Sunday, August 31, 2014

Gramercy Arms in Los Angeles 11/15 @Hotel Cafe

We are thrilled to announce that we will be playing in Los Angeles at the wonderful Hotel Cafe on 11/15 at 9 PM. More details to come.

Dave Derby & Friends 10/11

Dave and Boston-based friends and collaborators will be playing songs from the Dambuilders oeuvre is well as Gramercy Arms at Cuisine en Locale on 10/11 as part of the The Cavedogs, Drumming on Glass, Flying Nuns, The Gigolo Aunts as part of the "WMBR Presents Pipeline! At 25: 50 Years of Boston Rock" festival occurring between September 12 – October 12. Check out more about the festival here.

Islington Revisited

The Dambuilders 1994 "Islington Porn Tapes" is now up on Spotify and other music-oriented corners of the fabulous internets.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Gramercy Arms on Australian national radio!

Great Gramercy Arms interview with ABC australia radio's Paul Gough. Check it out here

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Lyrics

ALWAYS IN LOVE (Derby) Now it’s been a long minute since I’ve last seen you Got sucked deep in it but I didn’t mean to Let it slide for so long Are you and what’s his name still going strong? Can I be blamed if I can’t keep track of Names of flames one or two boys back up? Remembering’s tough I don’t how you keep it up I’m happy to see you happy but still I’m skeptical of The fact that you’re always in love People trample over your heart like a placemat Spit our your soul but why think about that Negative stuff When you’re always in love Yeah I’m glass half-empty and quickly draining Organized the parade I’m raining on Tedious stuff I’ll admit that my skin’s not that rough You tell me that this is the one I believe you regardless of The fact that you’re always in love Maybe you’re right That I should try to change the way I look at this life And maybe I’ve just lost touch with the brighter stuff Now on your marks Get set and start Let love into your heart Still I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t jealous of The fact that you’re always in love Do I get down on my knees and pray to the heaven’s above That we could be always in love Ooh-ooh The same way you’re always in love (lifespan of the deal forever then) Maybe can be always in love (and even if we’re not together then) You and me could be always in love BEAUTIFUL DISGUISE (Derby/Swersky) I believe it’s easy to see why We were fools to think we could get by Where the blame inevitably lies So low that the down was a new high A beautiful disguise Here we are stuck in the same place again wondering what it is we’re doing Are we making it harder on ourselves wondering if there might be something else Or some way to flip the switch off Maybe there’s a brighter way up ahead You and me getting lost in the weeds (we can’t go back or fix the past) You and me letting go and letting be (addicted to the lie) You and me it should be obvious to see (we know it’s wrong but we’re too afraid) You and me only knowing what it means A beautiful disguise Maybe we’re just playing out this scene saying things we don’t believe in And if there’s an empty or open road that we’re too scared to face alone Can’t be worse than going nowhere (going nowhere) Maybe there’s a brighter way up ahead You and me only rivers to the sea We can’t get back the time we lost For you and the song is always gonna be A beautiful disguise Every time you ever wondered whether we were meant to be untogether in every rewrite of the open letter (heart of mine be strong) A hesitation on the word forever You can say the way is long (hold on, be on) should I follow my heart if I know it’s wrong? I can see it in your eyes but we can’t deny it was a beautiful disguise (heart of mine be strong) Every time that the night was broken all alone the cold wind blowing Every time the dream was over every time a new door was closed (hold on, be on) Every time that you lost direction in love with failure and rejection Every time that you had enough but you still came back for more (heart of mine be strong) WINTER LIGHT (Derby) Come a closer love Tell me what you’re dreaming of I wonder if I know cause the stars they shine Like they did that time So many years ago Would you stay with me Through the long cold night And let me be your winter light? In the ides of dark Lies the beating heart Like a secret word unspoken silver haze of dawn Sing me another song Shadow on the east wind blowin Stay with me Through the long cold night Let me be your winter light I know it’s late But I just hope you might Let me be your winter light You might sense a little bit of hesitation (ooh) I’m surprised by the fact it’s taken me so long (ooh) I know it’s hard to resist such a pale form of imitation? I just have to ask Would it be so wrong? if you stay with me Through the long cold night Let me your winter light The sun slinking low Velvet and calico Burning in the alpenglow Come a closer love Tell me who you’re dreaming of Maybe I don’t need to know So just stay with me Through the long cold night Let me be your winter light And I know it’s late But I hope you might Let me be your winter light THE NIGHT IS YOUR ONLY FRIEND (Derby) Came up on broken streets we used to run Like shadows in the fading sun we chased Our dreams were hand-me-downs we called our own Took from lost-and-founds what only we could clame So light the flame and watch it burn out to the end And think of me when The night is your only friend Out on the boulevard it just got real Cause the cards you want and the ones they deal ain’t the same Soaked in sweet perfume the whiskey-sours Aftertaste the afterhours gone to waste But you and me like shooting stars we watched descend Drink to me when The night is your only friend See what you want to see Rewrite our scenes as means to an end And if we don’t meet again (remember this then) The night is your only friend You held the flame we let it die out both ends burn out at both ends Think of me when The night is your only friend From the time I walked out on my own Was told I had one chance to lose my way back home And if this is the road Where does it go? You and me Like shooting stars we watched descend Think of me when The night is your only friend How much can you lie? (the night is your only friend) How much can you hide from me? NOVEMBERLONG (Derby) When the morning comes the flower of our love blooms bittersweetly in the morning sun please hold me gently don’t let go completely If the truth could be told I guess I’d like to change the facts To how we met on that unforgettable night behind the railroad tracks Ooh maybe it’s historical revision Or the strains of the highway song The way we sang the words together novemberlong When the morning comes the flower of our love blooms bittersweetly in the morning sun please hold me gently don’t let go completely oh my love we can’t forget what we used to be time marches heartlessly I have a photo of us laughing together in a broken frame In the back of the sedan patiently waiting for the lights to change Blood orange skies on the horizon convinced we could do no wrong We pledged undying love together novemberlong When the morning comes the flower of our love blooms bittersweetly in the morning sun please hold me gently don’t let go completely Might have took the wrong road Might have blown our chance Might have lost direction too much trust in happenstance Oh my love we can’t forget what we used to be time marches heartlessly Come the morning does the flower of our love blooms bittersweetly In the morning sun please promise don’t let go of us completely When the morning comes the flower of our love blooms bittersweetly in the morning sunplease hold me gently don’t let go completely oh my love we can’t forget what we used to be time marches heartlessly PLAYING WITH FIRE (Derby) Down I go through the stream Through pathways of metal and rust Letting go of the scene And the waves that crashed over us Floating like weeds down through the old canal and into the sea Like wind that cut through the rock Foam that gleamed in the sun Along the dirt road that we walked Together and distant as one You and me down past the old canal convinced we were free Forever to be floating pure and timeless into the sea If ever I heard your name I couldn’t help but think about the night Beneath the slow bend of the moon When all your emptiness and fear flowed into mine Down through the rivers of time Faded and backwards I go Along the path we once climbed Into the black waves crashing below You and me floating pure and timeless into the light Forever to be simple as silk in the infinite loom of the night YOURS UNTRULY (Derby) Brace for the aftershock Depression interlocked with blame I know I hurt you so The past viewed through a broken lens The thin veil of indifference remains In my heart cold though it seems I’m yours untruly Though I tried to be Good to you I couldn’t see the way I know I let you down Long roads I couldn’t take The sentiments I could fake or even face In my heart cold though it seems I’m yours untruly … forever and ever more In my heart cold though it seems I’m yours untruly I’m yours untruly Untruly I am yours Forever and ever Forever and ever more Forever and ever Untruly I am yours THE SEASON OF LOVE (Derby) For sure the season of love is here Now that you have opened the door Was lost, adrift on an endless wave Now we can’t wait anymore For the season of love (You were the only one) Bien sûr, le temps de l'amour est là Il ne nous attendra pas Bien sûr, le temps de l'amour est là Il ne nous attendra pas Le temps de l’amour … Waiting for you to come Into the dark of night You were the only one Don’t let me dwell on us too long Lest I conclude my choice was wrong Or buried in the wine and song we used to sing along I’m trying to view my future brightly Put the darkness all behind me Let the autumn wind remind me Of you and I as one In the season of love For sure the season of love is here And it won’t wait any more For sure the season of love is here Now we can’t wait any more For the season of love SAY THE WORD (Dave Derby) Starry velvet night Gentle eastern wind Moonlight in your eyes Always takes me back again Say the word I will Be anyone for you Heart of mine be still There’s still nothing I can do You are part of everything that I am And will always be Say the word Say the word I will Be anything for you Heart of mine be still Heart of mine be true When the night is golden Before the thought of sleep appears Before the door is open I’ll always be right here Say the word The ghost in every dream The silhouette of every dawn You are the very air I breathe You are the heart of every song say the word I will You are the shadow of the moment In every syllable I dream You are the spell that can’t be broken heart of mine be still You’re everything I’ll ever be Say the word I will be anyone for you Heart of mine be still heart of mine be true THIN (Derby) You say you were the only one between him and oblivion When that was all he embraced An antidote to the cruelties of circumstance To the vipers and sycophants who waited offstage right And maybe you believed it Eventually it sinks in The space between the truth and the lies you tell Is wearing thin The cruel sting of indifference Melodrama and dissidence you called it your own Oh but then you say you were there at the reckoning When the silence was deafening and you faced it alone Maybe you can’t see it Eventually it sinks in The space between the truth and the lies you tell Is wearing thin I know that you’ve always thought the world owed you a choice Some other way I know what you want … i know what you want But you can’t wipe the past away Once in the bright light of purity And self-righteous obscurity there was what might have been I know you felt some vindication I’ve seen how low you’ve been But baby this martyr act of yours Is wearing thin

Beautiful Disguise video

Our new video for "Beautiful Disguise" has been out for a couple of weeks.
Below is some information about the making of the video : Gramercy Arms and director Tryan George have teamed up to create a haunting and gorgeous video for the band’s second single “Beautiful Disguise” from their second album “The Seasons of Love.” Featuring performances from Lloyd Cole and Joan Wasser (Joan As Police Woman) who sing a duet on the recording, the experimental short film evokes comparisons to “Lost Horizon”-era David Lynch and even Grey Gardens. Fittingly for the NYC based collective--which revolves around songwriter and producer Dave Derby (The Dambuilders, Lloyd Cole) and musicians from Luna, Guided by Voices, Nada Surf, The Throwing Muses, A Girl Called Eddy, Mascott and others--the video was an artistic collboration between Derby, George, Wasser, Cole and stylist Karen Levitt. “We wanted to go for a classic 60s French New Wave approach to making the video,” explains Derby. “Before shooting we spent a fair amount of time discussing the back-story of the characters and let Joan and Lloyd go with what they thought made the most sense for their characters.” Wasser and Cole play an eccentric and emotionally isolated musical duo who are living in a decaying mansion amidst remnants of their former glories. Wasser’s character parades through the house in flamboyant costumes while Cole’s is detached and obsessive. The house—a late 19th century mansion in New Haven, Connecticut—is a character itself. The video was made during a small window between Cole and Wasser’s hectic touring schedules and was deliberately experimental. “There’s a concept in there but it’s fairly blurred,” explains Derby. “Tryan (George) kept pushing to take the video in weirder places and we embraced those polar opposites. None of us wanted to make a typical video and the goal was to be almost anti-video.”

Recent press

Pardon the long absence--To keep up with the latest stuff going on in Gramercyland check in with our new blog at Jim Fusilli over at the Wall Street Journal did a great feature on us. Also we got a glowing, fantastic review from the Sunday Express in the UK where we got 5/5 stars and managed to beat out Tom Petty for album of the week!