American Neon

by Protextor and Brother Bear

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min_ninja_64 This album is great from start to finish, I have listened to it at least once a day for the past week, I am so glad I found it! Favorite track: Not Tonight!.
Shawn Schray
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Shawn Schray This album is truly amazing. I just stumbled across it trolling BC. The production is great. The arrangements are interesting. The lyrics seem to be honest. Parts of the narrative can be mentally distressing, but the overall narrative is relatable. Truly an accomplishment. Not a bad song on the album.
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about

Pop music about resistance and love.

American Neon is the first collaboration between Protextor and Brother Bear, a pop record borne from the indie similarities the two share. Featuring guest appearances from CupcakKe and Mélat and players from indie breakout groups Shearwater, This Will Destroy You, Balmorhea, and Marmalakes, as well as an original piece of album art by Matt Furie, Protextor & Brother Bear have assembled a supergroup of talent to deliver their catchiest material yet.

credits

released September 8, 2017

all songs written by Adam Protextor and Matt Puckett

Adam Protextor: vocals
Matt Puckett: guitars, vocals, keys, horn arrangements
Andrew Stevens: drums (tracks 3, 6, 7, 9)
Josh Halpern: drums (tracks (1, 2, 4, 5, 8)
Sam Pankey: bass

The Wet Horns (tracks 2, 3, 6, 9) are Andrew Fontenot (tenor sax), Roy Thomas (trumpet), Isaac Winburne (alto sax)

produced by Matt Puckett
engineered by Evan Kaspar at Estuary Recording in Austin, TX
mixed by Will Hensley (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 9)
mixed by Dan Weiner (tracks 4, 6, 7, 8)
mastered by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound in New York, NY

album art by Matt Furie
track title design by Vineet Gordhandas

license

all rights reserved

tags

Track Name: How Bad it Gets
Intro:
They want you to fail
they want you to fight
they want you to lie
they want you to riot
they want you up nailed
they want you to die
they want you to be nothing
altogether nothing inside
they want to build walls
they want to isolate behind crumbling heights
and keep numbness a prize
for the ones who will be fine
no cousins in jail
no money on the line
don’t got brothers in sights
keep your country in mind
and go hunting at night

Vs 1:
I keep on loving what I want to despise
I never wanted a gun but feel like a gun by my side
might be helpful to run and I’m stuttering
while I’m writin’ this while they want me to say
it’s gonna be alright
alright
maybe alt-right
an alt-J Delta sign
SHIFT
sign o' the times
I been kissing my heroes since they all died
better late than never to say
I been missing you guys
Not an inch of surprise for what is taken away
sacrifice is a word I didn’t say til today
pray for the sake of every corpse you that don’t meet
killer not honey
and be swarmin’ the streets
and I swore I could see
the most extraordinary feats
the force of a formidably
scorned storm against a boat in the sea
so if you fall over port to the ocean and go deep just remember
it’s important to breathe

Pre-Chorus:
And I don’t know
No I don’t know
just how bad it (gets)

Hook:
You can save yourself
you can save yourself the trouble
We could be the ones
But I’m feelin’ that
I don’t love you
No I don’t love you
Wish I could
cuz history will judge you
but fuck you
now get the hell out my way

Vs 2:
You a shell of a man
I’m a credit card damager
never go low
in my past but if standin’ up
to a clown means punchin’ down
then goddammit bruh
so be it
cash me ousside
now how bout dah huh?
Cowardly lion be spookin’ the wizard
he feel suicidal
he lookin’ like Hitler
we stay in the shadow
and lay to the ground
play Illmatic on vinyl and
shoot at your picture
you losin’ to hipsters
you crude but we sicker
no no you don’t get words
your privilege ends sir
we are the bigger
the most tired of winning
and we are the biggest party
in the whole system bruh
you don’t get in
you get it
you finished
we indie we humble you drink take a big sip
and wrinkle to dust and I still got this big whip
yeah
See that boot take a big lick
and you can call that big dick shit
Thin prick
Down with the sickness
a clown in the woods with a Mounds bar for the rich kids
No nuts and a limp dick
blew a dog whistle
at an attack dog
got doggy treats
we call ‘em weed
and we gon’ snack on ‘em
woof
I’ll see you in court
pleading the 4th
with a brand new tax audit
film backup porn of you wackin’ off
get back and call Rasputin
tell him the class doofus
has been caught again
Record that convo
mail it back to my Congressman
and the fact is all of it ain’t gonna bother them
that’s how I’m outta shits to give
so shit you give is comin’ back in opposite
it’s been a long time since I’ve called a bitch
a bitch
but bitch
I’m back
watch your goddamn back
and often, bitch

Vs 3:
They just goin’ thru the motions
like they wanna be a demon in the chorus
I’m just screaming for the coroner like
Please don’t take no more of us!
I got a feelin’ that we’re in for a lot
more darkness in store yuh
before the mornin’ comes
But fuck it cuz there’s more of us
stay sharp in the day
sunset we still holdin’ cups
You can drink the 5th of Goldschlager
and make shit with a golden dust
or you can melt it down
and pour it up
Fuck busy work
but I’ll be up at 5 AM sharp clear eyed
full hearted for the important stuff
underestimated and looked over once
Shoulda read the fine print
on the deal before you tore it up
consider this a warnin’ shot
across the bow to slow down before you go too far
and blow us up
We showin’ up now
Thank you for showin’ us
ourselves in the mirror
signed sincere
yours dear
Pro and Puck
Track Name: Not Tonight!
Vs 1:
I’m feelin’ fucked up
I can’t stop my head from spinnin’
around round round
round round round
Y’all got me choked up
so if ya got it come get the rope and don’t let me
down down down
down down down

Hook:
I don’t even really wanna think about that tonight
Just close your eyes
It’ll be alright
I don’t even really wanna deal with your shit tonight
Just get me high
Turn off the lights and close the blinds
and we can...

Vs 2:
Everybody lookin’ at ya sideways
times ain’t the same when you come
around round round
round round round
Everything it don’t stop
No!
Everybody gonna change and many gonna let you
down down down
down down down
I keep on wastin’ my time
I keep on changing my mind
I keep on layin’ in bed awake in the night
afraid of my life
But I keep ‘em naked all night
I ain’t ashamed of my pride
cuz pain cannot lie
one day I’ll stop by
this rage is not fake and this cage is not mine

Bridge 1:
Got an ex I’m still in love with
got a test I’m still not done with
got a mess in the kitchen
and bedroom
in debt for a couple hundred bucks
every month to the electric company
invest in my own company
stress for the cess, cess for the stress
and let’s not forget this pressure in my chest
but

Bridge 2:
I just want to fade away
I just want to know I’m OK
OK?
but they keep on whisperin'
and I keep on listenin’
and they never go away
I take their venom
I push it against them
and I throw back my drink and say
hey…
Yo, fuck you but --

Vs 3 (Rap):
Everybody wanna be up on the top now
things look different when you see ‘em from the top down
King Frog but you livin’ in a swamp now
Get a bigger lilypad and watch it how they hop out
they got a beat
but never heard how a heart sound
let ‘em learn it gone
I’m better to do my heart proud
stack of dead presidents
Ledger it
burn it all down
head up in the dark clouds forever
call me Charlie Brown
ah!
I been down for minute
Caved up dirty kitchen man
Dishes drippin’ dirty water
like they live in Flint, Michigan
and I wish that I could flick ya
cuz i hate bein’ the bigger man
but I’ma keep it 100
10 times til I hit a grand
Businessman
gonna run it
cuz he gunnin’ the show
what you think?
do you want it or no?
cuz ain’t nobody gonna give ya
nothin’ under the door
so if you want it
come and get it
take a little control
sayin’
oh no! baby gonna go broke
oh no!
it ain’t nothin’ but some promo
everyone is sellin’ what they can’t afford to get
ya can’t afford a peace of mind
when there’s a war outside your crib
you never go home
Track Name: Trouble (feat. Mélat)
Hook:
Oh you're here to cause trouble
I'm here to get in it

Vs 1:
Yo first off, fuck an old head
Fuck -----
And his whole clique
Put a clothespin
On both lips
Or you gon get it
But you won't get it
Cuz you so thick
Like my old chick
She control dick
You an old dick
Lookin' old dick
I look young for my age 
Fuck what you say
Go on cluck in a cage
Like an old hen
Protextor – keep my name outcha mouth
I thought I told ya bro
you're not my homie, hombre!

Vs 2:
The shackles are off
I’m attacking you all
No holdin’ back for some politics
and givin’ passes out for a pass through the hall
Y’all on Twitter with this junior high school shit
Cuz you call 'em fans when they really just your high school friends
Lay off the member berries
Wishin' you was 18 when ya felt amazing
Unsubscribe
fuckin’ die
Post a status get 100 likes
I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re the plug or not
you ain’t been sayin’ nothing
that I ain’t done heard a hundred times

Bridge (Mélat):
Pretend we don't know better
Pretend that we're absolved
Pretend that things just happen
It's nobody's fault
Nobody's fault
Track Name: Big Bad
Pre-Verse:
You been mad at the world for awhile now
Big bad lookin’ at ya straight steady with a smile now

Vs 1:
It’s been a long time since
I wanted to defend God
cuz I been agnostic for a bit and
Dear God,
I’m not religious
and hardly French but aw
they got me pissed off
Viva La Resistance
I’m off my meds
hoppin’ off this wobbly fence
Used to talk that big talk how we’d all be friends
But all this shit talk’s got me convinced y’all
that there’s a big stop to the convo when the party ends y’all
probably got into hip hop
in the first place cuz I could shit talk
but if this audience don’t listen
I’ma end up talkin’ my chick’s ear off
We all need someone to lean on
but a rock gon’ start to fall eventually y’all
so better be a branch and bend when the wind come
get a flexible income
get a check while they clearin’
get you prepped for the end
but you better have friends that’s well-equipped as we are
cuz we are
hidin’ in the trees with like Viet Cong
pop songs in the key of recon
greatest mistake the Devil made was showing us where he was
So I need God cuz I need context
for where we are
let the beat come back til they see stars behind these bars but
(Shhhhh)
They won’t see us

Hook:
I know you’re into me
but y’all will never know my name
When I’m gone it’s gonna be the same
Stuck again in an old good memory
I know my enemy
He showed me how to hide my face
I’m gone again now lookin’ out for my better me
Call me when you need safety

Pre-Verse:
I been mad at the world for awhile now
Big bad lookin' at me straight steady with a smile now

Vs 2:
I need you close to me for the ending
Third act in a birdtrap
but they can’t stop you singin’
when I put my hand on her and feel her shake
I feel what Atlas feels with an Earthquake in his palms
And I shake back
We vibrate
You’re my world, baby!
Livin’ in hate but we in love
They ain’t never been in love
Don’t get greedy
it’s unbecoming and vicious
Don’t get needy
Stand on two feet each we don’t get crutched
we get crushed and push the rubble off each other’s bodies
and we get up
(and I can do this all day)
Track Name: I Don't Mind
Vs 1:
Every little bit helps
Every little bit hurts
See
I can tell that ya feelin’ ya'self
but all them feelings come to nothin’ but words
and I just keep on runnin’ through
they just never did anything that I wanna do
lookin’ out at all these little boys yeah
lookin’ down on all these little boys yeah
Don’t wanna share it witchu
Open up their mouth and nothin’ matters to you
you’re past all the moves
you’re past bein’ cool
and that can be bad for the room
when you see all these patterns they move in and
you havin’ to choose one
but don’t feel bad if you lose
this game just ain’t meant for you if it ain’t fun
fuck walkin’ in heels
get back in those shoes and run
if that’s how you lose
just imagine if you won

Hook:
Girl, you take it slow
Well I hope you know
I don't mind
No
Said girl you lookin' good on the outside
if you ain't ready to go inside
well I don't mind
no

Vs 2:
We all pretend we want what’s best for you
heard it from a friend things ain’t gettin’ much better for you
letters move
and bodies dance
and bodies dance
I saw her in the corner
she was talkin’ to someone I don’t really know but I wanna
I saw ‘em in the back
playin’ like everything was OK
and that’s an act
and I just know the way to go
shove you up against the wall
shove you up against the door
shove is such an awful word
it pushes all the buttons
see I know we all just say the words that’s written in the scripts we get
and I’m supposed to take you on
and you’re supposed to let me in
and we’re supposed to reminisce
cuz love is a privilege
the only question is if you can live with it

Bridge (Spoken):
See, I know the difference between a boy and a man
See, I know the difference between a woman and a girl
See, I know the difference between fantasy and reality
See, I know the difference between sex and an orgasm

Outro:
Tell me what you want me to do to you
and I'll do it to you
Track Name: Basics (Beat 4)
Vs 1:
Let’s get back to the basics
Classic and A-list
Masochist/Sadist
Relationship status is mad complicated
The last place imaginable in the race
is last place for ya boy
last two days been a great bender
they try to
smash and rage 'bout the news cycle
they lie to you
and I just wanna see some smash faces
write mad fables, attach cables, and cry for you
and put it on colored wax
in plastic wrap
for the vinyl goons

Hook:
My cartoons are new to you
Your cartoons are old to me
I done seen this movie already
come on and retune the telly
cuz I got one two too too many
new much news to read
And you can tell me I’m wrong
(la la la la)
And you can tell me I’m gone
(la la la la)
and you can play me this song
but I won’t listen

Vs 2:
Back to the basics
Smackin’ a racist with a baseball bat
in a Patriot’s cap with a back pat from Tom Brady
(yeah)
see ain’t nothin’ sacred
so go on tell me it’s hatred
to wanna attack back when a fascist
gets in your face with it
face it – I’m deflated
I’m back and forth every day with it
I’m pacin’ the floor stainin’ the boards up on the stage with this
I’m takin’ no more human waste on board this spaceship
by the time you hear this maybe the Lord
will have shined his face on you but...

Bridge:
And you can tell me what you know I wanna hear
I never really saw the point of gettin' in by the window
You know I feel so guilty just for being human
See me though this
I just wanted to be a good person
wanted to be a good person
wanted to be a good person uh
and if you wanna come see me workin'
well come on and see me workin’
come on with me and we’ll work it out

Hook:
My cartoons are new to you
Your cartoons are old to me
I done seen this movie already
come on and retune the telly
cuz I got one two too too many
new much news to read
And you can tell me I’m wrong
(la la la la)
And you can tell me I’m gone
(la la la la)
and you can play me this song
but I won’t listen
I don't like the lyrics
Track Name: These Drugs
Vs 1:
Alright I took a strange trip down the path tonight
Out of range 'til the colors faded on the traffic lights
I felt deranged as I passed the lights
but at the same time I feel ashamed in the black of night (alone)
I need a hit for the sake of me
Gimme your best shot and make it bleed
Gimme the ways to make me seem
like a ghost ’n’ escape this dream
Don’t be afraid of me
You the same
2 children lost in the woods
who smelled a bakery

Hook:
I take another and you take another
and we both go numb so we don’t feel each other
These drugs they love us and they’ll never let us die
It’s where we go after life

Vs 2:
Fog was always so romantic in the movies
but I can’t see what I’m doing
Am I awake now?
Am I on stage now?
Is it OK now?
If I came down
back to you and took another day off for recovery
stayin’ up til 3
that don’t mean nothin’ to me
fumbling with sticky fingers with the crumbs of the weed
the crumbs in the couch and resin fingertips
find myself dumbin’ it down for a bigger hit
what a fuckin’ hypocrite
I gotta gun it
I gotta love it too
and lately feel like givin’ all my love to you
and you don’t really want me
you just wanna hold me under
you just wanna see me drown
and tell everyone that you found me
while my lungs fill up with —

Vs 3:
I like to think I’m a character in a movie
a chronicle of a time in music
This is how we do it
It’s a messy life where the carpet deposit is never coming back
the couch smells like beer
but we look rich as fuck when we rap
It’s not a hard addiction
Doctor won’t tell me that
but a withdrawal from anxiety pills’ll give you zaps
to cure that take a shot with a Xanax
Write your lyrics faded
Call it authentic
Gets hard to rely on facts when you fakin’
plus the risk of heart attack skips a generation
fuck it I’d rather get lame and live forever
than be Kurt Cobain
A broken heart’s the best gift that you’ll ever get
I’ve been arrested by a lifestyle
that ain’t been givin’ back
Track Name: Undertow (feat. CupcakKe)
Vs 1:
I just can’t wait to get you alone
So wet so sweet so out of control
You cross the lines that’s cut in your dress
And I just need to see that hair in a mess

Hook:
I don’t wanna spend the night alone
Take me in your undertow
Treat me like a true love would
it feels so good to know

Vs 2:
I’ll hold you down give you what you deserve
Deep breath and hold til you come back to Earth
You cross the heart that you’ve sworn to protect
(and hope to die)
But I can feel your blood pump with my hand on your neck

Hook:
I don’t wanna spend the night alone
Take me in your undertow
Close my eyes and hold me down
I’m ready now to go

Vs 3 (CupcakKe):
Love me love me love me love me love me
That's all I ask for is you to love me
and then night get dirty little muddy
and when I'm down push me harder than a buggy
and to keep it real make sure we solid
that real trust when I'm around you leave ya wallet
and when we argue baby let's stay on topic
cuz I can be a smartass no college
I'm trippin' and trippin' with no destination
I dress for the dick it's a special occasion
Come work on this pussy like you in the maintenance
The room smell like sex I might make it a fragrance
(oh yeah)
Ball in your court, take a shot
Don't miss
Tongue out, high heels
Now I'm feelin' like KISS
I'm prepared when I see that front door lock
We fuckin' til my body stiffer than a robot
Track Name: CTYL (Can't Touch Yr Love)
Intro:
A broken heart is the best gift you'll ever get

Hook:
I know they wanna break ya down
I know they wanna break ya down
but they can't touch yr love
they can't touch yr love
no no

Vs 1:
They comin’ at ya – fast
Both sides like a raptor attack
Clever girl you react in a flash
Throw a middle finger up
and shake that ass
They ain’t nothing but some scared old men
You ain’t afraid of the dark
cuz you ain’t no kid
and you ain’t on Nick
this is real life
and real monsters pose much bigger threats
Let's rent a bad movie and talk through it
Let's have a baby and call him Judas
Let’s get tattoos that we’ll wanna remove
someday but won’t cuz they’ll remind us
we really were that stupid
See you can find a whole diamond in the coal mine
No matter what the cosign
And you’re fine if you stay you
stay true
Don’t let them sway, make, gaslight,
or change you
just hold tight

Vs 2:
I’ll never know what you go through
but I know I never seen no one control you
I know you never been the type to run away
I know I never been the type who would approach you
TV gave me bad news again
and I’m mad too
but we cried at the same movie in the back row seats were full
we got the last two
drinkin’ wine at the matinee from a glass shoe
if it fits there’s a dance gonna ask you
cuz if a man has a chance then he has to
Picture us gettin’ outta bed at 2
Picture us takin’ action if we have to
You come like an act of war
and I am
cuz I am in you
This is damage done
this is a plan in movement
you can’t stop us
and you love so good
make the planet move
uh!

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