Soul Coughing - Double M Demos

OH MY GAWD!!! I feel like I found the Holy Grail! That said, I'm about as close to performing a holy quest as Monty Python were, so I'm probably gonna get pelted with livestock soon, but first, while digging through an old external hard-drive for a Flaming Lips compilation, I found something I've been looking for for months. I'm sure you've guessed what that is by the title of this post, but here is a little info for those who don't know much about Soul Coughing's early days.

First off, if anyone's wondering where the name of this collection comes from, I am the responsible party. When I initially found this collection, it was listed as Ruby Vroom demos, which is a somewhat appropriate name, but these tracks were recorded earlier than the finalized versions of the songs that were re-recorded for RV. If I am remembering correctly, and I'm pretty sure I am, the Cough, prior to signing with Slash, were discussing a contract with John Zorn's Tzadik label. Their album was tentatively named Double M or MM, which is Doughty's nickname for the millenium (see Uh, Zoom Zip). I don't know if the deal fell through or the band simply received a better deal from Slash and Warners, but the Double M album was not to be. These demos though, being definitely from before the band were on Slash, were most likely for the purpose of them getting a deal and recording their first album with that tentative name I mentioned. So, rather than just list these as Ruby Vroom demos, I thought Double M Demos was a more appropriate title. Of course, if you have these tracks under a different name you can simply disregard my creative re-titling.

Anyway, I found these demos on Soulseek or another file sharing service quite a few years ago. Since then, I've only run into one other person that had these demos. I've spent quite a bit of time trying to find anyone else with these tracks as I had given up hope of finding them in my collection, but tonight was the night. So, I want to share my good fortune with you my lovely readers.

About the contents of this collection, the versions of the songs included here are peculiar to say the least. While I've listed the last four tracks as versions, I'm not trying to imply they're remixes or dubs or anything of that sort, they are actually different recordings although they sound like they are from the same era. Also, Doughty doesn't sound nearly as energetic in places as he did on later Cough recordings. His oddly subdued vocal on Casiotone Nation is perplexing. To put it nicely, he sounds stoned, but it could just be that the band was producing the demos themselves and didn't know how to get the vibe right, that or their producer didn't know how to motivate him. The unreleased numbers are nice enough but similarly subdued. The standout is I Shot Lily Brick Down where Doughty actually sings. Jersey Devil is funky but it's understandable why the song didn't get re-recorded as is, although some of the lyrics ended up in The Brooklynites. Michael Jackson is probably the weakest of the unused songs with Doughty telling a rather strange tale about Michael talking to animals and people he doesn't recognize while being paranoid.

There might be another SC post in a few days as I was able to locate an even earlier demo tape from 1992. Most of this tape seems to be recorded live at the very first SC show at the Knitting Factory, although the credits from the tape state that the lineup on one of the songs is completely different from the regular band apart from Doughty. Enjoy!


Soul Coughing - Double M Demos

01 Moon Sammy
02 Supra Genius
03 City Of Motors
04 Bus To Beelzebub
05 Casiotone Nation
06 Mr. Bitterness
07 Screenwriter's Blues
08 I Shot Lily Brick Down
09 Uh, Zoom Zip
10 Jersey Devil
11 Michael Jackson
12 Bus To Beelzebub (Version)
13 Screenwriter's Blues (Version)
14 Supra Genius (Version)
15 City Of Motors (Version)