Buy me. I will love you. I will arrive in the mail and you can open me up. Real mail is so nice. Place my silver surface in your machine and turn me out into your head. Independent is good. "only the severely suicidal could listen [to this music] without feeling uplifted and warm inside Eric Schmider simply has one of the best voices on the local scene." "the noise" "Beautiful Californian Failure," a gorgeous mix of acoustic, sunny pop melodies and Schmider's talent for a clever lyric." --The Boston Globe Mollycoddle explore the relationship between passion and nurture in their first release, "Beautiful Californian Failure" (Fall 2004). The disk is as much a series of moments as it is a collection of songs, each one reflecting the intimacies, the promises, and the traumas that have afflicted lovers since love began. Arriving in Boston in 1993 from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Eric fell into the local folk scene where he soon joined creative forces with singer/songwriter, and musical comedy mastermind Faith Soloway. In the years that followed, Eric acted as musical director, guitarist and co-producer for Soloway's successful series of "Schlock Operas," including the hits "Jesus Has Two Mommies" and "Miss Folk America," both of which played to sellout crowds at Boston's legendary Somerville Theater. At the same time Eric fronted Skinny Tee, a super-pop harmony-driven band that was quickly creating a buzz around Boston when a tragic accident brought the band as well as a chapter in Eric's life to an abrupt end. As with all endings, the accident created a new beginning, laying as it did the emotional groundwork for the evolution of Mollycoddle. It was October 1998 when Eric and his girlfriend were in a terrible car crash. She broke her back. He became her full-time caregiver. After a slow year of recovery, they moved to Spain to study Flamenco. She danced, and he played guitar. Eric returned to Boston in 2001 intent on making a record about the interplay between care and love. He recorded with Dave Locke at Squid Hell Studios. Eric and Dave approached each song individually instead of aiming to produce a "type" of record. The result is "Beautiful Californian Failure," music with lyrics as honest as Emo, and a melodic sound similar to T Rex, George Harrison, and Flaming Lips. A bit Lennon lemon sprinkled with some Chet Baker blue. Some tunes roll like a Motown groove, while others drive like California pop. Melody is the fabric of Mollycoddle's music, and this is what makes it different from the beat-box rhythms driving music today. In addition to Eric on guitar and vocals, Mollycoddle is Jefferson Davis (Amelia White) on drums, Russell Chudnofsky (Confidence Men, Amelia White, and Skypaint) on lead guitar, and Joe Klompus (Amelia White, Jack Drag) on bass. Among the many musicians who appear on the record are Kris Delmhorst, Richard Gates (Paula Cole, The Story), and Nolan McKelvey (The Benders). Mollycoddle performs as a band with complete orchestration or in quieter combinations. Eric can also be found lying on stage playing guitar for the Dirty Ticket, a local with members from the Pills, the Shods, the Details, and the Mighty Bosstones. The Dirty Ticket is Corin Ashley on bass and vocals, Dave Aaronoff on guitar and vocals, Eric Schmider on Guitar, and Matt Burwell on drums.