Do You Know Who You Are?

Guitarist Norman Brannon joined the hardcore punk band Shelter in 1992, amidst the New York hardcore scene of the time.[1] Wishing to move away from the macho elements and religious preaching of the genre, he wanted to form a new band with former 108 drummer Chris Daly as early as December 1992, though was unable to at the time.[2][3] 108 and Shelter would tour together in mid-1993; the pair had previously played in hardcore band Resurrection sometime earlier.[1] Bassist Scott Winegard of Fountainhead was left band-less when that act's guitarist left to form Orange 9mm.[3] Bassist Garrett Klahn was kicked out of Copper in January 1995, while Brannon had formed a new band the following month.[2][3] Winegard was drafted into Brannon's act; Klahn visited them during practice that same month, before joining them when he switched to vocals and guitar in March 1995.[2][3] While talking to their friends in the Van Pelt, the members asked them what names they rejected before settling on their final name – one of which being Texas Is the Reason.[4] After acquiring this name, which is also a line in the song "Bullet" by the Misfits, the band began writing material for their debut EP.[2]

The group had their first show at the Equal Vision Records house in New York City, which was run by Shelter frontman Ray Cappo.[1] They recorded a three-track demo tape, and spent sometime playing shows locally and appearing on the North-eastern touring circuit.[5][6] Soon afterwards, the band had the choice of signing with independent labels Jade Tree, Art Monk Construction and Revelation Records (which was co-founded by Cappo), or major label Atlantic Records.[1][5] All of their friends expected the band to sign with Equal Vision, including its founder; they had agreed not to sign with a label any of their previous bands had been on. Every member of the band learned from business mistakes with their past acts; Brannon wanted to work with a person he knew. He had met Revelation's other co-founder Jordan Cooper prior to forming Texas Is the Reason, and had talked with him on a few occasions. Cooper had heard positive things about the band, at which point Brannon sent him a copy of the demo tape.[5] Ultimately, the group went with Revelation Records for a multi-album contract, after learning about the label's distribution system and their longevity up to that point.[1][5] Despite this, they had offers from other labels to buy out their deal, going as far as to hire limos and hotel rooms to impress the band.[1]

Around this time, Brannon wrapped up working on his fanzine Anti-Matter to focus more of his efforts on Texas Is the Reason.[7] Released in November 1995 through Revelation,[8] the self-titled three-track EP was an underground success. It aided to separate the group from their peers due in part to Klahn's vocals and stage persona.[2] A fourth song recorded during the sessions of the EP was released on a split single with Samuel on the British independent label Simba.[6] They had wanted to record a song with Jawbox member J. Robbins for the split instead; Brannon previously met Robbins when he interviewed him for Anti-Matter, and would stay in contact with him. They learned through a mutual friend that Robbins had an eight-track recorder in his home studio, though they were unable to record anything Robbins told the band he still wanted to work with them on a project; when they were preparing to work on their debut, Robbins was interested.[9] In December 1995, the group went to Oz Studio in Baltimore, Maryland to record their debut album, with the producer role being split between Robbins and the band. Drew Mazurek handled recording, with assistance from M. Rippe. Mazurek mixed the recordings, before they were mastered by Vlad Meller at Sony Music Studios in New York City.[10]

Musically, the sound of Do You Know Who You Are? has been described as emo,[11][12][13] post-hardcore[12][6] indie rock,[11][14] and Midwest emo,[15] drawing comparison to Jawbox[16] and Hüsker Dü.[17] Klahn's vocals were compared to Richard Marx if he sang indie rock,[11] with a mixture of the nasal whine of Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher and the raspy nature of Modest Mouse vocalist Issac Brock.[18] Robbins contributed strings and percussion to the recordings.[10] The album's title is reportedly the final words John Lennon heard as he was dying en route to a hospital.[19] Some of the tracks allude to John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories;[20] the title of "The Magic Bullet Theory" being a direct reference.[19]

The opening track "Johnny on the Spot" starts with drum, guitar and bass triads that were used by typical emo acts of the day,[18] before incorporating syncopated rhythms.[6] "Nickle Wound" was the most archetypal example of emo on the record, with its slow guitar work and marching drum patterns, prior to the guitars erupting into heavy distortion and later returning to the slow introduction.[18] "Something to Forget (Version II)" was re-recorded from its original release ("Something to Forget (Version I)") on the split with Samuel, and is slightly shorter than that version.[6] Brannon wanted the album to open with its title-track but was vetoed by the rest of the group.[1] The song is a slow instrumental that builds to a lot of distortion, eventually giving way to the hardest track on the record, "Back and to the Left".[18] The song, which has an aggressive rhythm section,[6] features a line of lyrics taken from labelmates Gameface's track "Three".[19] Gameface, in turn, referenced "Back and to the Left" in their song "Laughable" (2000).[21] "A Jack with One Eye" was written in Daly's basement; Brannon's reaction to it was "thinking that this song is the next level, like this is a real song."[22]

All songs by Texas Is the Reason.[10]

1. "Johnny on the Spot" – 4:15
2. "The Magic Bullet Theory" – 2:48
3. "Nickel Wound" – 4:36
4. "There's No Way I Can Talk Myself Out of This One Tonight (The Drinking Song)" – 3:57
5. "Something to Forget" – 5:50
6. "Do You Know Who You Are?" – 2:43
7. "Back and to the Left" – 3:55
8. "The Day's Refrain" – 4:59
9. "A Jack with One Eye" – 4:39

Personnel per booklet.[10]

Citations

Sources

• Do You Know Who You Are?: The Complete Collection at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)