generation," in order of how they appear on the album.

1. Nowhere Special
I don't wanna go nowhere special but I wanna go there with you I hope these rainy days will wash away into the sunny month of June Where it ain't bad but it could be better if we put in the care and the thought and the effort to know each other deeper than an apparition that appears before our eyes And as the days flash by some brighter than others I'm glad you are there to fill in the colors with love words with depth interesting textures and beautiful sounds Yeah you make me look at love like art a pretty picture on the wall that is ignored and assumed to be the same as it always was Well it's been raining for two weeks straight you've got no job and all the money I make isn't much but we survive things are getting better all the time I still don't know if I believe in love but I don't want to be lonely again so say these words to me and I'll repeat them back to you: Stand up and be the one don't be afraid to accept my love what have you got to lose my friend Stand up and be the one and we'll burn our collective past run away without looking back what have you got to lose my friend stand up be the one

2. Someone Like You
First time I saw you you were staring at your shoes I only hope that I can get the nerve to talk to you Street lights shine down on you and light your face I wonder what you're doing wandering around this dirty Waiting for so long for someone like you You are a card-carrying member of the dispossessed You stare at everything and think that it's all meaningless But I know that you listen to those radio songs and I know you sit in your room and you sing along Waiting for so long for someone like you And maybe today you will turn the other way and see me waiting for you and maybe someday it'll be so great and you'll finally see me waiting for you for someone like you

3. Hey Joey
I said Hey Joey do you live around the corner from me? I believe we walk the same way home I said Hey Joey do you ever listen to records? I've got a stereo in my room where we can be alone Oh sweet boy won't you please put on the Beatles I like to hear the scratching through the speakers as you mess with the knobs until it sounds all right I don't wanna be anywhere but here tonight I've been thinking a lot about you and I think I kinda like you Maybe we should plant ourselves some seeds and watch them grow As we lay entwined I've got tears in my eyes tell you to never let me passively observe our time You say you won't and I believe I believe this is the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen and that's because it frees my soul Fill the cracks and fix the hole Me you and Julio dancing in your living room like the world would never change 'Who's Next' and a joint to share sometimes I wish that I could still be there I love to drive around in your shitty old car remember when the tailpipe broke and shot sparks across the road and we count our days in cigarettes and the songs we play that deliver our mortal souls

4. Little Night Birds
Annie had short hair wore a leather jacket and she said it doesn't matter what I think think for yourself she seemed cold but when he held her she was warm and she said he should get over rock n roll Lily looked like someone Jimmy used to know a girl he kissed in junior high through a snowstorm she made him feel capable of being normal she was from a small town far away But there's a difference between being okay and feeling good and he'd just been existing for far too long so he gave up on her her pretty smile and straight blonde hair and with Lily went everything Joanne was a waitress at a bar where Jimmy went to drink away Penelope he usually went alone to stare into his gin but one day she sat down with him when Jimmy met her he let go of the tension in his arms and said okay here's the one she listens to her music loud she wants to leave LA and she's proud of where she came from where she's going So they moved away to the city by the lake and bought a little place above a bakery and they slept late to the scent of warm bread and finally he was almost content But oh love where are you? What is missing here in this girl? Oh love speak to me in the flawless form of Penelope

5. Riverside
Me and Julia by the riverside Where the power plants spit smoke to the sky Like the trail of grey from her cigarette turning and working its way around her hand Called me she was crying on the phone When her parents fight she feels alone So we rode our bikes to the riverside It was the first time I felt how it hurts to be alive and I said 'Oh Julia you'll be okay until you're old enough to move away If you want I can help you bide your time Julia be mine' All that summer we rode around up and down the hills of this town She never wanted to go home never could stand to be alone she said she could not understand what it is about life that seems so sad the finality of numbered days crushing her under her own weight After graduation she was off without a trace I heard to New York City where she became a nameless face and sometimes when the wind is right it rips the fog from LA and the sky it reminds me of the static just before the break of day when she would sneak in through my window and teach my hands to feel alive like this is all somehow worth it this flesh and pain can be so fine It can be so fine

6. California Girls
I had me a woman worth more than fame worth more than gold that will turn to dust in time I don't need no one to tell me what I let go the most enveloping warmth that I have ever known but believe in this thing so hard it coats my tongue like bitter sugar I choke it back cut my ties and run Oh Penelope I know you understand Los Angeles will not let me hold your hand I am barely gone and I want to come home to our second floor apartment where the bed is still warm And oh these California girls are sweet to me but I still miss your brooding smile and wintertime heat I just want a reason to stay inside like when it snows and I can finally shut my eyes but I've been writing these songs about you late at night while you're waking up three hours ahead in the morning Penelope oh oh my heart's in a whirl over you my East Coast girl Do you believe that I am here to stay or is that too hard to believe these days? If there is just one thing I wanna tell you it would be that I still believe in you and I think you are worth these days that I give away Penelope I am living and trying and doing the best I can I am barely gone and I want to come home to our second floor apartment where the bed is still warm

7. Corner of the Room
Well it has two years into this crisis of faith I heard that song again on the radio today the one I wrote about you when I was just eighteen They coated it with gloss and trampled out is veins The label man told me the figures they have dropped pushing units and numbers I don't write what they want and things are strained between William and me and Andrew's discovered drugs so he is still okay and my heart that was soft has turned solid like the ground covered up by the freeways and fingers of this town and if I got what I wanted then it's safe to assume that what I need I can find in my corner of the room Sometimes on the street I get recognized usually by little girls with naive wanting eyes they are the ones with which you have been replaced but they can't hold my weight and bend until they break The worst days are the ones where none of this makes sense like a game that's been rehearsed so I know how exactly how it ends and still this city breathes in bodies and respirates our souls to keep it from falling and crumbling off the edge of the coast

8. A Particular Attraction
First time I saw you you were wearing an inside-out t shirt and brown pants and you were just about to move down South below the Mason Dixon line where the water's calm and still and full of all your memories and light You came to town with your friend who was dating my friend and it seemed strange I hadn't heard of you before You bought me some beer and took me to a party and later on you gave me a ride home Southern Boy won't you stay in New England where the water is cold until mid July and our hearts will grow beneath the frozen soil until the veins are strong enough to reach the sky Now the water is melting off the icicles outside and it is cold but at the least the sun is shining and you are here and does mean that I can finally believe in all the things I never thought were real before like love and faith and honesty in my fellow man and I do what I can to make this work

9. Last Generation
It's not a call to action just a call to think about what it is we're doing So busy working so busy working we forgot to make our demands how did this get so out of hand? If we could stop being thin and dirty and acting like we're stupid like we don't realize what's going on Just put Replacements on and sing along and walk around these streets like we still own them We are the last generation They took the music away and then they turned us away and the police shut down the venues Citizens of this town your money talks and it beats us to the ground We're the kids that wash your dishes but we can't afford to live here so we're moving And we don't know where we're going but no matter where it is there'll be music

10. Massachusetts Can't Live Without You
For a long time my eyes were grey reflected the sky on a rainy day Only you can make my grey eyes green green like the summers in my memories For the short time I've been alive I've tried in vain to understand my life You say not to push the flow oh let it run baby let yourself go Massachusetts can't live without you she wouldn't be the same She thought she lost you forever back to the Virginia plains And you tell me of home the way the Chesapeake is just down the road The way the tides run to our feet under blue skies frozen shut the moon is waxing open and pouring with the love that cuts our faces up with cold and it makes us feel like this New England wind is makes us real and all these things I hate they make me real I like the way that we fit like two plastic Legos I am green and you are blue Insignificant evolution incarnate tiny humans doing what we do

11. Avenues
These are the days when the stars shine at five o' clock and temperature drops and you drive two hours and change just to meet me and I all I can do is wait How isolating it is to rely on you is forgotten when we lay under the harvest and that girl you loved she is far away in your empty heart I will take her place Will you still bring me coffee and fruit in bed I can smell the orange peel on my hands when we make love in the afternoon open window and the summer floating through If you let me go I will always know it would be a tragedy If I let you go all the way back home it would be tragedy

12. Polar Grape Soda, Two Straws
Waves of dying leaves break at sidewalk shores on a slanting third floor porch we sat kept our hands dirty and busy with pocketknives a record player cigarettes you are the type of man who never finishes books and prefers to take his coffee black and late that sleepless night we discussed the bloody hands that pick sugar shipped from far away to make our tastebuds dance and if this is not real tell me why did it feel so right when my fever broke riding home from work last night and you what do you do to my heart? You are dangerously close to getting in close to getting in And I can see the city lights from forty-five miles away in the pink edged sky where they radiate and I want you to take me away so that everything I feel right now I will be removed from and it will mean something someday