Morning 40 Federation
Ticonderoga
(M80 Music)
Release Date: May 23, 2005
Liner Notes

As I stumbled into the Hi-Ho Lounge in New Orleans back in May 1998, I was immediately overcome by the intense heat, humidity and Satanic swirl of naked flesh writhing to an unholy climax. Though I could not see past my hand, Tom Waits and Prince appeared to be locked in mortal combat backed by the moans and shrieks of a Salvation Army Band of the Apocalypse. Sweat was dripping from the ceiling, the bartender was chopping lines and a drunken couple were fucking in the corner in perfect time to the music. A lone trombone provided a foghorn thru the murk and I followed its trance to the stage where I first set eyes on the Morning 40 Federation. It was as if Tennessee Williams or Mark Twain had re-written Caligula for the great unwashed...Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn had started a band with Stanley Kowalski and they were gonna burn this motherfucker to the ground. I began to drink heavily...

Eight years, five warrants and two records later, the Forties have emerged from the Lower Ninth Ward with their third and most schizophrenic joint yet, the eminently badass, Ticonderoga. If you were to mix ragtime, hip-hop, punk rock, blues, trad jazz and carnival music you'd have a hint to what the Forties are about, but only when you see and hear them interacting with a mesmerized audience will you truly feel their unique greatness. On Ticonderoga, the boys have finally made the record that matches the intensity of their live show. Josh Cohen's crazed Yin barker of the midway is still dueling Ryan Scully's blissed out Yang; but now more than ever, they lock arms in stoned harmony and their respective songwriting has climbed to even scarier heights. Bailey Smith continues his Artful Dodger approach to guitar, stealing from everybody and making it all his own. Steve Calandra and Mike Andrepont play their bohemian Sly and Robbie roles to the nines and thank God they tricked Rickshaw into showing up at the studio under the guise of a surprise party for a local liquor distributor. His otherworldly brass exploration is the current of the Morning Forty river and all who float down her.

Ticonderoga is an Iroquois word meaning a place between two bodies of water. On August 29, 2005, this word took on new meaning as the Lower Ninth Ward and most of eastern New Orleans were flooded by multiple levee breeches. Scully and his wife remained in the city long after it was evacuated and bore witness to the horror that ensued. It was his solemn duty to represent the band and make sure they had a place to come back to. And come back they did...the boys took the stage at One Eyed Jacks on Halloween 2005 as the only band who could sum up the joy, pain and visceral release of post-Katrina New Orleans. For over two hours they threw signs and blew minds of a city that needed badly a spiritual cleansing. They were naked in no time, signifying rebirth and rejoicing. The bartenders and drug dealers were smiling, the great unwashed were baptized and once again, all was right in the City of New Orleans...

Greg Dulli
Los Angeles, CA
March 4, 2006