Appreciated In Retrospect

Here’s a reading playlist 

Pennywise- Never Gonna Die

I don’t know if I could say that Pennywise are underrated, but they’re criminally under appreciated. They’ve aged gracefully throughout aspects of the mainstream punk world hitting a collective wall. They have an undeniably signature sound and it never fails to progress somehow. It’s rare to find a band that has never released a slump album (even a respectable one with a different singer) and plays on their twelfth album like their livelihood depended on it. Never Gonna Die is a shock to the system. A fascist reality television administration will light a fire in any self respecting punk rock band. They address far more than our president being a dumbass who got in office because of the 2016 election being hacked and hate mongering. I can feel singer Jim Lindberg’s frustration of watching our racist, clickbait instagram circus culture is becoming the norm. Though Pennywise has been pointing this out for almost three decades. Musically Never Gonna Die maintains a healthy diversity in tempo and aggression mixed with Fletcher Dragge’s constantly evolving approach to writing punk riffs and desperately intense chord progressions. As a fan of punk music, I take pride in when the legends can still produce records that exceed expectation. They’re great rather than just being passable. A critic will turn their nose up at this album and probably slag it off as Pennywise just being Pennywise. Take a deeper listen to the composition and songwriting. Punk isn’t going anywhere, you just have to want it.

Released: April 20, 2018

Label: Epitaph 

Zeke- Hellbender

Speaking of, if you’re into ridiculously fast rocknroll and Zeke isn’t in your rotation yet, you’re messing up. Zeke will kick your ass, drink all your beer and steal your girlfriend all at the same time. If anyone was feeling a void after Lemmy Kilimister leaving us, listen to this Zeke album. I’ve always felt like Zeke was punk’s best kept secret. After a fourteen year long hiatus they’ve come back with Hellbender. It’s exactly how it sounds and it’s exactly what it looks like: A catchy hyper speed album telling stories of sex, drugs, rocknrolll and partying with the devil. Probably on a motorcycle. It’ll all make sense once you hear it. Be prepared for a fight.

Released: March 30, 2018

Label: Relapse 

Courtney Barnett- Tell Me How You Really Feel

I love second albums. They can serve many purposes, but most of the time they’re a response to listeners anticipating something worse or even better from the first album they built a relationship with. Second albums can make or break an artist. Sometimes they do make an underwhelming second effort due to pressure or the fact that you have your entire life to make a first album and maybe a year to make your second. Courtney Barnett created an earnest and concise body of work that will give her career longevity. Sincerity goes a long way. Anybody who’s aware of Courtney Barnett knows that her words are potentially the most important weapon in her arsenal. The songs revolve around getting the words out. This time around, the melody, lyrics and music are all having a more collaborative conversation. All still just as honest and telling of situations most of us couldn’t put into words ourselves. Certainly not four minute songs with a electric guitar. That growth in songwriting resulted in familiar feeling songs that maintain transparency simply by just having something important to say. I feel like Daria would have enjoyed this album. It depicts loneliness and isolation from the world’s insanities. Something I connect to deeply. Emotionally daunting situations that only exacerbate a pre existing anxiety. Questioning yourself and others, maybe even existence itself. There’s nothing easy or simple about being an HSP watching other people enjoying life purely and ignorantly while constantly thinking about everything affects each other. My personal favorite moment on the album was the pairing of songs Nameless, Faceless and I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch. Both share a sentiment women feel across the planet.

I wanna walk through the park in the dark Men are scared that women will laugh at them I wanna walk through the park in the dark Women are scared that men will kill them

I’m glad we have Courtney Barnett right now. Not to throw the rock savior moniker on her that we did to other Aussie rock acts, but that honesty and poetic nature is something we do need right now.

Released: May 18, 2018

Label: Milk!/Mom + Pop/Marathon Arists 

A Perfect Circle- Eat The Elephant

I can already tell this is going to be polarizing. I also feel like it’s going to be further under the radar than expected. Speaking of expectation, also taking a fourteen year along hiatus, fans have already built up five different versions of what they thought they wanted or even deserved to hear from A Perfect Circle in such a long span of time. You’re not the same person fourteen years later. Some people moved on after the wave passed. Others waited patiently, hopefully knowing that it’ll come when the time is appropriate. Eat The Elephant does nothing short of hit all of it’s marks. Anything they did was going to be seen as a disappointment. Having an album predominately centered around a piano doesn’t help that case to the mass public either. Personally, I feel like this is their best album since Thirteenth Step. How does it not delver? They’re still the same epic and emotionally driven band making cinematic music. Some of those elements have only been amplified. The original presentation of the band was bringing together the heavy elements founder Billy Howerdel wanted and the softer ambient moments from singer Maynard Keenan. This time around they found themselves making a more desolate pop album with an orchestra fit to score a film behind them. The progressions have an even more straight forward pop structure and have been stripped down to mainly piano. The guitars are elements of textures adding to the movement of the music rather than being the core focus. Eat The Elephant might be a more direct homage to their influences than the band may have even thought. There’s sounds and vocal deliveries you never would have heard on a Tool or A perfect Circle record a decade ago. But check out The Cure’s Pornogrpahy or Siouxsie and The Banshees Tinderbox and draw the comparisons throughout the years and certainly on this album. It’s all still there. Maynard’s blunt lyricism is an observation of the lows our society has dropped into. Obsession with materialism, believing in false prophets, racism ad how we’ve destroyed the planet with mindlessness and greed are all prevalently woven into every line on the album. It’s a desperate attempt to call out for finding change from within ourselves instead of trying to force it elsewhere. They brought something refreshing back to big rock music without it getting away from them. There’s something important to say, I’m afraid not many people will hear it. At east not right now. The not so discrete perfection in the flow of this album will be appreciated later down the line once judgement becomes less foggy. We’ll just have to live with it for a while until then.

Released: April 20,2018

HERE’S A READING PLAYLIST 

The Longshot- Love Is For Losers

BUT WAIT! IF YOU CLICK HERE, THERE’S MORE JAMS MANG

Billie Joe Armstrong has a disease. The man can’t stop. He needs his fix. Time can’t go too long before he gets the itch. There’s a classic catalogue of close to 30 years of Green Day, the demented new wave band The Network, Pinhead Gunpowder, multiple contributions to the world of broadway, a tribute record to the Everly Brothers with Norah Jones, and Green Day’s blackout superhero alter ego’s the Foxboro Hot Tubs. But that isn’t enough, nor is it ever going to be. Now enters The Longshot featuring David S. Field and Kevin Preston of Prima Donna and the world’s most consistent man Jeff Matika. I personally this it’s poetic that ten years ago, Kevin Preston was the live guitarist in Foxboro Hot Tubs and he’s now making records with Billie Joe and his best friend. The Longshot’s sound could be Foxboro’s alter ego if The Reverend Strychnine Twitch just wanted to sing songs that feel good rather than destroy everything in his path with a tall can of PBR. Or maybe it’s the Look For Love kid all grown up. This is the release Billie Joe needed to get the melodies he hears in his head out without any constrictions or expectations of it being a Green Day album. Influences ranging from, 60s pop, 70s punk and rock n roll and 80s heartbreakers like the mighty Replacements. They even covered my favorite Ozzy song on the LP.  Every song plays like oldies single on a jukebox. I think the Trilogy albums pair nicely with this album as well, which you’ll all get in five years. Everyone pretends they weren’t salty about The Clash’s Sandinista once upon a time as well, so keep that in mind. This feels like how rock n roll is supposed to feel; fun, spontaneous and a wink to our influences. Interesting things tend to happen when Billie Joe Armstrong creates a side project. Stay tuned and check out the Longshot on tour.

Released: April 20, 2018 

Albert Hammond Jr- Francis Trouble

The Strokes have a seemingly complicated history as a band. It’s a part of the allure, but it also causes many people anxiety because they’re a cult band that made it incredibly big. Rock music in the early 2000s was put into strange territory, mainly because of the media. For the entirety of the past decade Albert Hammond Jr. has challenged the perception of fading into the rock n roll grave yard of obscurity while challenging himself to hone his talents to create something that can stand on its own two feet, independent of The Strokes. Life’s inevitability and curve balls can wake you up and command you to go for whatever your version of greatness looks like. All of you have something you could be incredible at given the skill set you were born with and hopefully cultivated. A curve ball for Albert Hammond Jr was learning about his unborn twin who died in a miscarriage. The impact that can have on your existence must be overwhelming. To a creative, that’s means to express. Francis Trouble is officially born in the alter ego in Red Suits who is love struck, a little lost but ultimately wants to just have a good time. I can relate to that. This concept freed Albert Hammond Jr to immerse himself further into the music and have a creative rebirth of his own. Liberate yourself enough to explore your identity. Then really go for the ridiculous things you want in life. I personally think this is his strongest material and I really thought Momentary Masters was a e new height for his songwriting. The vulnerability of almost wearing the mast of Francis Trouble allows AHJ to find his voice on record while crating the music landscape reminiscent of why we all copied his style of guitar playing in the first place.

Released: March 9, 2018

Label: Red Bull Records 

Kali Uchis- Islolation

This album has been waited on by the majority of people not living under a rock. Kali Uchis is known for being the last piece of any puzzle an artist has been trying to put together musically as one of the better featured artists in the past ten years. But how would a full length work? Well I think you got what you wanted and there’s nothing remotely surprising about it. Isolation is an amalgamation of eclecticism using damn near every color of the palette of pop music. Compositionally this album is untouchable. Kali Uchis recruited an all star lineup of producers to help her create the world in her head. Thundercat, Damon Albarn, Kevin Parker, Tyler The Creator, Bootsy Collins, and Greg Kurstin to name a few. It’s April right now but this feels like a summer album to me, maybe it’s all the reverb or the reggaeton rhythms. If this our official introduction to her formally as an artist, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s mentioned Queen alongside Sade, Lauryn Hill, Erika Badu, Amy Winehouse or Hope Sandoval as I personally already do. Anyone wanting to hear generic pop bangers or wanted to hear ten songs repeating themselves showed up with the wrong intention. Go take a walk, somewhere preferably pretty, and hear this album in headphones. Be in your technicolored animated film.

Released: April 6, 2018

Label: Virgin/EMI

L.A Salami- CIty Of Bootmakers

I’m not sure if L.A Salami has  consciously been making one long movie this entire time or intended on these albums being sequels to one another, expanding on the sound and topics the more knowledge he obtains through living in whatever that year had had to offer. This past year has been utter insanity. The world can’t decide if it’s getting way better or completely falling apart. If you told yourself even five years ago what this all looked like right now, you wouldn’t believe a word of it. It defies logic. We’ enter the city of Bootmakers by being being serenaded and briefed into being informed in a bedroom/Springsteen style anthem that we’re in fact a lost generation, trying to figure out what went wrong. City of Bootmakers analyzes the dichotomy's of life being a double edged sword. And it doesn’t really mean much of anything, except it means everything. It’s a lot to unpackaged all at once. Go line by line on this album, nothing short of reality is up for grabs. Fear mongering from our governments and media, gentrification, capitalism in general, or just figuring out how and why to exist. This time around it’s seems to be more about telling the listener the way it is, rather than asking questions. I enjoyed hearing the evolution of L.A Salami’s songwriting and conversations musically he’s having with his bandmates, making more concise tunes in the process. They have an excellent chemistry that pushing his sound forward. Musically this feels like a capitalization on what L.A Salami has been developing for the past few years. It just happens to get get better every time. What is This transitioning into Jean is Gone as a bonus track feels like an ending to something like a series of books or movies. That could just be me, but I am interested to see what could happen with the evolution of our favorite wordsmith.

Released: April 13 2018

Label: Sunny Day Best Recordings 

Fiddlehead- Springtime and Blind

You want to know how to make a classic record? All you have to do is mean it.

Boston’s Fiddlehead consists of Patrick Flynn, Shawn Costa of Have Heart, Basement guitarist Alex Henery. Their debut full length LP Springtime and Blind documents the mourning of singer Patrick Flynn’s father. As a concept that inherently makes the album a heavy listen, and it’s just that. The songs are skillfully crafted and they result as a standout in the emo genre to the standard of every other release on Run For Cover Records. I would definitely call this an emo album above anything else. Frankly one it’s leading examples. Springtime and Blind is as raw as it gets emotionally taking on the perspective of Flynn’s mother coping with the loss of her spouse as well as being a child losing a parent. Emotionally driven music is typically to gain some kind of catharsis and Flynn seemed to have done just that. At the very least he conveyed his message and connected with the listener. Anybody dealing with loss of any kind or a rough transitional period in general give this a spin. Especially if you’re a fan of Jawbreaker, Rites of Spring, Get Up Kids, Adventures, Basement, Title Fight, Fugazi, Sunny Day Real Estate etc. this should be right up your alley. Enjoy.

Released: April 13, 2018

HERE’S A READING PLAYLIST 

Prima Donna- S/T

All Killer. No Filler.

Prima Donna’s current approach to rock n roll has progressed into something modern using textures and elements of the past as the means to emote . S/T is a refreshing rock album built for the year 2018.  If you take a look back at all of their albums starting from 2008’s After Hours this is a natural progression of their sound but it expands the formula inter new territories instead of continuing the same dialogue. Certainly influences of fifties singles and 80s dark wave/pop music took more of a precedence this time around rather than T. Rex. You’re immediately taken into the roller rink at an abandoned carnival during All Hallow’s Eve in the album’s introduction and lead single 4 Real. Lead singer Kevin Preston’s pop sensibilities came through most on this album. Every song plays like a single with gigantic catchy choruses. The hooks will be engrained into your heads and you’ll catch something new in the production if headphones are involved. Something like this should be on the radio rather than most of what’s actually being played on the radio. This might also be the heaviest Prima Donna record as well. Songs like Year of The Rat or the albums closer Sound The Alarm go fully into what would have been touched on before. The attitude has matured from its youthful hard partying genesis. S/T is automatically my favorite Prima Donna album aside from the hits because it’s the most Aaron and David have been featured on an album. Everybody’s game has upped, bringing Prima Donna into new territory. 

Released: March 30, 2018

Label: Wicked Cool Records

Turnstile- Time & Space

Turnstile is real fucking deal. Whoever thought hardcore had nothing new to say, think again. Cause you messed up. Turnstile took the engine apart and put it back together. Certainly exceeding the limitations that you, I or anybody else could have. Anybody thinking they know what they’re getting themselves into whether or not you’re familiar with them or not couldn’t be more incorrect. The first song ends with a smooth jazz interlude…AND THAT’S NOT THE ONLY ONE.  The pummeling continues immediately with every single style of executing extreme music blended together with Celebrity Death Match riffs that make you want to fight. Being a tough guy isn’t Turnstile’s deal though. Hardcore is just the medium to express. It happens to be a good one being potentially one of the most visceral representations of music. Their Producer Will Yip is the best rock producer in the game right now. He transforms already great bands into giants and creates a free environment to experiment and expand the sound. Take a good look his list of Production credits. That’s why the hair metal solos are there, or the Little Richard piano or the elevator music interludes. Why not mess with the audience and show your sense of humor without telling a joke. Similar to Nirvana making Nevermind after Bleach, Turnstile’s sophomore installment is a classic. Turn on Time & Space this week weekend and unhinge or play it during your work week when somebody inevitably pisses you off. 

Released: February 23, 2018

Label: Road Runner Records

Hop Along-

I first found Hop Along during finals of my junior year in college. I was listening to Mark Hoppus’ sorta revived podcast HiMyNameIsMark and he said they were recommended to him by New Found Glory frontman Jordan Pundik. I turned it on immediately after the episode out of neutral curiosity and I had an overwhelming first listen of their debut album Get Disowned. Sorrow and beauty coming together in this folk/emo mix that really got to me. This past week I couldn’t stop listening to it or looking up anything that resembled it sonically. That record got me through finals that semester and I’ve been a die hard fan since then. I adore this band. Their new album Bark Your Head Off, Dog is their strongest work out of their trilogy of albums. It’s a fantastic morning record. They created an opus of folk baroque pop into a painting. Perhaps the front cover. The one in my head looks a little different. It’s rich and regal with undertones of pain. Grandiose and expressive, yet quaint. It seems like a isolated moment in time just being a solid nine songs that come off as nine singles. Each song has these infectious pop melodies that reaches an emotional peak like the bridge of Not Abel the emerges out of nowhere. Or the guitar solo for One That Suits Me. Like when I first discovered them I felt that overwhelming wave of emotion, mainly in the catchiest parts of the songs. Frances Quinlan knows how to emote. Aside from the incredible use of what sounds like a string quartet in these Chelsea Girl moments, my favorite aspect of this album is how rhythmically diverse it is. Musically this has grown into what I hope they always thought it would. Song composition has been of a certain standard since their first album, and their second album Painted Shut continued the conversation developing their sound and songwriting. Bark Your Head Off, Dog experiments while maintaining the sophistication of what makes a Hop Along song hit. Every moment feels important, it’s a record that can have multiple listens at a time. 

Mt. Eddy- Mt. Eddy

Wall Flowers Rejoice!

I’m glad that they’re are truly compelling straight up rock n roll bands right now. Most would say the genre is dead but Mt. Eddy is definitive example of that being false. Their self titled single is a quick Valentine’s day letter in the form of lonely hearts pop rockers that go just as nicely on a sunny day at the beach as they do on a rainy day alone in your room. Danger approaches the songs like Buddy Holly or The Penguins not unlike the Back To The Future school dance personification in their video for Zombie.

I LUV Robert Smith too! I’ve been there dude; she only likes The Strokes. I love The Strokes but damn. What is wrong with you? If you’re like me and are prone to having a love interest that drives you out of your mind, turn this on.

For a quieter guy, when Danger projects you can hear pain in his voice. It translates no matter the subject matter or style of song. His lyrics are poetic and seem like they came from past events he personally lived. Maybe they’re are journal entries inspiring them like Laura Jane Grace’s writing. Mt. Eddy’s self titled single is nostalgic, young, ferocious, catchy, angsty, sincere, endearing and relatable. The mix and performances sound like a house show or an intense rehearsal in the garage. I’m calling it now, give it five years and Jakob Danger is going to be king indie. He’s another chosen one of this generation. He knows how to convey the feelings most wallflowers have, but with abandon. 

Released: March 13,  2018

Here’s a gigantic middle finger to convention and greed. Jack reinvented himself and made his Yeezus. Enjoy!

Stream Boarding House Reach 

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Connected By Love-

Boarding House Reach’s introduction and lead single that continues the simplistic theme of love and mainly loss. We see a darker side of love on the blue trilogy of Jack White albums on Love Interruption and Would You Fight For My Love. Pleading to be released by the hold someone has on you but wanting to surrender to love naturally. Love is hell. Such as most of the oldies singles we love, they’re 9/10 approaching the song from a place of heartbreak. There’s something interesting about the energy of the song given that disposition and making it the first one on the album is as bold as it is a given. Jack almost sounds spent delivering his verses, almost as if he had just been through something. I think the past ten years of growing and understanding life and change did that.

What have I done? I have pushed away everyone

Help me forget, let's put it all to bed

Forgive me, and save me from myself

Don't forsake me, woman and go and choose somebody else

The first instrument you hear is a synthetic bass waving from the left and right channel with conga drums building throughout it. There’s no handholding, we don’t hear a guitar until the solo accompanied by an organ.

Why Walk A Dog?-

Keeping up the 808s waltz and funeral organs, White correlates the state humanity with the domestication of animals. Sparing use of guitar to hauntingly reiterate the vocal melody. Human beings live with a lot of constructs that I’m not sure any of us know why we’re living. Somebody challenging that is simultaneously disruptive and revolutionary. What makes a situation one way for someone and another way for somebody else based off of little to nothing? Why are men paid more than women? We do we force certain animals to be obedient in return of food and love while kill and eat others ruthlessly?

Corporation-

That beat though.This feels like the song Jack White has always wanted to make, especially in the theme of the mainly instrumental pieces on each album that really on the jam around a great riff an rhythm. This time around it felt a little Cowboy Bebop and Edgar Winter meets the Lost Episode of Spongebob. (Tell me that wouldn’t line up perfectly.) Then the vocals come in, and they’re eerie. One could say it’s just Jack being Jack and accept it as a broad statement. White asks “Who’s With Me?” It’s safe to assume most of audience happily volunteered themselves. Even in-between the howls. But if you read the words on paper, who or what does it sound like?

Yes, I'm thinking about buying all the empty cots

And making one giant army

Who's with me?

I'm gonna buy up all the empty lots and make one giant farm

Who's with me?

Yeah, you know what I'm talking about?

Who's with me?

Yeah, I'm thinking about starting a corporation

Who's with me?

And take it right to the top

Take it right to the top!

Abulia and Akrasia-

The first of many spoken word sections on the album. This one is performed by blues singer C.W Stoneking to expand your vocabulary. If anybody was wondering  “Abulia refers to a lack of will or initiative and can be seen as a disorder of diminished motivation. And akrasia is described as a lack of self-control or the state of acting against one’s better judgment” (Genius)

Hypermisophoniac-

Children’s toys make dope loops. “Misophonia” is a proposed condition in which negative emotions, thoughts, and physical reactions are triggered by specific sounds. So White tried to create something beautiful out of ‘ugly sounds’ in a constant ascension of desperation. The song is in a constant Before that album came out White spoke to Gary Oldman describing the new material as “good gardening music or roofing music or, you know, back-alley stabbing music.”I thought that was vague until I heard the album. Specifically this song feels like back-alley stabbing music.

Ice Station Zebra-

Check my man’s flow.

Over and Over and Over-

Anybody waiting for the classic Jack White guitar riff thus far, look no further. Apparently the genius of this song was for an album White was working on with Jay Z years ago. It stacks up fine next to songs like Lazaretto and Sixteen Saltines as much as classic White Stripes songs. 

Everything You Have Learned-

This could be the most genius moment on the album. White holds up a mirror to the listener with conga drums and synths as the alter White is preaching from. We have finally met Jack White: The Preacher, and it’s an angrier character. These are the angriest screams I’ve heard from him since the early White Stripes days and those were more youthful than angry. He asks seemingly simple questions with seemingly simple answers showing the cause and effect of duality in the choices we make based off of our systems of belief.

Do you want everything?

Then, you can have everything

But what is everything?

(Worth?)

Do you wish for nothing?

Then, you will have nothing

Now, that is something

Do you wanna see it all?

Well, you can just open your eyes

The one who is prepared, is never surprised

Do you wanna question everything?

Then, think of a good question

Do you wanna start a fire?

Well, you can watch it burn

Do you wanna learn?

Then, shut up and learn

Do you wanna learn?

Then, shut up

Shut up

Shut up and learn

Shut up

Shut up!

Respect Commander-

Another not so subtle nod to modern times and the conversations taking place right now. Plant your feet where you stand and uphold that. With a beat reminiscent of the beginning drum beat of Corporation, a shot of espresso brings the listener to a modern version of what The Clash did with experimenting with their sound in the 80s on albums like Sandinista! or even Daft Punk or Childish Gambino’s Because The Internet with the bluesy breakdown that serves as the body paragraphs in the song.

She has all my respect

She has all my respect

And I cannot protect

My heart from her command

WORD UP. This is a scorcher that musically takes you all over the place and features one of the more prominent guitar solos on the album as well. It’s a modern perspective on a song that still features swagger and seduction.

Ezmeralda Steals The Show-

Spoken word interlude number two. This one is a story book interpretation of observing our communication breakdown as a society. This time performed by Mr. White double tracked with completely different timbres like in both sides of your headphones.

Stealing the show could be something happening out of the ordinary seeming as we’ve all become so disinterested in the ordinary.

Get In The Mindshaft-

Spoken word number three. We’re given a peak inside a small moment in the life of Jack White, finding a piano in an abandoned house and figuring out his first chord. Could it be the genius of a life of music? Or just a representation of the beginnings of that life? Maybe it’s representative of paths being taken in life and it starts with finding three notes that fit together. The Prince/Daft Punk dance party menses out of that synthesizer dream state introduction with White’s modulated crooning;

Can you hear me now?

Am I Invisible to you?

What’s Done Is Done-

Similarly to the album’s introduction, What’s Done is Done is the most traditional and traditionally Jack White song on the album, though it takes it’s liberties instrumentality with the blend of acoustic and electronic elements. As a duet with singer Esther Rose the broken waltz motif continues on a song that blends blending classic country music and 808s as Justin Timberlake once said. But actually.The juxtaposition of that fits a lot more naturally when it isn't contrived. White sounds even more defeated this time around alluding to his own demise at the end of the song.

Humoresque-

Back in 2017 an anonymous bidder at an auction bought sheet music handwritten by Al Capone in Alcatraz. The song was a classic piece that many people had attempted to write lyrics for including the world’s most notorious gangster. Jack White was revealed to to be the anonymous bidder. Just take a listen to the song and let it wash over you. Jack White doing a jazz song and singing primarily in his upper register in what one of his most vulnerable vocal takes is something to process in itself. Then take in the fact that this was put together by Al Capone. The intensity of each musician building the song until it’s peak could be the most compelling moment of the album. It’s a beautifully mournful ending that inevitably leaves a void.

Personally, I believe this is Jack White’s strongest solo album and strongest album in general since the first Dead Weather release. New life was breathed into the process of creating the songs maintaining juxtaposing the analog and the digital. White says this is the first album he mixed in Pro Tools but he still used the same analog equipment from his teenage years in an isolated apartment to write the songs. Boarding House Reach sounds and feels like liberation. I’ve been seeing him hold a lot of weight over his shoulders since Blunderbuss for various reasons. I think he’s found peace in himself by being able to look inward and allow change. That being said, anyone thinking this isn’t marketable or it’s too odd of a Jack White record, really take an honest listen to the songs. Boarding House Reach is a beautiful reminder to create freely. It could be considered a rebirth or an ending. Could the adding of the gold in the blue have any significance in that? Also check the White Stripes’ Get Behind Me Satan. It may not have had 808s on it but rock purists were pissed off then too. It’s 2018, these sounds have to integrate, and who better than Jack? Thank you for making dynamics the focus.

As always, I recommend buying vinyl. It really is the best listening experience. Support the artist and/or your local record store. Physical Copies of Boarding House Reach can be found on Third Man Record’s website. 

Released: March 23, 2018 

Label: Third Man/Columbia/XL

Stream The Album Here 

I’ve been obsessed with melody since childhood. I’ve become a junky for it. When I find something that resonates with me I listen to it over and over again to get that same rush, at times excessively. As a song writer I’ve been trying to convey emotion sonically in a way that affects others the same way I can be. That’s always been a journey and then I found out about Camp Cope.

Georgia McDonald is my favorite singer right now. Her voice is haunting. It only communicates truth. She emotes every syllable of every line. I know she believes what she’s saying whole heartedly. The songs these three women write are the songs I’ve always wanted to write myself. These were the melodies I’ve always wanted to hear. The band Hop Along holds an even more significant place in my heart now knowing that they were such a pivotal inspiration for Camp Cope’s beginnings.

I’m a big fan of just about everything Run For Cover Records does. Their artists seem to produce classic albums. Camp Cope did nothing short of that with both of their latest releases through Run For Cover. I highly recommend checking out their AudioTree performance and their split EP with Cayetana as well. They all serve as one continuous exploration of everything that’s ever torn you apart with perfect chords.

I appreciate when bands  can pull off bringing the listener into the room with a live performance sound. Harvey Danger did a great job with that. There’s no smoke and mirrors with the production or the song compositions themselves. I think that has a lot to do with how and why Camp Cope are making such a genuine connection to their listeners and building their name right now.

The opening song on How to Socialize & Make Friends fittingly titled “The Opener” scorches through the hypocrisy in music and the condescension that often comes with the territory of being a lady rocker. It breaks the ice and lets the listener know that the next thirty eight minutes is going to be raw. What follows are intimate peaks into vivid moments in time. You’re placed in a first person perspective living vicariously through the autobiographical and intensely emotional narrative of our protagonist Maq. Have you ever loved someone so much you felt like it was killing you? Have you ever wanted to be yourself despite it disappointing someone? Have you ever had trouble getting out of bed?

Various moments  brought me to tears like The Face Of God; a brutally honest look into the reality of why the #MeToo movement exists.

And I saw it, the face of god

And he turned himself away from me

And said I did something wrong

That somehow what happened to me was my fault

You can see it in apologists and hear it in the songs

I’ve Got You is a beautifully crafted song where we learn the most about Maq. We learn why their self titled album featured a little girl with bandages containing a gash. Learning not to run with glass can symbolize most of the lessons learned from the trials of becoming an adult. Even if that lessons comes at the tender age of two. Most of the answers do come from childhood somehow. It’s also a beautiful ode to her father late musician Hugh McDonald of Redgum. Maq’s poignant view into the weight being put on the shoulder of us seeing and living gun violence, inequality and police brutality on a daily basis as well.

There's still some things I don't understand

Like the casual blindness toward the cruelty of man

And a cop shot the wrong guy again

And they tore down a childhood home again

Oh, nobody seemed to blink an eye

When they wanted you to pay to see the sky alive

You can’t approach this album from a place of insecurity or discomfort looking inward. This music is indicative to the direction a good part of society is going in, especially in young adults and the youth. Inviting and inclusive but anybody being dishonest with themselves or holding onto to something that doesn’t serve them to might not receive the message the way they should.

I suppose that’s why some men and women seem to find it controversial in some kind of way. The album’s purpose is to give an unadulterated view into life’s pain and beauty. Most of which is universal. But when the feminine pronouns are involved instead of straight males for some reason that gets under some people’s skin. Personally, I like that. It gives the music even more of a purpose. That is somewhat of a selfish plus for me as a punk and a fan of their band. I’m glad they’re being discussed for these topics because it expands the dialogue. But I know that’s not the only agenda. The goal is speak your truth whatever it may be. Acknowledgment that there’s a problem is the first step to fixing the problem. Nobody should be punished for speaking about something happening to them. Historically men have put women through emotional and physical pain across the planet. Bringing that up seems to bother people like when their guns are in jeopardy or you ask them to think from the perspective of someone who’s been oppressed, marginalized or even killed. They won’t, it’s too much work. Ultimately I think translating pain and truth with art is the should be celebrated rather than dismissed or met with such ignorant opposition.

Feminism is the notion that women are in fact people with opinions and rights that aren’t less than a man’s and vice versa. So with that view point, really immerse yourself into the lyrics as if they were your own words.

Hands down I know this album will be in my top ten this year and will continue l be on rotation for the years to come. I appreciate Maq, Kelly-Dawn and Sarah for spreading the gospel of keeping it real.

As always, I recommend buying Vinyl. It’s the best way to experience music and it helps support the artist. The LP runs for $17.99 on the Run For Cover website and there’s always supporting your local record store.

Released March 2, 2018

Label: Run For Cover Records.

Catch them on tour with the incredible Petal this spring.

March 2018

Here’s a sample playlist of each album. 

Brian Fallon- Sleepwalkers:

The spectrum of Brian Fallon expands it’s range naturally across each project. Sharing an appreciation of folk music, quintessentially eighties melodies, and melodic punk. Most of which is as heartbreaking as it is catchy. Similarly to how Jack White’s Lazaretto was a perfect sequel to Blunderbuss, Sleepwalkers continues the conversation started sonically on his debut album Painkillers. This seems to be a moment where Fallon can exercise paying homage to more of his influences and tell more of his stories. Both of his solo efforts certainly fill in any gaps of dense hooks indicative to Fallon’s approach to wiring melody.

No record Brian Fallon makes can sound like anything but Brian Fallon. So anyone who’s a fan of what he’s done either solo, with the Gaslight Anthem, The Horrible Crowes, or Molly and The Zombies will enjoy this effort just as much. Brian’s pop sensibilities certainly shine through on these songs over perfectly simple chord progressions constructed with meticulous folky instrumentation. He’s cementing the fact that he can stand on his own two feet and create something separate from Gaslight Anthem with some weight. But most of us knew that after the Horrible Crowes

Candace- New Ruins

I’ve always said shoegaze was musics for soothing for the soul. That being said, Candace is excellent for the soul. They’re a three piece from Portland, Oregon who already has an impressive catalog of music from only two years of releases streaming online. I first discovered them at a random night drinking in L.A last year. My brother and I ended up at the Hi Hat and decided to watch the show seeing as it was free. That was the night we found Candace and some other bands who’s names I seem to have forgotten. Their harmonies and ethereal sounds were mesmerizing. We’ve seen them twice since then. Their latest album New Ruins exceeded the already high expectations I had given their earlier releases and live show were so powerful. Anyone looking for something meditative and scenic, this would be a good place to start. This body of work is a natural progression of their sound adding more attention to hooks and experimentation in tone. It could be raining, it could be a sunny day at the beach or whatever your existential trip looks like and Candace would serve as the perfect soundtrack.

American Pleasure Club- A Whole Fucking Lifetime Of This

(BTW American Pleasure Club used to be Teen Suicide for anyone confused) 

This record is a gem. It’s a raw lo fi take on a modern version of crafting a physical mixtape for someone special back in the day. It’s an unbelievable blend of sounds that jumps from folk music to lo fi hip hop with an emo hook on it. I would describe the album as nothing short of  a trip. The lo fi production and dreamy layering of instruments and vocals make for perfect studying music. The best way to hear it is in headphones. That goes for just about any album really. It always feels like you’re in a nostalgic dream like state with singer Sam Ray crooning in the distance while simultaneously over the music as if it were karaoke. Anyone going for a good nostalgic indie record the spans across genre I would recommend this listen. There’s something new every listen and the music just feels good. There’s no genre anymore. Textures are to be thrown together. All as long as it emotes. A Whole Fucking Lifetime Of This hits all of its marks. I think this is going to be looked back at as a classic in a few years actually. It’s a daring album. More mixtapes should be made.

  Stone Temple Pilots- Stone Temple Pilots

Here’s your soundtrack for this listening experience. 

Friday. March 23. 2018

Brick walls, flattering warm lights that look like gas lamps and Prince’s symbol stamped onto my hand at the door. Not a bad start. The Moroccan Lounge is a beautiful venue that is the perfect gap between something the size of The Smell and The Hi Hat. Good bar area away from the stage as well. It’s heart warming to see a venue for up and coming bands taking it seriously. L.A Salami and his band take the stage and soundcheck as the lighting person at the venue woke up. I had no idea there were that many lights in this place. Everybody looked in awe like something was about to happen. I don’t think any of us knew what exactly.

I had only discovered him about three months ago through a Youtube rabbit hole that ended up on a channel called COLORS; a creative platform to showcase simple and striking aesthetic through colors and artists from around the world. In the video he and his band perform the song I Wear This Because Life Is War. As you could tell by the title of that song, I knew this guy meant business. Why he could say everything I’ve ever wanted to say and with a better outfit? I’m not quite sure. But then came the NPR Tiny desk performance and now I’m here in Downtown L.A ready to hear the gospel of reality.

His songs makes sense of how the world operates. They express the crippling or beautiful mundanities of life as well as analyzing existence and why we all are the way we are. It’s the vastness of the relative and the absolute and how they affect one another. He approaches both in his writing. The transparency makes him relatable yet, the sharpest listener still has to be able to keep up. There’s more said in one song than most do on their entire album. It’s music for thinking. Our favorite rockstars, rappers and other extraterrestrials are poets conveying messages we couldn’t put into words ourselves. Expressing emotions that would be frightening to display in the majority of the social interactions we all have. So we think.

Whether or not it’s intentional, Lookman Adekunle Salami’s live show is divided into acts like a play, experimenting in the dynamics between the power and energy of a full band and the striking presence of just L.A Salami himself. Similarly to the way his last album Dancing with Bad Grammar does. The live experience on the other hand is mandatory to have in either a room filled with an overwhelming amount of lights ranging in mood or sitting in a chair in a silent room. L.A Salami live decked out in a marching band jacket, brown corduroys, and red circle lenses is a sight to see. I’d recommend this experience the next opportunity you have reader. He and his band will come back around. It might not be in the same kind of venue the next time. The conversation might change completely after he releases his next album The City of Bookmakers this April.

Only positive energy was in the room that evening. No posturing like I see at some other local shows. Nobody was acting too cool for anything. People of various backgrounds were all friends, lovers or genuinely kind acquaintances of one another. I’m more used to people passively trying to stay out of each other’s way or actively getting in someone’s way. It says something about the artist that’s on the stage to attract open minded and kind people. I hope the musicians noticed that. I hope I was the only one in the audience thinking about it.

L.A Salami is a true folk artist in the sense that he has a message and uses his platform to speak his truth. The purpose is to express truth directly to the listener. Whether that means relaying information or asking a question not many of us would ask ourselves. Not just because of the acoustic guitar and harmonica which only describes a fraction the amalgamation of the music overall. The comparison to those like Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie would be solely for that fact that they’re all prophets. Folk artist or even punk might be too constrictive of a label or even irrelevant. He and his band produce something uniquely special that molds genre together like an artist in 2018 should.

I suppose it started with the four pitchers of PBR at the Pike Bar in Long Beach. We went from talking about how great it would greta to see Rancid and Dropkick to all of the sudden my friend had bought everyone tickets to the Boston to Berkley show at the Greek Theatre in Berkley. Something about seeing Rancid in their hometown with the legendary Dropkick Murphys co-headlining felt like an irreplaceable memory.

Like Clockwork, when I see the sign for the Oakland Coliseum from the freeway I know I’m back where I belong. My relationship with the Bay Area is indescribable. It’s not just a place I like to invade for a weekend, it feels like home. The East Bay in particular has always accepted me in spite of the fact that I don’t give it the time it deserves from being such a good host. I am a defender and believer in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, etc. This was my third time driving up there from Los Angeles this year. You’d think I would have chose somewhere else one of  those times but I keep coming back.

Trying to repeat something that was beautiful once before is a dangerous route to take. It’s like seeing an old girlfriend over and over again. That being said, Berkeley always gives me something new along with the comfort and familiarity. This is also my fifth time seeing Rancid. Part of me wishes that number was quadrupled. Another part had that same feeling of realizing what feeling I was trying to recapture. But Rancid is a unique entity of punk rock. They make every show matter. Rancid gave me somewhere to belong and community with positivity and freedom. That’s how you find your identity.

The show takes place August 20th, 2017. On August 19th, my crew decides to go see the documentary Turn It Around: The Story Of East Bay Punk. The film’s title comes from the Turn It Around compilation put out by Maximumrocknroll in 1987. Green Day produced the film with director Corbett Redford. For anyone into music from the east bay or punk rock in general, this movie is a must see. We’ve all seen a crappy punk doc but we let it slide because of the character or that we did learn something towards the end of movie. Something always gets left out though. I’m not sure what wasn’t covered in this movie. They took the time to make sure that everyone was represented. A bunch of kids took the piss out of punk, cherished it, believed in it and lived it. For what it’s worth, they created a scene and a history that has influenced the entire punk rock community. At times it wasn’t pretty. Sometimes there was poison. But it all lead to great things and a lineage that’s unbreakable. I feel even more connected to the city I love. I feel even more connected to punk rock. I couldn’t find a more appropriate thing to do than walking up Berkley’s campus to Greek theatre and go see Rancid.

I hate college campuses until one shows me that I don’t. Being at school was never a good vibe. Berkeley obviously is the outlier of that sentiment. When Im’ there I have a sense of pride and my surroundings are overwhelming. The air feels better. I feel as though I’m a part of it. Just as I do whenever I go see Rancid. The Greek is perfectly designed. I’ve never enjoyed an outdoor venue more. There isn’t a bad seat in the house including the lawn area. It feels colossal and like someone’s home all at once. I didn’t keep in mind that there would be a curfew for an open venue on a college campus. That resulted in missing Kevin Seconds and The Selectors. That’s the second time something like that has happened with Kevin Seconds. I’m coming for ya Kev. Suddenly my frustration has dissipated. As soon as I sit down Dropkick comes out. The sun is right about to set. Typically that takes the air out of a headliner’s show. Dropkick Murphys are a beast of a whole other nature. There’s no dismissing a Boston band. 

The calm before the storm took the form of battle cry that is the opening song on the new Dropkick Murphys album The Lonesome Boatman. Then The Boys Are Back kicks in continuing the build until the four count on the high hat sending the crowd into a seemingly controlled chaos. My group came to the conclusion that we needed to be in the pit for this show. I typically don’t care about that shit these days. The occasion seemed to call for it this time around. There was a lot of firsts amongst my group. The Barroom Hero/Do Or Die/Never Alone/Boys On The Docks medley was intense. As was Going Out In Style. Something about it screamed penultimate. We the audience felt like we had to get it in while we could. Shipping Up To Boston into the appropriately titled Until Next Time sent us off on a high before Rancid. Damn I’m getting old. It’s exciting to watch vets destroy a stage like that with a level of excellence.

The sun starts going down and from the exact spot we were originally in, we can see Rancid prepping backstage. They’re with friends and family. Observing them gave off the same vibe you would get at a backyard BBQ. Matt and Tim both are warming up. Tim grabs his guitar first and sits on a road case. The guitar looks like it feels the mast natural. Lars is pacing and eventually grabs his guitar from his tech. He spends what little time there is left to get his right hand going. Tim then steps out onto the stage alone and slowly to see who all came out and he takes off his hat. The first chords of radio change the energy in the audience again. There were moments that grabbed you every other song.

Dead Bodies is the point in the set where I lost my voice. I was so excited to hear that song. Not because I hadn’t heard it at the majority of the other shows I attended as much as I didn’t expect it. Lars gave a speech that should be used as a standard for what punk rock stands for in 2017 in the current political and social climate we’re living in.

“Because we have freedom of speech I can say for all of us up here it doesn’t matter. We don’t give a shit if you’re black, if you’re white, if you’re gay, if you’re straight, if you’re trans, if you’re fuckin muslim, catholic, christian, buddhist…makes no difference to us. If there was never freedom of speech we would have never had punk rock, you understand? Once you start telling people what to say and what to think, that is called fascism. I know that because my mother experienced it as a child. That’s bullshit because we fucking do not tolerate racism, sexism, or any of that bullshit.” 

My eyes welled up from the pride of being a lifelong Rancid fan. That needed to be said. Nothing is more important than unity and equality so we can live in peace and party. I don’t know a place quite like Berkley. They seem to get it. I won’t forget that moment from Lars. Going into Telegraph Avenue after that gave me a new meaning for the song. I walked that street to get to the show. Different people’s ideas matter on Telegraph Ave.

Olympia always seems to resonate with a crowd in an interesting way. Tim sings the last verse and gives the last chorus to the crowd. We were one with the band. I then realized that these  untouchable punk rock deities were just one of us. What moves people around Rancid is the interaction with their audience. You don’t know whether to look at the crowd or the band. We’re a part of the show. There’s no commands of participation, we just know when to do our part. What Rancid represents is upfront. I can’t stress how authentic and from the heart those songs are. They become anthems that can almost be sung like football chants or at a pub.

I crowd surfed my way out of the pit during Ruby Soho to get a head start on the foot traffic to the back. I was separated by my group during all the excitement. Tim walks out with a white Fender acoustic playingJohnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues under one spotlight. As soon as Tim finishes the second verse both headliners appear on stage to double down on the party. They follow it up with the Ramones’ Cretin Hop and If The Kids Are United by Sham 69. If you have any knowledge on skinhead culture or the Oi scene outside of the shaved heads you see on the news, you would know that If The Kids Are United might be the most important Oi song of all time. It’s a unity song that was song in the face of the fascist national front. The Rock Against Racism show was to make a clear distinction from fascist skinheads. What an appropriate way to end a punk rock show in 2017. Both Rancid and Dropkick had to honor the bands that paved the road for all of us to sing together.

*All photos by Dawn Laureen*

Sometimes going to see live music can be a drag. There isn’t anywhere to park, your drink and the cover at the door cost too much, there’s a bunch of assholes jammed into a room far too small for all of them at one time and you can’t hear anything except for excuse me being yelled over what is hopefully not a bad PA system. A Prima Donna set reminds you that none of that really matters. Times are weird right now. Rock n roll is a great answer to that. Escapism was has always been one of music’s greatest traits. For one evening you can feel loose and even a little bit cool. That is if you’re just visiting. Regardless, Prima Donna has the ability to focus in on a moment and turn it into a party. There’s something almost exclusive about it. You’re either in the door or not.

Friday August 11th, I brought a group of friends to see Prima Donna at the Redwood in Downtown Los Angeles. Dirty Denim and The Katellas were the opening bands. Both put on great sets that I only got to hear from the back due to the crowd being spread across the bar. Time got away from me after we all had a few drinks and suddenly it was time for the headliner to come on. I was dragged by group consisting of excited newcomers to the front of the room as I’ve stood many many times before.

The spot between the front of a crowd and the walkway to the bathroom wasn’t the best choice. There was a lot of excuse me’s and my vision being disrupted by what seemed to be the same ten faces. I don’t imagine they just broke the seal. My friends both getting a live introduction to Prima Donna and those who have been to many past shows with me seem to be enjoying themselves. My bother is right in front of the stage. Two new songs For Real and Automatic kick the set off into that exciting and uneasy feeling of a new sound from the arsenal of a band you like. I heard earnest and reserved melodies that still embody that same cool that’s present on past Prima Donna albums. The cool is a little more calm and collected now. That comes from a band becoming seasoned. Right before they could break what good impression the new songs have made, Soul Stripper then comes out from out of nowhere.

I’ve lost count of how many Prima Donna shows I’ve been to. So it was cool to bring a few new people to see the band for the first time. It added more to the excitement. For one of my friends this wasn’t just her first Prima Donna show it was her first rock n roll club show. That’s an important first experience. I couldn’t think of a more convincing argument to convert someone body to this lifestyle than a Prima Donna show. I thought about the first time I saw them. Way back in 2009 my brother and I went to the Whiskey A Go Go and saw them play with Mystic Knights Of The Cobra. I got a free button and a new perspective on seeking out modern music. Snapping back into the present moment I realized these older songs like Feral Children, Bless This Mess and I Don’t Want You To Love Me have been the soundtrack for drunken communal sing alongs from adolescents into adulthood. Nostalgia isn’t the point here, staying present is.

A real testament of staying present is Kevin Preston’s on the fly approach to interacting with the audience. He’ll change the setlist based on the energy of the room or if some drunken soul yells out Stray Doll or Rock N Roll Is Dead. I’d compare it to someone like Eddie Vedder or Iggy Pop. It commands the audience and the band to some degree to come along for the ride with no inhibitions. That’s a hell of an encore along with new song Year Of The Rat from left field. Each show is like this: intimate, down to earth, no bullshit. The band interacts with their fanbase like this when they’re off stage too. That doesn’t mean to treat your favorite bands like zoo animals. Before the show you have to get into the headspace to do your job correctly on stage. That wears you out more ways than not, so naturally performers are pretty spent after a performance. No short cuts are taken and everyone collectively puts up a solid fight from start to finish. 

Preston by no means runs this operation by himself. I’d put Prima Donna’s rhythm section up against just about anyone. That includes keyboardist, saxophonist and percussionist Aaron Minton. He fills in the sound with each instrument on adds to the rhythmic pulse of the song. Take out the keys or the tambourine and tell me the song doesn’t sound like something’s missing. That sound is the secret weapon of the band, further adding onto the point that they are a sum of their parts. “Lights Out” Levine  gives a solid foundation with consistency and style to each baseline within what can be absolute chaos. Drummer David S. Field on this particular evening had a brand new forceful energy. The drums weren't safe that night. He had evolved since the last show I went to. Maybe that’s from the regiment of recording an album, who knows.

This is why it’s important to see them in an opening slot as well. A bigger audience is just more of a challenge that feeds the performance. Anytime I’ve seen it in the case of this band it was similar to Van Halen opening for Black Sabbath. Van Halen made Sabbath have to step their game up to keep up. You miss something every time you’re not at a Prima Donna shows. Especially now due to the new material. If there’s anyone who’s been waiting for new music, a good portion of their set is seeing how and where in the set the new songs fit into the set. Those pre album shows are always exciting. Like watching trouble come your way in the desert but it’s more rock n roll than Mad Max. A new Prima Donna record could come out anytime in the next year. You can feel something building. There’s a frantic energy not dissimilar to a animal in a cage. It should be let out. This is an interesting time for the band. I’m excited to see what comes next. You should probably get in on it now.

Here’s links to get tickets to their upcoming shows:

Fri 29 Sep 2017 The Regent Theater Los Angeles, CA, US

Thu 05 Oct 2017 Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, CA, US

When we say black lives matter it's just stating a fact because we have been shown consistently that others disagree with that simple statement. An unequivocally true statement: Black lives matter. Responding with all lives matter in such a defensive and condescending manner, as if we said something controversial, is hypocritical due to black lives somehow being excluded from "all." We're not saying we matter more than you or that you don't. But we have been told that since the day one.

Because of the struggle that's put on my people I can only have more empathy and love towards different cultures, women, and the LGBTQ community. I feel the same for the lives and treatment of animals as well. Your struggle is my struggle too. I don't want freedom at the expense of someone else's or to ignore someone else's lack of freedom. That would shallow, ignorant and frankly stupid.

We all have beauty amongst our people. And we’re different. Let's celebrate and acknowledge those differences as a better way to live. When it comes down to it, over a beer or mineral water for those who live straight edge or have gotten sober, we can find some humanity or even commonality when the ideological bullshit gets put aside. It's even okay to disagree. Respecting others as a human beings is how we'll all be able to live clean and sleep soundly.

My people are beautiful and contribute so much to the world. Absence of hate can let everyone see that about those different from you as well as those who aren't.

Talk to each other more, listen to each other more. Be better to one another and yourself. Life is hard enough already. Let love do it's thing. It wasn't meant to be locked away. Anyone who can’t get with that isn’t someone I would choose to be around anyway.

Resist

Here’s a reading playlist that shouldn’t be hard to make. It’ll enhance the experience or give you a good introduction to each band. 

Thursday July 20th, 2017, The Marked Men headlined a show at The Regent Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. My brother, best friend and I made it a top priority to attend. I have quite the affinity for The Marked Men and had been wanting to see them for years. Discovering them was a cathartic experience. They played a style of punk rock that I had definitely heard before but now it was perfected. It’s an assault of Dan Electros and Telecasters for wallflowers and introspective punk kids who aren’t tough guys. They just wrote better songs. I feel like the torch was silently passed to them but not everybody got the memo. So that really fucking hot night in Los Angeles was an important one. Royal Headache, Audacity and Flatworms are the openers. I’ve only heard of these bands, but I was excited to get a live introduction.

The Regent is spacious, really dark, simple and it feels like home every time I’m there. The floor is at an incline. I wonder how that’s going to go with the environment of a punk show.  We’re greeted with an intense and fast band called Flatworms. A gnarly style of punk with a hypnotic aspect like something of the krautrock persuasion. I was pretty taken back almost immediately. I suddenly had an urge to lose my mind. Typical male with unresolved anger at a punk rock show. Every song was another jolt of electricity that added to the energy of the room. There’s not a full blown pit but crowd physical crowd reaction came in waves. That’s a compelling opening band. If your band isn’t even promoted on the ticket and you’re playing with a band with a cult following, there’s not a high likelihood of making a huge impact. Flatworms seemed to be the exception to that uphill battle of a rule. Their singer was a nice dude too. We gave him a beer for a dope set and our good deed was rewarded with a free copy of their 7” Red Hot Sand. Thanks bud. I’ve listened to it several times since the show and it rips. I recommend you check it out too. My group gets closer to the stage.

Being that this was an evening of hybridity, Audacity brought a more quintessential OC garage rock feel to the Ramones tempo party we were all taking part of. Catchy songs with good melody and a sense of humor showing that you don’t take yourself that seriously is refreshing. To be geek for a second, I immediately saw the colors and logo for the first Adolescents album come from behind the drum set. Except it was a shirt that read, Rikk Agnew. (Original guitarist for the Adolescents) That alone got me invested before a note was played. Every member of this band seem to have a strong personality like cartoon characters. The music is infectious. I found myself saying “damn this is a hit” about every other song. The room has filled up a bit. The waves have gotten a little bigger. Suddenly making sure my PBR doesn’t spill is becoming a priority. Apparently whoever is standing in front of me is becoming one as well. She was beautiful human being with blonde hair and a denim jacket. All logic went out the window, so I felt compelled to talk to her. I can typically put that aside and stare at my shoes politely or drink another beer but for some reason, that didn’t seem to be an option. Every beer run we made I would attempt to be charming by offering to include her. She tolerates my feeble attempts at any interaction and the awful inside jokes about beer and Black Flag tattoos from my boys and I. We’re amusing at best.

But now it’s time for Royal Headache. I’m comfortable saying I love each band that played that night. But gun to my head, the highlight might have been discovering Royal Headache. They were a name I heard tossed around for years but I was never exposed to them. Imagine if sixties soul songs and punk rock had an affair with the resentment and partying of something like Guided By Voices and the intensity and rage of Husker Du. That to me is Royal Headache. There’s a familiarity to them. I suddenly feel like I’ve been a fan for my whole life when it’s really been twenty minutes. Shogun is the truth and I’d like to be him when I grow up please. Like a true anti frontman, he just doesn’t give a fuck about anything you think. He’ll out perform you too. On top of that, they play shameless love songs. I’m completely caught up in the moment. These themes are starting to put me under the influence. As if buzz from a bill of only good bands and a room of like minded people wasn’t enough. The blonde girl with the denim jacket is magnetic. She has an orange glow similar to Charlie Murphy’s description of Rick James. I have a spot not right next to her. All I have is to maybe say something polite, but at least that’s something I suppose. Then the pit pulled me in. Oh well, probably for the best. I accepted the pit and embraced these wallflower anthems as my punk rock missed connection soundtrack. There’s love, snot, beer, comradery and a stiff little finger all at once.

The only consolation of their set ending was the fact that I was finally going to see The Marked Men. Now is the time to take it all in. People rush for a final bathroom break or a beer run. The seas of the pit part, and there’s the blonde girl with the denim jacket. The punk rock gods have shined a light on me, so I thought. My main objective was to get to know this person as much as human possible while the hosts of this party set up. I’m not going to bore you with the details but I like her quite a bit. We seem to be hitting it off. We both said it was cool to meet someone who liked The Marked Men though we were in a room filled with people who shared that sentiment. I’m positive she’s a figment of my imagination now.

“We are The Marked Men. This song is called A Little Time.” A four count from the back of the drum set kicks into a 45 minute set that made everyone in the room forget how shitty it was outside of the Regent. That’s all it took. There wasn’t much else said in-between songs. They just plowed through the rest of their set. There’s a stoicism to their appearance. A Marked Men set requires patience, stamina and discipline in order to execute properly. It’s calculated and emotionally charged. All of the pleasure points of being a fan of the band were hit. What was probably just a strong handful of knuckleheads including my party felt like the place exploded. I’m front row presses up against the stage with my new friend.

On The Outside and Don’t Lose It back to back hit hard. I got that same inexplainable feeling of “finally” that I had when I first listened to that album. At first it was surreal, then I thought about the various experiences of the people in the room. I wondered who traveled far just to see this. Who is having this music heal their wounds? Is anyone in here a day one fan who have been waiting for this far longer than the years I have?

I decided to play roadie when the crowd adopted the mic during the last song of the night. Fix My Brain was something everyone had been waiting for apparently, myself included. That was it. There was a new energy in the room compared to the beginning of the night. An overwhelming buzz and that feeling you get on Sunday night before school the following morning. Life resumed. I bid farewell to the blonde girl with the denim jacket. I wish I would have walked her to her car. Hug and a smile. That girl knocked the wind right out of me. As did whoever rammed my rib cage into the stage earlier. Still feeling that one.

This was a good night. Not just for me but for rock n roll. I saw a lot of people fulfill what was a fantasy to them just a few months ago. That’s a cool thing to see. I hope it happens again, if it’s right. So here’s to Flatworms, Audacity, Royal Headache, The Marked Men and the blonde girl with the denim jacket.

Check out and support all of the bands here:

Flatworms 

Audacity 

Royal Headache 

Dear Chester,

I didn’t know you, but I felt like I did. I grew up with you. I bet a lot of people share this sentiment right now.

Your band was the first I found on my own and the first time I felt like something was mine. The genre bending appealed to me being an emotionally charged bi racial kid desperately and constantly searching for an identity. I think your band was the most misunderstood band of all time. It’s genesis was something cosmic. Elements from completely different planets beautifully crashing into each other. Hip hop, metal, electronica, or whatever version of alternative doesn’t begin to describe something you helped trail blaze. It wasn’t a fad. It was just love for music and it continued to feel like an anomaly because you dared to evolve regardless of expectation. Though it was a complete sum of it’s parts, your voice is what made it. It was haunting and comforting. Your words spoke of the pain I knew you felt and so many people felt safe because of it.

You had a beautiful voice and a beautiful spirit. Maybe another great rock singer will come to us in the future but they won’t be able to convey emotion quite the way you did. The absence of your energy has opened up a void. I saw what you gave to music and to people. We could learn something from you. Your musical work ethic and sacrifice was unprecedented. Your kindness, humility, and purity is something being spoken of constantly. You were transparent, brave and honest. Even though the demons that depression multiplies and builds became insurmountable, one of the many words I would equate to your character is bravery. You let us know the unfiltered truth about this disease called depression even outside of the music and still treated others with humanity. Shit, talk about brave; you joined Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland had damn near impossible shoes to fill. You did it with so much care, respect and grace.

I felt an odd kinship with you. Maybe it was because I didn’t feel that dissimilar to you. Sensitive guy with a buzz cut, skinny jeans and intense love for people. Driven by music. But constantly being torn down by the storm going on inside of the mind and reminded of how ruthless the outside world can be. If it’s not safe inside or outside, where do you go? I don’t judge you, I just miss you. I’m sorry. Thank you for trying.

Depression isn’t something to take lightly. It’s not an exacerbation of being down in the dumps that would be equated to a common cold. It’s a fucking disease and it will destroy you from the inside out. It will keep you from getting out of bed in the morning because you feel like it isn’t safe outside of the four walls you’ve trapped yourself within. You hate what you see when you look in the mirror.  It tells you that you aren’t worthy of love or even life. It tells you that you’re nothing. Your demons jump you in the middle of the night leaving you beaten down and powerless to live the next day. Then you look up and everyone is either tired of your shit and have left, or that voice in your head has caused you to push everyone and anyone important away. The mind thrives on that loneliness and uses it as evidence to why you don’t matter. You’re nothing. You’ll always be nothing. 

That’s when suicidal thoughts happen. It feels like the only logical option because every other one has been taken away by this disease. 

Like many people, the only coping mechanism is to drink or do drugs. I’m not Nancy Fucking Reagan. Have your fun or do what you need to do to cope but abusing substances isn’t the answer to that either. 

You can’t tell someone to cheer up. You can’t tell someone to get over it. Frankly by now, most people that struggle with this eternal battle will do everything in their power to try and hide it and make it seem like everything’s fine on the surface so you don’t have to have that awkward half hearted conversation of “you doing okay?” You feel like nobody would understand, nor do they want your burden until it manifests into a tirade of tangibly visual self destruction. 

I don’t know the answer to any of this. I just know the process. There’s no textbook answer. Depression, self hatred or dissatisfaction with the horrifying things on the news isn’t something that’s cured or slept off. It doesn’t just go away. It’s something really fucking difficult that needs constant maintenance. The only one that can do something is yourself. But that’s the hardest battle to go through on your own. 

Stop trivializing depression and shaming those dealing with it or suicide. Don’t demean someone else’s pain by telling them how to deal with it for your convenience. Certainly stop looking at them as freaks. You never know what hell the person next to you are desperately trying to keep concealed in a neat little package they can present to the world as “normal.”  

If you are emotionally and/or financially able to find help, please do not hesitate. If there are people around you that you can actually trust and care for you, let them in. Find a passionate, creative, physical, or artistic form of self expression to help you cope. If you can, remember SOMEBODY loves you somewhere. And if there’s something immediate call this number and hopefully you get a representative that is helpful. 

1-800-273-8255

Asking for help doesn’t make you weak. Going to therapy doesn’t make you crazy. It’s just like getting your car serviced. Otherwise it will start falling apart. 

I didn’t attend this year’s Coachella festival. Until I have another level of an income or someone wants to send me there for work, I don’t know the next time I’ll be back. But I did watch Kendrick Lamar’s performance on the live stream. Like watching a great film, my disbelief was suspended and fixated on every transition between songs. The calculation of the production almost wasn’t surprising given who we’re discussing. It reaffirmed that Lamar can do anything. DAMN had only been out a week. I checked Instagram after the stream ended and saw that there was an alternate album cover with the word ‘Nation’ on it making the internet lose their mind. Was there a second album? I discussed the possibilities of this with my roommate and we came up with a theory. There were two albums for each weekend of Coachella. It was the greatest marketing campaign of all time and artsy enough for Lamar to have conceptualized. So I thought. Nobody has done anything like that. Would this new album have different themes being discussed? Is that where The Heart Part 4 comes from? Have we been blind to this the entire time? Well, yes and no. 

Weekend two came and went, no new K-Dot album. But remember what Lamar said in that interview with Zane Lowe Saturday Morning of the first weekend. “Is it the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?” Lowe asks about Blood. “I can’t tell you that.. that’s the whole thing!” Lamar states, hiding in plain sight. It was then presented to me that the album was meant to be listened to in reverse as well. Kendrick took what was the biggest idea in the world and topped it by making two albums in one. 

Okay now play the album in reverse. The article will be here when you get back. 

I can’t take credit for discovering this. My dear friend Nick Stilwell brought it to my attention by linking me an article on Ambrosia For Heads published by Parfit. The article depicts the psychology behind the experience of sequencing those songs that way and how it came to be. You can check that out here. 

Kid capri- "Just remember what happens on earth stays on earth. We're going to put it in reverse.”

Now knowing this information, hear Duckworth differently as the intro song. We've forgotten that the last song on an album has a history of potentially being the most important. So let’s put it at the very beginning to emphasize it’s importance to the overall story. The story of Duckworth is the genesis of Kendrick Lamar. I mentioned in part 1 that it might be the album’s most important track. Lamar’s destiny lied in the hands of two complete strangers who showed each other the same respect that we should all practice. This can end a classic album or obviously be the beginning of a classic album. 

DAMN is an album of antithesis. Listening to it in reverse shows that we choose our own fates by the decisions that we make. Going in one order or the other changes how you process each track and the themes they all posses. You can't control what's happening around you, but you can control what you do with it. That's why each track focuses on human emotions. Hearing Love to Lust as opposed to Lust to Love alters the listening experience. Kendrick Lamar is a living legend. We’re watching history being made in real time. Except this time around I think the majority of us are aware of it. So we won’t take it for granted. Hopefully we won’t any other time we’re blessed with someone so important. Kung Fu Kenny brought the artistry back to the game by daring to challenge himself and his audience. 

Listen to Damn in every way imaginable. Listen to it in headphones. Listen to it in the car turned way up. Throw it on at a party. But hear it the way it was meant to be listened to; from front to back and from back to front. 

As always, I recommend buying Vinyl. It’s the best way to experience music and it helps support the artist. The LP runs for $35 on the shop.kendricklamar website and there’s always supporting your local record store. But for those balling on a budget, you can stream that shit right now. 

Links below: 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/damn/id1223592280

https://open.spotify.com/album/4eLPsYPBmXABThSJ821sqY

Released April 14, 2017

I can’t keep waking up to the news saying that we’ve lost another artist. It seems to be an epidemic that has plagued the time we live in more than it already is. 

I can only say how I feel. Most of us didn’t know any of these people personally. But we sure feel like we did. Though that’s fucked up pressure to put on anyone, in times that I didn’t have anyone around, I had my records. They were my friends and have been some of the best friends I will ever have. Chris Cornell spoke to the forgotten and misunderstood. Like so many of my musical heroes, Chris made me feel like I wasn’t alone.

Chris had a profound affect on me. It actually started with Audioslave. I was ten years old and the video for Cochise came on MTV and knocked me on my ass immediately. I was already a big fan of Rage Against The Machine but this new singer who I didn’t know had a voice that sounded like it came from another planet. A few months later I was obsessed with that first Audiosoave album and began my obsession with Soundgarden after I did some homework. I had just converted to the religion of Nirvana just prior to being exposed to all of this. I had no idea there was an entire world ahead of me to discover. Soundgarden had served as my gateway drug to the 90s, to Seattle and to the alternative. I never looked back.

Chris was a beautiful and sensitive soul. He was one of the greatest singers of all time. He was poetic and intense. He had the ability to make you feel any emotion that he conveyed through the blessing of his voice. 

Life is very short. Check in with your loved ones and tell them you love them. Turn your favorite records up to eleven and sing along. Don’t be afraid to open up and allow others to breath. 

May 18, 2017. I mourned as if I had lost a loved one because to me, I have. My heart is so heavy. I don’t know what happened because I wasn’t there, all I know is that Chris is gone and a part of me feels like it went with him. There’s a time to cry, there’s a time to be angry but we have to honor these people who’s spirits have departed and celebrate those who are still with us. 

“The best way for me to put it, To Pimp A Butterfly would be the idea of the thought of changing the world…DAMN would be the idea that I can’t change the world until I change myself.”    

- Kendrick Lamar speaking to Zane Lowe.

My first impression of DAMN was how Mike D of the Beastie Boys described A Tribe Called Quest in their documentary ‘Beats Rhymes & Life’ saying that there were “party records but with a consciousness.” It’s the core element of hip hop to have both ends of equation without it being contradictory.

Lamar speaking to Lowe, goes on to explain how he is a vessel of God, relaying the message of life by making it honest. By depicting each of these human emotions through the lens of his personal experience makes the relative into the absolute. You have to be able to look inward to approach the bigger picture. It's about discussing both ends of the spectrum contextually rather than being schizophrenic in subject matter. In fact it's the opposite of it. There are few records more focused. That’s where the concept of the album comes in. There’s duality within all of us.

DAMN takes multiple listens creating an experience in an age where the LP is under attack by the way we consume music. Conscious of that, Lamar made something that would combat passive listening by making something you have to pay attention to. Every step of the way heightens the experience. That within itself makes this album a classic.

Lamar always finds a way to progress his sound as well as the concept or weight of an album. Each bar on each track on each album represent all of us as well as Lamar with a level of genius and calculation that’s refreshing in the year 2017. Anyone who’s a fan of Section.80, good kid, m.A.A.d city, or To Pimp a Butterfly won’t have an issue getting into DAMN. The goal was to make it raw Hip Hop but with a grand purpose. “Party records with a consciousness.”

Ain’t nobody praying for me.

Blood-

"It's a new life” Lamar stated speaking to Zane Lowe.

Features lush instrumentation and harmonies that are like a mournful Marvin Gaye song. Kendrick describes a situation of helping a blind woman but ends up losing his life in the process. It’s the calm before the storm. In true rebel music fashion, the track ends with Eric Bolling and Kimberly Guilfoyle from Fox News ignorantly discussing the lyrics of To Pimp A Butterfly’s Alright. Punk rock and telling of various degrees of human interaction.

DNA-

This is an immediate and energetic drop into the album taking on an array of themes over a sample of a live version of Rick James’ Mary Jane and Ha by Juvenile. More of an ambiguous socio political statement rather than a direct message while still having a proclamation of authenticity. DNA does everything you want a hip hop song to do to you. When you hear punk you know how you want to feel viscerally. This is what Kendrick is doing with hip hop.

Heavy bass and drums at 130 bpm and ending it with a sample from Geraldo Rivera, another punk rock jab at the right wing media. "Me recognizing the world around me, the lifestyle... from a famous perspective…"

Yah-

Yahweh, a Hebrew name for God in the Bible embodies the theme of the track. Using reverse loops Lamar curates a vibe that its energetically the poor opposite of the previous track.

Covering religion, racial identity and improper right wing media with the agenda to spread hate and hypocrisy. A consistent beat gives Lamar the platform to express his inner thoughts without being in a hurry.

Element-

Featuring production from James Blake, Sounwave, Ricci Rivera, a contribution from Kid Capri and a sample of Fleurie’s Don’t Let Me Down.

The first lines of this track give me chills every time I hear it. They’re some of my favorite lyrics of all time. "I'm willing to die for this shit, I done cried for this shit, might take a life for this shit." A proclamation blatantly stating love for the art. “I don't do it for the gram I do it for Compton." This isn't about vanity and arbitrary social constructs. This is my life and the lives of others. The power of music and knowing where you come from. Lamar tells tales of self sacrifice, on the cross for a grander purpose. Piano and beat driving the track over 808 style drums.

*(Element was one of the first ideas for the album)

Feel-

Ain’t nobody praying for me.

Another lower dynamic track features a sample of O.C Smith’s Stormy and production from Sounwave, as well as contribution from Thundercat. Lamar discusses themes of isolation, feeling alien, questioning life and your surroundings. Inner dialogue in moments of solitude. Your mind can be evil when you're alone but it can also clear the smoke when there's clearly a fire. All you can do is express yourself after that. Sometimes it's finding catharsis and other times it's exploding. I'm supposed to be the Savior but ain't nobody praying for me. Lamar references I Am Legend to depict his loneliness and acknowledgment of being at the top of the game with little competition with the pressure it comes along with.

Loyalty-

One of the few tracks to have a feature beyond a contributor to the production. It shines a light on artistry and representation of women by having Rhianna give her perspective of Loyalty.

You have to maintain honesty and loyalty to yourself and those you love. Ride or die mentality. You can be compromised or bastardized by external factors including temptation or fame.

Pride-

Lamar consciously made Pride more of a slower, lower dynamic track than what follows giving the album that introspective juxtaposition. Pride can be dangerous, but it can also be a tool to use. Lamar correlates those concepts of Pride to religion while still observing the self and his surroundings. For people of color pride has a very different connotation. It's not arrogance but knowing you're beautiful and you belong when society constantly makes feeble attempts to tell you otherwise.

Humble-

This banger is about duality and authenticity. It’s fun, socially conscious and a perfectly constructed hip hop song for any context. In case any of you were questioning it, yes this brotha is your savior. Who else presently can stunt and keep it real over piano and drums at this level of excellence?

Lust-

Lust is trying to fill a void with a biological need. We all seek out something to fill that void even at the point of it being unhealthy or even mundane. Mundanity might be even worse in this context. If we’re not actually seeking real human connection tot the point that it’s becoming redundant, are we really living? Like a junkie looking for a fix. Lamar brings the vibe back down to make his point as clear as possible over reverse loops and harmonies.

Love-

Featuring Zacari, Lamar dives into Lust’s alternative counterpart rather than its polar opposite.

The concept of love and the feeling of love in the midst of the madness of the album.

If we’re looking through the lens of Kendrick Lamar to observe these human qualities love has to be featured in that. Love explores the biological and innate feeling of giving and receiving love in its purest form as well as analyzing that love.

XXX-

Features a sample of James Brown’s Get Up Off That. Without feeling schizophrenic, Lamar makes a hip hop song with stark movements. Each of them sounding vastly different than the last while still being inherently cohesive like an opera. Harmonies reminiscent of Blood’s intro open the track leading into 808 drums and heavy bass while Lamar spits almost almost whispered lyrics before a siren effect brings him up to his upper register depicting what would happen if he lost his son in a conversation with a friend struggling with that exact reality.  

"Can you pray for me? If someone killed my son that mean somebody getting killed.” Then a not so out of character feature from U2 accompanies a blunt political commentary describing the world we live in right now. "Homicidal thoughts Donald Trump is in office. We lost Barack and promised to never doubt him again." We're all human and capable of evil as well as good. Coping with spirituality and life as a venn diagram. Sometimes they fall under the same category and sometimes they don't. Both are valid because it's apart of the human experience. Bono’s lyrics imply that America isn't a destination but a feeling or a concept.

Fear-

Features production from Alchemist and a sample of The 24 Carat Black’s Poverty’s Paradise.

Fear takes you to a very specific place that many human beings can relate to. And if they can't Kendrick conveys that scene by painting the picture. The anxiety of living on the edge and uncertainty. Especially as a child and the pressure it puts on you throughout your life. It shapes you. Each verse takes you to the specific fears that come with the ages of 7, 17 and 27.  

Physical fear, fear of dying young and being a number, fear of losing what you've built, etc.

God-

God serves as the penultimate of the album. What could sound like a nostalgic care free party song in the distance is actually a personal telling of mortality and success. The grandest achievements can actually feel like the power of God. It can feel like you are God yourself. But the reality is, according to Kendrick, that we are all vessels of God and should be humble enough to remind ourselves and others of that fact.

Duckworth-

Features a sample of Ted Taylor’s Be Ever Wonderful.

Duckworth is 360 reflection of where you began to where you are now to where you're going. The track opens with those same harmonies and Kid Capri stating “what happens on Earth stays on Earth.” DAMN’s final track might actually serve as its most important. The decisions you make with a stranger will not only change their life and yours but maybe create something outside of the two of you. A man is so self destructive that he goes back to the same restaurant a year after he robbed it to do the same thing. Because of understanding the circumstances of that life Lamar’s father he offers him food instead. 20 years later they find out they know each other because he was Lamar's manager. This is divine intervention. If you treat people with humanity, magic can happen. Try to understand why people are in the situation they’re in and respond instead of reacting.

I would recommend this for just about anyone. I don’t care if you’re a fan or not, or if you listen to hip hop or not. (I judge you if you fall under either of these categories.) There’s something on DAMN for everyone.

You can watch Kendrick Lamar’s interview with Zane Lowe below:

This is a feature I did with Prima Donna’s Kevin Preston back in April for 7500 Magazine.