“The demos for Don’t Like You were done in two different sessions in 1994-one in February and the other in June. They were recorded at Darren Burke’s Cold Room studio in South Boston (8 track), and later when he moved to the Back Bay/Fenway area (16 track).
The actual Don’t Like You session was recorded by Jerry Teel and Jon Spencer at Funhouse Studio on the Lower East Side, NYC on September 3 and 4 of 1994. It was mixed by Jon Spencer at Waterworks Studios throughout the winter of 1995. Don’t Like You was released on In The Red in August 1995.
This period represents one of the most tumultuous yet creative periods in our band’s history. We actually broke up for a period of time during the creation of these recordings. Times were tough for us in 1994. Our jobs at Rounder Records had dissolved, money was tight and tempers were hot. We were all living together in the same house in Allston, and that increased the tension. The band was successful in a certain way, in that we were on a solid label that treated us well, but we were not able to reach an audience at that time. And Boston openly disliked us from the beginning, although college radio support there was always strong, and we got some decent shows. We just did not click in Boston. We were surrounded by neo-metal bands lamely aping early White Zombie or Metallica. Grunge was just developing but we didn’t fit that either, although we were heavy. We did not have metal influences. We came in at the end of 80’s Boston garage rock (DMZ, Lyres, Real Kids etc.), but our version (and vision) of garage was different- cruder, noisier and more anti-social. It did not rely on or glorify mod haircuts, Beatle boots or any of that stuff. We loved 60’s punk for its wild off the hook spontaneity. Rockabilly was a big influence too, but only because it was crude and insane, not because of the fashion. We eschewed most of the cultural aspects of our influences. Cheater Slicks, the name, came from a Gary Usher song on the Beach Boys Shutdown Vol. 2 LP. The phrase was catchy. We did not have much interest in car culture, though, except maybe Big Daddy Roth.
Anyway, those were the early days. By the time of these recordings, we were in an early middle period where we were branching off into our own territory and doing fewer covers. We were finding our own voice as a bass-less trio. We had done two tours in the U.S. and had three LPs under our belts already. Yet we were still working in isolation because in our hometown no one cared or really even knew who we were. We had two people who supported us from elsewhere- Larry Hardy and Jon Spencer. They were the impetus for the Don’t Like You Sessions.
The songs would develop so easily then. They just came out of the air as if they had always existed. I really don’t remember “writing” any of these songs. I certainly remember practicing them and playing them live and remember them evolving and developing over time. But their first incarnations and inspirations are mysterious. A chord progression and then BOOM a song. We had to record demos to get the funding for doing the proper LP. That’s how these demo recordings came to be. Some of the songs were used for singles on In The Red and other songs for various one off releases, but they were never intended to be released as a distinct whole. The songs were recorded live with few if any overdubs. They were mixed very quickly and seldom listened to again.
At some point during this demo period. Dana left the band. That could be why the sessions are 5 months apart. This rupture, obviously, set the process back. David and I struggled on with another drummer and I believe during this time we came up with some of the songs that we recorded in the Don’t Like You session that are not on the demos. Dana came back and plugged his talents into some of these half written songs and we were off again. But the feel was different. There was more desperation and tension- hence the sound of Don’t Like You. Jon Spencer, in his mixes, did everything he could to highlight the unhinged, unsettled aspects of the music. The recording process at Funhouse was difficult also. We had no place to stay in New York so we slept in the studio and in the van outside on the street, which was quite unpleasant at that time. We would get up in the morning and go at it again- live recordings with vocals recorded through a P.A. Certainly not ideal. Jon had a vision for us, but it pushed us to the edge and added a further insane, almost inept quality to the recordings.
Why we recorded certain songs and not others for Don’t Like you is a mystery to me. “Ghost” was well worked out, as evidenced by the demo. I believe we recorded it in New York but were unhappy with the final result. So it eventually appeared on “Forgive Thee” in 1997 after we moved to Columbus.
For this current reissue, we recruited Adam Smith from Columbus Discount Records to re-mix these demo recordings from the original master tapes. He has done a fantastic job creating a mix that is at very similar to the type we would have done at that time, yet adding his own touches, influenced by the work we have done together on recent releases over the last several years.
Of course the released version of Don’t Like You was mixed, edited, spliced, fucked with etc. by Jon Spencer over a period of many months. He would send us cassettes of various mixes and sequences that were pieces of audio collage art in their own right. It was a bit overwhelming to figure it all out, so I think we left the final mixes and sequencing in his hands.
Over the years, people have expressed interest in what the songs on Don’t Like You would have sounded like with a “straighter” mix. These demos give a glimpse of that and provide a chance to hear other songs from that time period that were previously unheard versions or hurriedly mixed.
These recordings represent our last months in Boston. After Don’t Like You came out, we did a European tour then packed our bags for good, moving to Columbus, Ohio in June 1996-starting a new life and a new phase of the band.”
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