"GROUNDED," the debut album from johnsburg, IL's indie noise rock powerhouse COMPANY CALLS, is out 4/21/2023

Gum (C. Dohr)

On your new phone

You change the weather

You’re not a new source

You made it better

Don’t go there

Can’t be here

Don’t go there

Can’t be here

I’m sick and I’m weak

It’s been a couple days

And I can’t break the weight around it now

I know someday, maybe

We’ll try for better days

And someday, one way

I’ll leave you, I need you

I breathe you 

Dating for Nepotism (T. Oeffling)

Do what you wanna do

Cut me out like collage art on the avenue

Mural conflictions

And moral convictions in commitments to friction
So do what you wanna do ‘cause I want you

Do what you wanna do

You’re in soft focus

You’re softly spoken

Devotion to motion

So do what you wanna do ‘cause I want you

Do what you wanna do

One Way to Leave Your Lover (T. Oeffling)

Every song is about you and you haven’t got a clue

You need to dump your current person

Shake the dirt out of your shoes

One way to leave your lover is to get up and leave

And realize deep down, girl, that she’s not me

And I can’t get through, can’t get over you

And my friends are no help, I don’t know what to do

One way to leave your lover is to ditch her at the station

I feel like a five-year-old in fits of frustration

I am the problem, the problem with me

Is that I am the problem, the problem with me

Is that I am the problem, the problem with me

Is that I am the problem, the problem with me

Every song is about you and you have no idea

I’ve gotta cut it off after I say nice to meet you

One way to leave your lover is ignore Paul Simon

And cut the crap, don’t listen to his songwriting

I am the problem, the problem with me

Is that I am the problem, the problem with me

Is that I am the problem, the problem with me

Is that I am the problem, the problem with me

We’ve gotta get in to get out

We’ve gotta get in to get out

Disengaged, Dislocated (T. Oeffling)

Disengaged and dislocated

I’ve tried a lot to get past everything you’ve stated

I don’t like coming ‘round here, you magistrate it

If you’ve been fading off, then why don’t you just say it?

You pass me by sometimes

And you’re not looking right

Star-crossed, the pity flies

And I see you everywhere

You see me everywhere

You’re disinterested, sophisticated

And I’m a housemaid for the mess, although you made it

Just go ahead and hang around on clouds, I’ll wait it out

I’m not about your shouting, I’ll just start flaking

You pass me by sometimes

Once in a bluish moon
Star-crossed, romanticized

And I’m heading over soon

I don’t know what to do

And life’s in-between and songs change their meaning

And I don’t have a lot to give, but take it or leave it

You are a Stetson hat, I’m more like a bureaucrat

And I don’t have much to give

But I’ll see you everywhere

You’ll see me everywhere

I’ll be your anywhere

If only we could care

Campus Police (C. Dohr)

Goodbye to writers

And goodnight to the postman

Your right, decide her

Cut loose with other friends

With right attires

The shaking of a lonesome hand

And my desire

Comes down to the speed of the plan

I am throwing things in your way

And your breath scattered out words to say

And I am throwing things in your way

And your words scattered out things to say

This fake empire

Left me rooting for your team

And they’re on fire

But nothing’s new in the social scene

Relax, I’m tired

So don’t overstay your reach

But now I’m throwing up

Right out in the middle of the street

I am throwing things in your way

And your breath scattered out words to say

And I am throwing things in your way

And your words scattered out things to say

Baby Blue Baby (T. Oeffling)

Boarding school bricks, I’ll deposit once you find your fault

Corduroy kid, they’re gonna turn you to a pillar of salt

And it’s a middle-part menace that maxes out on tennis

And it’s ordering me around, wanting me to forget this

Got some charter school capillaries, stretching the scene

And it’s the handshake drugs, saying sample for free

Do what you want to, do what you want to

Do what you want to me

Do what you want to, do what you want to

Do what you want to me

Cheap wine crimes, bring your baby, coming baby blue

Capitalize on the checks for your plaything’s shoes

And it’s drinking like Hemingway, memories fade

It’s getting canceled, no reruns on through the day

It’s got a retail vision, got a traffic offense

Dressed in triple denim phlegm with litigious defense

Do what you want to, do what you want to

Do what you want to me

Do what you want to, do what you want to

Do what you want to me

Overhead lights, temporarily blind

It’s got a bookworm squirm and it’s giving a fine

And I could fight or flight, I could freeze or fawn

Tell me, where have all the male hand models gone?

Do what you want to, do what you want to

Do what you want to me

Do what you want to, do what you want to

Do what you want to me

Living Right (E. Bailey)

Mama told you, little boy

You need to slow it down

What’s got you so riled up?

The drugs or all the sounds?

Just the early tapes of the angsty loner

Who left this world too soon

Grounded (C. Dohr)

I’m tired of holding you through the phone screen

And all my fluctuating thoughts never creep into your dreams

I think it’s time that we put this all on the shelf

‘Cause how do we ever come back from this?

The room was filled with adjacent punks

And their unorthodox ways of moving

The disco’s been dead for hours

And we can’t stand still

The floor broke open and the night fell in

And by 7, we were back for everything to be alright again

Pathos (T. Oeffling)

So there’s before you and after you

If I could reach out and pass it through

And it’s when life’s in-between and songs change their meaning

And I can’t stand it when you act so demeaning

Don’t speak, it’s still stinging

Don’t speak, it’s still stinging

I’ve seen your ashtray, got the residue

And it’s your gin breath, heard you said it through

That the best of plans are the worst ideas

And I can’t get past it, I can’t believe it

Don’t speak, it’s still stinging

Don’t speak, it’s still stinging

Don’t speak (Life’s in-between and songs change their meaning)

It’s still stinging (And I can’t stand it when you act so demeaning)

Don’t speak (Life’s in-between and songs change their meaning)

It’s still stinging (And I can’t stand it when you act so demeaning)

Don’t speak (Life’s in-between and songs change their meaning)

It’s still stinging (And I can’t stand it when you act so demeaning)

Don’t speak (Life’s in-between and songs change their meaning)

It’s still stinging (And I can’t stand it when you act so demeaning)

Night Divers (C. Dohr)

Always was in need of a lifeline

Trying to keep an eye on the slow night

I keep it out with my hands

But it’s too late now ‘cause I am

And I don’t know if I can stay

Ask me over everyday

So you can retaliate

Diving deep down in my brain

Cough Perfection (T. Oeffling)

Trying so hard not to associate

Leave rushed, gotta go

Winter kicked in and I gained some weight

And now I can’t see my toes

I want a woman who pretends to listen to rants

About the failures of Connecticut and indie rock bands

Modify my mornings in the shoals of her bed

A-do-do-do-do-do

And I’ll know you, moles and all
You’ve gotta know

That Hannah’s got a gun, better run and find something to do

And Hannah’s gonna tell you that there’s surely something wrong with you

Cough perfection at a neighborhood bar

Rambling on about

Man, your lowercase lover’s on her second shift

So help out around the house

I need a woman who always interrogates me

Makes sure I don’t leave home without my keys

Bedtime stories in the voice of David Berman

A-do-do-do-do-do

And I’ll know you, moles and all
You’ve gotta know

That Hannah’s got a gun, better run and find something to do

And Hannah’s gonna tell you that there’s surely something wrong with you

And I’ll show you, moles and all
You’ve gotta know

That Hannah’s got a gun, better run and find something to do

And Hannah’s gonna tell you that there’s surely something wrong with you

Domestic Scenery (C. Dohr)

Take your time

Only you can confide in the alleys

That are all inside

Running up and down through the valleys

Stop on by

When you’re into nothing at all

Maybe you can disguise

All the little things that make you fall

Now I’m not the same

I still feel the pain

I said a little much, but I’m not one to explain

This face to my right

My heart’s in my lung now

Too close to the ground

Time it right

Make sure you’ll be home in the afternoon

So that later on

We can sing the same sad song

Now I’m not the same

I still feel the pain

I said a little much, but I’m not one to explain

This face to my right

My heart’s in my lung now

Too close to the ground

Too close to the ground

Crawl (C. Dohr)

Don’t take me out, don’t take me out

Don’t take me around

Say I need it right, say I need it right

What’s the turnaround?

Give me a sign, give me a sign

How’s your family now?

You said it wasn’t a break, another mindless mistake

I’m sick of running around

Cry when you decide, cry when you decide

That it was never right

You can crawl inside, you can crawl inside

But you won’t ever hide

You drink your mind, you drink your mind

To leave it all behind

So what’s the point of life, what’s the point of life

What’s the point of life?

You’re lying to me, you lie through your teeth

You’re lying to me, you lie through your teeth

You’re lying to me, you lie through your teeth

You’re lying to me, you lie through your teeth

You’re lying to me, you lie through your teeth

You’re lying to me, you lie through your teeth

You’re lying to me, you lie through your teeth

Feeble, Frayed (T. Oeffling)

I won’t forget this, you wafted your glove

It whiffed like Jesuit incense and I think I’m in love, but

You don’t even have a house key, darling

You’re on an edge, you’ve spent the last month cigless

And I’m knocked out cold, you say my hospice seems suspicious

Well, I guess I’m staying over tonight now

I’m a man, I do what I can

Trace my steps, stick to the plan

Campus collapse, you were deterred but didn’t show it

There’s a lot to a bit and I’ve been banking on the motive

You’re a Flonase daydream, darling

Winter abandon, I’ve been Slush Puppie shoving

You’ve been snorting up chemtrails to intensify loving

That’s a bitter rock collection
Erudite, extradite

Grammar police don’t sleep at night

Well, I’m a man, I do what I can

Trace my steps, you see what I am

I’m only dismayed, feeble and frayed

Taking the shake to get through the day

Well, I’m a man, I do what I can

You see what I am, you see what I am