Originally written in 2011, randomly recorded in 2017, and then finally finished in 2022, “Need Not Reply” is the lost song from the active era of Good Grief! (2009-2014).

Here is the story behind the song:

Take a trip back to the first time you walked into your version of “the shop”. Any magical place of business that carried all the beautiful things that amazed you.

The excitement was palpable. You wanted to look at everything. Browse every nook and cranny. They didn’t just sell things. They sold culture. A vibe that would influence how you dressed, how you talked, and probably how you defined yourself. Something tangible that you could hold in your heart.

Maybe it was a comic book shop. An art supply store. A record or music store. Or, in my case, before music, it was the snowboard shop. 

The sound of "Need Not Reply" is pure “90's snowboard video rock”. Something akin to bands like Face to Face, Seaweed, Offspring, NOFX, Quicksand.

The kind of tune that would accompany an insane part from my favourite rider in a seminal early/mid 90’s snowboarding video. The combined stoke provided by a collection of rad tricks, nomadic renegade lifestyle, and energetic music would jump off the screen at the local shop or my friend’s VCR, grabbing hold of me so that I was transfixed. Locked in awe….some! The musical energy of this song is a tribute to that feeling of pure innocent stoke.

The lyrics of this song tell another story. Of seeking that special person in my life. The one who would change everything.
 
I wrote “Need Not Reply” about meeting the love of my life (the person who eventually became my wife and mother of my child) before I even met her. The song was not quite a mating call but more an announcement of self-reflection that I was doing work on myself and that I felt I was finally ready for something bigger. It was like sending an energetic signal out into the universe, searching for reception on the dial, saying, “I don’t know who/where you are but I can sense you out there. Soon it’ll be time for our paths to cross. This is for you but you ‘need not reply’.”

I wrote the first few drafts in 2011 and the band played the song live a bunch of times. It was our show closer. It’s now been 10 years since we played our last live show. We played this song at that show. 

In 2017, GG! (Shane Wilson, Chris Jaggers, and I) got together for a random jam and recorded the song live-off-the-floor in Jagger’s basement. In 2021, Jaggers dug it up and retracked the bass. 
In 2022, I tweaked the lyrics to the second verse and some parts of the chorus. Then I came in and laid down another guitar part and tracked the vocals. 

In 2023, it was high time to finally finish the lost song. Jaggers mixed it in his studio and we had Brock McFarlane at CPS master it.

The lost song was no longer lost. It was time to bring it home.