more from
Pieater
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Animal (LP | 2016)

by Big Scary

/
  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    First Pressing, White Vinyl
    2LPs
    Gatefold Jacket

    Leave a note “CLICK & COLLECT” at checkout & we’ll refund your postage.
    Pickup occurs via SOUND MERCH, 64 Oxford St, Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Animal (LP | 2016) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    edition of 1000  20 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $42 AUD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Leave a note “CLICK & COLLECT” at checkout & we’ll refund your postage.
    Pickup occurs via SOUND MERCH, 64 Oxford St, Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Animal (LP | 2016) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $17 AUD or more 

     

  • Me and You 12" Vinyl (LP | 2022) "First Pressing, Gum-Leaf Green Marble Vinyl"
    Daisy 12" Vinyl (LP | 2021) "First Pressing, Coral Pink Marble Vinyl"
    Animal 12" Vinyl (LP | 2016) "First Pressing, White Vinyl"
    Not Art 12" Vinyl (LP | 2013) "Third Pressing, 10th Anniversary Transparent Orange Vinyl"
    Vacation 12" Vinyl (LP | 2011) "Classic Black Vinyl"
    The Big Scary Four Seasons 12" Vinyl (EPs | 2010) "Classic Black Vinyl"

    Leave a note “CLICK & COLLECT” at checkout & we’ll refund your postage.
    Pickup occurs via SOUND MERCH, 64 Oxford St, Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Animal (LP | 2016) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    5 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $195 AUD or more 

     

  • Me and You (LP | 2022)
    Daisy (LP | 2021)
    Animal (LP | 2016)
    Not Art (LP | 2013)
    Vacation (LP | 2011)
    The Big Scary Four Seasons (EPs | 2010)

    Leave a note “CLICK & COLLECT” at checkout & we’ll refund your postage.
    Pickup occurs via SOUND MERCH, 64 Oxford St, Collingwood, Melbourne, Australia.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Animal (LP | 2016) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $75 AUD

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $14 AUD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 10 Big Scary releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Wing (LP | 2024), Me and You (LP | 2022), Daisy (LP | 2021), Animal (LP | 2016), Not Art (LP | 2013), Vacation (LP | 2011), The Big Scary Four Seasons (EPs | 2010), At the Mercy of the Elements (EP | 2010), and 2 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      $77.25 AUD or more (25% OFF)

     

1.
Oxygen 03:23
It's strictly physical Our bodies on the line No more cheap conversation Use that oxygen to save me I know you're feeling it I think I feel it too Slide my hands a little higher Make you work a little harder Respect the power Feel my power Reaching for the tissues But not because of your daddy issues It's strictly physical Our bodies on the line No more cheap conversation Use that oxygen to save me Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf It's strictly physical Our bodies on the line No more cheap conversation Use that oxygen to save me I know you're feeling it I think I feel it too Slide my hands a little higher Make you work a little harder Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf Take a picture of yourself Put it up on the shelf
2.
Organism 03:16
You are the breath until your body breaks You are the illness that your system shakes In the image of an arc swept low Then up until a song it makes To repress until the questions flow Illustrate until the classroom follows Your left hand can't know where the right has been Flick your tongue until the words spill So go and file your decisions This is not intermission This is a... To repeat until the pressure peaks And put some blood into your cheeks Bottom feeding on an ancient lore Breath recycling 'til the room speaks Always pleading that you act on inaction Always hoping that you combat distraction, so I can distract you So go and file your decisions This is not intermission This is a big world in a little girl
3.
Am I thinking what I think I'm feeling I feel I, I feel I, I feel I, I feel I Am I thinking what I think I'm feeling I feel I, I feel I, I feel I, I feel I Am I feeling what I think I'm feeling Follow to go forward Throw your hands up reach the ceiling I'm voice to fill the void And we're a band to bridge the boredom Selling tickets to the tourney To the kids who can't afford them Whoop Am I thinking what I think I'm feeling I feel I, I feel I, I feel I, I feel I Am I thinking what I think I'm feeling I feel I, I feel I, I feel I, I feel I Am I feeling what I think I'm feeling Follow to go forward Throw your hands up reach the ceiling I'm voice to fill the void And we're a band to bridge the boredom Selling tickets to the tourney To the kids who can't afford them Whoop Am I thinking what I think I'm feeling I feel I, I feel I, I feel I, I feel I Am I thinking what I think I'm feeling I feel like I've a lifetime to say goodbye Am I thinking what I think I'm feeling Follow to go forward Throw your hands up reach the ceiling I'm voice to fill the void And we're a band to bridge the boredom Selling tickets to the tourney To the kids who can't afford them Whoop
4.
Save your advice Think once, don’t think twice Enter the bloodstream Touching you just there Open your eyes Let it fill those TV screens With perfect bodies Save your advice Think once, don’t think twice Enter the bloodstream Touching you just there Open your eyes Let it fill those TV screens With perfect bodies
5.
Lone Bird 04:18
I see you that way I see you in a corner Lone Bird keep flapping It’s time to cross the water She likes her coffee black She is her mother’s daughter Lone Bird keep flapping It’s time to cross the water She’ll never fall to the forces She’ll never fall when the wind dies down Lone Bird is flying to the South-East Flying high just because she can I see you that way I see you in a corner Lone Bird keep flapping It’s time to cross the water She likes her coffee black She is her mother’s daughter Lone Bird keep flapping It’s time to cross the water I see you flying, I see you breaking borders Lone Bird keep flapping It’s time to cross the water Am I a bird that flies, flies into a new day? Am I a bird that finds? I’m finding you some other way I am a bird that finds, I’m finding you some other way
6.
One, two, three times We fell in love One, two, three times You broke my heart Too many times, I look above Thinking of you Get you on your back I’m feeling bold A little romance bares the soul A little time to languish Fiery feelings: feed them with anguish Cos it’s my master vision Complex plays played with precision Tough men making tough decisions And everybody should stop and listen out All these things Why all these things Why all these things that cause collisions Not part of my master vision All these things Why all these things Why all these things that cause collisions Not part of my master vision One, two, three times We fell in love One, two, three times You broke my heart Too many times, I look above Thinking of you… When will it come true? Enter the endless story Too much of anything’s boring The sum of us is multiplying Subtract and divide to pass the time
7.
Flutism 04:45
Your story does consist of many layers And the presence of a former love is not what I’m afraid of I’m sensing some resentment, sensing insecurities About securing love through the use of kitchen utilities Fear is in the back seat driving Trying to pump the brakes always fearful of colliding Lust keeps turning up the heat Hate is hating all the beats And somewhere in the back I hear a little girl crying out I can’t love it if I can’t cut it If I can’t cut it then I’m only gonna let you down I can’t love it if I can’t cut it If I can’t cut it then I’m only gonna let you down Everybody’s gonna have a say sooner or later And you we’re about to talk us through your career as a grand manipulator I’m sensing some resentment, sensing insecurities About securing love through the use of kitchen utilities Fear is in the back seat driving Trying to pump the brakes always fearful of colliding Lust keeps turning up the heat Hate is hating all the beats And somewhere in the back I hear a little girl crying out I can’t love it if I can’t cut it If I can’t cut it then I’m only gonna let you down I can’t love it if I can’t cut it If I can’t cut it then I’m only gonna let you down But loving always felt great Holding you was no mistake If only you could listen my question wasn’t said that way I’m recommending down time, recommending separation Separate desire from your powers of persuasion
8.
Consolation Feel so bored I’m still hungry Feed me more I won’t let you keep playing the cat and the mouse Fevering will never get you out of this house Twenty-eight years too late, baby open your mouth It’s time to taste what you’ve always been talking about Consolation Feels no good Mouth wide open Feed me more I won’t let you keep playing the cat and the mouse (I just wanna feel good) Fevering will never get you out of this house (I still got more to stay) Twenty-eight years too late, baby open your mouth (Silence isn’t cessation) It’s time to taste what you’ve always been talking about Consolation Feels no good Silence isn’t cessation Vibing on a vibration I won’t let you keep playing the cat and the mouse (I just wanna feel good) Fevering will never get you out of this house (I still got more to stay) Twenty-eight years too late, baby open your mouth (Silence isn’t cessation) It’s time to taste what you’ve always been singing about
9.
Go waste some time Go be with friends who love you I’ll fall into line I’ll fall into feeling ok I trust you now But May was a different story It’s all very well To call me when I am sleeping But I am never far away But in the morning that may change The song may play on somewhere else But loneliness still feels the same We draw and retrace I follow your fingertips Up my arm to my face Hold me like I still mean something Love isn’t patience It's prescribe and self-medicate It's a trip to the beach Then a week to resuscitate So go waste some time Go be with friends who love you I’ll fall into line I’ll fall into feeling like I’m ok I am never far away But in the morning that may change The song may play on somewhere else But loneliness still feels the same I am never far away I am never far away I am never far away
10.
You say that you want my love then I’m a believer You reach your hand out to me then I’m gonna hold it You fill my eyes with your smiles my brain with your chemicals I forgot to say, forgot to say, I’ll just say something dumb anyway And everything is a layer that gets in between us And every kiss is a countdown, time ‘til the next one This time we’re under the sheets and really baby I wanna make something else Something new, something different, something with you You know my heart feels the hurt when you turn the heat up Sometimes we’re missing the man when it’s time to stand up I feel the pressure like I hear music I’m only doing the best I can, the best I can I am trying the best I can With nobody else left to call With nobody else left at all Is when you finally back down Get your back up off the wall What else is there left to know There wasn’t us four months ago Until somebody backed down Body backed down from the show This time we’ll come up for love This time we’ll come up for love You say that you want my love then I’m a believer You reach a hand out to me then I’m gonna hold it You fill my eyes with your smiles my brain with you chemicals I forgot to say, I forgot to say, I’ll just say something dumb Oh lover don’t you fake it Oh lover won’t you figure it out With nobody else left to call With nobody else left at all Is when you finally back down Get your back up off the wall What else is there left to know There wasn’t us four years ago Until somebody stood up We picked ourselves up off the floor This time we’ll come up for love This time we’ll come up for love
11.
You told us how you're feeling Well, congratulations You describe every dealing without hesitations All you've ever wanted was a man to hold you All you've ever gotten is a hand that scolds you But today you want blood Don’t tell me calm down, tell me calm down ‘Cos I won't listen Don’t call me lover, call me lover ‘Cos I won't understand It's not because I don't want you It's not because I'm in denial I lost with my heart with my patience Just digging up these frustrations And everybody is talking And everybody is hungry now I'm setting fire to these pages I'm tearing down these walls somehow You broke down, now you're healing Well, congratulations Your torment and your reeling and just conversations Your face is only telling what your heart has sold you All you've ever wanted was a man to hold you But today you want blood Don’t tell me calm down, tell me calm down 'Cos I won't listen To call me lover, call me lover ‘Cos I won't understand It's not because I don't want you It's not because I'm in denial I lost with my heart with my patience Just digging up these frustrations And everybody is talking And everybody is hungry now I'm setting fire to these pages I'm tearing down these walls somehow Run back home and hide Feathers do make light Feathers don't make flight Run back home and hide Fear do make light From fear you will fly It's not because I don't want you It's not because I'm in denial I lost with my heart with my patience Just digging up these frustrations Everybody is talking And everybody is hungry now I'm setting fire to these pages I'm tearing down these walls somehow It's not because I don't want you It's not because I'm in denial I lost with my heart with my patience Just digging up these frustrations Everybody is talking And everybody is hungry now I'm setting fire to these pages I'm tearing down these walls somehow
12.
Over Matter 06:20
In my most faded state And in my jaded hate I will say what I’ll say And in my modest way I will say what I’ll say And through a sea of waste I will wade unimpinged It was foreseen by the stars It was foreseen from within And I am everywhere at once When I was nowhere to begin And I am wading through to you So discard the romance and throw out the voodoo Everybody is dancing But no one dances like we do I’m in a cloud of crazy I’m in a craze of lazy I’m in a swim out to the middle Just to see if you’ll save me My friends, they take it to the streets They are not warm to receiving There is no tact, nor taste When your stocks are depleting Markets reacting New angles protracting Agencies exacting Statistics impacting Going out of my brain just to keep right from insane ‘Cos it’s catch and kill and release And anybody and everybody’s my sworn enemies Is my brain just a clock to remind me To sleep and to wake and to piss and to fuck and to (Hurt is all around me, hurt is all around me) Kisses won’t wake me No silence will break me (Hurt is all around me, hurt is all around me) Measure the impulse and relay the response And open and reflective will gain another perspective on it all (Hurt is all around me, hurt is all around me) Then give in, give in, give in… Until the day shatters you Penalise the imposters, fertilize not foster Rebrand, rebuild, renew
13.
Lamina 04:35
You look inside You’re the beauty of the pageant I’ve given first prize to you And acting out It will stop you feeling bad It’ll keep us making eyes across the room Such a headstrong girl I’m a heart-stung boy Trying to win you with a song Just to stop you playing coy With reason returning And numbers resolving Got me doing the math Just to know you belong to me Ooh Well I guess you know better Ooh Well I guess you know better Ooh I guess you know better Better this time Better that time Add more feeling to the fervour We are alright It was better this time Better that time Once a lover to another Now you’re all mine We were better this time Better that time Well my all is to let Not a hold and regret When our feelings are met With our fear Now don’t you get it Ooh Well I guess you know better Ooh Well I guess you know better Ooh Guess you know better Looking for the peace and the order That lies inside of you Sweeping floors And combing through drawers And I know it gets better I just don’t know when Falling out of bed ‘Cos the ghost sits there And he’s shaking his head At the state of our affairs I’m a full-grown man With a full-blown woman Better this time Better that time Add more feeling to the fervor We are alright It was better this time Better that time Once a lover to another Now you’re all mine We were better this time Better that time Well my all was to let Not a hold and regret Better this time Better that time Add more feeling to the fervor We are alright We were better this time Better that time Once a lover to another Now you’re all mine We were better this time Better that time Well my all was to let Not a hold and regret When our feelings are met With our fear Now don’t you get it

about

Scroll over song titles for lyrics.

Hunting – Oxygen, Organism, Double Darkness, Savior Add Vice
Lurking – Lone Bird, The Endless Story, Flutism, Up and Up and Up
Resting – Breathe Underwater, The Opposite of Us, Heaven on Earth
Waking – Over Matter, Lamina

12" Vinyl Listening Instructions - From The Band:
The album has been quartered into separate bundles of tracks, which we are calling the 4 Stages of the Animal. These stages are "Hunting", "Lurking", "Resting" and "Waking". Being a double vinyl each of these stages will have its own vinyl side. The vinyl will not be marked with a chronological order. This way each side will be its own self-contained unit and can be listened to as so if preferred. We intend this to emphasize a lack of a fixed starting point, as the album can start at whatever side of vinyl is placed down first. Additionally there will be a unique colour-scheme to guide the musical and thematic flow if desired.
The 12" LP artwork and layout is designed to reflect the ideas behind the music. It may provoke an immediate reaction of disdain or even disgust. There is not meant to be a ‘right way up’ - it is designed to disorient as well as reinforce the idea of no fixed starting point, and thus a continuity.

*****
This is the album Animal. For many albums, the thematic tying together of a group of songs into a conceptual whole is often done outside the realm of thought and reason and therefore can’t often be pinned down in words alone. We can’t say exactly where the title came from. What we can say is that the idea of the animal within was a recurring theme throughout the song-writing process, as well as being an undercurrent to our personal lives. The extent to which we are all just animals with drives, urges and instincts was a question that particularly interested us.

It is fascinating that we, as human beings capable of love, kindness, creativity and incredibly nuanced and complex thought are often in the same moment dealing with base drives, desires and hungers to be fed and satisfied; that we seemingly have a mind that is both a treasure and a torment; a mind that can equally throw up the twisted and perverted alongside the good and the Godly.

There is clearly something more to us than just the need to survive. We have the capacity to operate as something greater than just the animal, but we are both within one vessel and we are left to live with and balance these often-conflicting aspects of our existence.

I believe we can rise above the Animal but the Animal cannot be conquered or even neglected. The album is structured to reflect this with a move from dark to light: an evolution of the Animal. The start is abrasive, immediate and basic whereas the end is more delicate, dynamic and complex in structure. It is intended that the listener feels a level of discomfort with the start of the album as we want them to work through it, as we work through our own base urges and desires to reach something of more substance, something higher. There is also playfulness and love in this album but there is a flow between these and the darker elements, a connectedness as there is within all of us.

Alongside this, the album has been quartered into separate bundles of tracks, which we are calling the 4 Stages of the Animal. These stages are ‘Hunting’, ‘Lurking’, ‘Resting’ and ‘Waking’. Being a double vinyl each of these stages will have its own vinyl side. This way each vinyl side will be its own self-contained unit and can be listened to as so if preferred. The vinyl will not be marked with a chronological order. We intend this to emphasize a lack of a fixed starting point. In this way the album can start at whatever side of vinyl is placed down first. This cut up way of listening can be seen to work against the flow from dark to light as mentioned earlier but it is intended to emphasize the continual movement between these elements. The artwork has a parallel agenda. It may provoke an immediate reaction of disdain or even disgust. There is not meant to be a ‘right way up’, it is designed to disorient as well as reinforce the idea of no fixed starting point and thus a continuity.

We believe this is our most challenging album yet. It certainly was in many ways the most challenging album we’ve ever made. Many listeners may not be able to get past the artwork or perhaps the first few tracks but we want it to be all the more rewarding for those who do.

credits

released September 2, 2016

All songs written and performed by Tom Iansek and Jo Syme.

Produced by Tom Iansek.

Recorded at Headgap Studios, Melbourne. Engineering and additional production by Matt Voigt. Additional engineering and production by Neil Thomason.

Additional engineering and production by Callum Barter at Newmarket Studios, Melbourne.

Strings arranged and composed by Jonathan Zion. Performed by Sarah Curro (violin), Daniel Curro (cello), Kathryn Taylor (violin) and Christopher John Cartlidge (viola).

All songs mixed by Tom Elmhirst at Electric Lady Studios, NYC. Assisted by Joe Visciano.

Mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound, NYC.

Compiled by John Ruberto at Mastersound Studios, Melbourne.

Bass performed by Ted O’Neil on “Organism”, “Double Darkness”, “Savior Add Vice” and “Flutism”.

Bass performed by Graham Ritchie on “The Endless Story”, “The Opposite of Us”, “Heaven On Earth”, “Over Matter” and “Lamina”.

Saxophone performed by Gus Rigby on “Oxygen”, “Organism”, “Flutism”, “Up and Up and Up”, and “Over Matter”.

Baritone saxophone performed by Sam Boon on “The Endless Story”, “Flutism” and “Up and Up and Up”.

Cover artwork by Brett Amory.

Layout and design by Andrew Tesdorpf.

license

all rights reserved

tags

Big Scary recommends:

If you like Big Scary, you may also like: