review

“SOLE! SOLE! SOLE!” “HAT! HAT! HAT!” “PUP! PUP! PUP!” I can’t believe I get to go to the punk guitarist who went on the Doughboys Podcast’s band’s show! Just kidding. I’ve been listening to PUP for years now, and have been finding that, as I age, I appreciate their music more. Their new album Who Will Look After the Dogs will probably break our Top 10 of the year. Jeff Rosenstock is a no brainer. He was once the best...

Pearl Jam Dark Matter Whoa! Did we miss this one? I can’t imagine! I saw this record on my shelf and was sure we had reviewed it, but I can’t find it in the archives! Is it there and I missed it? Did we never review it? Does this mean I might re-review it? Possibly! Much to your enjoyment and my enjoyment (because I enjoy reviewing good records). Yeah, it’s a shame because this is a damn fine record. Pearl...

Sinners I can’t help but blame myself for watching these kinds of movies. And by “these movies” I mean movies that are highly acclaimed, and I don’t do my homework to figure out where my expectations should be. I’m so disappointed in this movie, but who I really should be disappointed in is myself. Do I even have the energy for a “long” review about Sinners? Let me start rambling and see where it takes me. Sinners was the...

Lambrini Girls Who Let the Dogs Out? I’ve been holding off on reviewing this record because I’ve been thinking about it a lot the past couple months. There’s a lot of buzz around this band  right now and rightfully so. Their music has the best elements of punk rock: it’s socially and politically conscious and has a sense of urgency to it. It’s also confrontational and has guts, which I love. People love comparisons, and why not? Why not try...

Dirty Harry Honest question: are Clint Eastwood’s cop movies better than his westerns? It might seem so. I haven’t seen his spaghetti stuff (yet!), but Pale Rider and Outlaw Josey Wales are pretty respected and didn’t do much for me. Maybe Pale Rider was good. Unforgiven is great, of course. But Dirty Harry is just cool, man. I don’t know if it’s because Eastwood brings that cowboy swagger to the role, but there’s something about Dirty Harry’s whole attitude...

Pale Rider I’m struggling to find the true greatness of Clint Eastwood. I want to love the guy. I want to have the kind of perspective that’s, like “I love his spaghetti westerns and his transition from a western outlaw to an outlaw cop was successful due to so-and-so. Even his later output has highlights, like so-and-so.” But, I’m having a hard time getting a handle on this guy. Do I like Clint Eastwood movies? Yes. I like Unforgiven...

Dog Man All hail Dog Man! Look, with a 5-year-old, there aren’t a lot of movies we can watch and enjoy together, and I was skeptical of Dog Man (more on that later), but boy did it deliver. What helps Dog Man in this situation is being self-aware of what it is and what it’s trying to accomplish. It looks great (if you like that kind of animation…which I do), it’s got an interesting story, which is great, but...

The Outlaw Josey Wales Look, I’m no Clint Eastwood fan, but I wanna be. I really do. His catalog is celebrated, both as an actor and a director. He’s old, he’s grumpy, and he’s still out there doing it. As far as I know, he’s not a “bad guy,” so the impact he has on Hollywood is admirable. Good for you, Clin! I wanna be a Clint Eastwood fan, and after watching Unforgiven and Dirty Harry I might be....

Companion There’s only one group of movie fans more annoying than musical fans and that’s horror fans. They’re almost exclusively the same people who are overly obsessed with Halloween. A sad lot, really, because you’re basically reducing a movie to jump scares, or tropes within tropes. What’s the best scary movie released in recent years? Midsommar? Give me a break. Give YOURSELF a break and read a book. Which is why, I gotta say, bravo, Companion. You did it....

Jon SpencerSick of Being Sick A long time ago Steve Albini was on the Marc Maron podcast and was asked who his favorite people were to produce. Albini mentioned Jon Spencer and said something like “he knows exactly what he wants.” If you don’t know who Jon Spencer is, or don’t like his music, doesn’t that at least command some form of respect? Of all the people Albini has worked with, and been underwhelmed by, Spencer stands out. Luckily for...