She's Got a Cause mp3 [3:28] 4.8 MB
August, 2003

taken from Ministry's disavowed first album, this song serves as evidence that Al Jourgensen had a sense of melody at one time- even if it was inherited from several other synthpop gems.

the sole challenge in covering this song was to filter the oddly upper-class British delivery by a suburban Midwesterner through a Boston accent. culture clash.

Programmed and performed by Raziel as the result of an inexplicable, long-standing need to get it recorded.

Burning Skies mp3 [6:12] 7.2 MB
late Nov / early Dec, 2002

this is a relatively straightforward cover of the wonderful Tones on Tail song. Inspired by the need to record with guitars again after so many months of rehearsing the all-electronic material.

John O'Leary played the guitars, trying to do his best Dan'l Ash, and killing 3 batteries in the E-bow. he also handled the vocals, requiring nearly an entire bottle of bourbon to reach the «relaxed» mood so evident on the original.

Raziel realized that you can't overstate the importance of the bass playing of Glen Campling. pulling off this deceptively simple-sounding bass part was considerably harder than it seems.

Warsaw mp3 [3:13] 3.0 MB
mid-Summer, 1995

our contribution to the Mere Mortal productions Joy Division tribute «Ceremonial».

the album also included fantastic artists like Lycia, SubVersion, and Trance to the Sun. long out of print, our supply exhausted and used copies going for $30 on Ebay, we decided to include our track here.

Raziel handled the vocals, programming and live drums, as well as the engineering.

John played the guitars, appropriately dressed like Bernard Sumner. he also constructed the opening montage, including building all the telephone sounds from scratch using sine waves in SoundEdit16. seriously.

if memory serves, the long-lost Jason Arnone was the bassist on this track.

Bela Lugosi's Dead mp3 [4:21] 4.0 MB
Winter, 1992

this track obviously dates back to the early days. like most of our covers, it was mainly done for fun, and not as some grand statement. even so, i still frequently run into this one at the clubs.

this version was originally done for the Oxygen Denial compilation, a vinyl-only (!) sampler of various Industrial acts in the Boston area at the time. it brings back memories of shows at the old Rat in Boston, sharing the stage with bands like DDT, ZIA, and Struktur, and perhaps under the influence of Skinny Puppy, lugging truckloads of synths, drums, video screens and who-knows-what to every show.

before you pass judgment on the recording quality, remember, it was made on a Yamaha MT1X CASSETTE 4-track. (actually, we had 2, and used one for parts.)

Wishing (tame) mp3 [3:47] 4.4 MB
Summer, 2002

a sudden whim and a renewed fondness for the E-bow caused us to cover a song we all loved from our dim past.

one of our favorite Flock of Seagulls songs, it also exists in a straightforward, right out of the 80's version. we decided to present a later, remixed version to you, on the off chance it may get you up and dancing in front of your computer.

once again, Raziel: vocals, guitars and programming, and John O'leary: guitars and sundry effects.

Pandora (death to life vers.) mp3 [3:58] 5.5 MB
August, 1997

this is actually one of the oldest You Shriek songs. it's origins reach back to Raziel's high school days, or perhaps further.

the version presented here however, is one recorded specifically for Mere Mortal's Death for Life. a compilation of some of the most exciting Goth artists at the time, including Human Drama, the Cruxshadows and Sunshine Blind. all proceeds were to benefit AIDS charities. a sad combination record company ineptitude and naivete eventually doomed the album, without nearly raising enough for what is an important cause.

on this track: Raziel sang and played all instruments except for the eerie infinite guitar, which was played by John.

If you like what you hear, do for us what the record company couldn't do, go to an AIDS charity like CAAF and send them a dime or two. what could it possibly hurt?

New Romantic Circuitry (live) mp3 [5:20] 4.9 MB

Philosophers and Poets (live) mp3 [6:17] 5.8 MB
October, 2002

live tracks from the Substance event- a yearly art/music night that always draws a fantastic crowd. this year, we were privileged to share the bill with some of Boston's best Gothic or otherwise dark bands, including Project Sphere, Scissorkiss and One of Us.

Version 1.0 (video) Quicktime [5:10] 21 MB
dir: T. Cormey

this was shot primarily on 16mm, with some 8mm cut in, too. we were lucky enough to have our hands on almost every aspect of the creation of the video- from treatment to camera. there's no replacement for a good director and cinematographer, but sharing in the production design made this a fantastic experience for us.