The song started with a guitar riff along with bass and drums, it was quite a long one. Then the first vocal came, this was the song's "chorus".
"She's finally discovered she's a"
"He told her so"
"She's finally discovered she's a"
"He told her so"
"She's finally discovered she's a"
"He told her so"
Then the bridge.
"Come closer and I'll… tell you"
"Come closer and I'll… tell you"
"Come closer and I'll take off your dress"
"I'll take off your dress…!"
"I'll shake off your flesh…!"
"I'll shake off your flesh!"
The 2nd chorus followed.
"I'll shake off your flesh…!"
"Shake off your flesh!"
"Shake off your flesh!"
Another bridge followed.
"Turn around"
"Turn around"
"Turn around"
James then continued with the 3rd chorus.
"Shake"
"Shake"
"Shake"
"Shake"
"Shake"
"Shake"
"Shake"
"Shake"
"Shake"
"Shake"
With the build up, he continued.
"Shake off your flesh"
"Shake off your flesh"
"Shake off your flesh"
"Shake off your flesh"
Then another chorus.
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
"Shake, shake"
James stopped with the final part where he just breathed it out.
"Shake…"
The song faded.
///////////////////////////////////NEXT SCENE///////////////////////////////////
"Track two's The Burning Spear. Lyrics need tweaking if you want, but I sang 'em the way I imagined you would."
///////////////////////////////////NEXT SCENE///////////////////////////////////
The song started with instrumentals.
"I'm not afraid to say I'm scared"
"In my bed I'm deep in prayer"
"I trust the speed I love the fear"
"The music comes"
"The burning spear"
The song ended with instrumentals again.
///////////////////////////////////NEXT SCENE///////////////////////////////////
The four just stood there, speechless as the tape unspooled. Kim squinted, tilting her head as though hearing a ghost.
"This is... this sounds like us," she murmured. "But it's not us."
"It's weirdly us, don't you guys think?" Thurston added. "Like we did this shit in a blackout."
James gave a slow, knowing nod while smirking. "Yeah. I get that a lot from Chris."
The tape kept rolling. One track bled into the next, I Wanna Be Your Dog with twisted arrangement layers, Confusion Is Next, and Protect Me You sounding like it was born from a cement mixer.
"I played everything, what do you all think?" James said. "Drums, bass, guitars, vocals. Just blueprints. You'll rip it all up and make it yours. I'm just showing you the structure."
Lee stepped closer to the console, leaned in, and let out a low whistle.
"You're insane," he said.
James just smiled. "Am I now? Aren't we all?"
By the time the tape stopped, the silence in the room was electric. No one said anything for a full minute.
Then Richard leaned on the console and said, "Alright, kid. What's the play?"
James stepped back, arms crossed.
"We record the album here, in Westport. January to March, along with our other stuff to train you all into, then we put your names on the album I wrote and produced. Sub Pop handles everything, press, art, pressing, distro, shows. Then we run a couple underground dates back in New York by May. You'll be bigger than just No Wave. You'll be a movement."
Thurston scratched the back of his head, half-laughing. "You talk like a fuckin' Bond villain."
James shrugged and pulled a dry joke. "I'm just trying to put good music into the world before Reagan nukes us all."
They laughed.
It broke the tension, but the truth lingered.
James hit Stop on the reel-to-reel and looked at them straight.
"I'm a fan. I know you could disappear in two years if no one bets on you. I'm betting everything. I'm not trying to turn you into MTV. I want to immortalize you the right way that I envisioned."
They stayed another hour that night. Talking gear. Influences. War stories from punk clubs and dives. James dropped obscure references from shows they hadn't even played yet. Kim joked that maybe he was a wizard. Lee called him a plant from the future. They weren't far off.
///////////////////////////////////NEXT SCENE///////////////////////////////////
The next day.
Joseph Kennedy Sr. stood in the main office, crisp in a gray suit, watching the band walk in through the rain-streaked glass doors. Their hair was messy from the inn's scratchy pillows, but they looked different today.
Resolved.
Kim lit a cigarette in the lobby.
"We're in."
Joseph smiled faintly. "Wise decision."
"We want control." Thurston said.
"You'll have it," Joseph replied. "But with control comes responsibility. And expectations."
"We're not afraid of those," Lee added.
"Good. We'll start preparing paperwork. Production schedule, marketing rollout, press tours. You'll be in the studio the first week of January."
Kim turned to the others. "Guess we just signed our lives to an eleven-year-old freak."
"Don't worry," Joseph said as he adjusted his tie. "He's not just any eleven-year-old."
He handed them a pen and a thick folder.
The ink hit the contract.
Noise history was about to begin.