Today, Brian takes on the first two tracks on We Are All Strange Friends proper: “Cooking Up an Accident” and “Friends of Friends.” Philadelphia-based fans will recognize the first track from Radio 104.5, which played the song for multiple weeks on its New Music Show. Princeton-based fans will recognize the latter from Princeton Community Television, where we performed the track on their Zombie Etiquette show while being menaced by several undead. Check ‘em out!

“If I had to choose, ‘Cooking Up An Accident’ would be my favorite Paper Jets song! It was written midway through 2011 alongside most of the other Strange Friends material and, for me, it was a declaration of my newfound sense of confidence as a singer and writer.

“After we released Face Forward, the band continued to mature, but until ‘Cooking Up an Accident,’ I felt like I had the most catching up to do. Frank and Scottie are stellar players and, while I’m still not the best guitarist in the world, as a singer, I needed to get myself up to snuff. ‘Cooking Up an Accident,’ I felt, was me telling the rest of the band, ‘I’m here now.’ Their response was pretty humbling, too: ‘Are there any more like this one?'”

“I did a lot of searching for a little while. ‘Friends of Friends’ was my commentary on, basically, the salesmanship(?) of dating. I’m as guilty in this as anyone.”

Today, we’re focusing on the Frank-sung ballad “Making Me Run,” which you can find on our We Are All Strange Friends special edition. Remember that the full album is on sale over at Bandcamp for only $4.99 through January 2, so head on over and grab a copy if you like what you hear. In related news, we all like Frank!

“The last song to make the cut. I had just purchased a Fender Telecaster, plugged it in, and started layering parts over top of one another just for kicks. Out came this short little song. I showed it to Frank, who loved it and suggested we throw it on the record. I told him, ‘only if you sing it.'”

We’ve got two new commentaries today from our esteemed lead singer Brian E. The first covers the live version of “Set of Rules,” a bonus track added to the We Are All Strange Friends special edition. The second provides some insight into live staple “Lena Lena,” for those curious about the titular character. Listen, read, and enjoy!

“When we walked into the Clear Channel studio at Radio 104.5 FM in Philadelphia in the middle of what was supposed to be a work day, it felt surreal; it felt like we made it! Everyone there was remarkably kind and treated us with generosity and respect which, as a band on our level, almost never happens.

“The sound engineer was impressed, saying he hadn’t heard anyone hit high notes like me since The Darkness had performed there. Not sure how I should take that.”

“Guess what………………………………………..there is no Lena!”

Today’s We Are All Strange Friends track commentary focuses on “Father’s War,” one of the band’s most experimental songs. It’s got duet vocals, a jazz piano breakdown, a ripping guitar solo, and a whole lot of awesomeness! Read below to see Brian’s reflections on how the track came together, then head over to Bandcamp to buy the Strange Friends special edition. It’s only $4.99 through January 2!

“This one started as a seven-verse poem about jealousy and revenge. And the piece of music that accompanied it was nine minutes long. Jeff Fiedler came in and helped me cut it down to a fairly acceptable pop song length. All the lyrics are still there (slightly rearranged) and Frank just NAILED his part. This is among my favorite songs on the whole album. If only we had another five or six members in the band to help bring it to life in a live setting.”