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The Warrior Ethos

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Watershed studio album. Remastered and reissued in 2008 on compact disc.

Release Info
Cover Art
Band Memoirs

Release Info

Tracks

Candy
Teleport Chair Man
Tube Sox
Silver Wings
Taco Lunch
Holy Noly
The Adventures of Snake Gun Man
Lovey Dovey
Magico
Power Play
Hair Pulled Back
Hangin' Around
Kinder on the Mirl
Summer of '75 (Bonus Track)
The Adventures of Snake Gun Man (Alternate Version) (2008 Reissue Bonus Track)

Ed: guitars, vocals, keyboard, bass guitar, and percussion
Phase 7 Kickmaster Flex: vocals, guitars, synthesizer, and percussion
Praisegod Barebones: bass guitar, keyboard, and backing vocals
Spike the Man-child: drums, percussion, and backing vocals

Guests:
Brennan Sage: vocals on “Silver Wings”
Cassie Reed: vocals on “Taco Lunch”

Written, performed, and produced by The Blanks. Recorded at Prince Studios, NYC; BS Records, Houston, Texas; and Rock Romano’s Red Shack, Houston, Texas. Mixed by Rock Romano at Rock Romano’s Red Shack, Houston, Texas. Mastered by Phase 7 Kickmaster Flex at Creole Studios, Houston, TX.
Cover art by Praisegod Barebones. Package design by Phase 7 Kickmaster Flex.
©2000, 2008 The Blanks.

1999: Tracks 1, 3, 5-8, 11-13 previously released on Snake Gun Man.
2000: First issue, compact disc, Blanks Enterprises.
2008: Reissue, remastered with 2002 mix of “Silver Wings”, compact disc, Blanks Enterprises.

Cover Art

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Cover

2008 Reissue back cover

2008 Reissue CD label

Original back cover

Original inside flap

Original CD liner notes

Original CD label

Band Memoirs

We started making this album in late 1997. The previous year saw the release of Elevator Men, a huge critical success. We entered the studio anxious to continue our creative streak. By 1999, we had a nice set of songs that came out as the Snake Gun Man album.

We booked studio time in 2000 to record a completely new album. Unfortunately, mishaps with the owner of BS Records completely derailed these plans. Rock Ramano came to our rescue and accommodated our request for an impromptu session. We recorded five powerful new tracks — “Teleport Chair Man,” “Silver Wings,” “Magico,” “Power Play,” and “Summer of '75.” The last being a remake of a popular Full Moon Sessions song, the others were brand new creations. We had enough music for a new EP, but felt these songs really continued the magic of Snake Gun Man. So, we repackaged the Snake Gun Man tracks with the new material to create The Warrior Ethos.

The Warrior Ethos is another landmark album for The Blanks. Each song is polished and powerful. Like many of our popular albums, each track becomes a favorite at one time or another. I really like the raw power of “Teleport Chair Man” and “Summer of '75,” the tenderness “Kinder on the Mirl” and “Silver Wings,” and madness of “Holy Noly” and “Hair Pulled Back.” They're all so good.

I think this album will go down as a classic in the same class as Kill Me Hot Chocolate and Elevator Men. It will be hard to follow up.

In 2008, we reissued The Warrios Ethos, which includes an updated version of “Silver Wings” and a better mastering of the entire album. On an historical note, “Silver Wings” was the only song we were not able to finish to our satisfaction. The logistics didn't allow Ed to re-record his backup vocals. What appears on the original 2000 CD are his first-take vocals, which were not fully harmonized with the other final vocal parts. In 2002, we cleaned this up at Rock Romano's Red Shack and that's now available. We think fans will really enjoy this reissue.

– Kar

When Kar asked me to sing backup vocals for “Taco Lunch,” to say I was honored would be an understatement. Contributing to a song by The Blanks was, needless to say, a dream come true. Despite their talents and achievements, the guys were all really easygoing—not pretentious at all. The whole experience was deeply fulfilling. All of The Blanks are terrific, but I must confess an especially big soft spot for Mr. Ed. Truth be told, when singing “baby baby, you drive me crazy,” it was Ed I was thinking about “on the dance floor, hot and steamy.” And I think that really added something to my vocals.

– Cassie Reed

After recording a couple albums with the whole band never being in the studio at the same time, we were eager to go back to our traditional recording style. In 2000 the entire band gathered in Houston, Texas and were set to record a full album. Ideally we would be in the studio all day long, writing, and laying down the initial tracks. Then whatever additional work would need to be done would have happened later. Unfortunately a studio that didn't open until several hours after the agreed time, and an engineer who never showed up, caused us much grief. It looked like there would be no new material.

We all went to Kar's pad, to lament, and see if there was any way to salvage something from the disaster. We agreed to investigate other studios, but didn't know if we could get anything on such short notice. At one point we were watching some documentary on deadly fighting styles or something, and this drill sergeant was on the screen talking about how many people in their training end up with broken limbs and serious injuries. He was almost bragging about it. Anyway he declared that that was the warrior ethos. We kind of jokingly agreed that if there was a new Blanks project it should be titled The Warrior Ethos.

Kar ended up talking to our old friend, and sound engineer Rock Romano. He booked us some time in the studio, though we had a day or so to kill. Ran, Mr. Ed, and I ended up going to Original studios to work out some ideas for our upcoming session. Kar joined us part way through the sessions to add his input. We ended up making rough, non-vocal versions of “Silver Wings,” “Magico,” “Power Play,” and several other songs which have never appeared on an any Blanks albums to date.

The four of us eventually went into the studio for the first time in about five years. We recorded the three songs mentioned above, and made up “Teleport Chair Man” on the spot. We then realized we had a bit more time allotted to us and did a remake of “Summer of '75.” Kar laid the vocals there on the spot. They were initially supposed to just be scratch vocals, which would be recorded over later, but we decided they were just perfect and kept them as is. This was the culmination of our heavy production phase, and we tried to add and perfect as much as possible with additional layers of tracks. The finished product seemed to fit well with the Snake Gun Man songs, and we released probably our most polished album to date. This effort was definitely a case of The Blanks making lemonade after being given lemons.

– Spike