on fire

Galaxie 500 moved to a new label to record the slowly scorching soundscapes of this incandescent lustration.  With the critical acclaim of their first album 'Today', the trio of Damon Krukowski, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang were offered a deal with Rough Trade Records.  Wareham waxes:  "Things can turn ugly so quickly in the music business, especially if you have an unexpected success. I would say it was a little contentious, but it was written right in our contract that we had the right to go elsewhere for our second album, and that Marc [Alghini of Aurora Records] received a fee if we did so...['On Fire'] was recorded in two separate sessions, some as demos for Slash Records, and then the rest right after the New Music Seminar. We wanted to finish the album before signing with a label, so there would be no argument about where and how to make it. Anyway, we took our time with this one, spending at least seven days making it, maybe more like ten."

The sessions featured Damon Krukowski on drums;  Dean Wareham on guitar and vocals;  and Naomi Yang on bass and background vocals, with lead vocals on "Another Day".  Ralph Carney played tenor sax on "Decomposing Trees" and "Blue Thunder"; and producer and engineer Mark Kramer added "cheap organ" on "Isn't it a Pity".  Kramer considers:   "The band was standing on top of a mountain looking down. The first record didn't seem like it got any bad reviews anywhere...We made ['On Fire'] so easily! I'm not even sure there were any second takes. It's one of the easiest records I ever made-- all the ideas I had, the instruments to play, bringing in Ralph Carney to play, those were all my ideas...'On Fire', it's a masterpiece. I love the way they captured this sense of like a longing, a desperation for love and joy, it was a search-- the way the music really matched the lyrics."

Krukowski says:   "I remember everything being in synch for 'On Fire'-- our professional relationship to one another, the band's relationship to Kramer, our feeling for what we could do with a song as a group and on a record. It was exciting, to be making that happen in the studio. It felt like anything we threw into the mix would work."

'On Fire' made it to number seven on the UK independent album chart.  Yang looks back:    "Making 'On Fire' was a very happy experience. I think we were at a point where we were accomplished enough musicians that were able to play what we had in our head. There was a generally optimistic feeling about the direction of the band and we were getting very positive attention from the critics. It was a lot of fun and the possibilities seemed endless."





https://galaxie500.bandcamp.com/









Blue Thunder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc3kxjy2GNk



When Will You Come Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igfXqhRxIcM



Strange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkgfrOt_Gj0






'On Fire' 
full album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsfvdGjL4Yo




All tracks written by Galaxie 500, except where noted.


1. "Blue Thunder" 3:45
2. "Tell Me" 3:50
3. "Snowstorm" 5:10
4. "Strange" 3:16
5. "When Will You Come Home" 5:21
6. "Decomposing Trees" 4:05
7. "Another Day" 3:41
8. "Leave the Planet" 2:40
9. "Plastic Bird" 3:15
10. "Isn't It a Pity" (George Harrison) 5:10