{"product_id":"east-river-pipe-the-gasoline-age","title":"East River Pipe - The Gasoline Age","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe celebrate our long relationship with \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/east-river-pipe\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEast River Pipe\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e by releasing their critically acclaimed fourth album \u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Gasoline Age\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e on vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSaluted by \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e as “the most gifted of the new loners,” F.M. Cornog, aka East River Pipe, originally released \u003ci\u003eThe Gasoline Age\u003c\/i\u003e in 1999. Named Album of the Year by both \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/i\u003eand England’s\u003ci\u003e The Independent, The Gasoline Age\u003c\/i\u003e was inspired in large part by nighttime drives on New Jersey’s seedy Route 22. Automobile imagery appears throughout the album: cybercars, stolen cars, pimpmobiles. The cars all seem to carry with them a romanticism that emphasizes even further Cornog’s gift of creating a lyrical mood without tying his flights of fancy down to specifics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gasoline Age\u003c\/i\u003e explores the suburban landscape and turnpike stretches outside Cornog’s door and calmly runs down bleak facts over the gentle pulse and chorused strums Cornog has been perfecting since his early singles. Some of the songs are built on merely six concise lines of clear-eyed warning, though sometimes (“Hell Is an Open Door”) he sounds like he might actually be looking forward to the darkness on the horizon. On other tracks, like the ironically titled “Party Drive,” it sounds as though Cornog is barely going to make it to the curb. But for the character in the song, going on that drive is the only thing that makes it seem like “we’re gonna be OK.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe disconnect between the unsettling dead ends Cornog sings about and the peaceful swells of the keyboards and the glimmering guitars is what brings emotional weight to the entire album. One doesn’t get the sense that a whole lot has changed in the last 15 years for the characters inhabiting this world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMerge came to know East River Pipe through his string of memorable and mysterious singles on Hell Gate and Sarah Records. Merge co-founder Mac McCaughan writes, “We had friends who were early fans of those records, including Jim Wilbur of Superchunk, and it seemed that no one took East River Pipe fandom lightly—once you were in on the secret, you were all in. After Ajax Records compiled the sparkling early sides, we started working with Fred\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eand his wife and partner Barbara Powers and have been looking forward to the next batch of periodic broadcasts from his bedroom studio ever since.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1999, Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner (whose band has covered five of Cornog’s songs) beautifully described the essence of F.M. Cornog’s work:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen I listen to East River Pipe I not only hear beautiful melodies and words, but I also hear the personification of pure, unfettered musical thought, brought about by a commitment to concentrate solely on his craft and his art. This is the sound of a man completely focused on the task at hand, not sidetracked or swayed by any outside forces, be they record labels or any other aspect of the music industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the sound of a man whose only musical relationship is that of sound to tape recorder. Because he chooses not to perform live, he further reinforces the significance of this relationship between a man’s ideas and the form in which we are able to perceive these ideas. He knows that when he makes a record that “THIS IS IT, this is all there is.” Pure. Simple. Perfect.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eBonus tracks:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1. How’s It Feel to Piss It All Away?\u003cbr\u003e2. Here Comes the Hurricane\u003cbr\u003e3. The Handsome Cruel-Eyed Men\u003cbr\u003e4. Here Come the Pill Armies\u003cbr\u003e5. Let’s Kill the Matador\u003cbr\u003e6. Golden Hate\u003cbr\u003e7. Flyin’, Lyin’, Dyin’\u003cbr\u003e8. WTC\u003cbr\u003e9. Easy to Forget\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"merge records","offers":[{"title":"Download","offer_id":52739189506359,"sku":"MRG164digital","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0966\/3935\/3143\/files\/adb724f5e9a9322dc3a409abac043ac92aeeb290_504ccba51a0bc42fccd9987fbd8d6230a737270c_medium_jpg.jpg?v=1785380987","url":"https:\/\/mergerecords.com\/products\/east-river-pipe-the-gasoline-age","provider":"Merge Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}