Common Rider
"this is unity music"
my music
Blackbirds Vs. Crows
pop, rock, reggae/ska, punk pop, power pop, punky ska
This song is a rock song with a dark, minor key feel. The topic is warfare. Backup vocals on the choruses provided by
Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba.
Long After Lights Out
pop, rock, reggae/ska, punky reggae
A dark, melancholy reggae-pop type thing with some underlying thematic spookiness. The lyrical theme is death. Note the Crickets during the breakdown and appearance of some understated sax on the very last refrain.
Midnight Passenger
pop, rock, reggae/ska, reggae, punk, ska
This is song is a tribute to classic reggae music and deals with the redemptive power of soul music in general.
Michaels: "This is the best non-collaborative song I've ever written. I say this in all modesty because I've written some crap. But I feel pretty confident that if all else fails I can grab on to this one at judgement day and say, 'fuck you God, I did something good once.'
Small Pebble
rock, ska, punk, punk
Here is a Sublime era reggae toast break. Mass' favorite song from the Unity Music album. Michaels: "Okay, maybe it was ill advised for me ever to do anything rap-like. Maybe it wasn't. I don't know. We do things, as people. We do things." Many fans are quite sure that the right thing was done in this case as Small Pebble was an absolute crowd-favorite on tour.
Dogtown
pop, rock, punk rock, punk rock
Common Rider's greatest strength was arguably also their greatest weakness: they traversed a wide variety of styles. In this case their musical meanderings paid off with a charming homage to seventies classic rock. The band was listening to "a lot of Big Star and Exile on Main Street when this was written." Philip Hill provides the Southern Rock stratocaster sweetness.
Blue Spark
pop, rock, punk rock
Like the track "Dogtown," "Blue Spark" was an outtake from the Unity Music album recording sessions. Later released on a posthumous ep, the song packs a lot of rock & roll into two minutes or so (and a lot of studio time with four part harmonies and labor intensive guitar noodling).
The lyrics detail the normal, everyday descent into madness that is the human mind.
