you took me to the opera
and the singer was far away
it was like the circus
but with people who could pay
i liked it when you touched my hand
but i didn't like the singing
why do women wear fur coats
and why do they think they're winning
-- from The Opera

i painted you a picture
with blood and diet coke
and ashes made of hemlock
and love made out of smoke
i painted you a picture
with gin and turpentine
and pages torn from notebooks
and salt and iodine
-- from Blood and Diet Coke

losing hair since i was twelve
and i think my car wants to hurt me
i can see it standing there
it's unsettling me
-- from Sometimes

"The album in no way disappoints, as it kicks off with 'Butter', a hooky, mid-tempo swirling rock piece that sets the tone for what's to come. Hypnotic rock grooves and splashes of vibrant color lift and dive ...effortless and enchanting - a real breath of fresh air to hear music so bewitching. The title track, 'I Put My Tongue on the Window,' is gloriously spacious with much more than a nod towards the mighty Talking Heads! I can almost imagine Byrne in his big suit doing a cover of this song and waving his arms around psychotically - it's hard for me to give a more fitting tribute. The hypnotism in this song is intense and mesmerizing! If you're not completely sold on this band by the time you hear it, then you never will be. ...Track 4 changes pace brilliantly with a gentle modulated electric guitar and keyboard slowly introducing 'You Took Me to The Opera.' Again, so much color, style, and substance ...subtle vocal harmonies are well placed and the sustained and echo-drenched lead guitar work is reminiscent of Pink Floyd. The atmosphere is incredible. These songs are world class, and they have been brought to life by effortless production. ...This is up there with the very best of the material I've listened to this year, and I will definitely be on the lookout for future releases. Superb stuff!" ~ Neil Thomas, Indie Music Digest, where the album was nominated for CD of the Year

"Most popular artists out there have something truly special. ...This goes above the typical attributes like raw talent, amazing songs, nice voice, or even a very marketable look, sound and image. There's something truly infectious at the core of these artists that simply makes us feel good when we listen to them. Whatever 'it' is - they all seem to have 'it'. ...Boy with A Fish definitely has whatever 'it' may be. ...All in all one of the best CD's I've heard this year." ~ Michael Morrison, Music Emissions

"Great vibe. Perfect for late night college parties, coffeehouses, or even magazine shops. The production delivers a raw musical variety. I give Claus high marks for not being afraid to let it all hang out musically. Boy With A Fish is not trying to be some popish artist striving for mass appeal - they are just being themselves. The CD refuses to try too hard." ~ Markus Druery, IndieShark

"I Put My Tongue On the Window is packed with driving, swirling grooves, and haunting atmospheres. Lyrically, the album is quirky and poetic, the kind of album that makes you want to sit and pour over the liner notes while you listen. The title track is powerfully and artfully urgent. ...tough drums, moog synth, electric guitar, and big reverb violin. ...Boy with a Fish cook up some edgy food for thought."~ 'Round Magazine

"I work at the NPR radio station in Kansas City and just got an advance copy of your new CD - damn, kids! This works for me on all sorts of levels. Nice job! Driving, hooky indie rock - instant winner in my book. The title track sounds like Steve Wynn meets the Black Angels, and this is a very good thing." ~ Michael Byars, KCUR

"Claus' voice sounds like the product of a masterful combination of the best parts of Neil Young and Michael Stipe. ...and there is an eerie ambience created chiefly by the electric violin and the accordion. ...addictively groovable ...the quirkiness is endearing ...and the end result is signature, edgy, and big-time hip. ...Very intelligent, very original material, made possible by hot players with a unique vision and perspective. This CD is cooler than the other side of the pillow." ~ Overground Magazine

"If you have an affinity for quirky Americana with a hauntingly powerful electric shiver, you should seek out Boy with a Fish's gripping new album, Birds Fly Backwards. ...Claus sings in a reedy plea that sounds like a keening hybrid of Freedy Johnston and David Byrne, while the band ...offers a dustily expansive soundtrack of melodic melancholy, airily suggesting the electric pop texture of Talking Heads and the authentic crackle of 16 Horsepower. From the shimmering opening strains of "Sometimes," with all the noir-ish menace of a Stan Ridgway short story/song ("Losing hair since I was twelve/and I think my car wants to hurt me/I can see it standing there/It's unsettling me..."), Boy with a Fish makes a deep impact with the simplest instrumentation and the sparsest arrangement. Birds Fly Backwards is compelling. ~ Amplifier Magazine

Upstate New York can be a lonely place. Somewhere between the Pennsylvania border and the Finger Lakes the seasoned traveler comes to the realization that he has entered into the mouth of H.P. Lovecraft's New England, and is at the mercy of the pines. Ithaca's Boy With a Fish's debut record is that trip's soundtrack. ...The beautiful opener, "Sometimes," is like a walk through an abandoned main street. Its deceptive simplicity aches with a lethal combination of nostalgia and regret, warmed only by the glow of Rick Hansen's accordion. "Plastic Raincoat" inhabits the murky netherworld between the end credits to a horror film and a bonfire singalong, lurching like a midnight prowler against a rhythm section that somehow manages to fuse backwoods roots-rock with reggae. Lyrically, Claus is fascinated by imagery, and his stream-of-consciousness delivery makes lines like "Violins and gasoline/walk on water in between" resonate for no other reason than his conviction of their undeniable truth -- that the band plays like a single organism doesn't hurt either. Observational tales of neighborhood loneliness ("Out Into the Empty") and irreverent narratives about aging ("Glasses") carry beneath them a sense of deep emotional attachment that makes their bittersweet protagonists all the more poignant. When Claus sings "I've got pencils and matches/in my pockets for you/I write you notes, then I burn them/then I send them to you" on the gorgeous "Red Sparrow Bridge," the arc of loneliness is rendered complete, leading the listener back where they started, ready to make the journey all over again." ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide