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Yay For Effort

by Greg Hoy

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Direct Metal Master on thick virgin vinyl.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Yay For Effort via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 60 days

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Hat + Digital Album

    Quality Otto Trucker Hat. Adjustable!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Yay For Effort via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 36 

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1.
Oh No 03:01
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Oh no Here we go again FOMO lost another friend below ice it dissipates solo navigate the end Here's a chance to elevate A way of dealing with the strain Water on a window pane Draw yourself another fate Oh no... here we go again Push it to another day The moon will have a different phase Slide it under hidden door And wonder who you hid it for Oh no... here we go again
2.
Yay For Effort 04:02
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Hope, hope is just another word regardless of what you heard Another ring to be sold  for your fingers And gold, just like the days of old shiny to behold Hypnotized into thinking  you have something good Stained, another holiday everyone loves parades The ignorance  shared and nurtured Safe, safe as a hand grenade praying to their charade hypnotized  (it's for your own good) And we say yay for effort Fade, and forced to stay away No matter what the fate proclaims Head down like they told you Prey, a Target on a sunny day Believing what they have to say Even as it breaks you And we say yay for effort
3.
Listen Up 03:40
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Staring at machinery instead of at the greenery And then one day it all just went away Root, root, root, for the home team The bottom of the ninth it seems The winning run is just too far away Blame it on the circuitry - standard grade hypocrisy! An ignorance that's far outworn its stay So listen up... listen up So long working to success all it did was make this mess as fingers point in every way but up Lost the plot along the way living now just for the day Tomorrow has to make its own 'good luck' Leaders preserve anything making sure they stay the king Tossing scraps as long as they're amused So listen up... listen up,,,
4.
Today is Not the Day to Die 03:37
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Send love, send money Send anything you can find No time, just feel it Figure out what to leave behind There's so much coordination Lift your eyes up to the sky Settle in the situation Today is not the day to die It's so nice to see you Afraid I must be moving on! Disguise that feeling a trip to Budokan It's so nice to see you Afraid I must be moving on!
5.
Let It All Go Down 04:00
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Talk is cheap and still you paid for Anyone to make the grade Leading in a different way Underrated, underrated Critics with their cheap charade Lemon to make lemonade The battle won the war was lost Left wreckage as your final cost  Let it all go down, let it all go down To fall asleep listening to  Words you couldn't ever sing Complexity but mastery A different type of history The shot's your own a secret throne Repeat the story make it your own Went your own way, hey, that's ok A legacy to celebrate  Let it all go down, let it all go down I can hear you whispering I can hear you listening
6.
Fire Drill 03:09
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There's a fire drill in your head And you're wishing you were dead Try to rearrange the pieces all instead There's a fire drill in your head Was it something I said? Got you taking different people to your bed And no one ever drove No one ever drove No one ever Took the wheel and said 'It's time to go'. Took the wheel and said 'It's time to go'. Took the wheel and said 'It's time to go'.
7.
Comfort Vendetta 03:56
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You've got comfort vendetta I know you hold against me It's time to keep it under lock and key Just walking all around it Keep steady the target moves Delight in some great fantasy for you and me Cause you know I'll settle down and take it slow fall down on the ground as the garden grows feeling all the things for me They say time heals our sorrow but time is all made up Take in the last great mystery You've got comfort vendetta I know you'll hold against me It's time to keep it under lock and key for you and me Cause you know I'll settle down and take it slow fall down on the ground as the garden grows out do it all night and never tell feeling all the things for you and me for you and me yeah
8.
Lonely Satellite 03:53
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Up on the highest ladder is a man we all know Shaking his fist at a neighbor or a car moving too slow Secretly, he’s just befuddled so confused by this life taking out all that frustration on his kids and his wife Cause this isn’t what he was promised screaming up into the night hoping to see all the comets another lonely satellite So lead us not into temptation just deliver us all a win! Cracking the culture’s foundation a real pickle we’re all in And who’s left to trust in the ether? Poison the airways and skies And even the best and the brightest need chemical compromise Cause this isn’t what he was promised screaming up into the night hoping to see all the comets another lonely satellite Way up high
9.
Silly Me 03:38
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Silly me! I thought there was something to be Hide and seek It makes no difference in your family tree Courageous! Inviting! And the day’s so exciting It’s all just minutia Don’t let anybody fool ya The morning, the evening the coming and the leaving The bed made, the washed face and back in the same place Silly me! I really thought there was something to be
10.
Dim Sun (for Everyone) 02:05
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There's a dim sun for everyone Try to hide this suicide Dim sun everybody's got one Cry, lie down, and die There's your dim sun

about

Written, arranged, composed, mixed, produced, and performed entirely by GH.

Recorded 2020-2023 at home and at various locations in East Bay, CA. Dedicated to Dad, Mark, and Ward. BMI and Earhopper Songs.

Cover photo by Matt Brown 2013 Chinatown New York City

Thank you for ears and inspiration: Rich Bennett, Nate Fink, Mike Knapp, Kristen and Parker, Angus and Lily.

credits

released June 9, 2023

‘Over four years, California’s Hoy has made an EP recorded by Steve Albini, an LP taught to his backing The Boys days before recording, detoured into a Neil Young covers EP, used Eddie Van Halen’s 2020 death to inspire a MOR/AOR hard rock EP, and now, solo, has self-recorded/produced this dark night of the soul, personal LP. It doesn’t sound like one guy overdubbing parts, but it has the confessional tone and window into a world of McCartney, Emitt Rhodes, and what Glenn Donaldson does. Built on troubled piano or spare drums and guitar, Hoy’s voice then conveys unease on appealing tunes, with even a touch of Carole King on the affecting “Today is Not the Day to Die.” You don’t have to know his dad and two acquaintances sadly did that; you can just take in the humanity captured on this expert record.’ — Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover Magazine

'Greg Hoy sits alone at the piano, gently striking some chords that could turn either bright or melancholy. “Staring at machinery/ instead of at the greenery/ and then one day it all just went away,” he sings. It becomes clear that he’s taking the darker path but that doesn’t stop “Listen Up” from rising to anthemic levels, especially when the band kicks in, and a chorus of Hoys harmonize on the second refrain. He adds some intrigue to the song because, when he sings the title, he leaves the listener hanging. Rather than following the command with any advice or commands, he just circles into the next verse.

On an album that was created following the death of several close friends and family members, “Listen Up” feels like the center piece, an arresting song that implies continuity in the face of hard times. Or maybe it just proves that Hoy can do the pianist/singer-songwriter thing as well as he can be a rocker. The latter side comes out on “Comfort Vendetta,” with a wall of ringing guitars and a vocal that falls somewhere between ’90s indie rock and wailing classic rock, drawing on the best qualities of both styles. Elsewhere, like the title track, Hoy’s voice recalls his friend John Vanderslice, though Hoy’s narrator seems to have a more honest grasp on the reality he sees, even if it sounds a bit cynical.

Hoy plays everything on Yay For Effort, but the songs shape the instrumentation, rather than vice-versa. Electric guitars give way to acoustics, drum loops take the place of live drums, which sometimes don’t arrive until after a verse or chorus. “Silly Me” even has some strings, or an approximation of them. That being said, the ten songs cover a wide swath, making a blend of ear candy that might taste bitter but it’s still candy nonetheless.' — Mike Shanley, shanleyonmusic.blogspot.com

'Greg Hoy’s latest LP ‘Yay For Effort’ is the very definition of a solitary work. He meticulously wrote, played, recorded, mixed, and mastered the 10 song LP by himself holed up in his California mountain house. The result is all the more impressive considering it was recorded in sessions between floods, fires, pandemics… and while becoming a parent for the first time.

The closing of San Francisco’s famed indie Tiny Telephone studio - where Greg first recorded after moving west in 2010 - allowed his purchase of the studio’s coveted 1970’s Eventide Harmonizer effects unit used on albums by John Vanderslice, Spoon, Sleater-Kinney, John Doe, and countless others.

This helped shape an album as varied as the FM-radio comfort food music of his youth which he revisited often over the past years including Eno-era David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, T-Rex, Elvis Costello, and early solo Peter Gabriel.

Piano and acoustic themes abound under lyrical reflections about the rapid-fire loss of several close people in his life: his father, a college bandmate, and his career mentor. Quieter, piano pop motifs are supplemented by the occasional drum loop, 80’s sample, or a familiar distorted melodic guitar of past work - yet still reflective of the energy of his live shows.

It’s reminiscent of Hoy’s first release exactly 20 years ago - another fully ‘solo’ work - finding the artist in a similarly sardonic yet more melancholy place. At the time of his first release, The Big Takeover's Jack Rabid reviewed Hoy's debut as 'the best power pop record I've heard recorded entirely by one person. Is he for real?' Make no mistake: there's still plenty of both power and pop in 'Yay For Effort' even as it's delivered in a more quiet, introspective way.

The past year also helped inspire what the artist refers to, tongue firmly in cheek, as 'The Greg Reset'. ‘My health took an interesting turn due to a tick-borne infection in 2022,' Hoy recently told Voyage Minnesota. 'It has since been a journey of gratitude, vigilance, and patience as the use of my hands and hearing came into question.' The album is also the first to be released under Hoy’s new publishing company Earhopper Songs.

Kicking off several US tours later this year, the album's title track will debut this summer along with the vinyl version of the LP. The album nicely sums up what Melody Maker said about Hoy's surprise Neil Young cover EP released last year: 'Greg Hoy is at home with surprising listeners. Be grateful for it.'' — Loretta Sweet, Sweet3

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Greg Hoy California

Plug in & play rock and roll 'loud and boisterous, delivered with attitude and flashes of wit' (Stepkid) www.thegreghoy.com

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