WHO: Teenage Fanclub WHAT: Nothing Lasts Forever WHY: Sometimes, things fall through the cracks. Last year, it was Nothing Lasts Forever. I had heard it, and enjoyed it, but it took a while to click. By the time that happened, we were already in 2024. If I were to tell...
Yo La Tengo This Stupid World They say half the work is knowing. The other half is doing. Does that make sense? Does anyone say that? I don’t know, but it does apply to music in some way. Like my “love” of Jawbreaker. It’s a tainted love. I own their...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Crisis Actor LP by Billy Liar. It feels unlikely on the surface because, like Henry Ford, punks often want to proclaim that, “history is bunk” – but the fact is that some of the permutations of punk rock that have...
WHO: NOT WHAT: Stop the World WHY: I did not think Stop the World would make such an impact on me, mostly because I didn’t think I could ever get used to the vocals. I still don’t think I like the vocals, but Stop the World sounds like a love letter to ALL; every...
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros|Streetcore 20th Anniversary RSD Edition What an absolute bummer this album is. No, seriously. I mean it in a good way. Of all the Clash members maybe the best solo work came from Joe Strummer. That’s maybe not surprising. What IS...
Star Trek: Strange New WorldsSeason 2 Star Trek, what am I supposed to do with you? Should I just give up on you altogether? Is there anyone on your production team that knows what they’re doing? Strange New Worlds was supposed to be the saving grace of the show....
WHO: Kurt Vile WHAT: Back to Moon Beach WHY: Look, you’re not fooling me by calling this an EP, OK? Anything with either 10 songs or more, or longer than 25 minutes is an LP. This thing clocks in at 52 minutes, so KV, you gave us a new album last year, even if some...
Water From Your EyesEveryone’s Crushed This album had everything going against it: the weird name, the weird cover, the weird sound, and the weird categorization. The first two I’ll chalk up to myself and being a philistine. Yes, I think the name is weird but...
There are a number of poets who use humor in their work. Some, like Ogden Nash, strive for it. For others, it just seems to come naturally. Derrick Brown is a naturally funny poet. While many of his best known poems are quite tender, a Derrick Brown show is guaranteed...
WHO: Paint it Black WHAT: Famine WHY: Did YOU know Paint it Black was going to release new music? I didn’t. They said that no good hardcore band has released more than 3 good albums, which is why the band’s last full length was released in 2008, but Famine with its...