In 2016, Califone released a home-recorded EP titled Insect Courage, featuring the track “Burn The Sheets.Bleach The Books.” Since then, the band, led by Tim Rutili, has performed this song live approximately once a year. They recently unveiled a fresh, high-quality version of the track.
Tim Rutili shared his thoughts on “Burn The Sheets.Bleach The Books”:
This song has been a part of the Califone repertoire for quite some time. Lyrically, it resembles a Hieronymus Bosch painting set in a tent city in Los Angeles, depicting a cacophony of humans and creatures pleading for divine intervention. While it doesn’t appear on our set lists, we often play abstract, improvised renditions during concerts. Sometimes it’s a treat for enthusiastic audiences, and other times it challenges the patience of those who are restless.
This studio version was recorded at Big Ego in Long Beach, CA, alongside most of the basic tracks for our album, Villagers. The band included Rachel Blumberg on drums, Stephen Hodges on percussion, and Wally Boudway on bass, with Max Knouse, Michael Krassner, and myself on guitars. I added organ and piano in the later stages, but the essence of this recording captures the live band’s performance.
Additionally, Rutili has a credit for writing on Coldplay’s single Moon Music, specifically “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” which samples Sylvan Esso’s rendition of the 2009 Califone song “All My Friends Are Funeral Singers.” Pretty interesting! You can listen to the new version of “Burn The Sheets.Bleach The Books” below.
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