One of Scarling.'s many definitions is the smallest mark left on your heart - yet after hearing Scarling. the band, you'll agree their sound is anything but small. With the release of 2004's critically acclaimed "Sweet Heart Dealer" (Produced by Chris Vrenna), an album that ultimately led them to a Short List Award Nomination, Scarling. has been capturing the hearts of their steadily growing cult fanbase, with their knack of redefining noise and chaos within the context of pop songs and expanding the ventricles of gloomsters and fey indie rockers alike. In 2004, Robert Smith handpicked Scarling. as one of the seven acts to tour with his Curiosa Festival, along with Interpol and Mogwai. When asked about how she felt being able to play with one of her long time favorites, Jessicka simply replied: "The Cure has always been one of the only bands I found worthy of surrendering everything in exchange for nothing. They have yet to break my heart."
Although The Cure's influence is evident, it's the collision of their collective diverse influences as well as the ability to properly utilize feedback and noise that gives Scarling. their signature sound. A sound created roughly six years ago in Los Angeles, when noise theorist Christian Hejnal and surname-free singer Jessicka bonded over an unbridled hatred of the legion of clinging parasites and soulless zombies choking the life out of music. After a series of 7" singles on Sympathy, Scarling. announced in early 2005 that their second album "So Long, Scarecrow" would appear later that year; it was preceded by the single "We Are the Music Makers", and was released on October 23, 2005.
The critical reception for Scarecrow was generally strong: Alternative Press gave the album a [5/5] rating and described Hejnal as a "guitar physicist who holds court over these atmospheric rockers’ second album, approximating everything from space-station climates to sperm whales rollin’ on E, all the while delivering solid songs."
The Independent noted “Scarling. work up a wonderfully hazy guitar swirl, reminiscent of post-My Bloody Valentine noise-pop from the Britain of the early nineties.”
And Bust (magazine) described the album as "the musical equivalent of an Edward Gorey illustration: ominous and shadowy, but not without a certain sense of morbid joy. Sly lyrics and sarcastic insights pepper Scarecrow’s dystopian soundscape."
SLS's first single "City Noise/Staring To The Sun" was released on 6-6-06 and is featured on the compilation "Alright, This Time Just the Girls Vol. 2" and in the documentary The Treasures Of Long Gone John. Scarling.'s music has been featured on Showtime's The L Word television series, and an episode of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy is entitled Band Aid Covers The Bullet Hole. In 2006 Scarling. continue to tour in the US and Europe and are expected to begin working on their third full length album in 2008.
On February 2, 2021, Jessicka announced on Twitter that she was no longer a part of the music industry, stating that she was now "finding other ways to release my negative emotions while trying to be kinder to myself."
City Noise
Scarling. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Another empty glass
Another failed hello
It's your alibi
Another splendid lie
It's the bruises that you can't show
It's another lonely sunset
The nervousness inside
It's the final kiss from a lover's fist
It's the reason why you can't cry
It's a violent reaction
The mixtape in your heart
The answer you should know
How we complicate, a simple mistake
It's the face you make when I go
And we tried to change
The city noise made us strange
So we plugged our ears and learned to fight
We set the stage but we could not engage so we cut all ties by candlelight
Another deep depression
The calm before the storm
The shaking in your head
How you sacrificed – how you paid the price
All the words you wish you had said
It's the rawest of emotions
Drinking to forget- names written in the snow
It's the anxious feel - purging your last meal
It's the secret that you can't know
And we tried to change
The city noise made us strange
So we plugged our ears and learned to fight
We set the stage but we could not engage so we cut all ties by candlelight
The lyrics to Scarling.'s "City Noise" speak to the isolation and detachment that can come with living in a big city. The first verse describes the typical scene of going out, trying to meet people, but ultimately feeling disappointed and alone. The bruises that "you can't show" suggest something more than just a failed attempt at human connection - perhaps there is a history of abuse or self-harm that the singer is struggling with.
The second verse delves even deeper into the emotions of someone living in a city. The "final kiss from a lover's fist" paints a picture of domestic violence, and the line "It's the reason why you can't cry" suggests a deep emotional repression. The "violent reaction" could refer to physical outbursts, or could be a metaphor for the intense mood swings that can come with mental illness.
The chorus speaks to the idea that the city itself can be a contributing factor to one's emotional state. The "city noise" is overwhelming and makes people "strange", causing them to retreat and become defensive. The final line: "we cut all ties by candlelight" suggests a dramatic and almost romanticized gesture of severing connections, while also highlighting the fragility of such connections in the first place.
Line by Line Meaning
Another crowded dance floor
Going to another place where there are a lot of people dancing
Another empty glass
Having finished the drink and feeling empty inside
Another failed hello
Trying to start a conversation with someone, but it didn't work out
It's your alibi
Having a reason/excuse for something
Another splendid lie
Telling someone a great lie
It's the bruises that you can't show
Having emotional/mental bruises that can't be seen
It's another lonely sunset
Watching yet another sunset alone
Another starless sky
Seeing yet another sky without any stars in it
The nervousness inside
Feeling anxious or nervous internally
It's the final kiss from a lover's fist
Being hit or hurt physically by a lover for the last time
It's the reason why you can't cry
The reason why one can't cry is because of what's happening internally
It's a violent reaction
Reacting in a violent way
The mixtape in your heart
Feeling something deeply within oneself
The answer you should know
Knowing the answer to something
How we complicate, a simple mistake
Making something simple into something complicated because of a mistake
It's the face you make when I go
Seeing the look on someone's face when one is leaving
And we tried to change
Attempting to change something
The city noise made us strange
The city and its noise made us different/weird
So we plugged our ears and learned to fight
Blocking out the noise and learning how to fight against it
We set the stage but we could not engage so we cut all ties by candlelight
Preparing for something, but it didn't work out, so we decided to end all relationships by candlelight
Another deep depression
Feeling depressed yet again
The calm before the storm
A peaceful moment before something intense happens
The shaking in your head
Feeling something shake inside one's head
How you sacrificed – how you paid the price
Having to give up something and pay a price for it
All the words you wish you had said
Thinking about all the things one wished they'd said
It's the rawest of emotions
Feeling the deepest emotions
Drinking to forget- names written in the snow
Drinking to forget something, with names written in the snow as a metaphor
It's the anxious feel - purging your last meal
Feeling anxious and purging one's last meal
It's the secret that you can't know
A secret that one can't know
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind