Our Lady Peace’s Clumsy

June 27, 2023by Mark & Thom

Play episode

Take a trip down memory lane with Mark and Thom as they explore the iconic 1997 alternative rock album Clumsy by Our Lady Peace. They chat about the memorable tracks, the band’s journey to create this album, and the evolution of their sound in the late 90s music scene.

They’ll dive into the album’s recording process, which took place in a remote Ontario cottage during the winter of 1996, the inspiration they here leading them to create memorable tracks like “Trapeze” and ultimately settling on the album title, Clumsy. Plus, they take a moment to appreciate the album’s cover art.

Mark and Thom talk songs from Clumsy, exploring the themes, lyrics, and the impact these songs had on the music scene of the late 90s, as well as how they resonate with them personally. Don’t miss this nostalgic trip back in time, as we celebrate the lasting impact of Our Lady Peace’s Clumsy on the alternative rock landscape.

Show notes

00:00:00 – General catchup chat, trips to Illinois and Texas
00:05:50 – Thom is a dirty rotten liar
00:11:41 – Our Lady Peace’s early success
00:15:11 – Making ‘Clumsy’ by Our Lady Peace
00:23:07 – Mark & Thom explore the “Blockbuster Music Store Era,” safe-date rock, and how much harder OLP rocked.
00:25:45 – First time hearing Superman’s Dead and its analysis
00:32:33 – Automatic Flowers
00:36:17 – Carnival
00:40:00 – Big Dumb Rocket
00:42:31 – 4am
00:45:57 – Shaking
00:46:55 – Clumsy
00:53:49 – Hello Oskar
00:55:02 – Let You Down
00:55:53 – The Story of 100 Aisles
00:57:32 – Car Crash
01:01:14 – Thom reminisces about seeing OLP live & his wife’s experience with OLP and Chantal Kreviazuk
01:03:35 – Mark and Thom drop their top 3 tracks from the album

Hosted by

Mark & Thom

MARK:
Mark is the creative director and co-founder of Burro Borracho Records. After high school he spent a few years working as a manager with Wherehouse Music. He occasionally plays drums and has been in such non-productive go nowhere band start ups that no one has ever heard of like The Unsex, Avenue C, The Reaganauts, and Next Time I See Murphy (which also saw him play some guitar and take on vocal duties). He was the original drummer for Quiet Morning & the Calamity but left the band to pursue a degree in Motion Graphic Design.
During his college years, as photo editor of his school newspaper, his review of Radiohead's Kid A won first prize for Critical Review in a California statewide collegiate journalism contest. After graduating with his degree he filled in back on drums for QM&TC's first national tour in support of their debut EP Son of the Sad Soul, which features the song Gambling On Old Tires which Mark co-wrote.
Thanks to the influence of his mother who spent all her years playing guitar and singing folk songs, as well as three older brothers with drastically differing musical tastes, Mark has always known the important role music can and should play and has been a music fan all his life but he's only been a stubborn overly opinionated asshole about the superiority of his on musical tastes since his early teenage years. At the last count he had about 1,200 compact discs. Yes, he still collects cds.

THOM:
Thom's a digital marketer by day and armchair theologian, podcaster, writer, amateur home chef, and beer aficionado by night. When not working, he's a typical family man with a propensity to create.