I’m allowed to be ageist because I’m aged
It was Josiah’s special day this week and my gift to him is writing the introduction to this week’s newsletter. You would be correct if you guessed that it was just going to be about my dog (we ran by the Scarborough Bluffs last weekend and it was beautiful, you’re missing out actually) but then I went to the album release party for Priyanka’s Devastatia last night with my mom and got a possibly better picture. Everyone please stream Devastatia because my mom had a blast and Priyanka was lovely to her.
Jos here to add to the intro real quick and say love this pic! Which one’s your mom?
Anyway, here’s some stuff we’re listening to this week.
Thunder Queens “Summertime”
Sam: Toronto went from disgustingly humid to full fall inside of a few hours this week, just in time for me to hear this wonderful ode to what I increasingly think might be the worst season. But when those guitars are shredding I’m not thinking about how I have to change my shirt three times a day or can’t wear certain light pants which would otherwise be ideal for the weather because I sweat right through the ass and it looks like I’ve had an accident. No, I’m thinking about french fries and sunglasses. Love them! Really Thought the opening lyrics were “pack up my gun” which was pretty cool, but it’s actually “car.” Probably for the best!
Jos: I do a quick copy edit on this shit because lord knows someone has to (and please believe me when I say “quick” — I know I’m missing tons of important shit), and this week I’m wondering if Sam meant to capitalize “Thought” in that penultimate sentence? “Really Thought the opening lyrics….” That’s definitely the Kind of Capitalization that Sam type guys do sometimes, but it’s so deeply embedded in the sentence that it’s really hard to know, and in that sense he’s created a new subtlety out of his decidedly unsubtle prose. Also my ad blocker doesn’t work on YouTube anymore so I’ve been watching a “Goodfood” commercial the entire time I’ve been writing this. It has no skip button and it’s about 6 minutes long. Okay it played a Wix ad after somehow. Then it loaded and it looks like another ad — this art looks like a stock vector site search for “flash art” that they use to promote a new kind of popsicle that seems healthy but is owned by a tobacco company for some reason. And the music is so bad holy shit. Am I going to be stuck in this blurb forever? Sam I need to know if you pretended to hate the Beaches “Blame Brett” because you’re not allowed if you like this. The Beaches are like practically the Reatards compared to this. Help get me out of here.
Sub*T “Noises Started”
Sam: As a committed but mediocre songwriter, I have always felt like the only way to convey emotion effectively is to be singing at the tippy-top of my range. So I admire any band that can go big while keeping things hushed, demonstrating a restraint that has escaped me my entire life and extended into every facet of my existence. I love how low and languorous the chorus is here. What a sick hook. Great EP overall.
Jos: Fuck it’s the Goodfood ad again and it’s all in Quebecois Francais. K it’s playing. This art also looks like a back to school ad. Okay yeah this is some good shit. I love it when it’s quiet especially. You say restraint but real restraint would never be stepping on that fuzz pedal. But I understand how impossible it is to resist that urge — the chorus hits.
Fievel Is Glauque “As Above So Below”
Jos: I was tempted to post some nice techno I’ve been listening to so that Sam could say “wow this is really nice background music to work to,” but that first song got me so worked up that I’ve decided I need to punish him. I remember he was so angry about Fievel Is Glauque in here when I first posted them, so I’m back sharing their first single from their new label home of Fat Possum (which seems like a very bizarre place for them, but I’ve never really understood that label). Jazz chords, vocal acrobatics, flutes, and a seemingly endless supply of flourishes. This is the kind of shit that sounds so good when you’re sipping a ‘spro. I feel like I actually don’t like music videos lately, but this one is adding even more whimsy to this delightfully whimsical jazz pop sojourn. Enjoy, Sam.
Sam: I saw the name and knew exactly what you were doing and decided I’d really open up my mind and try to enjoy it. It almost worked! But I hate this. I think it was when the flute took centre stage. The only Fievel I’m interested in is going west. I’m doing some exceedingly menial tasks right now and this is only making them more punishing. I wish I was just listening to an ad instead. Oh it’s so cutesy. I can’t even imagine how much I’d dislike the members of this band in real life.
Four Year Strong “uncooked”
Jos: I always knew that the primary colour goofball aesthetic of Turnstile and Angel Du$t were both too well-defined and too popular to be contained within their wonderful little world, especially when my former boss asked me if I had heard of them after he read about them in the New York Times. But it’s still really, really funny to see people trying to do this in an effort to grasp at relevance. Isn’t Four Year Strong supposed to be doing the most gigantic octave-and-harmony-adorned breakdowns you’ve ever heard? Like so melodic it makes your teeth hurt? Instead they’re doing an incredibly contrived Turnstile-by-way-of-Old-Navy thing that makes my stomach hurt. I’ve watched this video so many times and it makes me sad in so many unexpected new ways each time. Remember when MuchMusic had those like interstitial bumper ads that looked like Napoleon Dynamite, right before they basically shut everything down? This seems like that, or like a Koodo commercial, or even a little bit like a hardcore version of “What does the fox say.” I don’t think old guys should be trying this kind of desperate rebrand. And I’m allowed to be ageist because I’m aged, bitch.
Sam: Incredible. There are some Four Year Strong songs that have survived across over a decade of gym playlists (you’d think I’d be in better shape?) and I’m always ready to apologize for their maximalist “easycore” thing but this is just soooooooo sad. These guys were huge! I guess that audience is extremely fleeting. I saw an interview with Wade from Alexis in advance of them playing the Dome with Blink where he was saying that not having breakdowns back in the day meant they were less popular for a while but now they have fans that have aged with them because their music doesn’t sound as dated. Being one of those bands and being stuck chasing the dragon of popularity feels so much worse than having never been big in the first place (maybe I’m just wishcasting?). Truly depressing and awful.
Failed State trailer
Jos: Maybe we can turn this bonus spot into ad space? Anyway, I gotta post the trailer for Failed State by my boy Chris Bell, who’s one of those guys that just appeared on my Twitter one day, listened to the entire pod, and even reads the entire newsletter every week. And he’s a sick ass filmmaker to boot. Failed State looks like one of those gut-wrenching late capitalist faux-doc films that is just so good and heartening while also making you feel sick about life. In that sense, his work reminds me of the films of Jem Cohen. And it’s opening in New York for a limited run in September. So if you’re one of the few NYC-ers who’s not a massive fucking loser you should check it out! I’m talking to you, Ned.
Sam: Looks sick. I’ve been watching a lot of movie trailers over the last two weeks because I’m doing some stuff around TIFF and honestly most movie trailers that aren’t for Megalopolis are bad. I want to see this!