The Bounded World

by Bad Optics

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Some songs have individual artwork. Check 'em out!
    Purchasable with gift card
    Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.

      $12 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a Digipak style case. All artwork by Joshua Ihler.

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Bounded World via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Download available in 24-bit/44.1kHz.
    ships out within 5 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

1.
2.
Sing upon the moonlight, all dog-like, simple, stupid, and happy Clasp the muzzle when you need to Scold me when you feel the need be Sybil's on the edge of the bed Cherubs marching out of her head Beauty that I never could hold Whisper to me 'til I grow cold Cut away, cut away Strip all those feelings out Muscle and flesh all that's left after excising - Doubt yourself, doubt yourself You are not worthy of love like the deafening buzz of a thousand bugs Picture on the mantle frame of a dead dove in a verdant field I obediently wait for you to catch my gaze so I can feel Sybil's on the edge of the room Violets slowly come in to bloom Giants lumbering in the hall Pulling me up out of her thrall Cut away, cut away Strip all those feelings out Muscle and flesh, all that's left after excising - Pitch yourself, pitch yourself, you are not moving me All that I've felt Regarded as futility I am a dog in a cage in the living room Preening myself, only hoping to amuse you Am I good? Am I good? I only wish to please I'd break my neck Just to get you to look at me Cut me free so I can fly Clip my feet and watch me try Plant poppies upon my grave Grown sick from watching shadows play
3.
Swan 02:56
Paul's dripping off the ottoman Turning blue and spitting things up Spread eagle on my couch and tripping the light bombastic Now I'm calling you, anonymous, to see what you think should be done about the ottoman - I don't want to have to give it up! Rich grain leather, what a pleasure Hand-sewn buttons top it off Beautiful tassles, certainly no hassle I saw it first in a dream The intersection where form meets function Not up for discussion, it's pure beauty Paul's hand droops from the slab as he's wheeled out in to the ambulance I'm left to pick up the pieces (can you invoice a dead man?) So I'm calling you, anonymous, to see what you think should be done about the ottoman - I don't want to have to give it up! Rich grain leather, what a pleasure Hand-sewn buttons top it off Beautiful tassles, certainly no hassle I saw it first in a dream The intersection where form meets function Not up for discussion, it's pure beauty Sinking and spinning, his life slowly draining The leather is soaking it up as he's croaking Go deeper and deeper in to pleated features A luxury coffin - a burial on markdown Rich grain leather, what a pleasure Hand-sewn buttons top it off Beautiful tassles, certainly no hassle I saw it first in a dream The intersection where form meets function Not up for discussion, it's pure beauty
4.
Dirty Mary, spill your fluids Get too high and overdo it Shackled to the bed and shaking, scratching all the posts Virginal special delivery Tension relief, holy ecstasy Nothing's entered, all is gained by Mary, our gracious host I see it in her eyes - heaven in disguise The needle slipping out, filled up with her pride Gushing from her thighs - Defiled Mother! Dirty Mary, dress the bruises Arms marked by stigmatic ruins Picking at her scabs and feeling haunted by the Ghost Tie the knot and pull the ripcord Slip in to a blissful discord Cherubs dance upon the flowers opening at her feet I see it in her eyes - heaven in disguise The needle slipping out, filled up with her pride Gushing from her thighs - Defiled Mother! Fire coming from her mouth as she begin to shake Great and terrifying textures haunt her waking state Enter: a lover that had not revealed himself before HOLY, BLESSED, RIGHTEOUS, DEADBEAT FATHER His presence fills the room with bombast, smoke, and searing light Mary shrinks as she prepares to take The Serpent's bite He speaks without a tongue, passing commands from mountains high EXIT: MARY, MORTAL MARTYRED MOTHER
5.
Kitties picking up the trash outside the gas station at night I've seen them through the fog Turning back toward their home - a simple-minded task! The cats! Taken by the rats! The rats! Selfless bodies! (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats) They can feel the weight of everything that has been, turning on it, eating on themselves This one's been done, that one's played out - reach in and pull it out! The cats! Taken by the rats! The rats! Folding inward! (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats) NEW AGE DAWNING NEW LIFE FAWNING Kitties slinking, keeping low, bellies touch the ground Trying to avoid THE RATS! The rats! Hunters of the cats! The cats! Nameless victims! (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats) (rats rats rats rats rats rats)
6.
Motives 03:18
Post up Don't forget to clock in What's keeping you? Always keeping tally Always keeping tally Always keeping eyes out for polish and prestige and charm and wit and sheen and absolute confidence We're always keeping tally Always keeping tally Always keeping eyes out for - Rough around the edges Waves and future shakers Betting on some greater good Stand up Don't intend to fall back We're watching you Always keeping tally Always keeping tally Always keeping eyes out for polish and prestige and charm and wit and sheen and absolute confidence We're always keeping tally Always keeping tally Always keeping eyes out for - Rough around the edges Keep yourself together Try to do us all some good Make yourself at home Comfort is the key Don't get overwhelmed, we'll bring you up to speed Take every step in line Make statements vague and brief No improvised replies, and cash out when you need (always keeping tally) (always keeping tally) (always keeping tally) (always keeping tally) (always keeping tally) (always keeping tally) (always keeping tally) (always keeping tally) we're always keeping tally
7.
What's the worth of a man not let in on the plan? As in life, so in death Toil away 'til your last breath I sit in my bedroom I watch the setting moon Grip the bottle, load the clip, free your mind or watch it slip You played along, claimed your prize for sixty years of compromise - I thought comfort was assured, but I got less than I had earned It's setting faster now Soon I will take my bow Lowly serf, wretched worm Direct the sun and watch me squirm Moon rise Moon set
8.
Wires tethered underground Feel them creeping all around Make their way around my neck Feel them tighten copper ends Slowly construct new designs Forms of life that become signs Older ways cease to exist Minimizing what was big Wires coming from my head Pull me apart once I'm dead Carrion beasts compiling flesh Cataloguing as they digest Shitting out new Frankensteins Art as product, perfect design All will be fed to the machine The human soul is obsolete! Kids in the candy store Poisoned with their remorse They've binged all they can get Filled to the brim with their hubris Now they can have their fun Art is for everyone I am now obsolete Organs replaced by machine code Wires! Wires! You ain't seen nothing yet They're coming for you next We could have had it all, but we're left holding the ball
9.
Erase the lines between me and extinction Satan awaits me dressed in jeans and a blazer - laughing like a child Banded to a burning building, melted to its frame The corpse of capital is crying out forgotten names "Quia peccavi nimis!" as it hangs its head in shame "Mea culpa, mea culpa!" as its flesh becomes a stain Burning bright and singing proud, the technocrats gather 'round to build farewell their burning bull and pray one day to be turned back in to people Death is not the end, it's a way through Victoria is smiling Immanentize the eschaton! Work is over, the deed done, all people have been saved from the drudgery of all toil, from the birth until the grave All across the world we find new heavens overlaid Automated freedom is the gift that they have gave (but wait!) They own the roads! They own the homes! They own the means! They own the modes! The channel's dead, no communication They gave you life, and they can take it back in an instant Death is not the end, it's a way through Victoria is smiling Pull yourself up from the grave and see the world your children made Immanentize the eschaton! Open the doors to Babylon! means, modes
10.
Everything is getting worse Burning paper in your purse Hearses swallowed by the sea I can't let it bother me Lap it up as we divide Suckle on my burning bride Pinch a coin between your thumbs Watch him as he all go numb Pulled apart by bureaucrats Lashed upon the burning mat I've been down to see the fun, staring at an empty gun Lick yourself and sit aside the sun, upon the grass Cool and dewey damp, blood drips upon your lap Everything is getting worse Burning paper in your purse Hearses swallowed by the sea I can't let it bother me Lap it up as we divide Suckle on my burning bride Pinch a coin between your thumbs Watch him as he all go numb Pulled apart by bureaucrats Lashed upon the burning mat I've been down to see the fun, staring at an empty gun Lick yourself and sit aside the sun, upon the grass Cool and dewey damp, blood drips upon your lap Animals eat (animals eat) Themselves when they're cold and hungry You can watch them pick the bellies as houses sit cold and empty The bodies are stacking The contract is broken The needles are ripping the skin wide open Outside, winter sky Nine birds are flying and someone is dying in the alley behind my bedroom window Lick yourself and sit aside the sun, upon the grass Cool and dewey damp, blood drips upon your lap Animals eat (animals eat) Themselves when they're cold and hungry You can watch them pick the bellies as houses sit cold and empty
11.
I am always moving backwards, hedging my bets against the future I can feel the wheel is spinning Thinning me with each rotation Pulling tightly upon the fibers Emotionless, like a machine should be The hands that pull are frail and old Shearing off great shocks from the spool They don't seem kind, but they don't seem cruel They pull me with the care of a master Hedging my bets Hedging my bets I stand in awe of The Great Wheel Never ceasing, never resting Many threads are ever-nesting It pulls us all I didn't come here to capitulate It would be over in an instant if I felt that way I've waited long to commiserate with the presence that I've always felt was at the gate There's a man behind the wheel with an albatross grin There's a body in the trunk, and it's soaking in gin There's a light outside the window overtaking the man Mobius on the periphery points to where it began A good idea left out too long will start to decay You can cloak all of your feelings in a shroud of disarray Dreams are wounds the body sheds Salt the wounds and turn them red Entropy's a lot of fun Now tell the people what they've won! Death is coming Death is coming Another speech about another life after this Another chance to buy your way in to eternal bliss I've heard a lot, and I just don't think they hold their weight I've seen the righteous and the grifters as they propagate If it works for you, and you're not hurting other people then that's fine, and I hope you think of me as equal I can't find my way into belief in a holy presence I think my idea of hell might be your idea of heaven But there is one thing in the world that I know to be true: Death is waiting for you and there's not a thing to do Whether or not you're going to live another life When it comes, you're gonna struggle and you're gonna fight Great deluge comes in to liberate all my faculties I stand in awe of The Great Wheel Never ceasing, never resting Many threads are ever-nesting It pulls us all
12.
I awakened from a state to find it all melted away The landscape turned to greyscale The buildings became wireframe The earth stretched out its legs, devouring everything manmade Pavement swallowed by mud, and tree roots upending all things decayed A woman with no face A fading remnant of the human race Twisting and contorting her body into impossible shapes I walked down to the park as the world was getting dark I lay down in the grass and thought about how nothing would be the same "The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." - Genesis 6:13 NEW AGE DAWNING NEW LIFE FAWNING

about

Recorded & mixed at the Juice Reserve from May - December 2024
Produced by Christian J. Hidell & Jake McCaffray
Mixed & engineered by Jake McCaffray
Additional mixing by Garrett Reynolds
Mastered by Chris Hanzsek at Hanzsek Audio
Album art by Joshua Ihler

credits

released April 30, 2025

All music & lyrics written by Christian J. Hidell
except for Motives written by Alex Warton


Bad Optics is:
Christian J. Hidell - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards & synthesizers, glockenspiel
Alex Warton - guitar, trumpet, background Vocals
Stephanie Jones - bass, background vocals
Joshua Ihler - drums, background vocals

Guest musicians:
Obi Guinn - alto & tenor sax on tracks 02, 09, 10, & 12
Adam Long - clarinet on track 09

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Bad Optics Seattle, Washington

Post-Structuralist Solutions for a Bounded World

contact / help

Contact Bad Optics

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Bad Optics recommends:

If you like Bad Optics, you may also like: