A long time ago, Cliffs produced its new album DNA during a whole day of recording that was hot, sweaty and now feels like a fever dream. From that day in June 2018, Jeremy Ebert’s home studio (also known as Jerbil House) has many memories, but it is nothing more than defining singer/guitarist Aaron Cottrell, singer/bassist Adam Hardy and then drummer Jason Winner The sultry of the meeting tracked eight songs with engineer/producer Alex Douglas (Alex Douglas). 

Without a fan or air conditioner, Winner's bare feet kept slipping off the bass drum during recording. Later, the drummer's sweat soaked his jeans, penetrated into the gap of the phone, and blew it up. On one occasion, Cottrell and Hardy said they had to take Douglas to the Grandview Café to eat and drink to prevent him from passing out. "We look like we just played a basketball game," Hardy said. 

Finally, after adding some dubbing and a few lo-fi soundtracks, Cliffs left with DNA. The scuzz-pop band will celebrate with the new drummer in the Ace of Cups release program on Saturday, November 27th. DNA Chris Mengerink and the local opener Tetnis and Mukiss. (According to the band’s Cliffsgiving custom, tickets to the show will enjoy discounts on canned goods.) In addition to the cassette copy of DNA, the band will also sell new side B and rare tapes.

"We have all these recordings before [2015 album] Self Portrait. At that time, it was only Adam and I in the old living room on Fourth Street. I was playing the original sound, and Adam was playing a cardboard box for the drums with various other Percussion, bells and whistles, literally," Cottrell said in a recent video call with Hardy. He also expressed regret for the disappeared but not forgotten Val keyboard, namely an old keyboard with Batman on it. Sticking to the top of Val Kilmer's playing cards. "All these recordings we have done in the past are very rooted in the original sound and weird, low-fidelity recordings with avant-garde noise and other things. This atmosphere has always been part of Cliffs."

This atmosphere continues into the DNA, which contains two acoustic tracks with a lot of tape hiss and discovery sounds: Hardy's "IDK" and Cottrell's instrumental mix "Inland".

"I will work at Idea Foundry and stare at my computer all day long," Cottrell said of the origins of Inland. "I found this guitar I made some time ago, and then I started looking for different samples. These samples were recorded on my phone when I went to Europe and other times in my life, and I started to string them when I was working. Together." 

On the other hand, "IDK" is the product of late night inspiration. "I was going through some strange things at 3 in the morning, and some things shocked me," Hardy said. "I thought, did you know? I'm going to try to record a song on my phone that doesn't sound like on the phone, but it sounds more like the early Elephant Six or the early Elliott Smith—— Those old low-fidelity recordings, now you can record on your phone because your phone is more powerful than any recording equipment they had in the early 90s."  

The rest of the DNA features loud guitars, bass drums, yelling choruses, and the crumpled pop melodies that Cliffs are famous for. Some songs, such as the preludes "Block out the Sun/City Life" and "Radio", have been around for several years, which prompted the band members to reflect on their previous lives.

"I see a person’s life is a bit chaotic. Their minds are more chaotic and directionless. When I hear'block the sun', my thinking now is that you are blocking something that might be useful to yourself to stay in A more stagnant position," Cottrell said. "Maybe I didn't even see it when I wrote it." 

"Radio" can be traced back to Hardy's college days, when he wrote the song after a frustrating philosophy class. "There was a person in the class that I didn't like, so I ignored that person who wrote it and hardly said why," Hardy said, quoting the first line of the song: "So it's nothing to be something/or It’s just how you think about it/because if it’s nothing/that will make you make a difference." 

"It's a good pat on the back, but it's also a knife sting," Hardy said, noting how the song has slowed down over the years, becoming more contemplative and Tweedy. "The rhythm we play now and the way we do it is more like Wilco-ian. Dad Jeff will be proud of this version." 

Cliffsloquialisms such as "Papa Jeff", "Cliffsgiving", "Val Keyboard" and other amalgams are very suitable for Cliffs' "Weird Art" aesthetics, which has become more diverse in DNA (including retro hidden in the 90s Repertoire, which contains Satan and Lu Barlow). "This record is more eclectic than in the past," Hardy said. 

"I think in this recording, Adam and I have undeniable elements, but there are also cliff moments for the two of us...to unite and solve problems together," Cottrell said. "It makes sense to call it DNA. Double helix."