A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Drowns’ Under Tension LP. While we could easily start this review of The Drowns’ debut album discussing the disparity between looks (the album cover – which is terrible) and content (the music on the album), let’s just start with this endorsement: no matter how much praise Under Tension receives, it deserves more. There are plenty of flaws in the packaging, but the music is absolutely peerless in its quality. From beginning...

Trotsky and the Problem of Soviet BureaucracyThomas M. Twiss Leon Trotsky should be known for a lot of things, but especially for having one of the greatest rises and falls in history. Rising to revered leader of the Soviet state to globally ostracized and being brutally murdered. The man’s life can never be analyzed enough. In fact, it has been time and time again, which is what makes Trotsky and the Problem of Soviet Biography such an interesting book. It’s...

Knives Out I haven’t breathed a sigh of relief quite like the one I did after seeing Knives Out. I’ve just been burned so often by movies. Either because the trailer misrepresented what it was about to see, or it spoiled too much of the movie, or because the hype (as always) was hyperbolic, or because a trusted filmmaker didn’t make something that resonated with me. When I saw the trailer for Knives Out, I thought it looked like a...

Uncut Gems Movies like Uncut Gems make me happy that the Oscars don’t get it. Sure, it’s rough around the edges (pun intended), the characters are largely unlikeable, and the setting is strangely specific, but there is no doubt that Uncut Gems is highly original, has a gripping story, and is full of great performances. I mean, who knew we’d be praising an Adam Sandler movie. Look, of course he doesn’t deserve an Oscar for this, because that’s a...

Nas Illmatic (Get on Down Records) photo: @frangarg There’s this Key and Peele sketch called Bling Benzy and Da Struggle which perfectly personifies the state of mainstream rap music. In the sketch, the “old” and “new” sound of rap music are represented: the struggle of the old rap, delivered calmly but confidently over a jazz melody deals with social inequalities, the new rap delivered loudly with a screeching voice is about getting titties in your mouth. Neither is right or...

Photos by Brittany Rose...

A deeper look at the grroves pressed into the hot pink, limited edition pressing of Father of All Motherfuckers by Green Day. After a span of sixteen years spent examining a series of high-concept creative endeavors (American Idiot started the trend in 2004 and catapulted Green Day onto an echelon of rock stardom that no one imagined possible for the band before, followed by another concept album in the form of 21 st Century Breakdown and a three-album vanity project,...

Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism John Patrick Leary It’s a 1984 type of situation working at some companies. I’m talking about double-speak: talking one way, while knowing that it means something completely different. While we’re not quite there yet in our society, in the environment of a company it manifests itself as corporate jargon speak. You know what I mean. Sentences like “Let’s take this conversation offline so we can consolidate our innovations and sunset this project.” While it’s...

Parasite Don’t you just hate it when the Oscars get it right? The Academy Awards, for all their influence, are also kind of a joke. Their real interest is self-preservations so, more often than not (at least ever since I’ve been paying attention), they stick with mainstream schlock about Hollywood, or feature their favorite film-makers than actually what’s thoughtful and exciting. There’s a reason people call certain movies “Oscar bait,” because what the Oscars like you can spot a...

The Muffs No Holiday Right now I can’t think of a sadder story and a bigger regret in my life than the Muffs. That’s a lot for one sentence, I know, but thinking about this band is a lot for me. Musically, you’d be doing yourself a favor by checking them out. Start with Blonder and Blonder, both a nod to Bob Dylan (I think) and a perfect representation of their music. It’s punk rock, but not too offensive, but...