SEE THE FEW SIGH!

A decision is here. The upcoming Tender Few record will be named SEE ME SIGH, following the stirring -- and slurred -- testimonial from a certain 'Nikki Buttons.'

She wins a photo of this shirt.

The record will be released in mid September. Stay tuned for details on the first-ever Tender Few CD-release Festival.

--> Re-read Nikki's case, with joy:

I’m a little drunk. This is my argument, my thesis, for “See Me Sigh” as the title of this album. I understand that you can, in a way, SEE someone sigh, watch his/her chest inflate, deflate, watch his/her eyes widen, relax. But it is more likely that we are hearing or feeling someone sigh, and so this phrase—see me sigh—is really a synesthetic, which is both a neuroanatomical and literary term meaning “together/joined sensation.”

A very small number of people are synesthetes—people who, when stimulated in one sensory area, translate it into another. He/she might literally see a color when they hear F#, or taste chocolate when he/she sees a full moon. This is not explained by experiential association, but rather by an involuntary crossing in the brain. Nabokov was affected by synesthesia, and that is probably why he was such an incredible writer—he experienced the word exponentially, his 5 senses constantly rearranging themselves, letters becoming colors. And so when he writes, he translates these moments to us, and our worlds double, triple, deepen.

So wouldn’t The Tender Few fans appreciate a title with so much sense, literally? Maybe not? Maybe it’s too soft? Maybe Skittles brand candy took all of the feeling out of synesthesia when they whispered, “Taste the Rainbow.” But I like it, the way I am drawn to Nobokov’s colored letters, to the smell of Perkins-Gilman’s yellow wallpaper, and, yes, even to candy-coated Skittles.

Or we could just name the album Californication to see if we move more units that way just by confusing people and getting sued.

Friends, lovers! What should we name the Tender Few Album?

Usually bands have names and covers of their first shrink-wrapped albums in mind before they write the songs. We don't. And we could use your help. With feedback soaring on the Tender Few fanclub name... the verdict is still pending... we thought we'd turn it over to the fan-base and blog-readership to get some INPUT on what the upcoming Tender Few RECORD should be named.

--> A few ideas include:

a) SEE ME SIGH
At the Rickshaw show a year ago, we made some Tenderchandise -- crafted items like stickers and shirts with press-on letters. One shirt, gifted to Ms Sasha of Central California, was a turquoise shirt with red letters that read 'See Me Sigh.' Can't help but wonder if that shirt -- worn, shown neck to belt, couldn't make a good album cover.

b) THE PAVEMENT BETWEEN OUR HEARTS
Yes! Careful readers, yes! It IS indeed the name of a new song composed after the recordings for the upcoming record. So it won't be on the album. You wonder how you can name an album for a song on another album? Haven't you heard of a little outfit called Ray Manzarek's DOORS? 'Waiting for the Sun' was the name of an album, but the song came out later. Or perhaps you know of the English bar band LED ZEPPELIN? Their 'Houses of the Holy' album didn't include the 'title track' which appeared on the follow-up, 'Physical Graffiti.' So we CAN do this.

c) ATTACKING ALL THE BULLSH*T
My bet is that Rich Turgeoni, drummer and prophet of the band, might like this one the most. There are two possible album covers to go with this. One would be roughly the same as Rod Stewart's first album (The Rod Stewart Album), a full-beige cover with cursive 'Beggar's Banquet' font; instead ours would say 'Tender Few' then have the horizontal photo of the bunny above, and 'Attacking all the bullsh*t' (possibly censored) below... Another possibility, and a good one, is the cover would be a standard 2006/7 alt-rock cover with pre-WWII fonts and imagery (see Neutral Milk Hotel or Arcade Fire or Beirut), but with the super-imposed blurry images of band members rushing 'into frame.' Give it a thought.

d) CAN YOU KILL LOVE?
Call-and-response works so well in some songs, why not with album titles AND songs on the albums? (One of the album songs -- potentially the album-ender, but we'll save sequencing for another discussion -- is 'You Can't Kill Love'). An alternate version of the title could include:

d.1) TRYING TO KILL LOVE
d.2) TRYING TO DECAPITATE LOVE
d.3) LOVE DECAPITATORS

e) SLAY THE BUNNY
I made a bad song one time that occassionally cracks me up with the line... 'time in a mind like mine is like a pagan that stops to slay... THE BUNNY.' It didn't work, but we ended up making 'Pagan Valentine' with that in mind.

f) THE CITY
The song -- sometimes called 'Sunny Plan' -- will be on the album. It's broad name can open up many album-cover deals. And it's a riff on CENSORED's* only shrink-wrapped release, the 1986 cassette 'Fist City'.

--> SO! That's six or so possibilities. Note we have some variations on the ol' tradition: title track, a song on a future album, themes from a song, abstract absurd notions involving the death of small animals. That pretty much covers the possibilities of naming a rock album, I'd say.

Any of these work? Any other ideas?

Thanks for your time,


The Tender Few, Brooklyn HQ

* CENSORED was a Tulsa/Little Rock-based band, and a prequel to the Tender Few; hit songs included 'Blow Up Kurt'