[Set in northern Indiana, amidst a group of boys who are too old to listen to Led Zeppelin. Max is visiting his friend Chad’s house, which is also Chad’s mom’s house.] [Chad]: Ugh, I can’t decide if I want to go to this play later or not. [Max]: What play? [Chad]: Frankenstein. I wish there … Read more“Unwatchable driveL: A One-Act Play”
Loving a married woman is hell. You look into her eyes, the cup is there, but she’s falling, into her own life, which erects itself in front of you, in spite. You search for the terms on which to talk to her, seeing, finding beauty, comfort and thrill, but no one will be on your … Read more“With Flowers”
There’s this band called Deerhunter out there, you probably own all their stuff. I’m still proud to say that I skipped your set at the ’09 Lollapalooza in order to see them. Bradford Cox was hilarious. Between belting out classic fuzz songs in the pop contour, he’d say things in a nasal, andante, emphatic voice, … Read more“Lou,”
I still remember this commercial airing when I was young, where there was this guy from a mutual fund group or something, saying, “It takes a lot to rattle us.” The guy was having something darts thrown right by his head, I think. This thing had an effect on me, and I remember, at my … Read more“Blitzen Trapper: Uh… The New Album is American Goldwing.”
For whatever reason, Pearl Jam, in their theoretically tenuous post-Binaural days, seem bent on making records The Offspring should be making. As a joke, a few days ago, I wrote on Facebook, “Yo, Ed Vedder, you gotta hook up Lightning Bolt for free.” And in fact, I half expected to actually get it. I wouldn’t … Read more“DD Review: Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt.”
I tried to listen to the Men’s album from 2012 Open Your Heart, but it’s a topheavy, guitar-heavy peal of platitudinous Sonic Youth-siphoning, proving that you can be overly earnest in punk, too. I tried to read cokemachineglow.com’s review of it, but the guy uses profanity in post-semi-colon clauses, and then says, “Let’s back up … Read more“Open Your Heart as Evidence of Music Criticism’s Like Negligence of LP Form”
I used to be one of those pathetic douche bags who just liked to disagree with people, and when this guy at work said he liked Beck overall, his whole catalogue, I said I only liked his old stuff. Something attracted me back to The Information, and I now find it better than Odelay. It’s … Read more“Beck in 2013: Breaking Down the Door of ‘Postmodern Rock’ Didactic, Sifting Through ‘Fans’”
It’s very ironic, or should I say unexpected, that “discourse” is an operative word in the canny discussion of this new Julia Holter album. Discourse, which has many definitions but, in summation, means an exchange of ideas or capacity for thought, in music, vaguely implies lack of genre. Now, if you’re from the Gang of … Read more“DD Review: Julia Holter – Loud City Song.”
Sometimes what you hear is the curse, When you know that below everything Is a rudiment, Is the way things work, The way things stand, which doesn’t change Through the eons bordering the sun . You might stand up and project this way, But someone else might, too And so you meet eye saws, Fornicating, … Read more“Under Spotlights”
My favorite album of this year comes from what has already been my favorite band for more than five years. This is obviously a point of disappointment, semantically speaking. I mean, I feel like some gushy teenage Foo Fighters fan. Along these lines, Stitches is the most “rock” album to date to have come from … Read more“DD Review: Califone – Stitches.”