"Every Joke Is Half the Truth" is Scary Mansion debut album. Working with producer Kyle Fischer (Rainer Maria) over an extended six-month period and opening up the sound of the Thunderstick, the resulting tracks alternate between sparse intimate tones and near claustrophobic layers of feedback, all with an attention to the needs of the songs. Hayes’ lyrical approach mines themes of alienation and romantic snafus, embodied in characters litigious, predatory, and straw-filled.