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Mistakes Were Made

by Too Much Joy

supported by
Angie Bulkeley
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Angie Bulkeley The greatest gift 2021 had to offer. Favorite track: Pong.
sbrown1521
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sbrown1521 25 years late but more than well worth it! TMJ are back with amazing album start to finish. Hooks that stick with you for days, crashing guitars and lyrics that still have the angry young wiseass of their earlier work with some old guy wisdom thrown in. Not only have they not missed a step they have put out an album that shows maturity without losing any of the loud fast power pop of the old days!
Anu Kirk
Anu Kirk thumbnail
Anu Kirk TMJ returns with a great reminder of why you loved (or should have loved) their secretly deep and heartfelt power pop in the first place. Favorite track: New Memories.
paul b
paul b thumbnail
paul b Holy crap guys this is amazing. Welcome back. But honestly I could have done without the story about the glass jar on the back of the bus. Favorite track: Not Being You.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    12 tracks from Mistakes Were Made on black vinyl, with a 12"x12" lyrics/credits/photos insert.

    Only 500 have been pressed. We're not planning on pressing any more.

    (Note that the LP does not include "Tranq It Up," "Snow Day," or "Just Around the Bend" -- but buying the album also gets you a digital download of the full 15 track album plus digital booklet, so you will still get those songs.)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mistakes Were Made via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days
    edition of 500 

      $30 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    All 15 tracks on a compact disc, along with a 12-page booklet containing lyrics, credits and photos.

    Also comes with a digital download of the songs, and a digital version of the booklet.

    We have a very limited number of these, which will not be sold in stores. (First batch sold out far faster than we anticipated, so we're doing another run. They will start shipping again around April 14, but you get your digital download immediately.)

    Ships via Priority Mail in the U.S.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mistakes Were Made via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • (Almost) Everything the Donors Got
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Sad you missed out on the IndieGoGo campaign that funded the recording of this album, and wishing you could have gotten all the cool perks they did? Well, now you can!

    It's too late to get your name in the liner notes, but you can have everything else:

    * VERY limited edition LP with autographed dust sleeve by all 5 band members
    * 12" x 12" LP insert with lyrics, credits and photos
    * Digital download of all 15 tracks
    * BONUS digital album with 8 outtakes from the sessions, + digital booklet with lyrics
    * Video of a private Zoom hangout the band did with $100 and over donors

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mistakes Were Made via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Blinding Light of Love Frank Booth says, "Now it's dark" A woman's killed in Central Park Brown sludge pouring out my sink Who slipped something in my drink? Secret police in unmarked vans A tidal wave engulfs Japan Twenty likes from Facebook friends America is great again Redemption's coming from up above We need the blinding light of love Push lost long ago to shove Give us the blinding light of love Now your disease is inside me I saw my heart on the TV Doctor said the news is bad I asked him how much time I had He flipped the light off on his head And said son you're already dead The danger's deep, the water's wide We're afraid to go outside Redemption's coming from up above We need the blinding light of love Push lost long ago to shove Give us the blinding light of love of love of love © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
2.
UNCLE WATSON WANTS TO THINK Uncle Watson wants to think So please leave him alone Go and play outside Come back when you're grown Uncle Watson wants to think Can you help him understand Why nothing ever comes Of anything he's planned We're not really related He's just my mother's friend Men like Uncle Watson Will destroy us in the end Uncle Watson likes his scotch Takes his first drink at noon Well before the sun sets He'll be shouting at the moon Uncle Watson went to war Uncounted years ago He never says what he did Just says, You don't wanna know We're not really related He's just my mother's friend Men like Uncle Watson Will destroy us in the end Uncle Watson has been known When I forget my place To rise up in a rage And suddenly punch me in my face Uncle Watson gets confused In truth he is quite dim His one unquestioned skill Is making others just like him © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
3.
OLIVER PLUNKETT'S HEAD There's a head in a glass case In St. Peter's in Louth A real human head With a smile on its mouth Enemies burned his body But they preserved the top Someone really wanted To make Oliver stop I think I'd like something to pray to That head can keep you up at night People they scare me Dead or alive Oliver Plunkett tried But Oliver Plunkett's dead Some people sat and cried At Oliver Plunkett's head Just believed something different He didn't mean any harm But if they didn't believe him Why were they so alarmed? Yeah, the abyss is scary We're all afraid to fall in What good's hanging in heaven With who did that to him? Quit praying to the knucklebones Of skeletons you never met They don't grant wishes They excrete regret Oliver Plunkett tried But Oliver Plunkett's dead Some people sat and cried At Oliver Plunkett's head The case fogs over Plunkettt stops smiling That could never be my skull Cuz I don't believe in anything © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
4.
Hairshirt 02:18
HAIRSHIRT It's all the same It's all your fault Prepare yourself For the assault When you lay down Don't close your eyes Cuz all your sins gonna shout surprise Put on your hairshirt Spread your arms wide Let this cruel world Be purified The devil waits For those who pray And then he whispers What they meant to say The world will know The bad you've done Your punishment Will be such fun Put on your hairshirt Spread your arms wide Let this cruel world Be purified Build up a big funeral pyre Burn your jealousy, torch your desire Bid a fond farewell to your envy Feel the spirit fill you with its frenzy Lust is just one Reason men moan You have to endure Pain to atone So if you want Your sins erased You must be willing To be abased © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
5.
Pong 03:42
PONG We were cavemen playing Pong Till Jaye P. Morgan banged a gong Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs Killing all those male chauvinist pigs Son of Sam came along So Levon sang the Band's last song Peter Frampton came alive Nadia couldn't be deprived And Concordes tore right through the sky (Bye bye) Everyone's invited To join in on this song All love's unrequited Every game is Pong We were trading Baseball cards While DDT rained in our yards The Poseidon Flipped upside down L.A. collapsed in Sensurround Squeaky Fromme blew her one shot Gerald Ford fell down a lot Patty Hearst finally got caught (Bye bye) Everyone's invited To join in on this song All love's unrequited Every game is Pong New York City went flat broke Brody said we need a bigger boat Cheech and Chong went up in smoke (Bye, bye) Everyone's invited To join in on this song All love's unrequited Every game is Pong © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
6.
Something to Drink About I was covering you in suntanning lotion While we watched surfers skating over the ocean Is there an ointment I can rub on my head To keep away all these feelings of dread? Fidelity is an admirable notion And jealousy is an ugly emotion Tried not to see that look in your eye When you were looking at that other guy You've given me something to drink about You're filling my mind with cause for doubt Gonna call up my shrink and shout I'm looking forward to passing out I once believed we were bound by ideals It's sad to discover that none of it's real I was naïve I now recognize Not sure I can cope with all that implies The purple mountain's majesty Can withstand the orange man's travesty I might forgive but I won't forget The hypocrites who aid and abet You pay lip service to liberty But go berserk if I take a knee That word don't mean what you think it does If it don't apply to all of us You pretend everything is fine While openly flashing white power signs 40 percent of the country cheers I'm ashamed that it's happened here © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
7.
Tranq it Up 02:39
Tranq it Up What did we know without knowing we knew? What promising paths did we neglect to pursue? I think that I found the way back Feel like I lost something I never had That picture's not of me it looks like my dad Look out kid don't step on that crack Tranq it up! Turn life down! Gaze at the flames as they dance around Tranq it up! Turn life down! Swim toward the light as your sorrows are drowned Always arranging the logs on the fire Trying to ensure the flames don't expire You should just sit back in your chair Fire wants to live, you can leave it alone Before it goes out your mind will be blown The best flames explode from nowhere In the ER in unbearable pain One shot of Dilaudid I was never the same That single shot was all that I got But now that feeling is all that I want © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
8.
Snow Day 02:30
SNOW DAY These billboards are bothering me I don't wanna buy your fucking clothes Who the hell named this street? Sick of walking the same way home I went to bed and I dreamed about the boring day that just went by Bells are pealing in the distance I'm unravelling inside I declare a snow day Not gonna work, no way I am great you're ok Remain inside stay out of my way I used to love to watch it fall snow, snow don't go away I never went to church but I sure knew how to pray A Saturday nobody planned Never guessed teachers liked em, too Lots of words I like Those were my favorite two I declare a snow day Not gonna work, no way I am great you're ok Remain inside stay out of my way Should I punch the clock or punch the boss? All snow does now is make me late Doesn't mean much at all just one more thing to hate Jump under the covers, at first you freeze Pretty soon you never wanna leave Today is cancelled, alert the press Getting up is too treacherous © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
9.
FLUX CAPACITOR Each night we all go crawling Through the air vents of our minds Looking for the secrets Our conscious selves don't want to find Each one's guarded by a monster Frightening to behold To defeat them you must hold them tight Or so I have been told In the dark I see a figure Clothed entirely in black I know she means to kill me So I'm first to attack You have just sixty seconds To prevent a massacre Can you defuse the weapons In the flux capacitor? My dog is speaking English My grandma is a tree My teeth are falling on the floor My hand becomes a key I put the key inside you The universe explodes The laces on my sneakers are Beginning to corrode Now the ground becomes elastic Now my tree's become a log Now the now is now tomorrow Now we're in a synagogue Entrusted with the ransom For six kidnapped ambassadors Fight off all the phantoms In the flux capacitor Then that guy I saw this morning Jogging backwards in orange shorts Is sitting on my sofa Being boring about sports I wake up in my old house But my daughter's here with me Except now it is a motel And my daughter's on TV She's calling me a racist She's calling for my death I'll call her in the morning When we're both feeling refreshed Per the charts some nun displays Men are trending flaccider Seek the center of the maze Find the flux capacitor © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
10.
CAMPER OF THE YEAR Shirts against the skins I'm embarrassed by my chest Small barbarians Everything's a test As a mark of the acclaim And respect of all your peers We are honored now to name This season's one and only Camper of the year You're camper of the year! William Hoser is the fat kid Sometimes we kick his ass He's such a little pussy He likes being attacked As a mark of your renown Here's a small bronze naked man He cannot be melted down But welcome to the clan Camper of the year You're camper of the year! On the rifle range Led by Uncle Jack He says fire at Will And everybody laughs (even Hoser laughs) As a mark of the acclaim And respect of all your peers We are honored now to name This season's one and only © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
11.
New Memories 03:21
NEW MEMORIES Way back when you were mine Once upon a different time We would lie in bed all day You'd demonstrate your old pliés As shadows stretched across the wall And summer slowly stretched to fall You had those lovely leather boots And several others in pursuit I remember beds in Rome And several different ones at home The first one followed us out west But the third one was the best It took some time to dawn on us A decent mattress is a must That's not a thing you simply know Until time proves it to be so I need Some new memories I have used up all of these This weed Induces reveries And forgives all treacheries The third was the first we bought new It seemed a crazy thing to do Fresh springs that did not squeak A headboard without a creak We'd stay in bed till afternoon We'd both get stoned and watch cartoons Felt like precious luxuries And we had precious few of these I need Some new memories I have used up all of these This weed Induces reveries And forgives all treacheries © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
12.
NOT BEING YOU My phone is set to vibrate And it's always going off I pick it up in case it's you But it's just my fucking boss Or maybe it's a buddy Or maybe it's my dad I'm trying to be happy But they only make me mad I'm angry at the animals That gaze at me with trust I have no patience for the people Riding with me on this bus I'm furious with friends Who call out of the blue I'm mad at all of them For not being you They're just being themselves What else could they do? But it's bad for my health When they're not being you I want you in my arms I want you in my bed I want you inconsolable after I am dead I want you on an island I want you in France I want to watch you wiggling Out of too tight pants I want you crying out I want you soaking wet I want to be impossible Ever to forget You're over an ocean You're away across a sea Are you mad at people there For not being me? © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
13.
SHOUTING CROSS THE OCEAN Everybody's born in chains, yeah Forged by those who came before Some folks find theirs very lovely Some find theirs cause for war Some make music when they shake theirs And dance right out the prison door Shouting cross the ocean Nothing but your rage came through Couldn't make out a word you said But we could tell each one was true Shouted back across that ocean Yelled until I lost my voice Thought I heard the sound of freedom But I don't think you had a choice You had to make the shy ones dance Help the hopeless to rejoice Outrage, wonder and wisdom And one damn cool overcoat Getting ready for that perfect moment When ten thousand bands all play the same three fucked-up notes © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
14.
MORE OF THE STUFF I LIKE Please do more of the stuff I like And less of the stuff I don't The roads should be flat when I'm pedaling my bike I should decide when I am alone Please make more scenery like that Stunning fjords and clear blue skies Must always look good when I'm wearing a hat You should be there when I open my eyes Give me more stuff I like I'm in desperate need tonight Please tell me that I'm a good man Absolve me when I fall short Do not quote the Bible or read me the Quran Make all guitars perfectly distort Please give me all the money I need And stop sending all these bills Charity must win when it's battling with greed Make all drinks come with free refills Give me more stuff I like I'm in desperate need tonight Please let me sleep until spring It must be warm when I awake Must not be reminded of any bad things Make a vaccine against heartbreak Please play me more punk rock songs I like my music fast and mad Records should aspire to right the pressing wrongs And they should never be too sad Give me more stuff I like I'm in desperate need tonight No more miles of fast food chains No more suburban sprawl Banish minor aches and major pains Always catch me when I fall © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music
15.
JUST AROUND THE BEND Just around the bend There are some people They're gonna be our friends Just around the bend It's spring then summer Then spring then spring again Around the bend This road has got to end Sweat in my eye My head it aches my feet they hurt Throat is getting dry My fingernails are caked with dirt This is not what I asked for This was meant for someone else All we want Is a little for myself Just around the bend There is a cafe Best food you ever ate Just around the bend It don't cost nothing They let you break the plates Bugs on the windshield These wipers don't do anything Holes in the floorboard Could scrape the skin right off my feet Seems we've been driving always This old car ain't even mine Odometer is turning Watch it read 99,999.9 Just around the bend There is a woman The one you're waiting for Just around the bend We'll ditch this old car Won't need it any more Just around the bend There is a woman She's gonna comfort you Just around the bend I'll do what I want You do what you want, too © & ℗ 2020 People Suck Music

about

We weren't really planning on making another record; this album only exists because 2020 sucked so goddamn much.

Our humble hope is that, since it now exists, it can make whatever year you're listening to it in suck a little bit less.

credits

released March 19, 2021

These sound recordings were made by the following people:

Jay Blumenfield: guitar, vocals, zoloft
Tim Quirk: vocals, edibles
Sandy Smallens: bass, vocals, guitar, ardbeg
Tommy Vinton: drums, vodka, cranberry
William Wittman: bass, guitar, keys, vocals, yamazaki 18

Guest vocals on "Uncle Watson Wants to Think" by Joan Osborne.
Joan Osborne appears courtesy of Womanly Hips Music.

Leo may also have snuck some guitar and keyboard parts onto various songs.

All songs written by Blumenfield/Quirk/Smallens/Vinton/Wittman

Published by People Suck Music (ASCAP), ©&℗ 2021

(Tommy would like it known he disagrees with the opinions expressed in "Something to Drink About" A lot Tim would like it known that he thinks Tommy's drums on that song rock pretty hard regardless, and he is glad they negotiated this qualifier instead of having to replace them with a drum machine, which was Tommy's other compromise suggestion.)

Produced and mixed by William Wittman, with numerous admittedly annoying change requests from the rest of us.

"Just Around the Bend" mixed by Jim Eno

Recorded at Riverworks, Hobo Sound and various band members' houses between late May and early October, 2020. Engineered by William Wittman, Leo Blumenfield, Matt Noble, James Frazee and Anu Kirk.

Mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound, NJ

Art Direction: Victor Krummenacher Illustration: Tavis Coburn

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Too Much Joy Scarsdale, New York

TMJ is/was a punk-pop band of some minor renown. Some of that renown was due to their music, which included semi-hits such as “Crush Story,” “Donna Everywhere,” and “That’s a Lie” — a cover of the LL Cool J tune that featured the man himself in the music video, which actually got played quite a bit during daylight hours on MTV back when they did that sort of thing. ... more

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