“Blood on the Bands”… hmm, what can we say about BoB? First off, the AC/DC-esque title is not far off the mark - this song is a screamer (not like Bon Scott, however...more like Henry Rollins). And, yes, there’s blood, and bands, and one of Jim’s most fascinating guitar leads that sounds like a crazy science experiment boiling over - this lead comes in response to one of my best lyrics ever: The blood is on the bands The demands of misfits They’re having hope, But it’s the secret dope in their ears. … and then Jim’s guitar lead conjures up that ‘dope in the ears’ sensation - and one tends to bang one’s head in that circumstance… Hence, I would call this one a ‘banger’, It also has a rhythm that I would put right up next to System of a Down. Thematically, the song calls into question the soporific effect that modern music has on the population - another distraction from the five alarm fire at the center of power. The blood is on the bands,, indeed

"Friends of the Road" is a different kind of Submensa song - a Appalachian, Back Country inspired ballad that captures the loneliness of driving a truck across the country and the wonderful things that can happen along the way. Part of our new push to explore other genres, "Friends" is The Submensas' first attempt at a classic song - you be the judge - did we. do it right?

A classic punk song in the vein of The Clash, "Strange Graves" was a fourth song recorded for our 1986 EP, “Twilight in Beltland,” but was left off the vinyl because I wasn’t satisfied with the vocals. I intended to re-record the song but that never happened, and the master tape of these sessions has been long lost. But now this two-minute song has had a renaissance, and is back as a boppy little number with jangly vocals and an upbeat guitar riff. We put “Strange Graves” on our 2012 compilation, “Trading Cards of Glory”, but it’s a little grainy because the recording was from a CASSETTE. So we now have a great new version. Here’s how the song starts… How many times will the world rock and roll, Before it finally breaks asunder? And how many mixed-up little piles of debris Will you and I be buried under? A strange grave here/ A strange grave there/ all graves/ are strange … and then I list a bunch of ways to die. The meaning of the song is a little interpretive, but I would say it has to do with choices and how we’ll end up in the places that we’ll end up in… It’s like a mini-version of Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died”. (It’s two mins, whereas Jim Carroll’s song is five and a half.)

“Consumer Report” by The Submensas is a metaphorical driving song. Named after the magazine that calls out faulty products, “Consumer Report” also calls out the ever-expanding list of faulty products of the new American landscape. “Consumer Report” is one of our most fun songs to perform as it involves everyone in the band singing (shouting) as we musically mimic the panic of a malfunctioning car hurtling off a cliff. There are four verses to the song, each escalating the tension until the inevitable climax. Listen in stereo!

“Headache” is a classic punk song – it sounds right out of the ‘80s, cause it was written in the 80s, only never actually finished until recently. We needed a song for a stage play about punk in the 1980s, so we pulled this one out of the files and Jim put a pretty cool riff to it. When the Submensas reformed it was a natural fit. So it has the unique quality of being very old and yet our newest original song. Thematically, it is what it is, a song about angst and dreams unfulfilled, but it’s got a catchy refrain and a cascading drum montage by Darryl that really sells the song. Also a special shoutout to Vernon for a superb vocal arrangement. Plus, the final mastering was done by a Grammy-winning engineer!

“Reason Wrong” is the most Gang of Four-sounding song we have (because, you know, we’re trying to offer one of each flavor of punk). “Reason Wrong!” uses ‘reason’ as a verb to provide faux advice on how to succeed in life. The lyrics cite examples of faulty logic which succeed in notoriety, and then the song applies this motif to the modern phenomenon of ‘going viral’. The song, then, provides a bridge from the ‘80s, in which 2/3 of the song was written, to now, where we add a verse and update the arrangement. A special shout-out in this song goes out to our bassist Vernon, who laid down the original snarky bass riff back in the 80s. Jim channels Andrew Gill (RIP) with sustained guitar feedback that captures the jarring cognitive dissonance that this new-world counter-logic produces. The song itself was not formally recorded until 2023

“Love You” is a two-minute power-pop-punk song that is aptly named, though it is not the usual love song. It’s about carefree, untethered romance, but we’re not sure where the song comes down – is this a kiss-off song or an actual love song?. You can decide for yourself while dancing to the up-tempo beat with a guitar lead in the middle that simulates a brisk afternoon fling.