"Let's Get Nervous" by Fuzzy Slippers (Inter-Review)

HAPPY FRIDAY, EVERYONE!!!!!  We have a very, very special inter-review today.  This review was meant to be published all the way back in January!  Well, at first, I wanted to wait to write this review until after the Fuzzy Slippers album release show.  But, that show was actually SHUT DOWN before the band of the hour could perform. 

So then, once the album release show was rescheduled, I once again attended, and was blown away by the space, the sound, the incredible performance, and the cocomelon projected behind my favorite fuzzball boys.

 “Okay, so that still doesn’t explain why this is being published ten months late?!” you might be thinking.  I dunno, man.  Shit happens, or whatever.  But of course I wasn’t going to forget about my homies.  Fuzzy Slippers is an anxiety-punk band from Philadelphia, PA. featuring Andy on guitar and vocals, Mickey on bass, Ryan on guitar and trombone, and Nick on drums.  “Let’s Get Nervous” is the debut album of Fuzzy Slippers, released on January 18th, 2025.  Without any further ado, let’s get nervous.

Fighting Stance:

The opening track of the album, “Fighting Stance”, was the third and final single released, and it is the only single from Fuzzy Slippers that was NOT specifically reviewed on my site (Fuzzy Slippers began to resent me after my scathing reviews of “Feel Sick” and “Cars”, as well as my libelous interviews, but look who finally came crawling back!)  Anyway, this song is a banger.  I’ll be honest, the first time I listened to this track, I thought it wasn’t as good as “Feel Sick” (not BAD, just not as good) but, I think in hindsight, it’s probably because I spent so much time with “Feel Sick” for our original Inter-Review that it was hard to let anything else in and dethrone it.  But, this isn’t an album ranking, so let’s actually get into why this song is such a strong opener.  The song starts off with the drums, guitar, and a very catchy bassline all at once, not wasting any time.  In classic Fuzzy Slippers fashion, the lyrics are fun, catchy, and mildly self-deprecating; this song, in particular, revolves around themes of masculinity and stereotypical gender roles, poking holes and taking jabs at the concept.  

“Dad was watching football I was

wishing we had a second TV and

thinking I'd never feel that way

about damn near anything

so I would root for the bad guys

and hope that your QB got injured

I just wanted to watch cartoons

you just wanted me to be more like

my sister”

Immediately capturing very recognizable imagery of a father-figure ignoring their kid in favor of watching football, a sport that is, in every sense of the word, barbaric (GO BIRDS!), but also viewed as a very “manly” or “tough guy” activity.  I love the way these verses really tap into childhood pettiness and spite.  As someone who has never been viewed as a “man’s man”, I can absolutely relate to this weird cult of masculinity and testosterone that certain men have, and especially when I was a child, I did not give a single shit about watching sports, I wanted to play The Simpsons: Hit & Run and watch season 1-3 of Spongebob.  Of course the lyrics “you just wanted me to be more like my sister” is a twist on the classic “couldn’t you just be more like your brother” and along the lines of “you throw like a girl”, but now adding even more emasculation and misogyny by including a sister.  The dad is essentially saying “not only are you not a man, you’re even less than a WOMAN!”  This is also very funny when you think of those weird ass families that have a baby boy and immediately put a football in his hands, or when dads have full-blown temper tantrums when they find out they’re having a daughter instead of a son.

“Behold the fighting stance of those who never really learned to fight

studied up on dragon ball but never got the kaioken quite right

witness the awesome power of those who mostly mutter under breath

why risk physical injury when passive aggression's never failed me yet”

The chorus kicks right in with belting vocals from Andy.  I love that Fuzzy Slippers frequently writes love letters to “nerd-culture”, here they include Dragon Ball and in later choruses they also reference Yu Yu Hakusho and Sailor Moon.  It is incredible how in just a few lines, Fuzzy Slippers always make it easy for me to visualize a scene in which all of this is taking place.  I can picture Andy’s bald adult head on a small child’s body trying to lift his fists up but struggling over the weight of his own arms, shaking and shivering with anxiety, and it is hilarious but also incredibly real.  As a kid, I was so fueled by spite and passive aggression and I was always itching for someone to mess with me until I could finally snap and actually stand up for myself, but in reality, I’d probably just walk away with a broken nose, cracked ribs, and shattered hands.  It also reminds me of how it feels to fight someone in your dreams, just flailing and missing and perpetually begging the dream universe to allow one single punch to land.  

“shipped off to build character

or at least one he'd prefer

the other indoor kids weren't much support

with the big kids hunting me for sport

soon I'm knocked down by some tough guy so I

cough up dirt and curl knuckle

next time I try to hit below the belt

I'll focus on avoiding the buckle

icing my hand at first aid when they make the call

tell my parents that I broke it playing football”  

At first glance, “shipped off” made me think of something like military school (remember when every children’s movie or cartoon used the threat of military school as the antagonist?  I mean, fair, I get it, fuck the military, but isn’t it weird that was such a common trope for at least two decades?) but with the context of the verses, it seems like the narrator was simply sent to summer camp of some sort, but I love that their interpretation is so exaggerated, AS IF they actually are being sent to war.  The idea of the “indoor kids” is so funny because the dad in this song probably figured “oh, cool, a bunch of these big, strong boys will whip my son into shape!” and then sure enough, he was just sent to hang out with a bunch of goofy societal rejects like himself.  I absolutely love the irony when Bible thumper parents send their queer children to conversion camps and they just end up having gay sex the entire time.  That’s the truest form of protest.  Everybody start having gay sex NOW!!!!  But, unfortunately, this was not a camp full of isolated weirdos, there were big kids beating up and bullying my poor Baby Andy.  If any of you mess with one single hair on Andy’s beard, you’ll have to answer to CD-ROM Rabbit Hole (left fist is CD-ROM, right fist is Rabbit Hole), but I might also be sobbing and snotting all over the place, so you might just want to avoid the confrontation altogether.  As I alluded to early, I love when the losers finally try standing up for themselves, but also, the visual of someone trying to throw a punch and breaking it on a belt buckle is absolutely top-tier.  Fuzzy Slippers write songs in a similar fashion as I do; I love the self deprecation, but also taking something that could be seen as a sad subject (like disappointing your father) but really poking fun at yourself as well as the entire concept.  I love a song that is upbeat and catchy but when you analyze the lyrics, you have a moment of “wait, what the fuck???”   The true irony of this song is that Fuzzy Slippers actually consists SOLELY of manly men.  Nick is the most ripped man I’ve ever seen in my entire life, Ryan is eight feet tall for some goddamn reason, Andy is BALD with a BEARD, and Mickey is seriously one scary motherfucker.  

Feel Sick:

Hey, so maybe you are new here.  Clearly, you don’t understand how things work around here.  Well, I think we have to teach you a lesson!  I already reviewed “Feel Sick” way back in October of 2024, so maybe you should check that out, actually.  Read the original Inter-Review with Fuzzy Slippers HERE!  Anyway, the song slapped back then, and the song still slaps today, and it will still slap in a year from now.  

Cars: 

Me, personally, I love getting hit by cars.  Once again, I’m ripping you off and demanding you go read the review I wrote back in the good ole days.  Check it out HERE!

Born To Pun (A Lesser Vice):

Have you not gotten the memo yet???  Go over to CD-ROM Rabbit Hole and read the rev-... wait a second…I haven’t reviewed this song yet?  Well, goddammit, I guess I need to do some work now.  The slacking was fun while it lasted.  This song is kind of hard to write about, from the title alone you learn this is a song created by puns.  Typically, I would just go through some lyrics and overexplain and analyze them, but I fear that explaining the puns in the lyrics kind of kills the joke.  As I am typing these words, I’m actually stalling and bulking up the arbitrary word count of this review, but also, I’m still deciding how I want to attack this beast.  Have you guys seen Mickey?  Tell me why that man is the most beautiful man I’ve ever laid my eyes on.  If you’re actually reading this, sound off in the comments about how dropdead gorgeous Mickey is.  Anyway, song about puns, okay okay okay, I got this.  I was amazed to look at the length of this song, because as I was listening to it, I felt as though it was MAYBE a minute or two long, but it’s actually just short of three minutes, which I guess is a testament to how well paced it is.  The song starts with our classic clean Fuzzy Slippers guitar tone for a few strums before the rest of the instruments all join in.  Even if you don’t catch all the puns in this song, or even all the words in general because Andy sings so crazy fast, you’ll at the very least be piping up during the chorus, especially when he sings “if i could somehow just get a grip on things”.  I think writing a song consisting of puns is a super clever way to convey the feeling of being misunderstood or never saying the right thing.  I fear that people may miss a lot of the genius and intricacies in some of their lyrics.  They are very talented musicians and obviously smart songwriters; every single song has at least one moment that gets stuck in my head for the whole day after listening, but there are so many little details that are so easily overlooked or accidentally missed.  Fuzzy Slippers is a group of some of the funniest, smartest, vulnerable, honest, and down-to-earth people I have EVER met, I seriously hope you’ll take the time to give this song some recognition.  

Generic Punk Song:

On my way to work today, I was listening to this album on repeat, and when this song came up, I always needed to add “People” by Andrew Jackson Jihad (fuck calling them AJJ) to the queue.  Honestly, I don’t know why.  Yeah, they kind of sound similar, but not blatantly obvious.  Maybe it’s just more of a vibe.  It is funny this song is called “Generic Punk Song” because this is a “generic” FOLK-punk song if I’ve EVER heard one.  But, to be fair, “Generic Folk-Punk Song” doesn’t have as good of a ring to it.  If anything, I’d assume that song would dispense a horrible scent out of my computer speakers.  Speaking of which, when are we going to implement scratch-n-sniff technology into more things?  I love scratching things, and I love sniffing things.  Wait a second…okay anyway, “Generic Punk Song” starts with some background chatter and a twangy acoustic guitar lick before the rest of the band pops up with their folk-y/country sound riffs.  I LOVE the lyrics of this song, almost every single line is a homerun.

“Let's all watch a fucking sitcom

let's all nuke some mac n cheese

we can make an indentation in the sofa

let's all go get heart disease”

I know this song is poking fun, but to be honest, I would love to watch a fucking sitcom with mac and cheese in my lap while I slowly kill myself on the couch.  It reminds me of those people in WALL-E that are all floating around in those things that look like Yoda’s stupid floating chair from the prequel trilogy of Star Wars.  You guys get that reference, right?  People know Star Wars and WALL-E, I’m not going to worry about it.  Anyway, I can’t wait for robots to exercise my brittle bones for me.  

“Let's all revive the economy

let's all buy stuff we don't need

we can build a mall on top of anything

till then we can just shop on QVC”

Okay, I don’t know who Andy thinks he is, but he sure is asking a lot from me.  Personally, I don’t feel like reviving the economy, but I do enjoy buying things I don’t need.  In all seriousness, I’ve lived in this country long enough that any major corporation is problematic and has plenty of skeletons in their closets, so I was curious to see if there were any serious controversies involving QVC that I wasn’t aware of.  Well, of course there are.  QVC has had problems involving racism and fraud, amongst plenty of other things.  I feel similarly to this song as I do with “Born To Pun” because so much of this societal criticism is blatantly obvious, at least to me, and I feel incredibly silly trying to hand-hold someone’s way through this album.  I feel like one could understand this album and enjoy it, or have it go entirely over their head, in which case, they’re clearly not the target audience.  But also, I run a website that’s all about reviewing music and doing lyrical analysis, soooooooooo…rock and a hard place, I guess?  I’m not going to insult my readers’ intelligence, but I do like this tongue in cheek look on greed and capitalism.  

“who cares what happens to the earth four hundred years from now

we'll be long dead anyhow

why should we waste our time making the world a better place

it's no fun to save the human race”

The chorus is super catchy and has a silly dichotomy because, on one hand, if we’re relating it all back to the title (which, like, we probably shouldn’t, but also it’s worth acknowledging) it has a “generic punk song” sentiment as far as the nihilistic perspective.  However, the way I personally read the lyrics is poking fun at arguments made by past generations;  those old people who are set in their ways and don’t care what happens to the planet or the people on it because they have all the money in the world and can’t wait to die in five days (probably).  

“let's invade someone else's country

let's all drive big SUVs

we can start a fire in the forest

bring mother nature to her goddamn knees”

I tried to find a list of every country the US has invaded, and honestly it’s easier to just say “all of them, for the most part” than it is to actually find a clear, concise list.  Anyway, fuck America and free Palestine.  The sun never sets over the countries we have brutalized.  “Let’s all drive big SUVs” reminds me of another Andrew Jackson Jihad song, “No More Tears”, specifically the line “no more SUVs and no more Hummers”.  Same exact sentiment but AJJ is saying it directly and literally, Fuzzy Slippers is acknowledging the absurdist nature of someone morally disagreeing with that statement.  I know they’re everywhere, but genuinely, what kind of sociopath wakes up in the morning and says “I can’t wait to get in my car (let’s face it, we all know it’s a truck driver) and fill it with diesel so the planet can die faster”?    In regards to starting forest fires, I have a fun story I can share because this is my website and my review and I do what I want.  We’re done talking about Fuzzy Slippers, this is all about ME now.  One time in middle school, a group of jocks went to the woods to smoke weed, as you do in middle school, and one of them had the genius idea to see what would happen if they put the lighter up to a pine tree.  Well, the answer to their quandary was: you burn down three acres of pine trees, apparently.  Wow, who knew putting fire up to flammable objects was a bad idea.  Anyway, we can get back to the Hey, Arnold! band now.  The world is on fire.  You’re on fire, I’m on fire, this album is fire, everything is on fire, and I think we all forgot to bring ingredients for s’mores.  The chorus repeats, this time with some alternate lyrics:“let's all bring forth the apocalypse

let's take the time to make ice nine then at least there'd be no mud

come on let's do it for the misremembered good old days

let's all let the streets run red with blood”

I had to look up what ice nine is because I have only ever heard those words paired together in the context of the band Ice Nine Kills, and to be completely honest, I never had the slightest clue what the fuck “Ice Nine Kills” means, and I never cared enough to find out.  But, anyway, ice nine is a fictional crystal from Kurt Vonnegut's book “Cat’s Cradle”.  Now we know, wow.  As the lyrics get more morbid and intense, so does the vocal delivery.  As the lyrics come to an end, the song concludes with a very nice, fuzzy guitar solo and some more foley of a crowd chattering and cheering, with a nice inclusion of a dog barking.  What a good boy.  

For the Police:

This song begins with a very soft, quiet guitar intro, and is quickly shoved away by the banging of cymbals.  As the whole band pipes up (including the horns), the song quickly rushes into itself.  This song is filled with beautiful irony and, once again, plenty of jokes, this time, at the expense of the police.  Now, something very important about CD-ROM Rabbit Hole is that we wholeheartedly believe in ACAB.  Thankfully, I don’t think I’ve ever had to deny an artist a review due to the contents of their music, but I will absolutely not tolerate any cops, narcs, misogynists, nazis, racists, homophobes, transphobes, xenophobes, zionists, fascists, or any type of fuckin’ weirdo trying to submit their music for review.  If that day ever comes, I will be so happy to tell them to bite the curb and drop dead.  So yeah, add that to my Wikipedia page or whatever.  Fuck cops.  This song has a great ensemble of instruments filling out the mix, giving a great energy, speed, and soundtrack to a high speed chase.  

“I ran the red light after coming to a complete stop

I guess I thought it changed I was distracted by the cop

he pulled up in the lane beside me and we locked eyes

so much for that left turn that his signal signified”

The first verse is a great example of how cops loom over EVERYONE, even people who have nothing to hide and have committed no crimes, everyone gets nervous and uneasy around the police.  Cops are fueled by people’s anxieties and love to use that as an excuse to mess with innocent people so they can give out tickets or throw minorities in prison so they can meet their monthly quota.  Hey, here’s a fun fact:  did you know that around 40% of police officers are also domestic abusers?  Who would’ve guessed that the high school dropouts that demand to hold guns and have a major power imbalance over everyone could be abusive?  Wow, well, I guess we should just accept that truth and never do anymore research into why these people are the way they are!  Seems perfectly fine for a functioning society to have a glorified military walking around and hiding behind bushes.  Protect and serve, my ass.  This is a chaotic review, and I hope you’ve realized by now that I will continue going on my tangents.  But, if just one single person reads this review and comes out of it with the newfound belief that they hate cops, then I’ll be happy.  

“every time those guys show up

it’s all cuffs and broken jaws

but man if not for the police

I swear I'd never break the law”

Police love to exaggerate and overreact because they have the power to.  What are we supposed to do?  Fight back?  And spend the rest of our lives in prison?  I mean, worth it to punch a cop, but not really the most feasible option unfortunately.  They’ll pull you up to say you have a headlight out, and then all of a sudden you’re thrown to the ground, getting kicked in the ribs as asphalt and gravel get in your eyes and mouth.  I’m going to make a very specific reference that I hope you all understand, or at least care enough to look up the five second clip, and it’s relevant, but I’ll be honest, it’s not relevant enough for me to be going this in depth to make a reference to it.  But, there’s an episode of The Simpsons where they are going to an amusement park, and on their way, they are stopped at a checkpoint to make sure they don’t have any fruits or vegetables in the car.  Homer gets all nervous and as Marge tries to calm him down, he reveals “the whole trunk’s full of them, Marge!” and then barrels through the stop as hundreds of fruits and vegetables fly out of their car all over the road.  I bring this up, simply because this song makes me imagine Andy as Homer in that situation, and that is so incredibly funny to me.  So, instead of actually working on this review that needs to be finished in two hours, I spent ten minutes making this meme:  

But honestly, you don’t even need to have a ton of fruits and/or vegetables in your car, the cops will just plant it on you and frame you anyway! 

“heading south down west street I caught sight of boys in blue

so instinct took me north and I fell hard into some dude

his wallet hit the ground and as I tried to hand it back

the fuzz showed up again and nearly beat me half to death”

This verse gives more absurdist (but honestly, genuinely possible) scenarios of cops going on a power trip all over something as unserious as a simple misunderstanding.  ACAB includes “the fuzz” but if you add “y Slippers” to it, that is no longer included.    

“there were beatings and more ER trips

and I grew real fond of morphine drips

and so I started stealing cars

I expect to be indefinitely behind bars”

I want to highlight this stanza specifically because it strays slightly from solely discussing the horrible corruption of the police, but it also addresses a major issue in our healthcare system.  People get hurt, for whatever reason, end up in the hospital, get prescribed medicine, get addicted, have no resources to kick their addiction, and then get thrown into jail for being a drug addict.  It’s exactly what makes the world go round.  Goddamn I hate this country.  This song is, obviously, iconic.  Besides the police, who doesn’t love a song about hating the police?  Blue lives don’t fucking matter because blue lives aren’t real.  Do your community a favor and punch your local nazi, pedophile, and abuser; you could kill three birds with one stone if you just punch a cop.  This is a great song and if you have an issue with it, you should check your privilege and check what side of history you’re on because one day the cops will be busting down your door and they’re not going to give a shit about your American flag with a blue line on it.  Once you’ve listened to this entire album a minimum of eighteen times, you should also go over to my Bandcamp page and listen to GUTTER PEARL’s cover of this song HERE!  And maybe if you really like it, you might consider purchasing it for one dollar and donating to a good cause.  Okay, ad read is over.  No more soliciting in the Fuzzy Slippers Inter-Review.  

Harriet:

They’ve done it again.  They’ve written another song that involves a reference I don’t understand and needed to Google.  I’m fairly positive, at the very least the namesake of Harriet, is a reference to the movie “So I Married an Axe Murderer”, but as I’ve never seen the movie, any other potential references are completely lost on me.  The song opens with a very reverbed guitar tone, slowly strummed.  In between the first two stanzas, the band joins in with a great banging on beat altogether, and the drums really get an opportunity to shine and show off on this track.  If I relied on my knowledge of a Mike Myers movie to write this review, I would have nothing written, so I’ll just take the song as is and explain my thoughts on it solely as it’s written.  

“hit the interstate with my shitbox of a car

sounding like it wants to rattle apart

couldn't make it half a mile before my thoughts came back to you

and it wasn't half a mile more, when the car died right on cue”

All too relatable driving a car that is absolutely going to kill you, everyone you love, and everyone else on the road.  We’ve all been there, right?  Right?  It seems this song is positively reminiscing on a cutesy relationship, but also longing for it now that it’s over, or just longing for the person whenever they are not in direct proximity.  While driving, thoughts arise of Harriet, and to add insult to injury, the shitbox car dies, perpetuating the time until the narrator will next see Harriet.  

“sitting by my stop, swinging your feet

lo and behold, sweet harriet saving me a seat

frankly you're a saint for even picking up the phone

sweet, sweet harriet i'm coming home

coming home”

The chorus differs slightly in each iteration, but essentially revolves around the idea that Harriet gets caught doing the bare minimum of human decency, and this narrator is so smitten by someone finally being even the slightest bit kind to them.  In a way, it is cute to see someone so interested in someone for the little things they do/have done.  

“one day I'll learn there just ain't no escape

your hooks and my sense of self reliance

never will equate

and I know that some part of you feels the same way too

but I like feeling safe and warm and codependent on you”

This whole stanza is about letting your guard down, changes you make to yourself to please someone else, and briefly acknowledging that this will never be possible as a long-term situation, there’s simply too much incompatibility, but for the meantime, love-bombing and honeymoon stage can feel pretty nice while it last.  Wait a second… “  and I know I'm at home with you.  And I'm sure I'll feel home sick again soon” …what was that?  Feel…feel (home) sick?!?!?!?  Fuzzy Slippers reference on this Fuzzy Slippers album?!?!?!  No flippin’ way, dude!

As the song builds, a warbly phase on the guitar becomes more and more prominent, and hey, guess what, Nick is still crushing it on the drums.  Yeah, that’s right, I said it.  The drummer of Fuzzy Slippers knows how to drum, who woulda thunk’d it??? 

Party With A Dead Guy:

Easily one of the most underrated songs on this album, the eighth song on the album is absolutely hysterical and so unbelievably catchy.  If for nothing else, getting to hear Andy say “shindig” is just the silliest thing I’ve ever experienced.  This song’s got it all: a sick bassline, Andy’s infamous fast singing, party energy, and a dead guy.  What more could you POSSIBLY ask for?  This is the Halloween song of our generation; back the FUCK up “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, Fuzzy Slippers will take it from here.  So basically, you guys ever get dragged to a party you don’t want to go to, you don’t know anyone, you’re socially awkward and anxious, and when you finally get the courage to speak to someone, BADABING BADABOOM, uh oh, he’s dead.  If I had a nickel, dude.  Andy’s usage of his vocal cords is always wild, and I love how he gets progressively more and more distressed as the song goes on.  I would trust the members of Fuzzy Slippers to properly dispose of my body if I were found lifeless at a party.  Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, that’s how I want to go out.  I want to slip into the sweet, peaceful bliss of death at a party with Fuzzy Slippers in attendance.  This is absolutely one of my favorite tracks on the album, it is so fun and lighthearted in the craziest ways.  I’m really trying to pad…the…word…count as much as possible but in all reality, this song is incredible and I don’t think anyone needs much of an explanation of what “Party With A Dead Guy” could possibly be about.  I hate doing this, but this is one of those songs that I think is just better to listen to and enjoy on its own without me trying to find a dozen different ways to say “it’s a song about going to a party and getting overshadowed by a corpse”.   I sincerely hope you are all listening to this album alongside my review, because you’re a freak weirdo if you read a review of an album without actually listening to the review.  Listen to the song, damn you.  

Texas:

I can’t hold it in anymore.  This song is a spiritual successor to “Ohio (Come Back To Texas)” by Bowling For Soup.  I don’t make the rules, and honestly, in context, this statement actually falls apart horribly, but actually no it doesn’t, because I said so.  How am I supposed to review a song about Texas without bringing Bowling For Soup into this?  The opening guitar has a wonderfully staticky and fuzzy tone, and I will permanently hear Andy singing “parcheesi” whenever that guitar lick plays.  Andy really understands what the masses want; we want to hear him say weird words that sound funny.  This song throws back to childlike angst, similar to “Fighting Stance”, and I have to imagine the dad from that song would also frequently bring his family to Texas for vacation.  

"Everything's flat. I don't like that

and no one seems alarmed that everyone's armed

fire ants and alligators, tornadoes and high tide

so not only am I stuck in Texas, but I can't even go outside”

These lyrics are actually my favorite thing that Dr. Seuss has ever written.  And I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that “tornadoes” is pronounced like “tornaders”.  Those damn tornaders always screwing with my damn potaters and tomacco plants.  In case you were wondering, here is a list of just SOME of the worst games the Dallas Cowboys have ever played:

44-0: vs. Chicago Bears in 1985

54-13: vs. Minnesota Vikings in 1970

48-7: vs. Cleveland Browns in 1960

43-3: vs. Minnesota Vikings in 1988

47-9: vs. Detroit Lions in 2024

45-7: vs. Green Bay Packers in 2010

44-6: vs. Philadelphia Eagles in 2008 (Go Birds!)

38-0: vs. St. Louis Cardinals in 1970

45-7: vs. Baltimore Colts in 1960

So, statistically, yes, the cowboys DO suck.  Fuck the cowboys, GO BIRDS!

Dirt Song:

I don’t know about you guys, but I frequently find myself in situations where the smartest choice would be to shut the fuck up, but I keep speaking and grab a shovel to keep digging further down through rock bottom until I’ve found a good spot for my own grave.  I’d like to hone in on the second stanza because, frankly, I didn’t understand any of these references whatsoever. 

“I didn't have much to say until you brought out the old crow

at first thought I was smart, but now I'm down here alone

the room holds its breath, a priest appears and recites

peter 5:7 as the shovel strikes

and I must not be digging right, I feel like I'm using a spoon”

I believe “old crow” is a type of bourbon, implying that a drinking habit is the root of this self-destructive digging.  Alcoholism being a slippery slope, and forming a deep hole around yourself isn’t super good for self-preservation if you didn’t bring an escape rope.  There is also a sense of digging upwards, in addition to going deeper and deeper.  There is an irony in digging a grave for yourself while simultaneously trying to dig yourself OUT of the situation.  According to my brief research, Peter 5:7 is a verse that essentially says “cast your anxieties on God because he cares about you”, but in this context, the religious fallback is not bringing comfort or solutions, the shovel keeps digging as the narrator rejects help and feels trapped.  Switching out the shovel for a spoon in the metaphor reiterates the feeling of being trapped and yearning for freedom because it invokes imagery of prisoners who use spoons to carve holes in their cells as an attempt to escape.  At first, I didn’t think there would be much to this song.  Especially coming off of less serious songs, I was surprised to see how genuinely serious this song is.  The instrumentals don’t scream “Fuzzy Slippers”, they really broaden their style for this one.  The music sounds a lot darker and grittier than, probably, any other song on this album.  The lead guitar contributes so much and really brings out the anxiety of the situation.  

“and I'm so determined to survive that if they

ever wanna bury me at all they'll have to bury me alive

so determined to survive

that if they bury me at all they'll have to bury me”

As if friends, family, and loved ones all view the narrator as someone who’s “too far gone” or even “dead to me”, they are still trying to get clean and fix their behaviors and lifestyle, saying that they refuse to let it end this way.  Everyone else can give up on them, but they’re not giving up on themselves, and they’re not going down without a serious fight.  

Pigeons:

In middle school, I was gifted the nickname “Pigeonface” because, according to all my friends at the time, my nose thoroughly resembles the beak of a pigeon.  I fully embrace that nickname and still go by it to this day.  I love pigeons so much, definitely Top 3 birds ever (GO BIRDS!).  Pigeons are so incredibly smart, and the poor things are so widely hated by people, like they’re a parasite of highly populated cities.  But in reality, our asshole ancestors decided to domesticate these genius birds and use them for various tasks, primarily carrying letters.  But, when we finally came up with a more optimal system for delivering things, we deemed pigeons obsolete and just set them off the fend for themselves after generations of us fucking them over.  I simply do not have the time to go on a spiel about pigeons and why they deserve love and kindness.  This is a dark song (not in sound, but content) while simultaneously being a really beautiful and sweet love song to pigeons.  

“When they start to drop the bombs

and no one's left to listen to my songs

I might not feel compelled to practice my art

but I'll still feed the pigeons in the park

when the mutant hordes rise up in the streets

and they loot pet stores solely for their meats

when mankind decides to leave its final mark

I'll still feed the pigeons in the park”

In classic Fuzzy Slippers fashion, we get very sci-fi-esque imagery of mutants and “Mad Max wannabes” in a larger than life way, but also makes you think “okay, but what if…”  Despite all the bombs dropping and zombies roaming the streets, despite how terrible everything is at any given time, there will always be comfort in sitting in the park and engaging with nature and wildlife.  Honestly, as devastating as it is, there is definitely a soothing and somewhat meditative feeling that comes to me from the idea of being the only man alive and your sole purpose is to keep the pigeons company and fed.  As far as instrumentals, it feels pretty simple, nothing super out-there or crazy as far as this band tends to go, but the horn section definitely needs to be acknowledged.  It is an imperative addition to make this song as effective as it is.  The vocals progressively build, and by the end we get fantastic harmonies that feel powerful and sincere about the message they’re shouting.  This is a must-listen song for any Fuzzy fans.

Scirocco:

Fuzzy Slippers really decided to put their longest song at the end of the album because they knew I’d be writing this review up until the last possible minute, and they wanted me to rip out my hair trying to deal with a five minute long song at 11:45 on a Thursday night.  Everyone is out to get me, it’s me against the world (and Fuzzy Slippers).  Easily the most calm and slow song on the album, we are greeted by some new instruments and some very atmospheric vibes.  This is exactly the type of song that you sway back and forth to while listening.  Lighters up, everyone, lighters in the air!!!  “Scirocco” is a lyrically rich, introspective, and slightly sardonic song that uses the imagery of a picturesque, Mediterranean-like landscape to explore themes of disillusionment, stagnation, climate fatigue, and resigned inertia.  If I understand correctly (don’t shoot me, I’m clearly uneducated and just another example of how the American Schooling System has failed) Scirocco is a dry, dusty wind that blows over the Mediterranean from the Sahara.  

“oh sure it’s perfectly picturesque

like something Norman Rockwell might have tried to address

but i mean like if he hadn't been

so decidedly American”

This is immediately ironic. The speaker is acknowledging the beauty of the setting but undercuts it with an almost jaded tone. Rockwell represents idealized Americana, clean, nostalgic, wholesome. This landscape is beautiful, but in a way that’s not comforting, if anything, it could even be more alienating.

"and every Spring the desert breeze arrives

drives the women mad and kills off all the olive flies

already I’ve had my fill of dry heat and sand

come fall we will pick fruit but for now we will harvest wind"

This stanza offers the emotional core of the song.  The desert breeze is personified by driving the women mad and kills pests. It’s both a natural cycle and a symbol of how the environment affects mental states.  "Harvesting wind" is a poetic phrase suggesting futility; you’re working, enduring, waiting, but gathering nothing tangible. It’s an evocative way of expressing existential exhaustion.  “Scirocco” is a beautifully written piece of existential folk-poetry. It critiques the way we romanticize slow or rural living without acknowledging the emotional and economic costs. The song’s strength is how it’s bitter, dry, and quietly heartbreaking, like the climate it describes.

Chemical Book Fair:

We’re back to the silly Slippers that we know and love.  This is an absolutely incredible finale to an absolutely incredible album.  We follow up the longest song on the album with the shortest, being just barely one minute long.  This song, similar to this inter-review, is incredibly chaotic, but a lot of fun. This was immediately my favorite as of my first time hearing it.  It is short, sweet, funny, and utilizes all of the band’s resources at once. Even the title itself is comedically contradictory, partnering a book fair, something full of childhood naivete and whimsy, with chemicals, something toxic, dangerous, and a symbol of warfare.  We start with a simultaneous acoustic guitar partnered with the opening lyrics, “It's no normal day for my fourth grade class, come get your corndogs and your mustard gas.”  It’s a pretty blatant joke, but I love that the English language decided to name a deadly gas after mustard.  Partnering a corndog with mustard gas is such a silly play-on-words, it’s so simple but so brilliant.  We continue twisting our childhood nostalgia and making it jokingly morbid, that is, if it wasn’t already.  For example, the song references Harry Potter.  Of course, it’s okay if you enjoy Harry Potter, especially if you grew up with the books or movies before we all agreed that JK Rowling is an absolute freak scumbag weirdo lady.  There is something so visceral about hearing a group of cheery voices singing “the CIA is putting drugs in the water” all in unison.  I want nothing more than to scream that with a large group of people at a Fuzzy Slippers show.  Once you’ve finished reading this Inter-Review, I want you all to do a little Googling about a silly ole thing called “MK Ultra”.  But anyway, Miss Frizzle has definitely been documented committing war crimes, and I KNOW she’ll do more.  Miss Frizzle is unstoppable and she’s fueled by some next level evil.

Thank you all so much for reading this review and listening to “Let’s Get Nervous” by Fuzzy Slippers.  PLEASE make sure to continue on to read my interview with Ryan, Nick, Mickey, and Andy, we had a great time!     

Interview:

Hey guys! It's great to have you back for another inter-review. Huge congrats on the release of this album!  I think we need to talk about the infamous album release show at [REDACTED].  Tell me how that gig came about and how it all went down, and what are your feelings about the whole situation?  Luckily, you were able to book a follow up album release show, also tell me a little bit about that show!

Mickey: The actual set-up of the original gig was mostly just a matter of information gathering and sending a lot of emails to a lot of bands, venues, and promoters to try to get something going with bands we love in a space we would be honored to play! We had hiccups that entire day, which started with our buds in Hot Seat having to drop the show for a pet emergency (the cat is okay!!), and we had to scramble to find a fill-in. Big shouts out to Hot Seat for suggesting Ranchos, and to Ranchos for being able to hop on the bill right away! And as anybody who was there remembers, we ended up selling that show out so hard that the fire marshal came and shut it down right before we were set to play. We were pretty upset, but we rallied and brought the group down to a bar around the corner to hang out and still celebrate the album release together. Thankfully, Trash Boy pulled through and offered us their DIY spot to host our record release show about a month later! We have a recording of that whole performance that we’ve been sitting on and waiting to release, so maybe that will drop soon? Maybe this is us announcing that? Everybody stay tuned, probably.

Quite a few of the songs on this album were originally released on a Live Album back in 2019.  How do you feel now that these songs have finally gotten a proper release?  Was there ever a conversation about whether or not all these older songs would join you for the debut album? 

Ryan: There was a lot of conversation! Many of these songs went through pretty significant transformations between the Live Acoustic album and this. I think our feeling was that the presentation was so different that they almost felt like new songs, and deserved to be presented and celebrated as such.

What did the writing process for this album look like?  Who wrote what parts of what songs, how did you all work together to make a cohesive project you were all happy with?

Ryan: The writing process was long and varied for each song. Some songs, like Feel sick, predate Fuzzy Slippers by quite a while. They were written wholly by Andy, and have been slowly tweaked and altered over the years to fit the new form. Other ones, like Dirt Song, are newer, more collaborative songs that were written by several of us. In all cases, it’s a slow process of constantly tweaking and re-tweaking until everything functions how we want it too. In fact, if you dig around on Youtube, you can find an old version of Cars that is radically different from how it ended up.

One interesting one is Chemical Book Fair, which came about during Covid; we challenged each other to write ‘micro-songs’ just to keep our energy up. Somehow, that one made it onto the album. Maybe the rest will appear later!

What are your favorite songs on the album?  Why are they your favorites?

Mickey: My favorite songs are Cars, Pigeons, and Scirocco. Cars in part because it’s our catchiest song, to me it’s the most Top Hit adjacent. It’s also one of our most intricately-composed songs, and I think all of that thoughtfulness in how it was constructed really pays off. Pigeons because it feels like an anthem of resilience, and it preaches compassion for pigeons, which I genuinely think is an important stance to take. Pigeons are really clean and unlikely to spread disease, and they’re one of few truly domesticated animals! They deserve our love. And Scirocco because it’s beautiful but also because I get to do The Most on bass in that song and I like the opportunity to show off.

Ryan: I really love Dirt song. And not even because of the silly breakdown at the end. I am a sucker for a non-traditional song structure, and I just feel like there’s a lot of fun ideas in it.

Andy: Honestly, I think I love chemical book fair the most because of how stupid it is. plus how boisterous and colorful it turned out - we owe a lot of credit to Mark Watter for that. i just feel like so much went into it despite it being the shortest and least serious song on the album.

Nick: Top of my head, it's For The Police, Harriet, and Dirt Song, mostly because they're fun to play!

Is there anything you would have done differently on this album now looking back post-release?  Or were there any learning moments that you'll take with you when preparing for your future releases?  What did the timeline look like while working on this album?  Were there any hiccups along the way? 

Mickey: If I could take away all of our collective depression and executive dysfunction, I think we’d be superstars right now. It’s the only thing I’d do differently with this process. I definitely wouldn’t change anything about the band or the recording process. Headroom Studios was a dream to work with, Mark Watter did an incredible job mixing and Matt Poirer knocked it out of the park with the masters. I don’t know, maybe if I could wave a magic wand and join this band even sooner, I’d do that.

Ryan: I think the challenge with looking back for me is that I can’t account for the butterfly effect of it all. I like the philosophy of thinking of albums as snapshots in time, and this is our snapshot. If we approached it any differently, we’d have a different picture.

Nick: Recording the drums was a bit of a marathon, we crammed it all into the three days we had in the studio. It kind of felt like I was taking a test I didn't prepare for, and my biggest concern was getting through it all without holding up the rest of the process.

How did you all decide on the title “Let's Get Nervous”?  I think it is very fitting for your anxiety-punk type of music! 

Andy: I think it kind of stemmed from our earliest performances where - as a bit - I'd sometimes ask the crowd “is everybody nervous?” in the same tone as like, “how’s everybody feeling tonight?” But yeah, it also basically functions as a genre tag and/or content warning for all the anxious, uncomfortable feelings contained within the album.

Alright, let's jump into the questions that ACTUALLY matter:

Do you prefer The Simpsons or Futurama?  Who is your favorite character from your preferred show?  Do you have any favorite episodes?

Mickey: I love both but it’s The Simpsons for me, even if more than half of the entire series is actually complete garbage. Those first 8 seasons are some of the best TV in history, and they still had like 6 or 7 more seasons of good-enough episodes after that run! I will always have a soft spot for Bart, as a fellow oldest-child and only-boy (sort of). I think Lemon of Troy is my favorite episode, or maybe The Mysterious Voyage of Homer, but it’s tough to pick when you’re also contending with the likes of Cape Feare and Marge Vs. The Monorail.

Nick: Simpsons. My favorite Springfielder lately has been Mr Burns, his character is just great.

Ryan: Futurama. I was not allowed to watch the Simpsons as a kid (not for moral reasons; apparently my mom just didn’t like it), so I missed the boat on it. 

Andy: Gotta go simpsons. I think all the Phil Hartman characters are probably my favorites. And also Willie. and Marge.  I don't know if i have a favorite episode, but my favorite joke is from Kamp Krusty when Lisa tells Bart she feels like she’s gonna die.

The way Bart delivers “so did I” has always stuck with me.

If you were all Pokémon trainers, what would your title be (bug catcher, fisherman, rocker, super nerd, etc.)?  What would your team look like?

Mickey: As much as I’d love to pretend I’m an Ace Trainer, I know deep down that if pokemon were real I would simply not have any passion for competitive battling. There’s a trainer class called Punk Guy/Girl, maybe one day Game Freak will get hip to emo revival and I could be Emo Guy. Someone should show them Dikembe.In the event that the rest of the band doesn’t have an answer to this, I am authorizing myself to answer for them: We are all musicians obviously, but Ryan is a dedicated multi-instrumentalist, so he gets to be the Musician in the group. Nick is a Biker, motorcycles are one of his big passions in life outside of music. Andy is a little tougher to nail down. I mean he is literally a Student right now, in grad school for School Counseling, so maybe that’s what we go with? 

Andy: The most honest answer is probably “Scientist” cause I’d have a lot of questions if pokemon were suddenly real. I’m just glad no one accused me of being a “Cueball”

What is your go-to move in rock, paper, scissors? 

Mickey: I start with something different every time, as a product of trying to tap into a psychic energy that I absolutely don’t contain to try to predict what my opponent is going to throw.

Ryan: I would never give away my strategy.

Andy: good ol’ rock, nothing beats that.

Nick: Scissors.

Okay, now that we got the important stuff out of the way, let's get back to talking about music!  What's next for Fuzzy Slippers?  Is there anything exciting in the works that you can share with us yet?

Mickey: We have our first tour coming up! I’m treating it as one tour even though it’s kind of two tours across separate weekends in separate months. We’ll be heading up the east coast to play DC, New York, and Boston for the first time! We’re also working on a show for Lancaster (fingers crossed), and will have some shows around the Philly region. One of the coolest shows we have coming up will be with Quirky Cat Club, a cat rescue non-profit in south Jersey. We’ll be opening up for MC Lars (who taught me how to skank twelve years ago), and playing alongside our buds in Bees!, which is long overdue.

What bands were you listening to that inspired how you went into creating this album?  Which and what were your biggest inspirations and influences this time around? 

Mickey: Origami Angel is never not playing in my ear buds. But at some point during the process of writing and recording this record I went on a HUGE Jeff Rosenstock/Bomb The Music Industry! kick that lasted like two straight years, where I barely went a day without listening to either of them.

Ryan: Jeff Rosenstock/Bomb was a huge influence for all of us, I think. We also cited Barenaked Ladies a lot when planning - they have this way of having a very rich, very up-front sound with lots of little elements that really work.

Andy: We also owe a lot to They Might Be Giants, both lyrically and sonically in my opinion. Something about that intersection of pop and geek rock with an occasional touch of punk.

Nick: I never have a good answer to this question, I have the bands I've learned how to play the drums to but I kind of just wing it from there. At any given moment I'm listening to absolutely nothing relevant to our sound. I love Alkaline trio, and I've been getting really into thrash recently.

Is there anyone you would like to shout out here at the end of our interview?  Friends, family, producers, other musicians, late night talk show hosts, anyone at all! 

Mickey: No I’m good

Ryan: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Super huge thank you to Fuzzy Slippers for continuing to give me music to talk about, I love it, I love them, and I love you.  Thank you for the support, as always, and if you’d like to find more from Fuzzy Slippers, you can check out all their links right HERE!

(https://linktr.ee/askfuzzyslippers )