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Midwest Handshake

by skittish

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1.
Home Team 02:49
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I made myself a fool last night Hanging meaning on each shot fired in this fight Its beautiful if you look at it just right The world is simple when there’s only two sides Cheering for the home team Is it any wonder That even more than winning I cheer for your surrender Unequivocally Memorizing come-backs, quips, and lines And we’re waving flags, by god, by birth, by right Its beautiful if you haven’t got much time The world makes sense when there are only wrong and right Cheering for the home team Is it any wonder That even more than winning I cheer for your surrender Unequivocally yours I can see through your performance You can see that, god, I need this Fight to feel I finally matter Found my group, now fuck the other side of me That seems to be just like you Cheering for the home team Is it any wonder That even more than winning You cheer for my surrender Cheering for the home team Is it any wonder That even more than winning I cheer for your surrender Unequivocally
2.
Second Act 03:27
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I don’t wanna hear a thing about no diamond ring I just wanna live while living’s easy I don’t wanna hear a word About your side or what you learned Heard a love song from around ‘02 And never once did I think of you ...can’t be a good sign I’m on my own now and I’m on the low-down relieved So gimme all your fast, gimme all your fun, gimme all your free Gimme all that I’ve been missing Cause I’m on my own now (and I) Don’t need a reason I don’t need a reason I just want to taste the salt On the rim or diving down Get a little deep while getting tipsy Now I run with mouth agape My tongue out catching snowflakes Or whatever ever comes my way The weather lady said its gonna be another sunny day Why should I mind it? I’m on my own now and I’m on the low-down relieved But whenever I see you out walking I’ll play along Hiding my temptation to scream I’m free I’m on my own now and I’m on the low-down relieved So gimme all your fast, gimme all your fun, gimme all your free Gimme all that I’ve been missing Cause I’m on my own now (and I) Don’t need a reason I don’t need a reason
3.
Mannequin 03:31
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I kept my hands clean I kept my heart in rubber I’m bouncing back mean From any former lover I’m burning sage while Alabama psychic Tells me what to do, you knew I don’t believe But look at me now, look at me now I saw the light change You saw your face in mirror When talk is dirt cheap The buyer best beware “Lets burn the witch” you said Repeating something that you read When lights are out we go dancing on the walls of oblivion Mannequin, Mannequin Come to life in the night With a need to be liked And then here we go again Coming out like a schizophrenic bout Shoving fiction through a camera lens You can be yourself now, no one’s watching Must we take orders? Must we trade lines of bullshit? Making up borders then Condemning those who cross it You say you found another way to cope Well, I’d like to see it Sucking down pressed pills with a hot shot in it Mannequin, Mannequin Come to life in the night With a need to be liked And then here we go again Coming out like a schizophrenic bout Shoving fiction through a camera lens You can be yourself now, no one’s watching Just bend and pose, this could be yours (bought and paid for) Just bend and pose for me now, this could be yours (bought and paid for) Come to life in the middle of the night To be liked, to belong, to be fed Coming out like a schizophrenic bout Shoving fiction through a camera lens You can be yourself now, no one’s watching
4.
Lowlifes 02:07
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I believe in lowlifes They got nowhere to go but up We’ve been hanging on Hiding from the daylight Cool air from the ‘fridgerator We’ve been hanging on The finest day I ever saw was doing nothing much at all I’ll call you up, I’ll cut you in, next time I do nothing again Incommunicado Sink between the sofa cushions We’ve been hanging on Work until you’re broken Broke until you’re working its for the birds The finest day I ever saw was doing nothing much at all I’ll call you up, I’ll cut you in, next time I do nothing again And that shower cap over the smoke alarm Looks like an upside down jellyfish The finest day I ever saw was doing nothing much at all I’ll call you up, I’ll cut you in, next time I do nothing again
5.
Are We There Yet 03:31
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Time was when they would laugh at my innocence Time was when I would eat where the teachers sit But don’t be afraid of any choice that you make Its about timing and trying and falling on your face Grab on with both hands to something and darling don’t be ashamed Cause all you can do is just wait Time was when I couldn’t wait to get out of town Time was when I would walk with my head down And never say something or make the assumption I’m worth more than nothing, well fuck that Don’t shy away from any chance to be great All of the royals of the school halls, well they never move away Grab on with both hands to something and darling don’t be ashamed Cause all you can do is just wait Hold tight There’s gonna be a bright new war a comin’ for you Hold tight And dry your eyes Cause there will come a time When you twist the knife And years down the road You’ll come home a success to the mess that you left And you’ll pass by a face with a smile that once used to spit bile And they’ll say “been a while, hey its me from the day” And with all of the grace you can muster say “Well, that just don’t ring a bell” as you walk on politely, but differently never again will you bend the knee Seasoned by time, its what sweetens the line So just focus on climbing and don’t say “Are we there yet?” Say, “Are we there yet?” Don’t say “Are we there yet?” It’s a small win, but trust me, its god-damn satisfying
6.
Easy on Me 03:53
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Long is the road ahead of me But calm is the air that I breathe All of the earth left in little motions One or two could put you next to me Long are the odds for anyone But damn, it’s a shame not to try Years on my feet holding hope in a pocket I’m battered, bruised, just trying to survive The hard road to you So when you finally see me Sweetie, take it easy on me You had many plates presented you Caught many eye many times You parry and you thwart with your tongue as sharp as swords Legions stood before you swinging lines It made you hard So when you finally see me Sweetie, take it easy on me When stars collide and rest and wreck again Fingers touching, finding, everything That you want what I want what you want Now we danced every step on every floor And chased every moon to every dawn But time sits in stacks piled high upon our back I know you feel it to try to hold on, the hard part’s over So when you finally see me, sweetie sleep easy on me When you finally leave me, sweetie take it easy on me
7.
True Believers 02:43
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Same year, same bet How much fight do you have left? Time goes so fast How much fight do you have left? I’ll be your best friend How much fight do you have left? How much fight do you have left? Another life when we were shoulder to shoulder Butterflies upon the fur trees Waiting, bending and breaking Same year, same bet How much fight do you have left? Time goes so fast How much fight do you have left? I’ll be your best friend How much fight do you have left? How much fight do you have left? It isn’t right, the way we talk to each other Like only true believers are still Waiting and bending but We all got a reason and a fence worth mending Same year, same bet How much fight do you have left? Time goes so fast How much fight do you have left? I’ll be your best friend How much fight do you have left? How much fight do you have left?
8.
Magic Catfish 02:19
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I’m a rage in a kiddie pool Or a lick from your pet I’m totally exhausted by all of this and I haven’t even really done anything yet Is it all that you wanted? Am I all you expect? I’ll just go ahead and leave this comment card laying here And you can fill it out whenever you get a chance Cause maybe its all smoke and mirrors A dazzling sight to be seen Maybe its all smoke and mirrors But god I still want to believe In you and your elegant ruse Tell me a lie tailor made for a guy Who has out grown truth But maybe its all smoke and mirrors I’ll play along, long as its free Maybe its all smoke and mirrors But god am I really this lonely? Or have I been talking too much? But if I don’t bite, you don’t eat, bud Throw me a line anytime Cause even the wind needs the trees in a field To let it know it exists And even the universe made a bald monkey To let it know it exists Ask me bout my day, ask me anything Cause I know its all smoke and mirrors …and not quite healthy I know its all smoke and mirrors But god it feels good to be seen Yeah god it feels good to be seen
9.
The Rightest Wrong 06:03
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A couple hundred thousand years from walking out the woods Still you say the kind of things I thought we’d left for good You were wrong, who’s wrong All along the riverside you pick your words like stones The flattest and the sharpest flung and fall between the Musket balls and arrowheads from wars that waged here long ago Melancholy beautiful you’re weeping like a wound The calling of the void is strong but I’m still in the room Is it wrong to give it up so soon? I could see the fire in your eye had gone The words I’d say to make you soft now made you turn to stone I may be right but I’m alone Gourds are on the doorstep and the trees are leaning out Freckling the sidewalk with their berries falling down And its cold, inside and out I started to prefer the chilly silence that we shared To the days you’d come home humming, smiling, and smelling Like a cologne from a store that I can’t afford Have a think over a drink and chewing on the ice Later I will go outside to pick a fight with Jesus Christ to settle Some old score that only lives inside my mind I could see the fire in your eye had gone The words I’d say to make you soft now made you turn to stone I may be right but I’m alone I told you that I loved like I was pulling at a thread Hold that thought, trace it in chalk, cause now its good as dead Was I wrong? Was I wrong? I could see the fire in your eye had gone The words I’d say to make you soft now made you turn to stone I may be right but I’m alone
10.
Come Around 02:54
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Birds sing in trees Lift me from my sleep The other side of bed is cold But I still slip out, silent steps while All the world seems small Before the sun is out Shower warm and coffee in my thermal travel cup Taking time for thinking Wondering what you’re doing now There’s plenty of life left in our old town If you care to come around Same old puffy coat And shoes that should be thrown The drive in to work is long but I don’t mind it News and turn clicks score my morning scene The filling of the street Open signs, horizon lines, both blooming as I go Nothing for the front page, but nothing to get down about There’s plenty of life left in our old town If you care to come around There’s plenty of life left in our old town If you care to come around

about

Though currently based in Los Angeles, the roots of Skittish have always been Minnesotan. Midwest Handshake was written by Jeff Noller over a two-month visit back home, temporarily trading the land of Teslas and tents for 10,000 lakes.
The songs are framed in various mid-20th Century musical styles that would be at home in the Grand Ol’ Opry in 1960. Especially if they were played by 1980’s emo punks just handed orchestral instruments.
Modern topics like entrenched politics, media obsession, dating and fitting in, are given a retro veneer, implying we still have the same concerns and desires as we once did, just a different vocabulary.

credits

released August 25, 2023

Jeff Noller: Vocals, Instruments, Writing
Gracie Huffman: Vocals on 2, 4, and 7
Chris Lahn: Orchestration
Brian Griffin: Drums on 4 and 7
Mark O’Day: Drums on 2, 3, 5, 9
Jeremy Krueth: Percussion on 1
Jacqueline Ultan: Cello
Stephen Murray: Stand Up Bass
Ben Etter: Mixing and Additional Production

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skittish Minneapolis, Minnesota

Skittish is folk rock...with thorns.

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