|tarkio|

**Latest**
Kill Rock Stars may be rereleasing Tarkio's discography as a boxed set in the not too distant future.

Tarkio was Decemberists front man Colin Meloy's band prior to forming the Decemberists. The name of the band is a small (we're talking really really small, folks) town in Western Montana. The band was from Meloy's college days at the University of Montana in Missoula; they are now defunct.

The following is all the information available at this time:

Tarkio Discography:

eponymous release
I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More LP (1998)
Sea Songs For Landlocked Sailors EP (1999)
Live on KBGA
KBGA compilation CD


Eponymous track listing:

A track listing for Tarkio's eponymous debut is not available at the time, but according to a poster on the YABB yahoogroup, it was released on tape (?) and played on KBGA, University of Missoula's radio station.



I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More
Label: Barcelona Records
Producer: Kevin Suggs

Track listing:

1. Keeping Me Awake
2. Caroline Avenue
3. Neapolitan Bridesmaid
4. Save Yourself
5. Better Half
6. Eva Luna
7. Kickaround
8. If I Had More Time
9. Sister Nebraska
10. Helena Won't Get Stoned
11. Your Own Kind
12. Candle


  • Kevin Suggs also recorded and mixed the CD.

    The liner notes to I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More:

    Tarkio is Gibson Hartwell: guitar, banjo, optigan, handclaps, voice; Colin Meloy: voice, guitar, optigan, handclaps; Louis Stein: bass guitar, voice handclaps; Brian Collins: drums, percussion, handclaps. Additional musicians included Elle Nuno: fiddle; David Casey: keyboards, mandolin; Kevin Suggs: pedal steel. This was recorded at John & Stu's in Seattle, March 16-25, 1998. Engineered by Kevin Suggs. Mastered by Max & Kevin at Martin Audio. All songs by Colin Meloy. Copyright 1998 Sangfroid Angioplasty Music. Pre-mastered by Richard Kuschell & Gibson at the Recording Center. Photography, Deisgn and Layout by Michael McDermott. Technical Design by Brock Elam. A heartfelt thanks to the following folks: Chris Field, Truxton Rolfe, Elle Nuno, David Casey, David Day, Melony Schmitz, Michelle Van Valey, Danny Pearson, Tim Bierman, Aiden Gutheridge, all the supportive musicians and venues of Missoula, Michael Steele, Eric Reiland, Katrin Geist, Bruce Wirth, Jim and Karen, Howard Kingston, Folks at 727 Woodford, Sarah Burdell, Bethany, Jaime, and Keila at Missoula's best new practice place, the Recording Center, Pleasure Magazine, Shat Upon, KBGA, Rockin' Rudy's, and all our family and friends. Extra special thanks to Kevin Suggs. Contract Tarkio at: 227 Connell, Missoula, MT. 59801: layitout@selway.umt.edu, www.bigsky.net/tarkio


    Sea Songs For Landlocked Sailors

    Track listing:

    1. Devil's Elbow
    2. Weight of the World
    3. My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist
    4. Mountains of Mourne
    5. Tristan and Iseult
    6. Never Will Marry

  • Sea Songs was released at Tarkio's last live performance in 1999 before Meloy left Missoula for Portland.
  • Track 3 is obviously a prototype of the 5 Songs track.
  • Track 4 is a cover of the Irish folk song by William Percy French.



    Live On KBGA


    Other facts:

  • Tarkio played Portland's indie rock festival NXNW. They played at 1AM at the Ash Street Saloon on August 21 (or 22), 1998. Willamette Week mistakenly printed the band's front man as Tim Bierman. The blurb is as follows:

    TARKIO
    ASH STREET SALOON
    These boys from Missoula, Mont. take a strong pop base and add a few country elements--usually fiddle and banjo--resulting in a hybrid similar to that of Wilco. Tim Bierman's boyish voice has a painfully earnest quality recalling that of Matt Wilson in his Trip Shakespeare days. Smart melodies coupled with some impressive harmonies complement Bierman's style on Tarkio's new CD, I Guess I Was Hoping for Something More. This band knows when to draw from country, but, thankfully, it never strays too far from its pop roots. (LB)

  • Information on the real Tim Bierman according to Future of America (thanks to Terry Dean Bartlett for the heads-up):

    Before joining Pearl Jam's management team, Tim helped to open Amoeba Records' in San Francisco and served as the senior buyer for the store. Prior to Amoeba, Tim co-founded and managed Rockin' Rudy's Records in Missoula, Montana where he spent 17 years making Rudy's one of the premier independent record stores in the country.

    Tim is also a professional musician who has played guitar in numerous bands over the past two decades. Most recently, Tim was a member of the band Clodhopper, which includes Danny Pearson and Tim Mooney from The American Music Club.

    Tim is a graduate of the University of Montana (1984).

  • David Casey, who played keyboards and mandolin on I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More also contributed to another of Colin Meloy's previous bands called Happy Cactus. Functioning circa 1990, there is only one surviving Happy Cactus track as far as anyone knows, a cover of the Robyn Hitchcock song "Airscape". Information on the song is as follows from the Glass Flesh website: Recorded "live" to 4-track, Christmas 1990, in David Casey's bedroom in Helena, Montana USA.

    The players:
    Paul Montagne sings and might play guitar
    Colin Meloy plays guitar
    David Casey plays keyboards
    Darrell Casey plays bass
    Jordan Anderson plays keyboards
    There may be some backing vocals by Colin and Dave (I can't recall)

    Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds was also recorded during this 'session' with the same lineup.

    Happy Cactus materialized later featuring the talents of Colin Meloy, David Casey, Deidre Casey, and Mark Schummer.

  • Tarkio also had a song called "Slow Down" featured on a KBGA compilation disc.



    Tarkio lyrics:

    Note: An attempt at an accurate transcription of all the lyrics from the LP and the EP will be posted eventually.

    From I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More:


    3. Neapolitan Bridesmaid

    Joshua smiled, said, "Listen to reason."
    Don't blame me when the walls come tumbling down
    So I was adrift on a sea of longing
    Waiting the trumpets to raise your ivory gown

    And if only time will tell
    Then I can't stand waiting
    While the lights are changing on me
    Tethered to my own free will
    If I lost this thorn from my side
    I think I died

    Albert Camus said "Living is anguish."
    But don't dare let those bastards get you down
    And if this is so then I see no reason
    Spending the evening doing anything but going downtown

    And if only time will tell
    Then I can't stand waiting
    While the lights are changing on me
    Tethered to my own free will
    If I lost this thorn from my side
    I probably died, mostly likely died
    I think I died



    4. Save Yourself

    Here there is no revelry
    The sadness needs no leavening
    So loose your boots and sit yourself down
    Deep inside the water tank
    Over by the riverbank
    There I saw my little girl drown

    Call it a detour
    Ugly and impure
    Save yourself
    Where is the life line
    Here on the highline
    Save yourself

    I came back here at 24
    My friends all say what you're doing this for
    Well my father died and passed this shit to me
    Rub my hands in turpentine
    My prospect's now being undermined
    With bankers knocking daily at my door

    Call it a detour
    Ugly and impure
    Save yourself
    Where is the life line
    Here on the highline
    Save yourself

    Lost inside the peloton
    With the Jerry Lewis telethon
    Ticking soft till I fall fast asleep
    Slipped away with candlelight
    Leather chaps and cattle drives
    This is not the life I meant to lead

    Call it a detour
    Ugly and impure
    Save yourself
    But where is the life line
    Here on the highline
    Save yourself

    Save yourself


    5. Tender The Light

    Tender the light, I left you for your better half
    Tender the light, I left you for your better half
    It's not better by half

    But I'm not the only one who let you down
    I'm not the only one who
    I'm not the only one who
    Turn your head around
    Turn your offer down
    Tender the light
    I left you for your better half

    Sweet was the wine
    Sweet was the opium-fettered soul
    Sweet was the wine
    Sweet was the opium-fettered soul
    And I lost control

    But I'm not the only one who let you down
    I'm not the only one who
    I'm not the only one who
    Turn your head around
    Turn your offer down
    Tender the light
    I left you for your better half

    This is the light
    List the coordinates of your heart
    This is the light
    This is the crank shaft of your car
    It's not better by far

    But I'm not the only one who let you down
    I'm not the only one who
    I'm not the only one who
    Turn your head around
    Turn your offer down
    Tender the light
    I left you for your better half

    **Thanks to Kim for offering "offer" in place of "upper" in this song.



    From Sea Songs For Landlocked Sailors:

    3. Tristan and Iseult

    "Would you like to go out tonight?" said Tristan to Iseult.
    "It's a lovely night to go to the Odeon, sit in the back row.
    I'm sick of staying in, oh."

    So they threw on some clothes, walked slowly down the street.
    Lit by lantern light, through the market square.
    Studied the marquee. Bought two tickets and some popcorn.

    And on the screen the hero stands.
    The female lead, hand in hand.
    And says, "God I love you, but you trouble me."
    She pushes him away.
    And as the credits rolled, Tristan turned to Iseult,
    Said, "What did you think?"
    "It was OK I guess. But that story's pretty old.
    It's a bit cliched and hackneyed I thought, I thought."

    And back out on the street, they stopped for some ice cream,
    Talking quietly. There was nobody in the room in which they sat.
    As he reached across the table, and just as their fingers crossed,
    Timidly he whispered softly and says, "God I love you but you trouble me."
    Said Tristan to Iseult.
    Said Tristan to Iseult.


    Credits: Band member info and Live on KBGA artwork (illustration by Carson Ellis presumably?) from the Missoula Independent; label info, I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More cover artwork, and producer info thanks to Kevin Suggs (thanks to Christopher Hintz for tracking this down); humor from Willamette Week.