Track By Tracks: Neon Straightjackets - Ex Girlfriends And Ecstasy (2023)

1. SHITCANNED (single):

Shitcanned is the last song that was written for the album, but a favorite of the band. It was written in April of 2022 about Larry Stahl’s abusive ex-girlfriend before the break-up even happened due to a sense of the relationship coming to a close before it even happened. They were both unemployed at the time and did everything in their power to ignore each other in fear of starting another argument, hence “you know we have nothing better to do, all we do is ignore each other fuck you”. The band shared the same sentiment, as she was very much the “Yoko” of the group.

2.Heavy:

This song is the first song ever written by Larry Stahl before the idea of “Neon Straightjackets” even formed. It was about a girl he had a crush on in high school and how they shared a lot of classes and he wanted to ask her out and show how he felt really bad but never had the balls to act on it. For your information, those two are together now.

3.Stargazing:

This song is about how singer Larry Stahl moved around a lot as a kid and always had to start new, equating it to being a space explorer trying to find a new planet to inhabit. The song is also loosely based on the character of Star-Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy comic series from 2019 written by Donny Cates and art by Geoff Shaw and the feelings of being alone and isolated as the only human among aliens that will never truly understand him, despite those aliens being the closest friends and chosen family he has.

4. See You Soon:

See You Soon was written on the day that Larry’s grandmother Ramona Slabie passed away in January of 2021. After she passed and everyone went home for the day Larry decided to get the emotions out by writing a song about his grandmother who was a musical inspiration to him from a very young age. She was a singer in multiple bands as a kid and had bluegrass music nights in an old church she had turned into a music venue in Melrose, Ohio, and always encouraged Larry to sing and learn to play instruments. She was very much his mother figure as he grew older and the song is a tribute to her.

5. Have A Nice Fall:

You know the story about Heavy, well, this is a pseudo-sequel to that song. The girl he was crushing on liked him too and they ended up together in October 2017. Hence “in October I found my place. In October, my love finds a face.” The title is also a play on words because he’s having a nice Autumn, but also having a nice time falling in love. She also encouraged him to quit smoking cigarettes, leading into the line “Why quit smoking? You already take my breath away.” The whole song is a playful look at the relationship in general.

6. I hate humanity:

I hate humanity is a song about being fed up with people being flaky, arrogant, and other various acts that wanna make you rip your hair out. “I love humans, but I hate humanity” is a line that stems from people’s brains being the problem, not necessarily the exoskeleton that holds the brain. You know? The bodies are fine. (It’s a joke that doesn’t work over text, just roll with it, okay?) “I guess the moral of the story is, a lot of people suck… and if you’re ever having a good day, keep it to yourself cause no one gives a fuck” I feel this is a line a lot of people can relate to because we in the band certainly relate to no one really caring if things are great. I also feel that is a metaphor for the band and how a lot of the people we know don’t care about our accomplishments.

7.worryworryworry.:

Worryworryworry is a song that was written when Larry Stahl lived on his own for the first time, he moved far away from home and was spending a lot of time by himself when he wasn’t working, and because of the silence and not having people to keep him busy, the existential dread of adult life set in and he starting pondering if what he was doing was what he was supposed to be doing at that point in his life and living paycheck to paycheck.

8. TERRIBLE!:

Terrible is a song that was written further pondering his position in adult life and realizing how many people he had loved and cared about leaving him behind to have much happier lives without him. The second verse shows an attempt at calming oneself before relapsing back into dark thoughts. All the while, the simple three-chord instrumental is a punk play on the basic country music three-chord structure, calling back to the band’s small-town Ohio redneck roots. (It’s the same chords as Sweet Home Alabama.) FUN FACT: the song was also written immediately after Larry had gotten a ticket for failure to control his vehicle after sliding off of the road and slamming into a ditch. Needless to say, he was already having a bad time around that time due to a breakup and having to move back home from living on his own, and already gotten a ticket two days earlier. What a pit of despair.

9. Nightmares and Nosebleeds:

Nightmares and Nosebleeds was written after Larry had a crazy-vivid dream in which he visited a younger version of himself from the past. He in turn visited his family as a time- traveler and saw what happy life he used to have before his parents divorced and he cut close ties to his siblings after certain events later on happened in life. Hence why the song questions his stance in life in the modern day compared to when he was a kid, as if visiting his younger self he could warn him of the events to come in the coming decades.

10. Distance:

Distance was the first song Larry had ever written in a collaborative effort with Mikey Cramer back in 2016. The song was about Larry being in a long-distance relationship with a girl that lived all the way in Wisconsin and the fact that he wasn’t always with her caused doubts within himself and trust issues as time went on.

11. Lady Lazarus:

Based on the poem of the same name by Sylvia Plath, this was a song written after discovering the poem in 2017 in English class. The song had such dark overtones and caught Larry’s eye with its dark themes at the time.

12.Scatterbrain:

This is a song written by Larry during his time living with his now ex-girlfriend in 2021. The song is about how Larry was gaslit all the time into thinking he had some sort of mental illness through her manipulation and abuse of him. He thought he had some form of ADD, and the song reflects on him grappling with thinking that was the case.