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."
Stapled to the Mattress
Scarling. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're ship wrecked - You've gone mute
Nothing there to say
You're naked and shaking like a 2 bit Judas
You fall down closefisted and end up in my way
You're the people who just want me to notice
You're the people I try so hard to ignore
You will smother - under covers- stapled to the mattress.
You traipse on your loved ones
Most who will disown you
You'll search for a family, those you can destroy
Methodically sickened, by their inhibitions
But rather then fix it- you will just avoid
You're the people who just want me to notice
You're the people I try so hard to ignore
You're the coward who demands me to save him
You will smother - under covers- stapled to the mattress.
You're a person who I can't help but notice -
Enjoys drowning into other's self disdain
Void of person - No, I don't think I know you
Please hunt others
Vultures hover
You're stapled to your matters
Stapled to the mattress
Stapled to the mattress
Stapled to the mattress
Stapled to the mattress
Stapled to the mattress
In "Stapled to the Mattress," Scarling. confronts someone who is struggling with addiction and self-destruction. The lyrics vividly convey the singer's disgust and frustration with this person, who has hit rock bottom and is now "naked and shaking like a 2 bit Judas," with "pants around [their] ankles." The singer resents being demanded to save this person, who they see as a coward for relying on others to fix their problems. Instead, Scarling. implies that this person will only sink deeper, "smothered - under covers - stapled to the mattress."
The second verse further explores this person's destructive tendencies, which alienate them from loved ones and drive them to seek out new targets to "destroy." Scarling. suggests that this person always avoids confronting the root causes of their problems, preferring to sink deeper into their addiction and self-hatred. Though the singer at first seems to see this person as an outsider, they ultimately acknowledge a morbid fascination with their self-destructive behavior - perhaps even a sense of vulnerability or complicity, given the repeated refrain, "You're the people who just want me to notice."
Overall, "Stapled to the Mattress" paints a vivid, disturbing picture of someone spiraling down into addiction and self-destruction - and of the complicated, often fraught relationships that can form around such behavior.
Line by Line Meaning
It's over you're sober -pants around your ankles
You are no longer under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but you are still in a vulnerable state, with your pants down in a humiliating position.
You're ship wrecked - You've gone mute
You are like a ship that has crashed onto the shore, unable to speak or communicate your thoughts and feelings.
Nothing there to say
There is nothing left for you to communicate or express, as you have lost all sense of self and direction.
You're naked and shaking like a 2 bit Judas
You are stripped bare and shaking with fear and guilt, like a cheap and deceitful traitor.
You fall down closefisted and end up in my way
You cling tightly to your own desires and needs, hindering your own progress and causing inconvenience for others.
You're the people who just want me to notice
You are individuals who seek attention and validation, but I attempt to ignore your pleas.
You're the coward who demands me to save him
You are afraid to confront your own problems and seek my help to shelter you from your own responsibilities.
You will smother - under covers- stapled to the mattress.
Your own inability to confront your issues will suffocate you, trapping you under the covers and unable to escape the confines of your own fear and avoidance.
You traipse on your loved ones
You carelessly trample and hurt those who are closest to you.
Most who will disown you
The people whom you have hurt and mistreated will likely cut ties with you.
You'll search for a family, those you can destroy
You will look for relationships to exploit and ruin, as you are incapable of having healthy and functional connections with others.
Methodically sickened, by their inhibitions
You are systematically disgusted by the limitations and boundaries that others have.
But rather then fix it- you will just avoid
Instead of addressing your own issues and limitations, you choose to ignore them and avoid confronting them.
You're a person who I can't help but notice -
Despite my attempts to ignore you, I am unable to look away from your toxic behavior and disturbing tendencies.
Enjoys drowning into other's self disdain
You take pleasure in the misery and self-hatred of others, often causing harm and feeding off their pain.
Void of person - No, I don't think I know you
You do not possess a true sense of self, causing others to be unable to truly understand you and your motivations.
Please hunt others
You go out of your way to pursue and victimize others, causing harm wherever you go.
Vultures hover
Like scavenging birds, you attract others who feed off of your negative behavior and tendencies.
You're stapled to your matters
You are stuck and trapped in the negative aspects of your life, unable to extricate yourself from your own issues.
Stapled to the mattress
This phrase is repeated throughout the song as a metaphor for being trapped, helpless, and unable to move forward.
Contributed by Audrey R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.