Formation
The band members met through the club/pub music scene in Irvine. The name was derived from a music class for the unemployed, where students improvised on various 'instruments'. After banging on some trash cans, someone mentioned Frank Sinatra and the band name was born. The original band members included Frank Reader (bass), Davy Hughes (guitar and vocals), George McDaid (guitar) and Paul Forde (drums). By late 1986/early 1987, the line-up had changed to include Paul Livingston (guitar), John Douglas (guitar) and Stephen Douglas (drums), along with Frank Reader moving to vocals and Davy Hughes to bass. While the band has included other members for short periods of time over the years, this is the line-up that would record the bulk of the Trashcan Sinatras' music to date.
Cake
The band was spotted by Simon Dine in 1987 and quickly signed to Go! Discs. Using their signing advance, the band purchased a recording studio in Kilmarnock, naming it Shabby Road. Work began on their debut album, which was eventually released in 1990. Cake featured the band's largest worldwide hit single, Obscurity Knocks, as well as a couple of other hits (Only Tongue Can Tell and Circling the Circumference). The band was often compared to The Smiths and the success of Cake in the United States, where it spent three months in the Billboard 200, led to extensive touring in both the UK and North America in support of the album.
I've Seen Everything
The follow-up record, I've Seen Everything was released in 1993. The song Hayfever made an appearance on the MTV animated series, Beavis and Butt-head. The band released two singles (Hayfever and I've Seen Everything) and toured the UK, North America and Japan in support of the album.
A Happy Pocket
The band's third album, A Happy Pocket, was released in 1996. It was released in the UK and Japan, but was unavailable in the U.S. after the band's American distributor declined to release the record. The band released four singles from the album (The Main Attraction, Twisted and Bent, How Can I Apply...?, and To Sir, With Love, a cover of the 1967 Lulu #1 hit). The Trashcans did not tour in North America, only the UK and Japan.
After their record company Go! Discs was acquired by Universal in 1996, the band was dropped from the label, and subsequently forced to sell their Shabby Road recording studio and declare bankruptcy. The Trashcans kept a low profile in the following years, not playing any concerts until early 1999 (in Japan and Ireland). The Japanese concerts occurred at the same time the band was recording a new single, Snow (a cover of the Randy Newman song), which was released by Sony Japan in December 1999.
Weightlifting
In March 2000, the band set up camp in Hartford, Connecticut to record their fourth album. Between March and June, the band recorded around a dozen songs and played a handful of shows in the northeastern United States, their first shows in America since 1993. After returning to Scotland, the band decided to scrap the album as too dark and sombre (a reflection of their struggles over the previous few years), also feeling that the song writing was not really finished.
The band only performed four concerts in the UK in 2001, instead focusing on writing additional songs and recording demos for their fourth album. In March 2002, recording began at Riverside Studios in Glasgow. The band recorded a dozen songs on and off over the course of a year. In 2003, the band started to raise its profile by playing concerts and festivals in Scotland. They hired New York City based record producer and musician Andy Chase (of the band Ivy) to mix the new album tracks, which was completed by the end of the year.
With a new album ready for release, the Trashcans stepped up their activity in 2004. The band played in Spain and London, before heading to the United States in March. They appeared on the Morning Becomes Eclectic radio show with Nic Harcourt in March, the day of their sold out show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles California (their first appearance on the west coast of the U.S. in 11 years). From there, the band headed off to Austin, Texas for five appearances at the South by Southwest music festival. The Trashcans garnered quite a bit of press and record label attention, which led to a licensing deal with New York-based spinART Records.
The Trashcan Sinatras finally released their fourth album in August 2004. Weightlifting was warmly received by critics and the band completed a 25-date U.S. and Canada tour in September and October 2004. They had follow up U.S. tours in December 2004 and in April and May 2005, while also extensively touring Scotland, England, Ireland, Japan and Australia during 2004–2006. The Weightlifting album included the song All the Dark Horses, which was featured prominently in the first episode of the ABC Family Channel series Wildfire.
In the Music
The band's fifth studio album, In the Music, was recorded with producer Andy Chase between November 2007 and February 2008, at Stratosphere Sound in New York and in Martha's Vineyard. In July 2008, Carly Simon recorded backing vocals for the song Should I Pray?.
A single, Oranges and Apples, was released as a download-only single on 13 October 2008. The song was inspired by Syd Barrett, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd. The single was released in connection with The City Wakes, a festival in tribute to Syd Barrett that took place in Cambridge and London in October 2008.
The album was released (with bonus track Astronomy) in Japan on 22 April 2009 (on Victor Entertainment), in the United Kingdom on 14 September 2009 (on Lo-Five Records), and 27 April 2010 in North America (also on Lo-Five Records, with digital distribution by Ingrooves and physical distribution by Fontana Distribution). The North American release includes eight live bonus tracks, which are live acoustic recordings taken from the band's November 2009 UK tour. Lo-Five also released a limited, numbered deluxe edition of the album in July 2009, which featured two additional bonus tracks (I Can't Stand Tomorrow and I Just Don't Know How) and an in-depth booklet of liner notes, photos and a listing of everyone who pre-ordered the release.
The album received strong reviews from print and online media, with The Guardian describing it as "Gentle, grown-up popcraft that reveals more with each listen," and the BBC calling it " . . . tender, affecting music which impresses with increasing listens."
The band supported the 2009 album release with nearly 40 concerts and promotional appearances in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom between July and November 2009, and with a follow-up tour of Japan in March 2010. On the follow-up Japanese tour, the band was supported by Japanese act Sunny Day Service, with whom they also recorded and released English-language and Japanese-language versions of the single "Town Foxes/yume iro no machide". The band also completed an 11 date USA promotional tour in June 2010.
A live acoustic album Brel - Acoustic Performances from Glasgow (recorded in Glasgow in 2009), a follow up to the band's 2005's acoustic live album Fez (recorded in New York City), was released on 9 November 2010. This was set to be followed by the release of Earlies... a 4-album box set marking the 20th anniversary of the release of Cake, comprised of the 3 Go!Discs albums and Weightlifting, digitally remastered with additional tracks and packaging including mementos reflecting the band's distinguished career. However, to date Earlies... has not been released.
Wild Pendulum
In October 2014 the band announced through social media that it would begin recording its sixth album in the coming months and offered fans the opportunity to pre-order it through PledgeMusic, with a series of "exclusives" offering unique content, merchandise and updates throughout the recording process. On 21 October 2015, the first track, Best Days On Earth was released to the band's PledgeMusic supporters in a project update on the site. In the same update, the band confirmed that the new album would be titled Wild Pendulum.
In an August 2015 project update, the band announced that the new album would be released in January 2016. A second track, Ain't That Something, was later released to PledgeMusic supporters, and the album's release was pushed back. On a 1 March 2016 project update, the band announced that a digital download of the complete album would be made available to supporters on 22 April 2016, with the album's release on physical CDs and vinyl to follow.
Funny
The Trash Can Sinatras Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But she likes to know the strength of the team
She says she doesn't like my style
But I loved her in my own fashion
Kept her under wraps
Planted lots of verbal traps
But she won't be gone for long
Nothing good ever comes of a bad mood
She'll kick up some dust
And ask me what's wrong
She's a funny kind of girl
Set sail in a ship in a bottle
She's a funny kind of girl
Do the Swiss fake it when they yodel
She's a funny kind of girl
I know her face so well
Although the color of her eyes
Escapes me for the moment
So I'll send out the spies
To hassle her at home
And all the words to the wise
And the why's to the words I say
Though her embrace
Is like being short-changed
Or under-charged
I'll never revisit the scene of the crime
Where I've seen you crying with glee
She's a funny kind of girl
Give bad directions to a drunken sailor
He ended up in the hills
And she ended up
In the wrong hands
She's a funny kind of girl
I'll stick out my neck
And I'll raise the heavy head of importance
And when the cap fits I'll wear it
And if I knew what made carpets fly
I wouldn't be sitting here
Twiddling my thumbs
I'd threadbare my soul
And wheedle my way
Into other people's lives
And out of my own
Out of my own
In "Funny," The Trash Can Sinatras sing about a perplexing and enigmatic woman. The singer loves her but he struggles to understand her. He muses that she likes to test the strength of the team even though she doesn't actually play the field. He admits that she often disapproves of his style, but he loves her his own way. He tries to keep her under wraps, employing verbal traps to maintain her loyalty, but he knows deep down that she won't be gone for long. He understands that nothing good comes from a bad mood, and when she returns, she'll likely kick up some dust and ask what's wrong.
Throughout the song, the singer describes his lover as a "funny kind of girl." She's set sail in a ship in a bottle and is known to give bad directions to drunken sailors. She's inscrutable, and the color of her eyes even escapes him at times. He sends spies to her home and tries to decipher the meaning behind her actions, but ultimately, he can't quite figure her out. He dreams of an escape from his own life, but he's too uncertain about what he would do if he left.
Overall, the song speaks to the mysterious nature of human relationships. The singer loves this woman despite her quirks and eccentricities, but he can't help but feel frustrated by her at times. In many ways, "Funny" is an ode to the complexity and ambiguity of romantic love.
Line by Line Meaning
I know she doesn't play the field
I know she's not interested in anyone else
But she likes to know the strength of the team
She likes to keep up-to-date with what's going on around her
She says she doesn't like my style
She's not a fan of my approach
But I loved her in my own fashion
But I still loved her in my own way
Kept her under wraps
I kept our relationship a secret
Planted lots of verbal traps
I tried to trick her with my words
But she won't be gone for long
But I know she'll come back soon
Nothing good ever comes of a bad mood
Being upset never leads to anything positive
And when she comes home
And when she returns
She'll kick up some dust
She'll cause some trouble
And ask me what's wrong
And ask me what's been bothering me
She's a funny kind of girl
She's a bit unusual
Set sail in a ship in a bottle
She's like a tiny world that's hard to access
Do the Swiss fake it when they yodel
She's unpredictable and strange, like how the Swiss yodel
She's a funny kind of girl
She's hard to get a read on
I know her face so well
I'm familiar with her appearance
Although the color of her eyes
Even though I can't remember the color of her eyes
Escapes me for the moment
I can't recall it right now
So I'll send out the spies
So I'll have to gather information another way
To hassle her at home
To find out more information about her at her home
And all the words to the wise
And all the advice that people have given me
And the why's to the words I say
And the reasons behind the things I say
Though her embrace
Even though her hugs
Is like being short-changed
Are a bit disappointing
Or under-charged
Or lacking in emotion
I'll never revisit the scene of the crime
I'll never go back to the place where things went wrong
Where I've seen you crying with glee
Where I've seen you crying tears of joy
She's a funny kind of girl
She's really unique
Give bad directions to a drunken sailor
She's unpredictable and unreliable, like someone giving directions to a drunk person
He ended up in the hills
He got lost
And she ended up
And she
In the wrong hands
Ended up in a bad situation
She's a funny kind of girl
She's really strange
I'll stick out my neck
I'll take a risk
And I'll raise the heavy head of importance
I'll try to be more important
And when the cap fits I'll wear it
And when it's appropriate, I'll take on more responsibility
And if I knew what made carpets fly
And if I knew the secrets of life
I wouldn't be sitting here
I wouldn't be wasting my time
Twiddling my thumbs
Not doing anything productive
I'd threadbare my soul
I'd be living more fully
And wheedle my way
And charm my way
Into other people's lives
Into the lives of others
And out of my own
And leave my own life behind
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: STEPHANE MISSEGHERS, STEFAAN GASTON HERMAN VAN LEUVEN, DAVID DEWAELE, STEPHEN DEWAELE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
JDS2112
I know it ages me, but I wore out this cassette back in the day. Solid album all the way through.
bornflippy1
me too and I have always thought the lyrical content was far superior then almost everything it was released with/against..amazing songs that paint a beautiful picture and music that honestly moves you..its Brilliant, and I still listen to this cd at least once a month.
Michigan J Frog
I've never not listen to the whole CD through every time I've ever listened to it. This is the quality I miss. Every song Still hits me emotionally like it did when it was new.
Ana Gonzalez
One of my all time favorites!! Love them!!!
Janice Ward
so happy I clicked on here, love this song,this band...ah memories...!!!
joplet1
Does anyone else think he's singing "twiddling my thumbs in a closet" towards the end? I looked up the lyrics and everyone of them says "Twiddling my thumbs.....I'd threadbare my soul." It seems he's singing an extra lyric that I cannot comprehend. Even if it's saying, "Twiddling my thumbs in a closet I'd"(as the beginning of the next lyric) it still doesn't sound right. Any thoughts?
Keith Kirkwood
Always thought it was ' And if I knew what made carpets fly, I wouldn't be sitting here twiddling my thumbs and my pride, I'd threadbare my soul and needle my way into other people's lives... and out of my own.'
But lyrics deserve to be interpreted as a person needs them to.
Epic.
Janice Ward
Hi Joseph...!!