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about
This is the Sega-requested remix of our song recorded for the I Have a Dreamcast compilation.
On Martin Luther King Jr. day of 2009, a group of nerds from Athens, GA got together at the Poor Fish Pond for a 24 Hour Dreamcast gaming marathon which was broadcast live online to share with the world. We had an amazing time and it was incredible how many folks tuned in to join in the fun from all over the globe. At the end of the marathon session, with nauseated stomachs full of Mountain Dew and Hot Pockets, we took turns playing songs we all wrote to, for and about Sega, the Dreamcast, and its games.
Later that year to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Dreamcast's release in 9/9/99, another all-day event was planned. This time a traveling team of Branch Collection gamers picked spots all over town to set up shop (or rather TV and console) and broadcast online, culminating with a bonanza at the Go Bar in downtown Athens which doubled as a CD release party. That CD? ...A compilation of everyone's songs recorded and preserved for future generations of the universe to share in the glory of our beloved, under-appreciated gaming masterpiece.
We chose to chronicle the experience of one of our favorite games of all time: House of the Dead II. At that time Matt Martinelle, drummer of our high school punk band, Dangerously Happy, was playing with us full time in Grey Milk. Many a band practice was spent back in the DH days wasting hour after hour devouring chips and salsa, light guns in hand, blasting zombies and chiming in with delightfully terrible voice-overs. We have in part this game to thank for our friendships a decade later.
We hope any of you nerds (and casual appreciators as well) still reading love this song as much as we do!
Upon learning that Sega caught wind of our project we were at first nervous they might be pissed about our use of their copyrighted artwork and logos in our designs and promotion. Instead they apparently thought it was awesome!
Sega actually requested we make a version of "Venice is Dying" without all the nasty four-letter words so that they could play it at that their booth during that year's E3 conference! We gleefully obliged and thanks to some meticulous sound effects extraction and insertion by Jesse Thompson, here it is. In place of swears, and scattered all throughout the background, are sound clips taken directly from the game for your listening enjoyment no matter how you feel about those words we shall not speak of.
lyrics
Walkin' down the street just the other day
Saw a horde of zombies stumblin' my way
Should I stay or should I run?
All I got is this light gun...
G was dyin', saw his blood in the street
Next to some hungry monsters who were cravin' some meat
Tried to save a woman and her boyfriend too
Said, "I'm sorry. There was nothing we could do."
Saw zombie owls and zombie eels
Zombies throwin' barrels, even drivin' some wheels
When we arrived at the center square
A big $#%@in' zombie with no head was there
It's the House of the Dead-
House of the Dead number 2
House of the Dead 2 isn't even in a house; it's in Venice.
We were happy that we made it to a boat
Started feelin' cocky, even tellin' some jokes
When through the water, straight toward us came
Another pack of zombies hungry for our brains...
(Oh $#%@!)
So we killed some zombies and we killed some more
Then we killed more zombies waitin' at the shore
Killed a giant zombie with a broken heart
Thought that it was over but it was just the start
Headed underground and found some more undead
And a dragon zombie with too many heads
Went to the coliseum; on the Telescreen
Goldman told us all about his evil scheme
For the House of the Dead-
House of the Dead number 2
House of the Dead 2 isn't even in a house; it's in Venice.
n00b (with light gun):
Alright- I'm kinda low on health.
Experienced Player 1 (with light gun):
You can shoot a health pack.
Experienced Player 2 (with controller):
Yeah, since they're hidden in certain places and stuff.
EP1:
And it could be in the crate. Just make sure you don't kill any innocents.
n00b:
Oh, okay!
EP2:
Yeah, and if you save enough you gain health.
EP1:
It's true.
EP2:
Alright, I'm outta bullets.
EP1:
Just shoot off-screen to reload. Or you can mash A and B at the same time and you can kill somebody and reload at the same time.
EP2:
That's like cheating, though, I feel. I mean, it seems unfair.
n00b:
Why did you shoot that little kid?!
EP1:
I'm sorry.
EP2:
He jumped out of the door. That wasn't really his fault. It's okay.
n00b:
We're not gonna make it through. There's no way. We don't have enough health.
EP1:
Haven't we seen these bosses before? Why are these the same bosses?
EP2:
That's just lazy programming, man. That' such- oh $#%@!
~~~**~~~THE MAGICIAN~~~**~~~
We blew his @$$ too pieces, then we ran inside
Thought that we'd get further but instead we died
In the House of the Dead-
House of the Dead number 2
House of the Dead 2 isn't even in a house; it's in Venice.
credits
from Miscellany,
track released September 9, 2009
Jesse Houle - Electric Guitar, Vocals
Sean Watson - Bass, Vocals
Matt Martinelle - Drums, Vocals
SFX taken from the House of the Dead II and mixed in by Jesse Thompson.
Recorded at the Poor Fish Pond by Jesse Thompson & Grey Milk.
We are natives of New England and currently base our
operations out of Athens, GA.
We're part of Nobody's Favorite Records and The Branch Collection: two obscure, amorphous groups of folks who collectively pool our efforts of creativity- primarily those of the musical variety. These monikers give us the appearance of added legitimacy.
Songs of timeless beauty and power in the mold of Vashti Bunyan and Nick Drake from enigmatic Los Angeles artist Shannon Lay. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 4, 2017
