Our 8th album Plastic Heart is released!

After almost 2 years of anticipation, our 8th album is now live.  Plastic Heart is a 12-song collection of the work we've completed most recently.  It includes songs written for each other, songs for friends, songs written by friends, and several instrumentals.  We almost called the album 'Haid' in reference to our pal Tanner Haid.  His fingerprints are all over this album both as a collaborator and editor.  He also penned the lyrics to Hector, one of our favorite tracks on this project.  Another good friend, Dom Gianninoto, wrote the lyrics to You and I.  We are very pleased to have included this song and are happy Dom has been involved with our music.

In addition to Tanner, we would also like to thank our parents, Dylan Assael, Zach Whetzel, Kristian Yeager, Jeff Birdsall, Dom Gianninoto, Bob Maestri, Kevin Wurster, Andrew Treat, Amrik Brar, and all of the members of our beta squad. 

Plastic Heart is currently exclusively available from Google Play.  Download it for free here.

Hector

Hector is another song borne of the Musical Telephone project.  Originally written by Tanner Haid, Hector is the soulful tale of a school custodian's current station in life.  Tanner's influence on The Efts has been profound, and we were excited to have an opportunity to cover one of his works.  Again, we are overjoyed to be participating in Musical Telephone.  Our eternal thanks go out to all of the members of this talented group of songwriters.

Lyrics:

I used to clean the floors
For all the children they spilled all their milk
And then ran outdoors
Back to their houses full of love and warmth
And I'd close the lights
After I'd check to see that all the bins were clean
And i'd find a home
In a hole in the wall down on 16th

I'm down on 16th
Down on 16th
Going on 60
Down on 16th

And then after lunch
In a classroom full of exhaled breath
I'd scrape the gum
From the bottom on 1980's desks
And i'd wash the walls
So tomorrow they could come in clean
And i'd brush my teeth
In a hole in the wall down on 16th

I'm down on 16th
Down on 16th
Going on 60
Down on 16th

If only they could see
If only they could see me
I'm down
On the ground

You and I

The Efts were recently invited to participate in a super fun musical experiment.  Developed by brainiac musical wunderkinds Tanner Haid, Kevin Wurster and Dominic Gianninoto, Musical Telephone is like a songwriting version of Telephone (aka Gossip).  One member of the group pens a song and sends it to the next person.  That person records a cover of the original song, then sends their version along to a third cadre member.  It continues along the line until each person creates a version of the previously recorded song.  It's been a great catalyst for inventive songwriting.  We feel incredibly fortunate to have been involved in the project and look forward to hopefully many more songs to develop from this cauldron of musical creativity.  If you would like to participate in Musical Telephone, simply send a short email with your name, an original mp3 of one of your songs and lyrics for your tune to musicaltelephone@gmail.com.

This song was originally written by Dom.  We received it after a few renditions, all of which were really amazing.

Lyrics:

I'm dreaming of squirrels doing dinosaurs
I'm dreaming of a world for you and I
I'm waking in the morning and I'm snoring
Hoping I'm alive and not dead
My friends are dogs and kangaroos
We go dancing all night long

I'm dreaming of a world for you and I

In the morning we lay ourselves down

Awaken my eyes
Awaken my mind
Awaken my eyes
Awaken my mind
Awaken my eyes

I'm dreaming of a world for you and I

We Chose This Life

This tune is for Lolo for her 2015 birthday gift song.  After 25 years of co-existence, a song with a more serious tone was in order.  We carefully chose our life.  We cultivated it through our choices, our methods, our love and our desire for one another.  We focus on living simplistically, with few complications and more freedoms.  As we begin the next 25 years together our love continues to grow.  It's our life and we chose it.  I love you Lolo!

Big thanks to Tanner Haid for his help with the edits on this one.

Lyrics:

Looking at the back of your head
Watching you work
And then you turn
Looking at the back of my head
Watching me play
We never learn
We never learn
We chose this life.
We chose it
We chose this life
Tell me when you're on the way home
Your shift is done
Your mind is numb
I make up a dinner at home
The table's set
I made the bed
Another day
is gone away
We chose it
We chose this life
We chose it
We chose this life
We made this
We mold this
We fold this
We hold it
We told it so
We shoulder
the load is so
the load is so light
We chose it
We chose it
We chose this life
We chose it
We chose this life
The Earth revolves
Time dissolves
And we've evolved
(The load is so light)
We pass the days
They pass away
And we're okay
We're here to stay
We chose it
We chose this life
(The load is so light)
We chose it
We chose this life
(The load is so light)
We chose it
We chose it
We chose it
We chose this life
(The load is so light)
We chose it
We chose this life

Ctrl Alt Del

Inspired by the name of a friendly Google Play reviewer (CtrlAltDelete Irl), this song reflects our innate disdain of a stagnant lifestyle.  Sometimes we must reboot in order to move forward.

Thanks to Dylan Assael for the video, and to Tanner Haid for his advice.  And a very special thanks to CtrlAltDelete Irl for his words and inspiration.

Lyrics:

Some chapters close
Some chapters open
Some books get burned.

And so we've learned
to keep a cool head
adapting instead
when life is cheap.

Ctrl Alt Del.

Some people go down the drain,
some never get in the tank,
but you and me, we have paddles
so we float away.

And stay
the way
we want
to stay

Ctrl Alt Del.

Reset our feet.

Rinse and repeat.

Our jobs are not important
Our house is not important
Money is not important

But we should be

who we
are meant
to be

The Efts on Trust The Wizards AGAIN!

 

Click the image above to listen to the show!

The Efts were once again a part of Trust The Wizards podcast!  Hoorah!  This time they played our song called Beat Walker and discussed some of the correspondence between ourselves and Rebel Rikkit, one of the esteemed members of the show.  The entire 2 hour program is delightfully funny, fantastically eclectic, and definitely worth hearing.   We are completely in awe of their broad taste in music, and feel very lucky to have been a part of their productions.  Thanks so much Wizards!   

The Efts on Trust The Wizards podcast!

Listen/Download the entire podcast here ----> Trust The Wizards episode 37

We were recently contacted by one of the esteemed members of Trust The Wizards, a group of music lovers who produce a fantastically eclectic podcast on a regular basis.  They were interested in one of our older songs called Your Turn Now.  The song appeared on their most recent podcast which also includes Wu Tang Clan, The Clash, King Curtis, and many more musical groups (see?  Eclectic! Yesss!).  We are begging you to listen to Trust The Wizards.  The show's hosts play music from their enormous collection, then discuss each selection in a witty and intelligent manner.  Thanks so much for reaching out to us Wizards!