It’s week 2 of Sam’s month, and he has insisted we talk about the Hold Steady. As of the time I’m writing this I don’t know what the song is called because we haven’t done the episode yet. But I’m sure you little piggies are going to love what I have to say about it. I bet I made some jokes about the A.V. Club or something. God I’m so predictable.
Listen to the new ‘sode of 155 here.
Here’s some other stuff we’re thinking about right now:
Ghösh “Ghettoblaster”
Sam: Missed this when it came out in August but as Ghösh’s “Get Ready to Die” has been a playlist fixture for me for a few years I think it’s fair to include it here because this is why we restarted the newsletter. Everything about Ghösh is very sick — jungle beat revival, Psychopathic Records aesthetic, nü metal covers, punk execution. Oh shit I just saw that hate5six filmed them last year. This is even sicker than I thought.
Jos: No offense to Sam (😈) but I was definitely expecting this to be some more goofy metalcore blogger shit. Perhaps I was imagining the band name to be like the band Ghost but pronounced by the khlav kalash guy from The Simpsons. I think Sam gets mad when I say he likes that band Ghost, but he must, right? Sam obviously likes that band Ghost. Anyway, this is definitely cooler than I thought, but the Rob Zombie art is making me think it’s a little too self-aware. It reminds me of the so-called JNCOs revival. Yes, pants have gotten bigger over the years, but I feel like the people who went all in on actual JNCOs were extremely self-aware to the point of it feeling kinda tryhard.
New Pagans “Bigger Homes”
Sam: Back in the heady days of 2019 I loved New Pagans’ “Charlie Has the Face of a Saint” but the full album left me wanting. I’m a wanter. And now here’s Making Circles of Our Own, a complete collection that fully delivers “Quicksand but built entirely of hooks.” I love this album. All my favourites are here — pieces of Burning Airlines, a soupçon of Bluetip, is that… is that Girls Against Boys? And it all comes filtered through immaculately constructed pop songs. I feel blessed. Thank you.
Jos: So let me get this straight — we’re allowed to have bands called the New Pagans now of days, but everyone would be upset if a band was called New Christians or Cool Pastors or The Emerging Church. Makes me sick TBH. Also Sam’s description is cute so I feel borderline guilty for pointing out that this is also pretty much exactly what Metric sounded like when they first came out. When we were all wearing pillbox hats and AmAppy hoodies and reading Canada’s music authority.
U2 “Beautiful Day” (Songs of Surrender)
Jos: I sincerely love late-career cringery and identity crises and attempts to keep up with the trends by people well past their prime (hell, I’m living it), but I still think the ultimate end point for artists is to reach some Rubin-esque stripped-down minimalism, and U2 are especially suited for that kind of thing. The Edge has produced Songs of Surrender, a 40-song box set with these delightful ditties. They’re not really stripped down — this one has a full choir — but they still hit a sweet tone of minimalism without sounding like the closing credits of a Netflix original. And I love how plonky the piano sounds.
Sam: I wish I could pinpoint the moment I went from thinking this song was unforgivable garbage to experiencing genuine elation whenever it comes on, but it probably just followed my general trajectory from poser angst to someone who constantly says they’re “blessed” (apologies to Josiah) and means it. I have yet to fully embrace U2 like some people who host 155, but maybe I’m creeping a little closer. This sounds so nice.
U2 “One” (Songs of Surrender)
Jos: I’ve joked about doing U2 on the pod before, and I know Bono definitely thinks he’s making “punk rock,” so maybe we should do 40 weeks of the Songs of Surrender album. We could call it “U Talkin’ U2 2 Me.” We could start a podcast network called… Earwolves. Something like that. Anyway, this version of “One” is so beautiful. The original is starting to sound a little hammy to me — I might’ve listened too much but it’s too mid-tempo. This one has some delicious piano tones that sound like the production of those two woodland elves from the National that worked with Taylor Swift. But it’s U2 so the song has way more swag than any of those other people. And another choir, yes bro!!!
Sam: What a tune! Clearly I only “discovered” I liked this song after hearing the Johnny Cash cover (I was in high school, that’s when you should hear those albums) but since this sounds more like that than the U2 original, I’m down. Although I just want to listen to the Johnny Cash version now. Where did we land on those albums? Just seeing Rick Rubin makes me mad now, but so does seeing people talk about Rick Rubin positively or negatively. I’m part of the problem. I think I missed the point of this song.
Pandemix Love Is Obliteration
Jos: It’s already so funny that anyone pays attention to our bullshit at all. But if you’re like, a guy who works in marketing and needs something to listen to when planning your fantasy football picks or whatever I guess that kind of tracks. It’s especially hilarious that actual punks are involved. Especially people like Shannon (of Vampire Crack from the covers section and, as she’s now willing to admit, Punk Affirmations fame). Shannon’s band Pandemix (which was formed pre-pandemic) has just released a new LP (I almost said post-pandemic… sorry) and it’s sooo sick. Shannon’s voice is so commanding on these tracks and carries through the whole LP, which is musically diverse enough to keep the poseurs (read: me) engaged without sounding too samey or too why-be-normal. But you should definitely stick around for the last track to hear the bells toll.
Sam: This is so sick! We’ve had Shannon on the pod a few times and been forced to use the pseudonymous “Paffy” so I’m glad I’ll never have to say “Paffy” again. Some people just have a voice for a punk band, and there’s something so classic about the delivery here. Personal highlight “Dead Celebrities” manages to turn a joke about accountants tweeting “David Bowie taught me it was okay to be weird” into a brutal, caustic anthem that wounds me personally as a lover of award shows and gossip. Josiah’s right, you gotta ring those bells.
blink-155s02e21
Okay we’re taking a break from talking about “Edging” to imagine what another blink-182 song might be like. We know they have a new song called “Anthem Pt. 3,” so we’ve enlisted the nation to write some blink-182 lyrics in 4 minutes or less. FREE BLINK LYRICS.