John Dumbear's Reflections

My moniker is John Dumbear. I was born in 2001. I have always lived in America. I am transmasc, aromantic, and asexual. My pronouns are it/its & he/him.

The pen name John Dumbear is a reference to a scene in the Movie Dances With Wolves, where Kicking Bird, a Lakota man, is trying to learn John Dunbar's name. He mispronounces it as "John Dumbear". I am using a pen name to highlight the fact that many trans and other gender non-conforming folks have to hide their identity from certain people, or from everyone. I decided to start this blog because I love talking about music, and my general thoughts about life and the goings on in it. You'll see me reflect on things and share my feelings here. I also wanted a 3rd place (other 2 linked below) to post My zines. I might not post all my zines here, so check my other two accounts first. I sometimes use a typewriter to write things. Some of those things will get scanned and posted here. For some reason, I am not the best at using my typewriter. I keep accidentally making spaces in my words or typing the wrong letter. I sadly don't have a white corrector ribbon. When reading typewriter written posts, expect errors.

My profile picture is essentially my logo. That orange accent color is my all time favorite color. Black is not a color, it's a shade. Ask me any questions you have in the comments and I'll answer them if I can.

My other accounts where I focus on posting my zines:

Instagram: @John_Dumbear

More writings done on my typewriter. Yes, there are some errors with spacing. I'm trying to figure out how to not have that happen. I don't own a ribbon that includes white, so I can't hide/fix my typos, sorry!

So I go to a Unitarian Universalist congregation. At a UU you will not be preached at from one central text like how Christian churches always preach from the bible. Instead, you will hear from a bunch of different sources. During a service there is what's called the mediation. This is something read that you are supposed to really sit with and think about for awhile. Meditate on it. This meditation time includes a hymn that changes each month. Afterwards there is a reading. The reading is something that relates to whatever the sermon topic is that week. This past Sunday the topic was on Sovereign Spaces. I recommend you go listen to the reading and sermon before reading my post. It's on Facebook. The reading starts at 26:30.

Please excuse my typing errors below.

Below are pictures of Cedar River Watershed I took with a disposable camera when I went there on a field trip as a young child.

Grunge is a genre of music that combines punk and metal. It started in Seattle back in the 80s with bands like green River, The U-Men, and Bam Bam. The term grunge came from a Green River review written by Bruce Pavitt. Bruce said "gritty vocals, roaring Marshall amps, ultra-loose grunge that destroyed the morals of a generation". Green River are often considered the very first grunge band, but the bands The U-men, Ten Minute Warning, and Bam Bam formed earlier. These bands helped create the foundation for what grunge would become.

A lot of these band members were in, or would later be in other bands in the scene. Matt Cameron was in Bam Bam, Soundgarden, Skin Yard, Pearl Jam, Temple Of The Dog, and more. Greg Gilmore was in Ten Minute Warning and later went on to be in Mother Love Bone, who had Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Bruce Fairweather who were in Green River, and singer Andrew Wood who was in Malfunkshun. When Green River broke up Mark Arm and Steve Turner went on to form Mudhoney. After the tragic death of Andrew Wood, the bands Temple Of The Dog and Pearl Jam (originally called Mookie Baylock) formed. Stone and Jeff were in both bands and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden sang for TOTD.

Nirvana formed in 1987 and released their first album in 1989. That record is called Bleach. It was released on Sub Pop, Bruce Pavitt and Jonathon Poneman's record label that was once a zine. In 1991 Nirvana released their album Nevermind, which went platinum and was huge. That album brought grunge into the mainstream. A few months prior, Pearl Jam released their first album Ten. Alice In Chains and Soundgarden were getting really big at this point, too. These four bands are considered the big four of grunge. Those early bands I mentioned didn't get the level of fame these bands did. They became mostly forgotten. Mother Love Bone became the band that made Pearl Jam happen and Green River became the band that created grunge.

There are a lot more underground bands that I feel like need to be heard. My list of must listen to grunge bands (that aren't super famous) are:

Ten Minute Warning

Splendora

Bam Bam

Mother Love Bone

Malfunkshun

Green River

The U-Men

Skin Yard

TAD

The Melvins

The Gits

7 Year Bitch

Fastbacks

Paw

Gas Huffer

Wipers

Girl Trouble

Flop

Bratmobile (early Riot Grrrl)

7 Year Bitch - Knot https://youtu.be/VgbdTvnvUF0

7 Year Bitch - M.I.A. https://youtu.be/wqnmqRimH3Q

7 Year Bitch - Hip Like Junk https://youtu.be/tlNIshpjkVI

They are on Spotify I just put YouTube links for more accessibility. Their song M.I.A. is about the death of their friend Mia Zapata, singer of The Gits. The album the song is off of is called ¡VIVA ZAPATA! which means ZAPATA LIVES!

The Gits were a great band and they had an amazing frontwoman. Mia Zapata knew how to write a good song and how to sing it just the right way. The Gits are definitely underrated. Their blend of punk, grunge, and alternative with the occasional slight bluesy vibe combines into one perfect musical experience.

The Gits formed in Ohio in the year 1896. They were all in college. Not long after they decided to move to Seattle Washington, a city with a growing local music scene that would later be known as grunge. They put out three albums, Frenching The Bully, Kings And Queens, and Enter: The Conquering Chicken. In Seattle they all lived together and played shows in an old house they called The Rathouse. Living with them was also the band members of 7 Year Bitch. Both bands played lots of shows in The Rathouse.

Their songs have left an impact on the grunge scene, and the members of 7 Year Bitch have even said that the members of The Gits taught them how to play their instruments. Mia's singing was very raw and usually pretty powerful. Their lyrics got deep at times but also were fun at other times.

On July 7th of 1993 tragedy stuck. At around midnight Mia had left the bar to go visit a friend. When she was walking alone that night in the Central District, she was attacked. A man by the name of Jesus Mezquia raped and strangled her to death. He then took her body to a street just blocks away from Garfield High School in the Central District and left her naked body lying there in a T pose. It took police 10 years to identify her killer, and he has now died in jail.

In this tumblog I will be sharing my thoughts on the album The Cult by the band The Cult. It was released in 1994. I heard about one of the songs off this album and decided to listen to it. I loved the song and actually felt like listening to songs I’ve never heard before (which doesn’t happen often) so I decided to listen to the whole album. Each song review will be my first thoughts. This is my first time listening to the album, and the first time really diving into The Cults music. I know nothing about this band except for the fact that they did “She Sells Sanctuary” and that Xana and Andrew were friends with them. Some of this is written as I’m listening to the song for the very first time, and some of them is later when I came back to the song (so it would be my second or third time hearing the song).

Track listing (12 tracks in total):

Gone

Coming Down (Drug Tongue)

Real Grrrl

Black Sun

Naturally High

Joy

Star

Sacred Life

Be Free

Universal You

Emperors New Horse

Saints Are Down

Here’s my thoughts on each song:

As Gone began to play the instrumentation immediately made me think of music that would play in the scene of a movie where they’re either showing a creepy trance, or a sleazy man walking into a sleazy bar. Once the instrumentation really kicked in I wasn’t thinking of that anymore. I love Ian’s vocals on the song. Really pleasant to my ears. I love the way he sings the word “say”. I don’t know why, but something about it is extra cool.  The lyrics talk about someone who gets high all the time and the main character of the song (maybe Ian himself, I don’t know) saying that it’s better to get clean and not do drugs. As a straight edge person, I really do like songs that warn against drugs. This song is really cool. I like it a lot.

Coming Down (Drug Tongue) has some weird sounding lyrics that make me laugh. Like, what the hell does a random fear of horses have to do with drugs and kissing/having sex with a girl? I quite like the instrumentation and the  vocals, the lyrics just gross me out a bit. As a sex repulsed asexual, I’ve never really liked songs with lyrics about sex that much. This song feels very 90s to me (obviously). If I heard this song and didn’t know when it was released I’d say “1990s”. The other songs not so much.

I love the drums in Real Grrrl and the instrumentals in general. I love the “NA NA” part of the song as well. The lyrics seem to be about sex, so of course I don’t like the lyrics. If the song had different lyrics it would probably be one of my favorites off the album.

Black Sun is a song that actually kinda creeps me out when it comes to the instrumentation. I don’t know why, but it reminds me of certain people that creep me out. Definitely a turn off. I like the vocals of the song. The lyrics seem to be talking about a kid being abused and the abusers feeling guilty for what they’ve done. I feel like this topic needs to be talked about more. It’s a serious issue. Overall I do like the song, but it’s probably my least favorite off the album.

Naturally High came on and I instantly fell in love with the instrumentation. I love hand drums and immediately thought of the jungle, tropical rainforests, African safaris, and Tahitian drumming. I love the smooth, easy to dance to, mellow but not mellow vibes from the instrumentation. It makes me want to find a friend who likes this song and dance with them. The lyrics seem to be deep and personal and I always love that in a song. I love the way Ian’s vocals flow with the instruments. It feels like a good “driving alone in your car on a trip” song to me. Once I finally have my license and a job and go on a solo road trip, I’ll definitely be playing this song a lot.

With Joy, the instrumentation gives me a certain vibe that I just can’t describe. I have always been one to see an object or hear a sound and immediately go “this makes me think of the word ___!” That word is my personal name of the item and fits perfectly with the item in my mind. That word may be an actual word, or it may be gibberish. The reason I’m mentioning this is because the instrumentation makes me think of the word “funk”. I’m not sure why, but it does. To me, Funk seems like it would be the perfect title for the song if there were no vocals. The organ part obviously makes me thing of Halloween and goth vibes (like stereotypical goth vibes). I heard the castanets in one little part. I love the castanets. That was fun to hear. Another song that gives me driving/road trip vibes because of the lyric “I rode in that car as far as it would take me, take me.” Some of the lyrics are also in Come Down (Drug Tongue), which leaves me confused. Why would they put some lyrics in both songs off of one album? It kinda reminds me of the song Shotgun Wedding by Malfunkshun. Andrew uses lyrics in that song that he later uses in his song Man Of Golden Words by his other band Mother Love Bone.

The instrumentation to Star is also great. Man this band is really good. I need to listen to their other work. For some reason this instrumentation reminds me of nu metal. I don’t know why it would. This is not a nu metal song, it’s actually kinda close to grunge. I also think of the word “funk” for some reason.

Sacred Life. Oh man this song is sad. This song talks about the early and tragic deaths of young people. He sings about Kurt Cobain, who was the singer of Nirvana, and Andrew Wood, who was the singer for Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone. These two people are some of my favorite singers at the moment, so that’s how I heard about this song. I’ve always liked songs that talk about death. I don’t know why. I even have a playlist full of them. The instrumentation and vocal melodies/tune has this mellow and relaxing yet somber and melancholic vibes to it. The song feels very “autumn” to me. Especially the instrumental part that comes before Ian mentions Kurt. It feels “Halloween-y” to me. The song also gives me summer vibes. I can picture it being late summer and some one is being sad about a loved one’s death and about the fact the summer is ending. I love the lyrics and how it feels so relatable to many people and still be very personal to Ian.

Be Free is a very bouncy song that is hard not to dance to. This song is playing as I’m typing. I am having a hard time actually typing instead of dancing. The lyrics don’t really seem all that interesting. Over all it seems like Ian is saying “go and have sex if you want to! Do whatever you want.” As a sex repulsed asexual, these lyrics just don’t attract me. Not a bad song. It’s fun, just not my favorite.

Universal You sounds vaguely grungy and like KoЯn. I think there’s a  KoЯn song with a vocal part that sounds similar to a vocal part in this song. I can’t think of that song it is, though. I love everything but the lyrics. I’m not sure what the lyrics are talking about whatsoever. I am a Christian and every time I hear a song mention god or religion, I immediately look up the lyrics. I personally refuse to listen to any song that is anti-Christian. The lyrics don’t seem to be anti-Christian which is good, but I still don’t know what they’re about. The lyrics are just okay, and everything else about the song is awesome.

Emperor's New Horse comes on and Ian randomly shouts at the beginning. That sounds weird and hilarious. I can definitely headbang to the chorus. The lyrics seem to be similar to Sacred Life, however this song doesn't directly mention anyone’s names. The song talks about how people need to get clean and sober. People need to change their life around.

The drums in Saints Are Down sound familiar, but I can’t think of what song sounds similar. Overall the song seem pretty mellow at first, but then it really kicks in and gets less mellow. I like that a lot. The lyrics confuse me. At first I thought he might be talking about drugs, but now I’m thinking he’s talking about a relationship. Not a bad song, but I’m not as into this one.

Overall thoughts on the album and personal rating:

My first official Tumblog! In this Tumblog I will be talking about emo. This is basically my senior essay but shortened and not in essay formatting.

Emo (originally short for emotional hardcore) is a genre of music that is mostly associated with the 2000s and kids with layered, fringy bangs covering one eye. That is the 3rd wave of emo. This wave of emo takes inspiration from the 1st wave of emo, and also crosses over with the pop punk, screamo (skramz), and post-hardcore genres.

Before the 3rd wave there was the 2nd wave which started in the 90s. This wave of emo is very math rock and indie inspired. This genre would also have some crossovers with screamo/skramz, post-hardcore, and pop punk (but not as much as the 3rd wave does). In the 2010s there was a 2nd wave emo revival. There wore more emo bands that were doing the 2nd wave music style again.

Some people say that skramz was the original term for the genre and then got changed tom screamo, and others say skramz distinctly describes the first wave of bands in the genre and screamo is everything after that. It’s similar to 1st wave emo, hardcore punk, and post-hardcore.

Before the 2nd wave was the very 1st wave of emo. This was basically DC hardcore punk with with a shit-ton of emotion, sometimes overly dramatized. Rites of Spring is the very first emo band. The singer, Guy Picciotto, didn’t want to bottle up his emotions like men were often taught to do. He wanted to expose them in their full and raw forms.

The emo subculture mostly consists of tweens and teens. Most emos not only listen to the music genre, but also dress in typical emo fashion. This consists of lots of black with accents of bright colors, band tees, skinny jeans, studded belts, bracelets, choker necklaces, Converse, bangs, and other things.

Here is a list of some popular emo bands from each wave.

1st wave:

Rites Of Spring

Embrace

Dag Nasty

Fugazi

2nd wave:

Cap’n Jazz

American Football

Sunny Day Real Estate

Mineral

The Promise Ring

Into It. Over It. (revival)

The Hotelier (revival)

Basement (revival)

Mom Jeans (revival)

Skramz/screamo:

Orchid

Pg 99.

Heroin

Saetia

3rd wave:

My Chemical Romance (MCR)

The Used

Taking Back Sunday

Hawthorne Heights

Fall Out Boy

Here are my emo playlists (Spotify) and one playlist I didn’t make:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/70q57wHb0OZzH88ZhcSjAE?si=b104924cd8fd4f06 (all 3 waves)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1NuzRwW5BwLu3ea8xz3DZg?si=9011d4154b484599 (2nd/revival)