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1.
Bridges Freeze First 03:34
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Bridges freeze first It's an ancient curse Should you swerve at that fateful curve pray your undertaker put snow tires on his hearse Bridges freeze first Frozen pipes may burst Should things go from bad to worse pray your undertaker put snow tires on his hearse
2.
Distance To Mars 02:54
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She walked up to me in an Orono bar I was half drunk, she wasn't far We talked about Rilke and the distance to Mars As asked if I'd been to Burlington, Vermont where everyone smiles and laughs like her aunt and the mountains have all of the trees they could want She said I don't want to die in my sleep so if you're an ax killer you can finish me now We had a breakfast of burnt toast and beer We talked about love, loathing and fear We watched the sunrise from the end of a pier She said I don't want to die in my sleep so if you're an ax killer you can finish me now and I'll go quietly just like a bedsheet drifting over New England streets
3.
Loose Thread 03:02
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This loose thread that I'm twisting 'round my finger gives me gooseflesh, cause with each twist I'm recalling - no, reliving - last time we made love like it's still happening, and I re-hear in my mind's ear oh, each gasp, and I re-feel each shiver This loose thread from your sweater fits me better than my own skin, than any robe in the emperor's new wardrobe and just one nip on your earlobe and I'd grown new lips But this loose thread is a fetter cause it binds me it reminds me of the gold ring you're now wearing and it rips me, and I'm unraveling
4.
Shepherd of Lost Shopping Carts 04:32
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I'm the shepherd of lost shopping carts pushing my flock across the lot a pasture of dreaming and long-distance thoughts I'm the rector of the salvage lot a congregation up on cinder blocks no more need for their struts or their shocks All descended from grandfather clocks breeding dust and minding our ticks and our tocks and dong our time in the school of hard knocks I'm the shepherd of lost shopping carts ...
5.
Vacationland 04:07
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10 hours in the station wagon, northbound and all the road signs right where I left them seem to say I was lost and found cut the bud off at the stem I wonder why I come and go why I come and go out of season in vacationland Three days of rain before I saw the sun shine I saw her through the window drinking red wine She heard I was in town, said she couldn't stop by but she sends her regards and another goodbye I wonder why I come and go How'd I get so empty and so full How did I bottom out my hull How can I chart a course not knowing whether my tide's coming in or going We got a hole in the ozone, Bush Sr.'s vacation home Plastic lobsters, small town mobsters a cruise of the islands, a chain of outlet malls the pine trees sway, the pine needles fall I wonder why I come and go
6.
Tel Aviv Waltz 03:53
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All the stray cats of Tel Aviv know things I wish they'd purr to me the ring-tailed, dreadlocked quarter-breeds sniffing the trash on Masaryk Tell me the difference between a raven and a crow rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow the point where fast first becomes slow a shaky yes becomes a shaky no Hebrew, Arabic, Lebanese the cryptic muttering of the drug casualties the palm's reply to the promenade's breeze the mutt to the summons of his fleas What is the difference between a thick soup and a stew What is the different between a bad cold and a flu What is the different between a Muslim and a Jew Which prays on a rug and which prays in a pew All the stray cats of Tel Aviv know things I wish they'd purr to me I kneel before their mystery their eyes go wide and then they flee What is the difference between a raven and a crow rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow the point where fast first becomes slow a shaky yes becomes a solid no
7.
Wrong Meter 03:45
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Hey what did you say last Monday? Say can you explain You pray to something you wish that you could name Got a broken zipper on my coat and a burning tickle in my throat I put my change in the wrong meter Put my change in the wrong meter again I lock my keys in my Eldorado Hey anybody got a cellphone I can borrow? I put my change in the wrong meter Hey you were in my dream last Monday What did you say was your name? I pray were praying to something that remains Got a broken tickle in my throat and a burning zipper on my coat I put my change in the wrong meter Locked my keys in my Eldorado Wait till I retrace the silhouette you etched in my brain Dreams are songs with an incomplete refrain Wait till I erase the data today poured into my brain Dreams are prayers to a goddess with no name Got a rusty wicket in my throat and town out lining in my coat I put my change in the wrong meter The ratio of my joys to my sorrow the odds today will become tomorrow that you could make my life sweeter be the dream I could keep dreaming be the dream I could keep dreaming again
8.
When The Sun 03:48
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Misty lights along the highway naked silos in the rain through the dusk of central PA the ochre fields fade to gray City, city, town to town Who's to say, who's to say When the sun comes for me tomorrow It may show me somewhere I can stay Spent one month drunk in Grantham three in Philly looking for a friend fished all summer in the Juniata but now I'm headed north again City, city, town to town ... Weaving along a thin white line drifting into the passing lane each town tells a different story but all the exits look the same City, city, town to town ...
9.
Questions for a Carjacker 02:42
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Now how and why did you steal a twelve-year-old Century with two bald tires in the middle of the night? And who taught you the fine arts of lock picking and hotwiring? Why don't you stop by for coffee and tell me how you pulled it off sometime Well are you taking my baby for a junkie joyride? Did you stash the plates and sell her for a line? Did you like the tune I had cued up on the tape deck? Will you ditch her in a snowbank come inspection time? Now why didn't you jack her before I fixed the muffler? That way I'd hear you every time you drove along Route 5 Only one last question before I go and try to hitch a ride What scum-sucking lowlife is driving my white-bodied, blue interior, American-made baby tonight? And are you taking my baby for a junkie joyride? Did you stash the plates and sell her for a vial?
10.
Northpole in July 03:44
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My mother always said you gotta eat a peck a dirt before you die Now I know why ... Late to bed and hate to rise cause you can't read what's written behind your eyes Behind your eyes No matter how many stairs you climb you ain't never gonna fly cause the coal in your stocking is piling up to the sky ... There's no more reasons why ... Avacado on rye cigarette and a chai god doesn't know why maybe his cousin knows why northpole in july
11.
Discontinued Road 06:13
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Oh hello dear discontinued road I'll walk real slow in the memory's fold The rusted hull of a '47 Ford A baby stroller cradling pinecones A sled that stalled, dissolved into the hillside A leash corrodes, collar tagged Shadow Oh hello ... Bottles, bowls, an ancient pile of compost A kiln of stone, a crippled lamp post A cellar hole, a cold well dry beside it The mossy skull of a doe's long silence Oh hello ...
12.
Wrong Meter Reprise 00:37
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13.
Frost Heaves 02:02
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Frost heaves brittle leaves snow drifts town labrynthine Pleasantries crack and freeze small talk's squeezed to slush debris When frost heaves flesh grieves for spring breeze sings breeze sings through rustling swings
14.
Dreamsong 01:51
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about

Daniel hales, and the frost heaves. is an eclectic ensemble that hales from the frosty wilds of western Massachusetts. They released the ep “Bridges Freeze First” in 2008 and the full length album “Frost Heaves” in 2009. The core of the current lineup is Daniel, James Lowe and Ivan Ussach although other auxiliary players will often show up when it’s time to do some heaving.

Here’s the blog: “It’s Not The Band I Hate, It’s Their Fans,” on their debut album:

“With each listen, the album grows more and more reflective, striking a perfect balance between moments of quiet meditation and tripped out mind expansion, creating a sound that is difficult to pigeonhole, yet easy to digest…There is something very refreshing about the debut release by Daniel Hales and the Frost Heaves. It’s becoming increasingly rare in the circles of indie rock to hear an artist whose lyrics are obviously the work of a well read and intelligent individual, while still maintaining a simplicity that keeps the artist from coming across as an arrogant jerk. Daniel Hales manages to accomplish this amazing feat with ease, as Frost Heaves is a warm, endearing album that is smart, yet free from all pretentiousness…The album really shifts into high gear with the psychedelia of Loose Thread, where the slight twang of Hales’ voice is still in tact, but when enshrouded in the midst of swirling guitars and trippy percussion, it comes across as something totally different. Shepherd Of Lost Shopping Carts is a breezier number with a dreamy psych pop sound that is nothing short of intoxicating."

credits

released April 9, 2009

All words and music by Daniel Hales (c) 2009
except "Vacationland," music by Daniel and Matt Beers.

Produced by Norm Demoura and Daniel
Mixed by Norm Demoura
Mastered by Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital, Southboro, MA

Recorded at Harmonium Studio, Haydenville, MA by Norm Demoura (www.harmoniumstudio.com); Sow's Ear Studio, Easthampton, MA by Scott Coar; Algorythm Analog, Greenfield, MA by Daniel.

Graphic design by Marissa Filippone (www.marissafilippone.com).
Photos and collage by Daniel.

Special thanks to Norm, Marissa, Matt, Joel, Earl, Franny, The Ambiguities, everyone who played and sang, everyone who's listening.

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The frost heaves and hales. Greenfield, Massachusetts

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