Ducks Ltd.
Album: Modern Fiction
Release Date: 2021
Canada
Tom McGreevy (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming) met at a Dilly Dally show around the time they were both applying for permanent residency and playing in different local bands, quickly recognizing something in each other: a resolute love of underrated ‘80s indiepop a la Sarah Records. [More]
Lyrics: 18 Cigarettes
Rolling in and out of phase
When the shaking starts
Walking backwards towards the cape
Twenty yards
Smoking eighteen cigarettes
Giving two away
Thinking smugly, “How does anyone smoke a pack a day?”
Pressed up against over the line
And everyone is being polite
Another half a bottle of wine
Lock and key
I wanted things to stay
How they would not stay
I’d ask you to explain
But it’s not your problem
Oh, I’ve been in a state
And you don’t relate
I wish that I could say
Where it got me
But it’s not me
Still just barely off the train
Central station
Subtle attempt to check reflection
In shop window
Barely fifteen miles away
Gilded portico
Above which imagined life
Daily rolls
Resting idle finger on blade
Contemplating messes made
Reflexive self-regard overlaid
Lock and key
I wanted things to stay
How they would not stay
I’d ask you to explain
But it’s not your problem
Oh, I’ve been in a state
And you don’t relate
I wish that I could say
Where it got me
But it’s not me
Tracklist: Modern Fiction
1. “How Lonely Are You?”
2. “Old Times”
3. “18 Cigarettes”
4. “Under the Rolling Moon”
5. “Fit to Burst”
6. “Patience Wearing Thin“
7. “Always There“
8. “Sullen Leering Hope“
9. “’Twere Evere Thus”
10. “Grand Final Day”
I am sorry for picking a relatively older song for our loop concept but it was love at first sight. Do you get that a lot about 18 Cigarettes? It really is hard to skip forward.
Yeah, people seem to really like that song and that’s more than fine with us! I think a bunch of ideas we had really fit together on that one. It’s been exciting to see people connect with it.
Can you tell us more about how the song came about?
We were in a very intense writing phase around the record and had written enough songs that we felt generally good about that it felt ok to try something different. I’d gotten really obsessed with this one live video of Oasis playing “Don’t Go Away” in an arena context where you can hear the whole crowd singing back at them, and I was thinking about how that song (possibly unintentionally) is a song that kinda tells on itself. It’s sung from the perspective of someone who is struggling but you can kind of trace in the lyrics how their problems are derived from their own inability to talk about their feelings. I liked the idea of writing something like that. Where the lyrics present the conflict and cause.
What is the story behind your band’s name?
I was driving through Memphis and saw a big neon Ducks Unlimited sign on the side of the Memphis pyramid and thought it would be a good name for a band, so that was our name for a while. When we signed to Carpark, we checked in with a trademark lawyer and they basically told us that naming ourselves after a large and litigious organization was not a great idea so we changed it up. I kinda like Ducks Ltd more now though. It’s fun to have the story and it looks neat written down.
Your music is a lifesaver for boomers and ’80s suckers like myself. What do you think the age bracket of your fans is? Do you get enough attention from younger generations?
It feels fairly diverse. It’s definitely fun to have older fans and we’re obviously into a lot of stuff from that era, but we get younger folks too. Always feels wild on the occasions when we meet a teenager who is excited about our music at a show, as it immediately resonates with my own awkward teenage interactions with bands I was into. Very weird to be on the other side of that exchange, but it’s an experience I’m very grateful for!
Who are your favorites?
Ohhhhh you know! The Go-Betweens are a big one. We really like McCarthy and The Bats. I’ve been trying to make a definitive collection of all the good Jazz Butcher songs over the last few weeks. For newer stuff, I’m a big fan of our label mates The Beths. The Tubs record that just came out is fantastic. En Attendant Ana, who are also on Trouble In Mind, are really good. Been listening to a Toronto band called Motorists a lot recently too! They are great!
There are too many of these in my life! I tend to adopt a policy of being proud of all my questionable taste so it’s a little hard to answer, but probably the Meat Loaf song “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad.“
Tom on his most cringe loop
Is there a Ducks Ltd song you ever play on loop?
Absolutely not! When we are working on things we listen to them endlessly, but once they’re done I pretty much never put them on. I have not listened to Modern Fiction all the way through since I took the final master of it for a drive so I could approve it. I actually had a cab driver insist on playing it in his car a few weeks ago, as I had a guitar with me so he asked me about the band. It sounded completely different than I remembered it.
An ‘80s song you play on loop?
Oh ya! So many. The most recent one I have been doing that with is the Jazz Butcher song Angels. “They’re making jokes and wearing black/they’re right and good and they’re wearing black/and just like you/and they’re always on my mind.” When that guy was on he was such a cool songwriter!
What do you think your looping record would be? And what song was it?
I want to pretend it’s something really cool, but it’s probably actually something I was into as a teenager, as I think my capacity for obsessive listening definitely peaked around 17, in part cause I just had a lot more time on my hands. Maybe The Mountain Goats song No Children or something off the first Interpol record. With an adult brain, it’d maybe be The Go Between’s That Way or the Paul Kelly song From St Kilda To Kings Cross. I never get tired of that one.
What’s the most cringe song you have ever played on loop?
There are too many of these in my life! I tend to adopt a policy of being proud of all my questionable taste so it’s a little hard to answer, but probably the Meat Loaf song “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad.” Jim Steinman was a genius!
