Elysium
Full-length CD on Slowdance
• Click here to read the lyrics

Originally anticipated as an EP, our sophmore effort quickly evolved into an album of epic sonic proportions and mammoth lyrical scope. Recorded on a G4 laptop by Judah and Ephriam Nagler (Parlance Studios) in a variety of settings including warehouses, chapels, clubs, and closets, Elysium was our maiden voyage into the vast world of guerilla recording. Guitars were abandoned entirely for the project and were replaced by pianos, strings, woodwinds and synthetic elements, making the production of the album our most ambitious to date. The string and woodwinds were arranged by our friend Adam Theis, and the record was mixed by Dave Trumfio (Wilco, Mates of State, Tristeza) and Michael Hagler at Kingsize Sound in Los Angeles, California. Mastering was done by John Greenham at Paul Stubblebine Studios in San Francisco, California. Final synthetic elements were done on laptop with MIDI controller in the passenger seat of Josh's Tercel on the way to their mastering session. Neither Judah or Josh slept a wink for the four months that it took to create the album.

Out of the Fierce Parade
Full-length CD on Slowdance
• Click here to read the lyrics

Out of the Fierce Parade is our first full-length and derives its title from the lyrics of Into the Open, one of the middle tracks on the record. The album's symbolism follows the life cycle from birth to death and has a brilliant set of coinciding illustrations by our very own Logan Whitehurst. The record was recorded and mixed in a week by Chris Walla of Deathcab for Cutie at the Hall of Justice in Seattle, Washington. Paul Stubblebine mastered it at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, California. Two videos from this album were played on the M2 show Subterranean, and excerpts from multiple songs were featured as background clips on a show about college girls called Sorority Life. If you think that's selling out, click here.

Plus, Minus, Equals
CD EP on Slowdance
• Click here to read the lyrics

This record was "originally self-released", but the words sound much fancier than it actually was. In the beginning we burned hundreds of CD-Rs at home and at work, whenever we could spare the time. The CD went through many designs and incarnations, and we printed everything at the local corporate copy shop until we had enough money saved to print 1,000 of them professionally. After The Fierce Parade was released, Slowdance Records added it to their catalogue.

This release is a compilation of our very first recordings as The Velvet Teen. The first was a five song demo called Comasynthesis which showcased Judah's emerging talents as a songwriter and producer. Logan provided drums for three of the tracks, and later Penning the Penultimate from the early Secret Band recordings was added to the final track listing. The second, entitled The Great Beast February (from the Clive Barker novel The Thief of Always) was our first session as a trio, and we recorded three songs to add to the collection. Both recordings were done by Roger Tschann at Grizzly Studios in Petaluma, California.

We named the release Plus, Minus, Equals because of the conjoined EP's and also for the Sharpie imagery used to cross out the factory markings on the CD-Rs: a big "+" over the left side and a "-" over the right.

Immortality
7" Picture Disc on Pandacide
• Click here to read the lyrics

Immortality was named after a book of the same title by Milan Kundera and eludes to the false sense of security that fame can seem to provide. This release is now out of print, but there are plans to re-release the songs at a later date on CD, as part of a Velvet Teen compilation of otherwise unavailable tracks from 7"s and other miscellaneous sources.