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.

Rather Vapid

by Rather Vapid

/

  • Streaming + Download

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

      $4 USD  or more

     

1.
While One 04:30
lyrics
buy track
Same old plan Same old church turned nightclub It's one pm Crowd shakes to the four four replicas The pills kick in Haley shakes her head and moves to the side door Alarms don't sound Step into the alleyway where she waits for Temperatures stay fixed by the weather drones A car pulls up without a driver Fake deer congregate in the meadows A patient android waits for a ring They built a new home Switched me out with another twenty-something She stands in the window Of the guest room cold dark and empty Skin recycled from a lost cause Tiny arms sew it on to a fresh batch If it doesn't suit you ask for another As long as everything is in order In a dream I saw a man In the back of this place through the wall I could see his face
2.
Red Grey 03:55
lyrics
buy track
Sets a place to find her Sets a time to meet Only goes for craft beer Aromatic addiction Talks about her greyhound Talks about her jazz Leaves it open to comment Then continues her thought Am I part of this conversation we're in Demonstrate your condescension I'll be down here Is this all just a competition for you Even if I have your attention It's only imitation Says she hates religion Must be the only one Hates reading fiction Only live in the real world Can we talk about me now Is it my turn to speak Now we're back on her greyhound Just in case I forgot Am I part of this conversation we're in Demonstrate your condescension I'll be down here Is this all just a competition for you Even if I have your attention It's only imitation Listen to your travels Listen to your woes You'll find this helpful I'll give you a list You're fit you're smart You travel you read I don't really care for those things because You crawl you leech you whine you boast Self-righteous self-pity self-aggrandizing You've got nice features Let's give this a shot
3.
A Certain Type of Lighting 04:46
lyrics
buy track
I fell into a rhythm searching for That one who would make worth the mileage but They prefer a vapid recreation They just wanna blend with the touted lore I would rather praise the licentious figment Sitting in my room to avoid the crowd It's a crucial exit From a paradigm where I have no control Maybe if you matched their elation Otherwise I'm committed to this endless stream I prefer these angles To the taxing physical When there's nothing left to please me Go find your excuses not to spiral Come back when you fail at associating See this one's made of plastic Weird nose Short Hair A mole that's not where I like it Reckless highs followed by the shame Redirect the impulse in your brain My parts don't respond like they used to when I had yet to plunge into the vacuum Piqued by a certain type of lighting A color scheme I can't ignore I fell into a rhythm searching for That perfect scene that would cure me It's a crucial exit From a taxing physical When there's nothing left to please me I'll just dig a deeper hole Go find a distraction try to function Come back when you'd rather avoid the burden See this one's made of plastic Weird nose Short Hair A mole that's not where I like it Reckless highs followed by the shame Redirect the impulse in your brain Now this one's not ecstatic Short fat thin with lips inflated from the needle You can pick the next one You can pick the next one You can pick the next one
4.
The Fifteen 04:48
lyrics
buy track
Empty spaces join me on the fifteen A pair of days spent searching for distractions Severed saints emulate a congregation A pleasant exchange for a name He continues to orchestrate this harsh perspective Now a pleasant sound A hopeful scene An autumn brown A glimpse of a moving song Now the scene is swallowed by the faceless Skeletal shapes reach from the abstract There's a room where I'll use your face A callous exchange for a name He continues to orchestrate this contradiction Streets communicate their apathy Now a table on the edge with a view A fleeting friend A weekend apart Now looking through the hole in the door A tiled wall A man with a mask A sixty millimeter world
5.
Olive 04:39
lyrics
buy track
I don't have a strip of metal with my name on the one side They refer to me by my green eyes In the room with the ceiling gone you can see the rafters Holding up the filament bulbs Antiquated Tungsten glow In the winter with the trees bare I can navigate Through the woods on the edges of the fields Wooden limbs of crowns Reaching for each other To make the Sign of Peace on a Sunday The offer stops short Whether shyness or respect Sky becomes a river through the canopy I don't really look amazed That's because this face is not the best means To determine my reaction Just another curse of immortality From down here the cornstalks look like the undead Raised from the grave and assembled in rows Passage through these sentries up the hill and to the old house Habitats of ticks for defenses Empty haven Nightlong stretch There's a tunnel underneath the front porch to the basement I can take the stairs into the den A fortress decomposed Into gentle ruin All except a chair immune to atrophy A creaking upstairs Tiptoes from the bedroom Yells for me to get down off the cushioned seat Skitter out into the air Careful not to find a hunter's crosshair Soon these shadows will engulf this county But my vision's not a choke for me Upon return I see the silver station wagon And a light up on the second floor I see she's prepared a bed for me Folded flannel in her wooden dresser drawer
6.
Wraith 05:33
lyrics
buy track
Some say the man crucified her Rusty railroad spikes She's joined her spiritual sisters A parasite of knotted anger His perforated brain Would fit their tiny tendrils Redistribute the pain We have your best intentions You'll just have to agree Called toward the end of Bottom A broken road resurrected They'll replicate his body Keep the stray for themselves He'll wake up in a dream It will be what they all envisioned He won't remember his name We have your best intentions You'll just have to agree Play your role or face abyssal Wither into a wraith
7.
Advertising Sugar 04:50
lyrics
buy track
I felt much better in a place without them I could write my stories Now I'll admit I can't arrange a plot well Characters are boring Once thought the view would be an inspiration It became an eyesore So I traded the mountains for a red sign Advertising sugar Trees began to reappear Trees that lose their leaves each year Coalesce and form a corridor Suffocate this expectation for more In the mirror the western wall descending Nothing now but silos Evergreens become the plains Become the woods and the ocean What am I to provide on my return A book for no one by nobody I know I'll never be a lauded author Whatever not my calling Trees began to reappear Trees that lose their leaves each year Coalesce and form a corridor Suffocate this expectation for more There's a kind of significance sewn In the mills and in the railroads Tell me what you hate the most across the plains I'm headed back there I can't stand this place

about

Rather Vapid is the one-man project of Jay Vogel. Based in Baltimore, his debut, self-titled album slides along a spectrum between ambient and heavy. It explores the dark corners where one may curl up when faced with loneliness and isolation in an unfamiliar place. While the distant vocals establish the backdrop for scenes of failed fresh starts and lousy first dates, the sudden bursts of screeching guitar riffs act as the bottled-up emotions boiling over. Lyrically, Vogel draws upon his experiences as a young adult moving out to Colorado to convey the anguish and resentment that fester when the thrill of escape begins to fade. Despite this, the arc of the album comes to a promising resolution as Vogel reaches acceptance and rediscovers an admiration for his hometown in Maryland.

credits

released March 20, 2020

Written, recorded, and produced by Jay Vogel

Artwork by Anne Metelski

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Rather Vapid image

Rather Vapid Baltimore, Maryland

contact / help

Contact Rather Vapid

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Rather Vapid, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now