#neil takes band way to seriously

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Alright here are ten more albums. These ones are just my personal picks. Some that you prolly don't know and some you definitely do. I think you should listen to all of them because I like them a lot and if you don't like them then I promise I will cry a little.

Lemon Demon - Spirit Phone

Okay so I know that half of you just checked out because this is a 'meme album' and you simply will not take me seriously no matter what but honestly if that's you then go fuck yourself. Anyway Neil Cicierega is an internet fixture. He has brought us animutation, The Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny, Mouth Sounds, Potter Puppet Pals, Brodyquest, Ariel Needs Legs, and probably a lot of other things I'm forgetting. So it isn't really a surprise that his first full album under the Lemon Demon moniker in a decade went down as a piece of weird internet errata as well. The thing is, Spirit Phone is a fucking masterpiece.

The subject matter is the occult, conspiracy theories, urban legends, aliens, cryptids, and conservatives. Nothing too weird, but the way he tackles these subjects is. Let's take Cabinet Man for example, it plays on the urban legend of the haunted arcade cabinet Polybius. But Cabinet Man is told from the point of view of the machine itself. It's about a man who turns himself into an arcade cabinet and about his life as an arcade cabinet. The very next track, No Eyed Girl, is a doo wop styled love song written to a lovecraftian horror. And yes this is all very Quirky™ but Cicierega never wink at the camera, he never lets on that this is a joke. Just like unironically here's a song about sexualizing (even if he insists it isn't sexual) eating mummies. Why not? The frenetic pacing always keeps you off balance too so there is no way to get used to the weirdness other than to let yourself be subsumed by it.

"But wait!" I hear you saying "what was that thing about conservatism? What does that have to do with the occult?" I'm glad you asked because I think the funniest thing this album does is deliver three songs in a row that have nothing to do with the rest of the album's main themes. As Your Father I Expressly Forbid It, I Earned My Life, and Reaganomics all satirize American boomer conservatism. I think putting them there after all the conspiracy theory stuff is brilliant. The paranoid, surreal attitudes of the first half of the album contrasted against the equally paranoid and surreal attitudes of conservatives. Finally I just want to mention my number one favorite thing about this album and it's that I Earned My Life is written in the style of Paul Simon's Graceland. That makes me laugh. What an effortless takedown of a legendary artist and album.

Ween - The Mollusk

Ween are a pretty weird band. And my standards for what counts as weird are pretty high. So the fact that their least weird album is this nautically themed psychedelic hellscape isn't saying much. The Mollusk sounds how low tide smells. The album is like the rhyme of the ancient mariner but the albatross is replaced by hundreds of barnacles. It is a decaying mess, but it's also jaunty and fun. Purely stupid nonsense like Waving My Dick In The Wind and Dancing In The Show Tonight are placed side by side with the intense and horror tinged Golden Eel and Mutilated Lips.

Musically Ween are uncharacteristically cohesive. Sure they run the gamut of genres from intense proggy numbers to punk and alternative rock and some showtunesy stuff, but it's all mastered as wet as possible. By the way y'all know when I say a sound is wet I mean heavily processed as opposed to dry which is raw unprocessed audio right? There is copious reverb, chorus and especially phasing on every song until they all sound like waves crashing against a rock.

Perhaps the weirdest thing about The Mollusk is that it is, I think at least, the only Ween album to contain a straight cover. Cold Blows The Wind is just a folk song that Gener and Deaner just play dead straight. That is very unusual for a band that prefers to vaguely mock artists or styles rather than just do them. Of course that track is immediately followed by a song called Pink Eye On My Leg so don't take these guys seriously for too long.

Atom And His Package - A Society Of People Named Elihu

There is no other album that feels more like an inside joke among high schoolers that you aren't privy to the context for. Adam Goren repeatedly name drops his friends and talks about things very specific to his life. The album is a mess of unfettered id where no concept is dwelt on for very long and no hesitation is given before launching into something completely unrelated. The very first track contemplates a hypothetical Punk Rock Academy before losing track of itself and barreling full throttle into an interpolation of Eddie Money's Take Me Home Tonight. This kind of thing happens a lot. Me And My Black Metal friends interpolated Dexys Midnight Runners' hit Come On Eileen for no apparent reason other than that is what started going through Goren's head at the time. This album has three different birthday songs on it, the first of which has the refrain "Happy Birthday Ralph, I love you, even though you are fucking disgusting." Who is Ralph? You aren't asking the right questions.

Oh yeah and this album is entirely just a guy singing over a drum machine and keyboard. But it's also kind of a punk rock album. Atom And His Package don't sound super punk at first glance, but he has the ethos. And structurally, well there's a little more punk rock in here than you might expect. I'll stand by A Society Of People Named Elihu as a punk rock album because it's funny and I think that is what Adam Goren would want.

TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain

There's a lot of art rock out there that I'm totally in love with. But TV On The Radio are on a different level. They are extremely catchy, but also different than anything else around them. They exist somewhere in between 00s post punk revival and, uh honestly I don't know. I thought something would come to me as I was typing this. There is nothing to compare the unique use of drums and percussion to create both rhythmic and textural elements while the bass guitar makes up the majority of the melody. The members of the band all harmonize beautifully on vocals and when you break the songs down you find just a few instruments being layered into a looping, spiraling current of sound. A Method and Dirtywhirl especially sound like they are physically spiralling. They use looped percussion and bass, repetitive singsong vocals, and thrumming rhythms to create a completely unique sonic landscape that is both overwhelming and extremely addictive. It is too easy for me to finish this album and then put it back on again because there is nothing else that scratches the itch this album gives me.

Between The Buried And Me - Colors

I don't usually like to be this absolute, but Colors is my favorite metal album. Between The Buried And Me are consistently amazing but Colors is the best showcase of their range and fluidity with which they traverse various styles. At a base level Colors is a progressive metalcore album, a genre which has probably just turned a few people off of listening. But if you aren't usually into metalcore don't fear there is a lot more going on here than bad screaming and bad chugging. No BTBAM weave together intense thrash like riffing, high speed guitar solos, intense screaming, melodic jazzy solos, chromatic breakdowns, catchy clean vocal segments and frequent tempo changes with an artistry and ease that makes it hard to notice when the style does an abrupt change. Every linking segment is so natural that the tech death screams in Sun Of Nothing will transition to the melodic refrain without any sense of tonal dissonance. Even when you hit the end of Ants Of The Sky and hear them go into a full bluegrass hoedown it is just completely natural. No other album makes 10+ minute songs go by so fast. There are so many hour long metal albums out there that drag on for the sake of length alone and Colors just shits in their faces and proves that you can go on for an hour and keep an audience completely engaged the whole time.

They Might Be Giants - Lincoln

They Might Be Giants are a never ending supply of witty turns of phrase. Some are seemingly nonsequiturs like "tour the world in a heavy metal band / but they run out of gas the plane can never land" others are clever "which one of us is the one we can't trust / you say that I think it's you but I don't agree with that" and others seem like nonsense but probably mean something deeper if you just stop and think about it "how sleepless is the egg knowing that which throws the stone foresees the bone, the bone, our only home is bone". They will get at some wild themes lyrically while still maintaining an upbeat sound. That weird tonal gap is what makes songs like I've Got A Match and They'll Need A Crane into more than just songs about bad relationships. It helps obfuscate the actually bleakness of Lie Still Little Bottle, a song about being addicted to uppers. And it leaves you wondering about the seemingly pure goofy songs like Shoehorn With Teeth and Cowtown. Also you might be interested to know that Where Your Eyes Don't Go is a favorite song of local Tumblr Celebrity™ Neil Gaiman. So there's your seal of approval if you needed one.

Macintosh Plus - Floral Shoppe

Vaporwave is such a beautiful genre. It is a musical consomme where other songs are melted down until there is nothing left but the essence of the original piece. A distinctly recognizable flavor, but rendered into broth. The idea of taking a song and picking out very specific bits and then slowing them down repeating them over and over until you have turned the ten second sample into a five minute song is incredible.

Floral Shoppe is not the first, and maybe not even the best vaporwave record, but it is the blueprint that a lot of artists would seek to imitate. The track リサフランク420 / 現代のコンピュー (Lisa Frank 420 / modern computing) made some waves for having a very overt and recognizable sample and leading to people joking that the genre was just "Diana Ross slowed down". And derogatory as that sounds it is also true. The song is seven minutes of just the chorus of Diana Ross' It's Your Move looped, slowed down, and otherwise abused until it just isn't the same song anymore. What Floral Shoppe did was bring the idea of the transformative property of context to a wider audience. The question of authorship is essential to vaporwave. Most vaporwave artists will use one off monikers for albums. In fact Macintosh Plus is a one off project under the larger Vektroid umbrella. Vektroid herself is one of the most prolific and significant vaporwave artists out there and honestly I don't even think Floral Shoppe is her best work, but it is the most important.

But is it good? That's the real question. The philosophical implications of art are nice and all but is it good to listen to? Yeah it's extremely enjoyable. Listening to Floral Shoppe is like living in a slightly fucked up betamac tape that is playing commercials for new shopping malls. It captures a sense of nostalgia, but also warps it into a surreal dreamscape. Parts stutter, they loop just before the part of the song you know plays, they are repeated over and over until you feel like something is wrong. The nostalgia is recontextualized as something artificial. Like it is reminding you that the way you feel about the past is manufactured. Your memories are already corrupted by capitalism and if you could see through the matrix you would hear the broken mechanisms underneath.

The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

The Field is hard to pin down. While basically a tech-house project it is also quite a bit unlike other tech-house/minimal/ambient techno projects. I was enthralled the first time I ever put on this record. There's something ethereal about the heavily altered vocal samples. Every sound rendered distant and breathy. This is the sound of the sun glaring off of fresh snow in the winter. This is the sound that plays when you transcend your human body to become a being of pure energy. If the obelisk from 2001 A Space Odyssey was a DJ this is what it would play. It is impossible to not feel subsumed by this music, to want to just close your eyes and imagine you are floating. From Here We Go Sublime is one of the prettiest albums I have ever heard and I think even people who aren't into techno might be able to appreciate it.

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free

Look me in the eye. I'm serious look at me. Mike Skinner is a good rapper. No I'm not joking. No I don't like this album "ironically". A Grand Don't Come For Free is one of my top ten hip hop albums of all time. Right up there with Nas and J-Dilla and Kanye and shit. Skinner's flow is unconventional and, at first glance, very bad. But what he is doing is incorporating a very casual conversational style into his rapping to help communicate the personalities and moods of the characters in the story.

Oh yeah by the way this is a concept album. It's about Mike, his two friends Dan and Scott, and his new girlfriend Simone. Mike loses 1000 pounds, gets really paranoid that one of his friends stole it, and then let's that paranoia ruin all of his interpersonal relationships. The album starts by setting up the list money and various aspects of Mike's life like his new romance and gambling addiction to set up the very everyman vibes. As Mike rambles through awkward small talk, bad decisions, bad relationships, and the slow burn out of his empathy he becomes actually really relatable. Every time Mike does something that is frustrating and stupid it just kinda endears him to me. I want to see this idiot do better. Even on Get Out Of My House where he is trying to explain to Simone that he wasn't at her place while she was hungover because he was picking up his epilepsy medication and is, by any reasonable account in the right, he sucks so hard at making his point that he still comes off as the asshole. This is punctuated by guest rapper C-Mone actually rapping much better than Mike on her verses. In fact how well a character is rapping is very much tied to how confident they are at the moment with Mike being more noticeably on beat on Not Addicted and Such A Twat and sounding really off on Get Out Of My House and It Was Supposed To Be So Easy.

The beats are not just straightforward things for Skinner to rap weird style over though. The beats often contain weird syncopation and odd rhythms that make it feel like rather than not being able to stay on beat the vocals and the beat are just circling around each other. Always in sync but never knowing each other's exact location. The way these two elements come together creates the backbone for A Grand Don't Come For Free's atmosphere of disorientation and lack of control. Mike's story is ultimately about him trying to latch onto any part of his life that he thinks he can control and constantly having those things slip away from him. He finds the £1000 in the back of his broken TV by the way.

The Mountain Goats - Beat The Champ

I got into The Mountain Goats way back when Moral Orel was airing it's infamous third season back in 08. I listened to John Darnielle's entire discography even the very rough first couple of tapes. And after all that I was pretty sure that this was my new favorite band and that no album anyone released were ever gonna top All Hail West Texas, Tallahassee, or The Sunset Tree. Fast forward seven years and I see he's working on a new album. It's gonna be about wrestling. I figure it will be pretty good, because Mountain Goats albums basically bottom out at pretty good. So the album releases, I listen to it, and instantly I know that I have forever been changed. I don't know how many times one man can keep doing this to me, but by God was I changed. I'm kinda into wrestling now as a direct result of this album.

The beauty of Darnielle's writing is that he can tease the meaning out of literally anything. Mountain Goats song don't have grand concepts. Beat The Champ's songs can be summed up easily. "Retired wrestler drives to the next show" "a biography of a wrestler that Darnielle liked as a kid" "a biography of a different wrestler that Darnielle liked as a kid" "a guy who takes his gimmick too seriously". But this isn't what the songs are about. They are about feeling tired of routine and being resigned to the fact that this will be the rest of your life. They are about how the world looks through the eyes of a child. They are about finding fulfillment in life even once you have passed your prime. They are about shutting out your emotions until you become a toxic person. These songs aren't about wrestling, but also they are. Beat The Champ made me think about how difficult pro wrestling is. You need a hyperapecific skill set that includes acting, athletics, acrobatic, and improv. And then if you are the absolute best at all those things hing and end up being the best wrestler ever? Well no one really respects pro wrestling so you get fuck all for it. The strange place these people occupy and the emotions that come with it are the perfect vessel for analyzing human experience at large. Wrestling, John Darnielle posits, is a microcosm for all life. We all play parts, we do heel turns now and then, we all fear being unmasked. Wrestlers deal with literal manifestations of human fear and Beat The Champ taps into that to create an album that both comments on human anxieties in a very real way and to humanize the people behind the kayfabe.

#lemon demon #ween #atom and his package #tv on the radio #between the buried and me #they might be giants #macintosh plus #vektroid #the field #the streets #the mountain goats #500 album gaiden

[teenyweenyeenymeeny]

any more little scott hcs?

Yes yes hmmm… miscellaneous ones hehe…

• easiest way to tell how old he is feeling are his energy level and how much he’s stimming… in his Normal age range [about 4-8] he is a tiny ball of energy he can’t sit still at All and when he is feeling Especially teeny it is the opposite he barely moves just curls up in a little ball or clings onto someone and Freezes… when he’s a grown up he’s kind of in the middle 🤍

• ^ when he is little he stims in more ways than when he is grown up too… grown up Scott flaps his hands if he’s excited and I Think I will give him the excited stomping and the toe and finger wiggling… little Scott does all of this But sometimes he runs around in a little circle if he’s excited too… and perhaps rolls around on the floor… he Does have other stims too I think but these are the main Specific Consistent ones I can think of

• when Scotty draws or colours pictures he sticks his tongue out… the first time Kim sees him do it she laughs because she remembers him doing that when they really were kids

• ^ speaking of colouring pictures Scotty doesn’t really Believe in the lines hehe… or even the picture he is Supposed to be colouring in 🤍 he is the type of kid to draw big monster battle on top of the lines for like. Peaceful day in the forest :) or something… hehe

• ^ and if he Is just colouring not really adding his own pictures it is way more fun to scribble !!!! Boring to colour in the lines…

• this is something I think I talked about with Sunny [I don’t know if you would want to be tagged hehe… and if so with which blog……] but when Scott plays games like Pokémon he is the type of kid to get bored with the levelling up process and run directly to the next gym hehe… and then when all his Pokémon are so under levelled and he gets his butt kicked he whines and whines… when he is grown up he understands the issue and has more patience to do levelling up but Pokémon is more for when he Isn’t grown up…

• ^ he has to beg for help hehe�� he goes Wallace… Wallace sniffle help……. And Wallace goes I don’t know what to tell you buddy you could try levelling up… and Scott just whines More hehe…

• ^ sometimes Scott makes Wallace go with him to visit Neil so he can ask him to help… Neil is the expert……

• ^ this doesn’t Always work out though so sometimes Wallace will try to play for Scott and Scott will stare over his shoulder and do backseat gaming I think hdjsjs and Wallace will get annoyed and say you’re welcome to play your own game if you know best little guy and then Scott will whine about That Too

• ^ if Wallace doesn’t Want to play Scott’s game he will give him a task like ohh could you find whichever Pokémon for me I want you to catch this specific one… and this tricks Scott into doing the levelling up heehe

• ^ oh yes and if Wallace Isn’t there and Scott is home alone he will just. Give up 🤍 he will get annoyed and just start doing something else and forget about the game Immediately…

• I think I have said before that little Scott is Clumsy but I think it was in reference to him always needing a sippy cup… spilling drinks is not the only way he is clumsy !! Another way is. He messes up a Lot if he tries to play his bass

• ^ like he doesn’t Actually know how to play it Ever but he can get by with playing by ear and muscle memory when he’s a grown up… if he regresses during band practice though he forgets what he has taught himself

• ^ sometimes he just starts playing with his bass too trying to make funny or really loud sounds… even if he is supposed to be rehearsing hehe

• ^ I think that MOST of the time Stephen n Kim just laugh it off if this happens and either encourage him to entertain himself or play With him to try and make funny sounds

• ^ maybe once or twice though when they had a show coming up and tensions were already high they got annoyed a little though… snapped at him maybe to at least try to take the band seriously

• ^ that didn’t Help though obviously it just made him feel even Younger and upset :( and he just started crying </3 so Then sex bobomb had to Really end practice because Now they had to comfort the baby… ooooopsie… it would work out though I know it 🤍 and everything would be okay

• when Scott is little he talks really fast and stumbles over words a lot… and I think he is the type of kid to forget to breathe between sentences so he will end up having to cut himself off mid-word to take a big breath hehe

• he can only focus on things if he’s being supervised… it’s weird and he doesn’t really get why he’s like that but if he’s home alone his attention span bounces all over the place but if Wallace is there he can stick to one task for Hours… especially if he gets Contact like sitting in Wallace’s lap while watching TV that sort of thing…

ummmmm all for now ☆

#🖍️ #❌ #🍸 #yea he’s mentioned enough I think… #📝 #scott pilgrim age regression #scott pilgrim agere #scott pilgrim #little scott pilgrim #regressed scott pilgrim #fandom regression #fandom agere #fandom age regression #age regression #agere #sfw agere #agere little #agere blog #sfw age regression #age regression headcanons #ask #anon

[ladykailitha]

Here we go! The scene that started it all. The reason for the fic. Yes, the story is based on the song “Low Key in Love” by The Struts ft. Paris Jackson, but this was the scene that kept replying in my head until I wrote it. Also, you’ll need tissues. I cry every time I read this, sooo...

***

Let it not be said that that Alexander Harrington, known to his friends as Xander, didn’t know how to throw a party. When The Kings got signed his son’s senior year of high school, he threw the biggest bash the town had ever seen.

He had to invite everyone, of course. Though if he had had his way only the best people would have been able to come. But as he looked around his home satisfied, he figured it was a good thing to let the lowly masses see for once how the other half lived. Let them seethe in their jealousy and envy.

Steve on the other hand was miserable. He hated it. He hated Tommy. He hated Billy. And fuck it, let’s throw hating Jonathan in there as a treat. Because seriously what. The. Honest. Fuck? Where had he been hiding all that talent? Under a fucking rock? It wasn’t fair. Jonathan was naturally talented where Steve had to work so hard to get the moves right. Something Billy was always sure to mock.

He was sitting in his living room watching everyone have fun without him. People had long since stopped congratulating him on his record deal hours ago. Steve vaguely wondered where his father was. Probably smoozing with Tommy’s dad. Steve scoffed. He knew Alexander Harrington wouldn’t be deigning to talk to Joyce Byers or Neil Hargrove. One was working poor, the other was straight up trailer trash.

He could see Joyce talking to Jonathan in the corner of the room, rubbing his back and muttering comforting promises. Steve didn’t even think his mother had even stayed past greeting the parents of her son’s band before fucking off to get drunk off her ass in some fancy hotel bar. Portia Harrington did not mingle.

Steve got up and wandered in the direction of his room. Well, he tried to wander, but it was more like a beeline because no one even questioned his path or stopped him to say hello. In his own fucking house. Yeah. He was done.

He opened the door to his room and was shocked to see someone was already in it. The other boy had long brown, curly hair and deep soulful eyes. Steve gulped. He had never thought about how attractive boys could be until that moment.

Maybe there had been some fleeting crushes and even more fleeting glances at boys in the shower room or hot actors. But until this moment with this boy, Steve never really thought too deeply about it. He sure the hell was now, though.

“Hey!” the other boy said, whirling around to face him. “If it isn’t the man of the hour!”

Steve could smell the alcohol from here, but he wasn’t sure if it was that the boy had been drinking or if it was coming from the shirt the boy held in one of his hands. But now that he could see the boy’s face he knew exactly who it was.

“Munson, what the fuck are you doing in my room?” Steve spit out before his brain could catch up to his mouth.

Eddie blushed. His cheeks were already rosy with the alcohol but they burned red in embarrassment. “I was looking for the bathroom.”

Steve raised his eyebrow.

“Some asshole spilled drink on my favorite Dio shirt and I was trying to find a way to clean it,” Eddie said with a winsome grin, he held up the shirt to show him. Then he tried to take a step closer but tripped stumbling straight into Steve’s arms. “Did anyone tell you you have really pretty eyes?”

It was Steve’s turn to blush as he held Eddie up. “No. If anyone compliments me, it’s usually the hair.” He paused and cocked his head thoughtfully. “Or the ass.”

Eddie hummed appreciatively. “Both are pretty amazing,” he agreed, standing up enough to put one hand in Steve’s hair and the other on his ass.

Steve’s stomach swooped.

“You like that, pretty boy?” Eddie asked, pulling Steve closer.  

He nodded and Eddie leaned forward to kiss him. Steve had been kissed and had kissed several girls up to this point, but this? This was on a whole other continent. It felt good.

Steve’s hands immediately went for Eddie’s hair, having been wanting to know what it felt like for years. And it was softer and silkier than he could have imagined.

Eddie broke off their kiss and Steve whined his loss. “Who knew Stevie boy liked the boys.”

Steve pressed forward and recaptured Eddie’s lips. Their hands immediately went for each other’s clothes, grasping and tugging as they tried to get at skin. They tumbled toward the bed as they scrambled to get Steve’s shirt and their pants off.

They land on the bed with a thump and a giggle. Steve’s shirt had gone and Eddie’s pants were unbuttoned.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” Steve breathed, straddling over Eddie’s hips.

Eddie grinned, reaching up for him. “Then come get me, big boy.”

Steve leaned down to kiss him again, just then the door slammed opened and Steve’s dad stood at the door. There was no mistaking Eddie for attacking Steve, not with Steve on top. It was very clear that both boys were very into what was happening too.

Mr Harrington pulled Steve off of Eddie throwing him to the ground. He wasn’t a beefy guy, but Xander Harrington boxed to keep in shape. Tossing a surprised Steve took very little effort on his part. He grabbed Eddie and hauled the drunk young man out the back door. He tossed him onto the cold hard pavement around the swimming pool.

“Get the fuck out of my house!” Mr Harrington sneered. “And if I see you back here before we leave for LA, just know I’ve got a shotgun and the best lawyers in the state.”

Steve who had been following close behind, rushed to Eddie’s side. He looked around for help, but of the few people milling about by the pool, none of them were paying this little drama any mind.

“And no son of mine will be a queer, do you understand?” Mr Harrington roared.

Steve tried to help Eddie to his feet, but Eddie kept shrugging him off.

“Eddie!” Steve murmured. “Just...please!”

Eddie looked over at Steve as if seeing him for the first time. He could tell that Steve hadn’t planned any of this. That Steve was just as distressed as he was about Xander Harrington’s rage. He let Steve help him to his feet and whispered. “Run away with me. Come find me tomorrow at the park behind the community pool.”

Steve nodded, a small, barely there movement. But it was enough. Eddie staggered away from the party, head pounding louder than his heart.

*

Steve showed up at the park picnic table, backpack slung over his shoulder, Eddie’s shirt in his hand. He managed to get it cleaned and dried so he could return it.

Eddie was already there nursing a hangover of epic proportions. He had dark circles under his eyes like bruises and red, puffy eyes. He whirled around to see Steve standing awkwardly at the edge of the trees.

“What do you want, Harrington?” Eddie snarled from the pain in his head.

Steve hesitated a bit before lurching forward with the shirt. “Um...you left this at my place last night. You said it was your favorite so I wanted to get it back to you.”

“So that’s where it went,” Eddie said, taking it from Steve gingerly, unsure were this bout of kindness was coming from.

“You don’t remember leaving it last night?” Steve asked, his voice cracking.

“Fuck, man,” Eddie sneered. “I drank so much last night I couldn’t even remember my own name this morning.”

Steve lips quiver. “You don’t remember any of it?”

Eddie snapped his fingers. “Wait I do remember being thrown out for kissing a guy. You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, would you?”

Steve gulped taking a step back. “No! Of course not.”

Eddie eyed him warily. He could tell Steve was lying. But it was a strange kind of reaction. Like Steve was just as terrified of him, as Eddie was of Steve. That couldn’t be right.

“Whatever, man,” Eddie sneered. “Just go.”

Steve took a step toward him and Eddie leveled him with a glare. Steve stopped in his tracks, tears welling up in his eyes.

“You really don’t remember any of it?” he whispered.

“Not a god damned thing,” Eddie bit out. He was starting to worry that he had seen something he shouldn’t have or done something he shouldn’t have. Because Steve was really starting to freak out.

There was a snap of a twig beyond the tree line and Steve startled like a wounded animal. He turned around and ran the opposite direction of the noise and Eddie tilted his head.

What on earth had that been about?

Jeff came out of the trees with McDonald’s and hot coffee. “Best hangover cure there ever was.”

Eddie nodded and took his food from his friend. Jeff spotted the shirt next to him.

“Oh hey, man, you found it!” he said excitedly.

Eddie just nodded and munched quietly on his food. And as he ate, his head felt better but there was a great big black void where his memories of last night were concerned.

Over the next couple of days he kept expecting Harrington to come back, but the boy remained absent. He didn’t even know why he was waiting. Or what he was waiting for. But he felt it like a hole in his chest.

The next time he saw Steve Harrington in person was when he was introducing himself to the band at the sound check ten years later at the Love Loud concert as if they were total strangers. Just further proof the Munson Doctrine is never wrong.

***

I’m tagging everyone from the Star Child main list

Tag List: @bejeweledbaby @eboyawstenn @moonshadows-13 @ohlook-afrog @goodolefashionedloverboi @linkydinky06 @livelaughlexa @spectrum-spectre @cutepumpkin4 @whatthemeepever @gleek4twd @anything-thats-rock-and-roll @novelnovella @celtrose-ish @artiststarme @plasticcrotches  @failedstarsandgoldenclouds @anaibis @nelotegreitic @steddieassheg0es @abstractnaturaldisaster @scheodingers-muppet @tiny-enthusiast @yes-im-your-mom @thegingerrapunzel @milf-harrington @avacrebs @gregre369 @raisedbylibrarians @reverseteehee @lillys-weird-world @deadlydodos @runyousillydetective @justrandomfandomstm @piebook67 @clumsywriter @donttouchmycarrots @fiore-della-valle @idkareallyreallygoodname  @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @imfinereallyy @ravenpainter @ellietheasexylibrarian @maya-custodios-dionach @child-of-cthulhu @estrellami-1 @lillithhellfire @nerdsconquerall @space-invading-pigeon @localgaydisaster @bookbinderbitch

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #rockstar au #song fic #star child #extra scene #ladykailtiha writes

[twopoppies]

I found this to be a very interesting article. https://medium.com/@cdl.tuebingen/covid-19-is-killing-performers-a81d1cf209a2

Something this fandom should seriously think about.

Hm. Interesting, yes. I don’t have the energy to dig into it and fact check, so others may want to if they read this as it comes across as slightly exaggerated in the way it’s written. But I’m headed to a concert in a couple of weeks and I know I’ll be wearing a mask (as much as I dislike doing it).

[…]

Now, performers are less frequently dying from acute infections, but more are developing Long COVID, or experiencing adverse health events as a result of COVID reinfections, leading to canceled events, retiring from performing due to new-onset chronic illnesses, and even sudden deaths.

I know. I maintain the google doc that color codes COVID-19’s devastating effects on performers. Yellow for canceled events. Orange for severe or new-onset chronic illnesses. Red for deaths.

You might be asking why this narrative hasn’t coalesced in the news. One answer is that, for a variety of reasons, including stigma, insurance not covering canceled events due to COVID-19, and a failure of public health authorities to correlate COVID-19 infections with new-onset chronic illness and sudden deaths, the illnesses and deaths are not always linked to COVID-19 infections. Some performers have confirmed the link between COVID and their illness, like actress Alyssa Milano, athletes Avery Henry and Mark Bavaro, and Hailey Bieber, who had a “mini stroke” following a COVID-19 infection. Others have canceled events due to “illness” or a “mystery virus,” or have developed new-onset chronic illnesses.

A-list musicians are becoming seriously ill: Lorde has a debilitating, new-onset autoimmune condition, Billie Eilish was “suffering terribly” from an illness while touring, and Harry Styles required supplemental oxygen while performing. And an increasing number of performers are simply dying. Many passed away in the period before vaccines, like Broadway actor Nick Cordero, but as we are discovering that vaccines do not prevent the cumulative damage from COVID-19 infections, now young and relatively healthy people, like WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt, are dying following complications from the effects of COVID.

You may also be asking yourself, if the emergency is so bad, then why is this allowed to continue? Why do venues not create safer conditions for performers, especially because they are so profitable? And why are performers themselves not sounding the alarm?

[…] many venues do not want to enforce mask requirements. Other measures which might keep performers safe, like air purification/filtration with HEPA filters, cost money. Not a lot of money, but this is capitalism, and if a corner can be cut, particularly if the consequences of cutting that corner are not immediately evident and will not create financial liabilities, it most likely will be cut. […]

The second question: “Why aren’t performers advocating for better COVID-19 mitigations?” is more complex. The short answer is that a growing number are. Some public figures, like author and TV creator Neil Gaiman, have requested voluntary masking at his events because the venues themselves will not enforce mask requirements. Let that sink in. Neil Gaiman doesn’t even have the power to ensure basic mitigations for his tour.

Other performers have had more success with ensuring COVID-19 mitigations. Singer and songwriter The Anchoress requires masked rehearsals, testing and air purification for performances. Actress Morgan Fairchild requested masked rehearsals and testing for a play. The band Belly has requested that fans mask at their performances. But there are also forces pushing back against performers advocating for themselves. Some are explicit: insurance in many instances will not pay for canceled concerts due to COVID-19. And performing takes place in the context of hierarchical industries where it’s often important to not be perceived as “difficult,” so few performers have the power to advocate for their safety. But probably the biggest reason is also the most insidious: the public health messaging has so downplayed the risks of COVID-19 reinfections that even A-list performers who could advocate for themselves are not aware of the danger.

Full article here

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Some Vampdrew pretty please

WIP Wednesday (4/10) | Vampire Andrew AU (Part 104-B)

"Speaking of watching your mouth..." Aaron starts, turning towards Andrew with a sort of ticked-off look on his face. When Andrew catches his thoughts, he almost smiles. "My Eggos were gone this morning. Did you take them?"

"Yes."

Aaron throws his hands into the air. "Seriously? You ate my last fucking waffles?"

"I didn't say that."

Aaron exhales through his nose. "So... To be clear, you took them but didn't eat them?"

"Yeah. Believe me I tried to eat them, but they were trying to chew on a tire. And I literally have fangs. But if you'd like them they're somewhere over that way," Andrew says, pointing towards the window and the direction in which he flung them off the roof. "And, in case you didn't know, they make for decent frisbees."

"You threw my waffles out the window?"

"Of course not. I threw them off the roof." Andrew corrects, then he mimes throwing a frisbee. Nicky starts to laugh under his breath at that but Aaron doesn't look the least bit amused.

"Bastard."

"I only took them because you took my last Pop Tarts." Andrew says, jabbing a finger at him. "We're even."

"Oh." Nicky stops laughing. "I... actually ate the Pop Tarts last night. Sorry, Andrew."

"What a twist to this detective story," Kevin says, rolling his eyes. "Can we get back to the vampire story and figuring out what to do about Neil?"

"It'll be fine." Andrew says. "The more time I spend around him, the less... tempting he'll be. Easy."

"That's stupid. It'll never work," Aaron says. Andrew flips him off but his brother pays him no mind, turning instead to their cousin. "Nicky, will you drive me to the store? I need to get some more waffles."

"I'll drive," Andrew says as he stands up. "I have to get some Pop Tarts. And toothbrushes." When the others all give him looks, he shakes his head. "Don't ask."

---

Aaron doesn't particularly like riding with Andrew when he's medicated and he makes that well known. But Andrew's reflexes are better than they ever were when he was human, even when he's got the poison in his system. So he eventually accepts the ride offer and the two of them head off to the grocery store.

When they get there, they split up. Andrew finds his Pop Tarts quickly and grabs four boxes, just to be safe. Then he gets twice that amount of toothbrushes. As he patrols the aisles looking for his brother, Andrew sees a man wearing a worn-out hoodie that makes him think of Neil. It's certainly not him, he a bit too tall and a bit too heavy. But Andrew's mind is flooded with bad thoughts.

I know where he is. Coach's place isn't far. I could eat him right now. Andrew's fangs prick his bottom lip, his hunger steering him towards the exit. It takes everything in him not to start running. But then Aaron appears in front of him, hilariously in front of a shelf full of bandages.

"Where are you running off to?" says Aaron. Andrew blinks, snapping out of whatever the hell that was, and looks down at his basket. He's already got what he needs? Oh, right. Yeah.

"To pay for my very wise purchases, where else?" Andrew says, holding up his basket.

"I thought you were going to leave me here." Aaron accuses. Andrew just laughs. And drops a couple variety packs of Band-Aids into his basket. Just in case.

#BACK IN TIME WE GO! #this piece is sort of long but it's the scene i forgot about last night! i'll have to go and edit the time/date so it'll show up in order #andreil #aftg #Vampire Andrew AU #WIP Wednesday #🕊️ #answered #anon

[lovejustforaday]

Shoegaze Classics - Ferment

Ferment - Catherine Wheel (1992)

Main Genres - Alternative Rock, Shoegaze

A decent sampling of: Noise Pop, Dream Pop

Oops, I got lazy and procrastinated the last regular "classics" review. Well, better late than never.

For my final entry on this retrospective, before I move on to my select few magnum opuses of first wave shoegaze, I wanted to cover another band that I feel I could recommend to most casual listeners of alternative rock. So today I'll be taking a closer look at the moonlit melodies of early shoegaze's gruffest band, Catherine Wheel.

The Band

Catherine Wheel formed in Great Yarmouth, U.K. in 1990.

They were probably the biggest band of the first wave not signed to Creation Records or 4AD, though Creation Records' Alan McGee certainly tried. Instead, they got signed to American label Fontana Records.

The band's lineup for the vast majority of its duration was Rob Dickinson on vocals and guitar, Dave Hawes on bass, Brian Futter on guitar, and Neil Sims on drums.

When referring to this band as "early shoegaze's gruffest band", I was especially referring to Rob Dickinson's vocals; less of the typical semi-androgynous, zoned out 20 something year old stoner dude, and more like your cool heavy metal uncle singing lullabies to you.

Rob's gentle but husky voice was often placed rather high in the mix when compared to most other shoegaze acts of the time, giving his lyrics more of a central focus. His general musings involve cerebral, abstract mystical-isms, while sometimes being the brooding, angsty kind of poet that was very much dominating the grunge music and alternative rock airwaves in the United States in the early 90s.

In fact, again I have to say that I would've expected these guys to be a lot more successful in the United States given what was happening overseas at the time. Much like Swervedriver, Catherine Wheel were a bit more hard-rocking than their other peers in the scene that celebrated itself, though not really in the same way as the former.

If Swervedriver's thing was shoegaze mixed with noise rock distortion and post-hardcore levels of intensity, then Catherine Wheel's sound was more of a kind of shoegaze rock and roll, more indebted to the hard rock of the previous few decades than other bands. A lot of their melodies have kind of a timeless feel to them.

Their sound is also distinctly nocturnal, even more so than most other shoegaze bands. Ferment and Chrome are LPs meant to be listened to on night walks and bus rides, especially the latter.

EPs happened. Then came the debut record.

The Record

Ferment is Catherine Wheel's journey into the foggiest recesses of the half-waking, half-asleep mind, with loud, opaque walls of sound and glistening electric guitars.

The production of this record has a very washed-out quality, like the entire record was given the acid wash treatment. If that's your kind of thing, you'll love this record. It certainly lends itself well to the "heavy rocking slumber" quality of Catherine Wheel's general musical aesthetic. That being said, one or two tracks here may sound a bit flat by modern production standards.

The record opens with "Texture", a menacing 6/8 splattering of radioactive glowing guitar chords creating a radiant, moonlit shoegazing mosaic. A very bold opener with possibly the most aptly titled song for a shoegazing band ever.

"I Want To Touch You" is, also true to its name, a nervously erotic track that is both enticing and surreal. There's about a hundred ways that a track with this title could go wrong and turn into failed-seriousness or something off-putting, but somehow this ends up working really well with its breezy melody and flashy guitar leads over tingling shoegaze drones. It's a certified banger.

If ever there was a song worthy of the moniker "shoegaze" in its most literal interpretation, then that song would be "Black Metallic". The drowsy-eyed, cerebral introspection of this behemoth of a song is communicated through sonic timbres of pleasantly tender abrasion, perfectly capturing what it would sound like to be quite literally lost in a labyrinth of your own thoughts while staring absently into the apparent abyss of one's own shoes. "Black Metallic" is a masterclass in evoking a state of mind for the listener through well-crafted, gorgeous guitar soundscapes. This is probably among the first two or three tracks that I'd recommend to any of the uninitiated.

Sadly, my one major gripe with this record is that it starts with the excellent three track run that I just mentioned, and then never comes close to picking up that momentum again. And at 38 minutes onward of mostly by-the-numbers shoegaze-alt. rock, the record becomes a bit of a slog to get through.

Mind you, by-the-numbers shoegaze is still something I could very comfortably put on and just vibe to, enjoying it for what it is, but the promise of the first three tracks leaves something to be desired from the rest of the record. Ferment is honestly one of the most front-loaded rock LPs that I can think of.

The title track "Ferment" is fairly transcendent for me until it gets to that effing jumpscare at two minutes and forty eight seconds in (maybe I'm exaggerating for most listeners, but that shit certainly made me jump).

Unfortunately, much like Drop Nineteens' Delaware which I reviewed much earlier on in this series, Ferment is more of a record that I recognize as a classic because of its importance to the scene and the reputation it holds versus my own personal enjoyment of the project as a whole.

I can see why this record really does it for some folks who like their shoegaze loud and heavy, and I do really love those first three tracks and "Black Metallic" in particular is probably one of my most played shoegaze tracks period, having graced me with its blissful textures on many a zero-sleep bus rides into uni after pulling an essay all-nighter (cuz I'm trash like that sometimes). But the rest of it just never lives up to what it could have been for me.

But like I said in the Drop Nineteens review, a lot of shoegazers love this record. So again, I implore you to listen and form your own opinion. All in all, this is still a solid record by my tastes, but then I'm also very biased in favour of shoegaze as a genre of music.

What Came After That?

Catherine Wheel is yet another shoegaze band that did not survive of the turn of the century, though they did release four more records in the 90s.

Truthfully, I'd definitely recommend their sophomore LP Chrome over the debut album, because I feel that it's a more fully-realized project, with a track listing that flows better and contains overall better songwriting ("Black Metallic" notwithstanding).

The only real reason why I didn't opt for covering the follow-up record instead is because I wouldn't exactly call Chrome a shoegaze record in the primary sense; more of a heavy, dreamy alternative rock record with its roots in the scene, with roughly three or four actual shoegaze tracks here and there.

After dropping three more records, Catherine Wheel disbanded in 2000. I haven't really checked the rest of the records out, but going off of the RYM genre tags at least, it would seem the band never really put out another full-on shoegaze record.

Rob Dickinson released one solo record in 2005 after the group disbanded. Nowadays, the dude seems...very much into cars? Not exactly what I would expect from the usual shoegazing crowd, but then there was that one Lush song on their last LP.

Brian and Neil went on to form their own indie band called "50ft. Monster", which funnily enough immediately calls to mind the similarly titled PJ Harvey single. Again, haven't bothered to check this out yet.

I know it may sound like I'm not a big fan of this band based on the score I end up giving this record, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't more than a few great gems in this bands discography. Both of their first two records have a small but pretty loyal following, so I'm gonna strongly recommend you check both of them out and see if either of those records tickles your fancy. Regardless, "Black Metallic" at least is basically god tier shoegaze.

7/10

Highlights: "Black Metallic", "Texture", "I Want To Touch You"

#album review #music review #list #indie rock #shoegaze classics #alternative rock #shoegaze #90s #1992 #catherine wheel #ferment #rob dickinson #brian futter #neil sims #dave hawes

[bleeeppx]

SPTO SPOILERS:

Wallace Wells is an iconic character in any media that he's in. I enjoyed his character from the comics, to the movie, and to the animated show. However, as much as I enjoyed him in the show, I preferred his character in the comics and the movie over him in the show. He is still very much an enjoyable character to watch, but as you're watching, it never really feels like he was actually friends with Scott; moreover, it feels like he just had to put up with him. I understand that Scott was gone for most of the show, but I still feel like he could've been put into the sidelines, helping Ramona off-screen, gathering information and just have him play a more important role in the story.

A way I feel like they could've incorporated Wallace into the story more, but still keep most of what's been made, would be something like this:

Takes place during episode 3. When Ramona walks into the Second Cup cafe and talks to Julie about her dream, telling her how she thinks Scott's death was actually faked and that he's been kidnapped by someone. Stacey and Wallace at the side, initially talking about something, but then overhearing Ramona and Julie's conversation.

Wallace and Stacey interrupting their conversation, (Stacey telling Julie to do her job, both proceeding to cuss eachother out.) expressing their doubts. Ramona, recognizing them from the party, she asks them what their relations to Scott are (his roommate/"insert sugar daddy joke" and his sister) and then questions both of them for any potential motives that they may have had to kidnap Scott.

Wallace reminding her that they were roommates, telling her how dumb of a plan it would have been if he was the one to actually kidnap Scott. And Stacey, saying that she lived with Scott long enough to know that she wouldn't want to be his roommate for any longer than she already had to. (Stacey: No offense, Wallace. Wallace: None taken.)

Ramona takes out a notepad, writes both their names and crosses them both out. Wallace and Stacey acknowledging this, seeing how seriously Ramona is taking her theory and offering up their help.

Wallace mentioning Scott's band. Julie, still saying the stuff about Stephen and Young Neil, though Stacey is the one to call out Kim specifically, revealing the information that Scott and Kim used to date back in highschool.

Ramona thanks them and they all exchange contact info, in case any of them gain any more information, and then walks out the cafe to go meet Kim. (The rest of the episode playing out as it originally did.)

In that rewrite, in addition to Wallace, Stacy also becomes a more important character too!

This was made all made in good fun, I still enjoyed what Scott Pilgrim Takes Off has delivered and what it has added to the overall franchise. This show has really brought me a lot of joy and has sent me spiralling with ideas. If anyone decides they want to create a comic or something out of my rewrite, you have full permission to do so! I prompt anyone to share their thoughts and opinions.

#scott pilgrim #scott pilgram takes off #spto #spto spoilers #wallace wells #I love this show so much and Roxy Richter is my wife💕✨

[dalekofchaos]

Context for choice 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8. Also I realize I messed up and meant Freddy's Revenge, not Freddy'd Dead

In general, watch this video on all the cancelled

Prequel. So there are two cancelled prequel pitches and my idea for a potential Hannibal type prequel show.

John Saxon's Elm Street prequel concept

My little idea for a Hannibal esque prequel. Make it a cat and mouse chase between Donald Thompson and Freddy. We see Donald attempt to catch the Springwood Slasher, all the parents are heartbroken over the dead children and flashes of Freddy’s childhood and how he started. We don’t see Freddy kill the children, we see Freddy talking to and abducting the children and gives the tone that he killed and molested the kids. The last episode of the first season has Thompson capturing Freddy. The second season is his trial. That season ends with Freddy getting off. And the final season is about Thompson and the parents of Springwood hunting and killing Freddy. I would include would be that specific deleted scene that Tina, Rod, Glen and Nancy all had siblings killed by Freddy would be the foundation of it. Maybe even have the jump rope girls be ghosts of his first victims

Peter Jackson's pitch. Peter Jackson's Elm Street 6 was to reduce Freddy to a joke. no longer a threat to be taken seriously, much like how the character was being recognized in the real world at the time. Freddy is now so weak and pathetic that the teens on Elm Street take sleeping pills just to go into the dream world and beat up on him just for fun. Only one teen slips up, giving Freddy the upper hand at the cost of his life. Invigorated by his first kill in ages, Freddy becomes a real threat again, inducing fear and harvesting its energy. Eventually, he gains enough power to hold a police officer hostage in the dream world (and comatose in the real world). This forces one of the lead characters, whose father is a police officer, to enter Freddy's domain, rescue his father, and finally put an end to Freddy.

Freddy vs Jason vs Ash. It's basically the plot of the graphic novel with Ash killing Freddy and Jason being frozen in Crystal Lake. aaand New Line did not want that.

Beautiful Dream. Okay this was inspired by Leon Thomas video. Okay now deleted video. The basic premise is Nancy is dying and the only way she can be saved is Kristen puts Nancy in a "Beautiful dream" in Leon Thomas video, he proposed New Nightmare was Nancy's Beautiful Dream. However in my version it would be this, inspire by this fanfic.

Nancy Lantz has the perfect life. Her parents are both alive and happily married; she has a budding new career as a child psychologist; she has married her high school sweetheart, Glen; and she is pregnant with their first child, Dylan. Unfortunately for Nancy, a sinister phantasm has begun to plague her dreams, and very soon, it will escape into the waking world, threatening to turn Nancy's beautiful dream into the darkest nightmare. This leads Alice Johnson and her son Jacob, Dr Neil Gordon, Maggie, Doc and Tracey banding together fighting to save Nancy and it would ideally end with Nancy landing the killing blow on Freddy.

Robert Englund's pitch for an Nightmare On Elm Street reboot

"the children of previous victims, or just kids who grew up hearing stories about Freddy Krueger, were each haunted by their own version of Freddy Krueger.”

“Kids who grew up hearing stories about this Freddy Krueger guy and the awful things he did envisioned him in their own way, and that is the version that begins to haunt them. Some people may picture him as stout, another might envision him as tall and thin, another with a different hat, or a different sweater.

“He could have different gloves, or even a glove with small razor blades as referred to in the first movie. It would be neat to see very different interpretations of Freddy Krueger based on the child’s vision of who or what Freddy was to them. After all, each person’s subconscious would picture him in a totally different way.”

“I would have cast different actors to play Freddy for every potential victim,” “Because Freddy is only alive in the imagination of his future victim. They would talk about it at a slumber party or in a locker room at school, or on the bus going home. All we know about this Fred Krueger is he wears a hat, wears a red and green striped sweater and has a clawed hand. That’s the specifics.” “So it could be a red and green cardigan for one Freddy. It could be an old tattered baseball cap for another Freddy. Freddy could be tall, he could be short, he could be overweight, he could be muscular. Every one of the victims could have a different Freddy they imagined. And you could haunt them with that Freddy.” “And then at the end, it would be the ultimate victim and we see Freddy peel [his face] open and maybe it’s yours truly revealed. And it’s the essence of Freddy.”

#A Nightmare On Elm Street #Nightmare On Elm Street #Freddy Krueger #Nancy Thompson #Dylan Porter #Glen Lantz #Alice Johnson #Jacob Johnson #Jason Voorhees #Ash Williams #Jesse Walsh #Robert Englund #Donald Thompson #Youtube

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #5:

Neil Young and the Shocking Pinks' Everybody's Rockin'

In 1983 Neil Young went bonkers when David Geffen put his foot down... who am I kidding? You all already know this story.

Yes, Neil had left Reprise Records the year beforehand and would forever regret it; yes, he dealt with his young son's inability to speak due to Cerebral Palsy by getting deep into assistive technology; and yes, he then turned that obsession into the primitive prequel to OK Computer that is Trans; yes, that record bombed even though it's actually pretty awesome; and yes, Geffen then rejected Young's next effort, Old Ways 1, and demanded a rock and roll record; and yes, finally, yes, that's why Young complied in the most Shakey possible and made the silliest record of his whole wonderfully silly career: Everybody's Rockin'.

But you didn't visit me on this fine Sunday to read stuff you already knew or can read on Wikipedia. You already know Stephen Stills sucks. You came because anybody who is crazy enough to think that this video was gonna make it big on MTV in 83 is your idea of awesome:

I have thousands of questions about this video. Did they pay for a real helicopter? Is that where all the wind is coming from or did the desert just happen to be that windy that day? Or did Neil summon his giant Budokan wind machines to the desert? If so, are they still out there? Did Geffen pay for all this? Is he still pissed?

And what's the plot here exactly? I see that Neil gets ditched by the band, fails to ride his large scale toy train, truck and chopper to where they're at, runs to them instead, and then the real helicopter shows up... But then what? Who the hell is in the dude in the chopper and what was he planning to offer them on paper (is it Geffen? But he gave Neil a contract! And then he accepted this record and this silly band after rejecting the previous one! What the hell's happening?) before he changed his fake-mustachioed mind?

But while we are at it, who are the actors Neil hired to be the Shocking Pinks in this thing? Are any of them his actual musicians? If not, did they put this acting gig on their resume?

Finally, back to the plot: do they ever make it out of the desert? Or are they still out there, rockin' away, everyone living in a communal trailer beside the Salton Sea and singing their hearts out to bewildered seagulls?

I have no idea. But the whole thing is so silly that it's outta control awesome; it's Neil at his sloppy, wacky best. Boo-hoo-hoo. Boo-hoo-hoo.

So let's talk about the record.

To begin, everything about Everybody's Rockin' is a joke.

Its length is a joke. At 25 minutes total, the entire record is shorter than the single first song on Psychedelic Pill; when I saw Neil play with the Horse on the Weld Tour in 92 he seemingly spent an equal amount of time in between each song, admiring the band's collective feedback. I imagine he spends way longer each day talking to his newest robot.

And the album's songs are a joke. Look no further than the lyrics to the title track:

When Ronnie and Nancy do the bop on the lawn They're rockin' in the White House all night long. Everybody's rockin'...

Needless to say Ronnie and Nancy did not invite Young the White House in response. Rather, they, respectively, committed war crimes and put the moves on Mr. T.

And the Shocking Pinks are a joke. The great Ben Keith is in the group, along with Tim Drummond, one of the greatest bass players ever, and a host of other pros. But everyone plays the most simplified music of their career with great seriousness, careful not to ruin Neil's joke. Just take a listen to Kinda Fonda Wanda:

The whole thing makes Dylan's Christmas record sound like Mozart.

Even the "Neil Young" on this record is a joke. Young acknowledges that the whole thing was "like being in a movie". He'd just finished playing the goofiest, nerdiest possible version of himself, Lionel Switch, in his dumpster fire of a film Human Highway. And he clearly wasn't done playing a bumbling dullard:

Neil knew it all was a joke; after all, he was the one telling it. Years later he commented, "What am I? Stupid? Did people really think I put that out thinking it was the greatest fuckin' thing I'd ever recorded? Obviously I'm aware it's not."

And yet, he dedicated a full year and a half of his life to telling the joke over and over and over. He took the band and his character on tour, foisting it on audiences who'd paid to see Neil shred and play the hits; 17 years after Dylan fought the good fight at Royal Albert Hall and beyond, Neil fought a bizarre, self-created one, and it's impossible to tell to what extent he was giggling or furious.

After the two wonderful music videos flopped he even hired a big deal movie director, Hal Ashby, the guy behind Harold and Maude and Being There, to make an entire scripted film about it all.

Neil Young: with every new wacko phase, he's like a dog with a bone. A year after Everybody's Rockin' he put body and soul into becoming the bizarro version of Willie Nelson; soon after that he donned Dan Aykroyd glasses and created his own version of The Blues Brothers. As we speak he's probably writing a Space Opera or converting water into wine, all while cackling madly.

If Neil's life is a movie, then he's forever hijacking his own script; and the sillier it gets the more fun we all have. With Shakey, Everybody's Always Rockin'.

#Vimeo #neil young #the shocking pinks #hal ashby #ben keith #stephen stills still sucks #dan aykroyd #dylan 66 #Youtube

[oatbrew]

headcanons please 🥺

oh i got you! i have many thoughts and emotions for themis law firm way more than canon warrants lmao

celestine and jeremy have been an integral support system for artem in the past years, especially after neil’s disappearance. they don’t know the details and aren’t privy to artem’s nxx involvement but any time artem looks the slightest bit bothered (and tellingly when it doesn’t have to do with a work case), she’s the one dragging artem to eat dinner or go watch a show with her and jeremy to destress.

celestine means well but she has a busybody streak. she’s very invested in artem’s happiness via love, in part because (1) she feels indebted to him for his unconditional faith in taking a chance with her when starting out her firm. (2) as her friend, she just wants to see him happy.

and (3) she sees a little bit of herself in him. starting your own firm is an ambitious and labor-intensive move. celestine probably was as much of a workaholic as the best of them before realizing that work can’t be the only factor for a fulfilling life, which is a lesson compounded by her relationship with jeremy and one she wants to impart to artem

celestine probably also sees a lot of herself in rosa. as much as rosa admires and wants to emulate artem i think rosa joined themis equally because of celestine. and while artem’s more her partner, celestine’s more her proper mentor. it’s kind of delightful to think of celestine initially getting to know rosa because she takes her wingwoman duties seriously then genuinely befriending her purely because she enjoys getting to know her as an individual outside of their relation to artem

given that jeremy’s love was unrequited for some time, celestine, being savvy with relationships, would have probably been aware of his feelings even if he didn’t express them. she didn’t return them at first not necessarily bc she didn’t feel the same but because she was so focused on work.

artem’s not as close with jeremy as he is with celestine but as both reserved and intellectually-minded men, they share a kindred spirit and understanding that’s different from either of their dynamics with her.

it’d be really funny if jeremy was slightly intimidated and jealous of artem as a first impression. it’s only after clearing up his misunderstanding of their relationship with celestine and witnessing firsthand that artem really has no game whatsoever that he sheepishly starts a friendship with him.

kiki drags rosa with her to boy band concerts and other fan meetups. rosa appreciates it (like theoretically/musically) but she doesn’t get it. she likes to indulge her friend anyway. as a result, she’s probably accumulated like a wikipedia’s worth of secondhand pop idol knowledge that she doesn’t know what to do with.

celestine loooveeess to tease kiki. she teases everyone but because kiki is so earnest and highly impressionable, it’s almost too easy. kiki knows more than she lets on but she keeps up the pretense of being celestine’s unwitting target because she understands that’s how her boss shows affection and camaraderie

kiki is way too bowed over by artem’s professionalism and her respect for him to ever form a casual rapport. maybe once rosa and artem become more established, it’ll be easier to approach him that way outside of work but it’ll probably be only when kiki becomes a fully fledged attorney that she’ll feel comfortable doing so. on his part, artem is aware that he can be pretty unapproachable to his juniors, so he shows his care for them in the form of assistance or mentorship. so when kiki’s having trouble with her exam prep as she studies during a lunch break, artem is usually the first to help (if not rosa). or for example if artem learns that kanon clark is holding an exclusive fan event, he will let rosa know by proxy so she can inform kiki and invite her.

dr. kimberly garner is possibly the only one in the world that celestine is properly daunted by purely because she’s idolized the woman since freshman year of university and any time artem invites her for lunch with his mother, celestine will become giggly and uncharacteristically flustered

artem insinuates in the 2nd anniversary that he fell in love with rosa at first sight. or at the very least, he had some glimpse into the future (like koi no yokan) that she would be important to him in that way. artem had seen rosa before during a play in college and knew her tangentially because of his mother, but i imagine during their official introduction when rosa was coming in to interview for the firm, that meeting her for the first time was major whiplash. and celestine who was there conducting the interview beside him probably knew when artem fell in deep before he even did because never in all the years of their friendship had he ever looked like that much less look at someone else like that.

#reply. #anon. #tears of themis #one single thread of gold.

[munchflix]

MUNCHFLIX - THE DIRT 1.25

IMDB BLURB: Based on the bestselling autobiography from Mötley Crüe, the film is an unflinching tale of success and excess as four misfits rise from the streets of Hollywood to the heights of international fame.

WARNINGS: Sex, so much sex. Boobs. Graphic depictions of drug use. Horrible 80s hair. Pete Davidson. We’re fucking dumb.

RATING: You don’t know fuckin’ shit about Motley Crue.

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: All reviews are done solely for humor and should not be taken seriously ever. If you cannot handle cursing, crude humor and probably some offensive things, pls do not read this.

Munch: The absolute shit I do for you. This movie had better slap ass because I really don't like Motley Crue and I don't think they're hot and there had better be some shit to make fun of. Like Motley Crue. I really hope I get to make fun of Motley Crue. I'm gonna start right now by making fun of the way they spelled Motley Crue like a bunch of fucking edgelords.

Biscuits "How many calories are in tequila" Horrorslash: where the hell is my shotglass??!? WHOO YEAH BABEY THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! This movie gave Motley Crue a huge resurgence in popularity. Everyone saw it and was like - my poor little meow meows uwu. Like - if by that you mean four feral cats let loose in your house screeching and pissing everywhere then yeah.

M: So we open with a little intro to the 80's and people are fucking and ...squirting...publicly....and I'm about to make Biscuits write this entire thing himself.

B: What did you really expect? Nikki is narrating and he has a sad backstory so everyone gets to slobber over him.

M: I'm not picking sides. I don't think any of them are cute. Why does Nikki's dad look like Charles Manson? He's very mouthy for like....a 10 year old? Nikki cuts his arm with a knife to blame his shit ass mom for it.

B: It is based on a book so it's them retelling their own rock star backstories, so take this with as many inches of dick as we're gonna assign to them. So Tommy gets like 8 and a half and Nikki gets like 3.

M: I'm not gonna ask how you know how big everyone's dick is.

B: These men have shown many parts of themselves. Tommy was naked like 90 percent of the time. Also that was a joke, I’m not even saying it’s accurate.

M: I still don't wanna know. So Frank Jr is now Nikki Sixx because he grew up and shit.

Frank Jr.? But he’s just a little girl!

M: Now Tommy is narrating? He comes from like...super suburban normal life. His family is like super normal and healthy. Except Tommy.

B: Tommy Lee was really attractive when he was young. He's the youngest! Tommy and Nikki meet in a diner and they're like - we should totally be in a band and fuck girls in the vicinity of each other! Or just touch tips. Nikki is like - my new band is gonna be so cool! I'm gonna get like 4 rabid raccoons together and just turn em loose on a stage! They find a guitarist but he's shitty and they hate him.

M: Who's this dude? (Mick Mars, he's gonna be the guitarist.) He doesn't like Tommy's old band, they suck. Mick Mars is a dick, jesus. He's like - I am the best guitarist EVAR.

B: Mick Mars is a better guitarist than most people. I have some respect for him, unlike the other members of the band. He's got ankylosing spondylitis and he can walk in heels and play guitar better than I probably ever will. So the band has picked up an old man with bone disease.

M: That's pretty fucking hardcore tho, no wonder he's such a dick. Chronic pain does shit to a person. They are looking for some random skinny dude with attitude to sing in the band. The requirements are so low here.

B: Tommy is giving off major Bill and Ted vibes.

M: They find what I assume Vince Neil singing at a pool party and they're like - HE IS SURROUNDED BY BABES we must take him. This guy looks nothing like Vince Neil.

People ask me - “What don’t you like about Motley Crue music?” I say, “The sound.”

B: Tommy speaks at 300 words per second. Vince is doing coke with his girlfriend because it was the 80's and everyone did cocaine except Jon Bon Jovi.

M: He's not even a rock star yet. This is the most haphazard getting a band together I've ever heard of. They're just like HEY WE ARE A BAND NOW AND WE'RE GONNA GET SO LAID!

B: Vince's girlfriend is just gonna stand there.

M: She's already trying to manage the band but they're gonna shut her down with the power of BUTTROCK!

B: Tommy Lee has the energy of a crackhead even when he's not high. He's lighting cockroaches on fire with hairspray. Nikki has a whole notebook full of doodles of pentagrams and shitty band names. That's just me. I have that same notebook.

M: Why is Mick the only sane member of this band?

B: He doesn't have the energy to do like all the fucked up shit, he's too tired. Vince looks like 80's coked up hooker barbie.

The bass player is the loser of the band, yes he is - if you don’t believe me, take a look at the one you’re with!

M: I guess they're playing a gig now? Or not. Vince and co are already kicking people's asses before a note has been sung.

B: They're throwing hands. And everyone is like - FUCK YEAH THIS BAND RULES! THEY JUST BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF PEOPLE! I'd like to state for the record that my stenographer is refusing to type out some of the things I am saying. She's becoming more of a lesbian every second.

M: Number 1 - I am not your stenographer. 2 - you can edit in whatever you want but I am typing RIGHT NOW, 3 - I really am. Wtf is going on in the movie?

B: A montage of them doing gigs. That's Pete Davidson! They haven't been signed yet tho so I guess that's where Pete comes in. There's probably gonna be even more sex scenes in this movie.

M: There's already been like four!

B: THICK ASS. I almost put my hands on the table and howled like a wolf.

M: You'll be glad later that I left so many things out. So now Pete is talking to them and there's some chick under the table giving random blow jobs but he doesn't want one.

B: And now more violence!

M: Mick Mars just straight up Deadpools us by talking directly to the camera and he is now my favorite member of Motley Crue, at least in this movie.

He’s hip, he’s cool, he’s 45

B: Nikki doesn’t like Kiss. I like Kiss. Munch doesn't even like Kiss! What DO you like?? What do you listen to that's so great!?? Kate Bush? Bruno Mars or some shit?

M: You need more alcohol. I just don't fuckin' like BUTTROCK.

B: GLAM METAL. Buttrock is deragatory.

M: It's meant to be. Vince is somehow fucking yet another girl. How does he have time in his day for this. Pete talks to the camera and tells us not to leave our girlfriend alone with Motley Crue because they'll fuck her.

B: Probably good advice. Just a bunch of dudes in leather and studs and makeup. Just dudes being guys.

M: It was a very straight thing to do in the 80's.

B: I don't think that's the original track. That's not Vince singing...ugh. (disclaimer: read to the end for the SHOCKING TRUTH!)

M: How you even noticed that...and now for some good old fashioned SATANIC PANIC! And the band comparing how many women they've fucked. Once again Mick proves to be the only human being in the group. Who I think is supposed to be Ozzy in a dress comes around with money sticking out of his ass. Ozzy snorts...ants.

B: And pisses on the concrete. Both seem entirely like something Ozzy would do. Then licks it up. Oh Tommy sounds like he liked that

M: WHY AM I BEING MADE TO WATCH THIS. Ozzy is licking up Nikki's piss now. An aside from Doc says what we're all thinking.

B: Is this the indecent exposure incident??

M: Which one????

B: The one where Tommy was running through a hotel naked and some people got mad about it. And they arrested Mick instead.

M: Doc says they did stupid shit because they were Motley Crue. And now the mud wrestling sequence. 

B: They're acting like Vince was the most horny dude. Maybe he was but like - these other guys are also horny. Vince is like - Sharice you're my girl, move in with me, I won't fuck as many women. I was about to ask how these dudes had the energy to fuck this much but then oh yeah! Cocaine!

They’re soooo together!

M: Tommy is introducing people to his family and new fiancee? He has a few of them. Tommy's mom is SAVAGE. Tommy is coming across like a 12 year old with too much freedom.

B: That is basically accurate. 3 middle school boys and their dad who drinks a lot. 

M: Tommy and his new fiancee are having some...difficulties. 

B: This is not the last time Tommy will hit a woman. He had a bit of a temper.

M: I feel like you don't really need to watch this. You already are like...a Motley Crue historian. 

B: Oh we're just gonna drive drunk and leave Vince's pregnant wife here, I sure hope nothing bad happens! 

M: Oh yeah I forgot Tommy and Heather Locklear were a thing. 

B: "I love you." Tommy Lee to every woman he meets. It's the drummer from Hanoi Rocks in the car with Vince I think. And now death. This really did happen and yes he was drunk and yes that man died. 

M: But it's fine because they're in Motley Crue. 

B: Whoops! Uh oh. Oopsie Daisy. That man is dead. And it's your fault, Vince.

All the girls want to know - who’s the cutest boy on death row?

M: VINCE GETS 30 DAYS FOR MURDERING A DUDE. Wtf. Nikki is very sad that Vince is in jail but it's okay because he's on heroin now and Biscuits is never ever gonna have a heroin addiction because he can't stand needles. 

B: I can't even inject my own testosterone! And that doesn't even have to go into my veins! Vince has returned from uh...killing a guy.

M: Is he sober now?

B: Supposedly. No nevermind he's immediately snorting cocaine. And vomiting.

M: Oh he's snorting smack, no wonder he's sick. Nikki keeps blaming Vince for fucking up the band when he's busy injecting heroin every other scene. And missing repeated calls from his sad mother. Tommy Lee is in love every five minutes in this movie. Vince now has a kid I guess but she doesn't seem to like him much?

B: Well.....Theatre of Pain, are they gonna show Theatre of Pain Tommy Lee because I might have to take a break.

M: That's between you and jesus. Tommy Lee gives a life on the road montage where he shows everyone getting wasted and performing and then getting wasted again. Drink, snort and fuck everything in sight. It's a wonder they lived this long tbh.

B: All four of them are still alive actually!

M: It's honestly a miracle. This is hard to like...narrate because it's so chaotic. It's just like - watching a band go bonkers and slowly self destruct. (disclaimer: read til the end for the SHOCKING TRUTH about why it was so hard to narrate!)

B: That's the beauty of it all! It's 4th of July, we're recording this, well not recording it, but you know. There’s fireworks outside and fireworks on the screen. Nikki has mommy issues! Oh poor little meow meow. Come sit on my lap poor little meow meow!

M: People are gonna take you seriously.

B: I was joking there. Like 70 percent. 80 percent. Oh my god, not in your neck Nikki, ew.

M: I guess Tommy is getting married. Nikki is wasted as fuck.

B: You've got more opportunities Tommy! You'll have several more happiest days of your life! Nikki can't even put his suit jacket on. This your man? This your boy? Somebody come get him. Nikki Sixx did a LOT of heroin.

M: 1000 dollars a day is a lot of heroin.

B: Is this the part where he died?

M: You're the Motley Crue historian.

B: I'm not sure if this is that time when he overdosed or if he's just normal shooting up heroin. Wtf did you give him, I gave him heroin!

M: I'm guessing that's an overdose.

Hey guys...Kyle’s dead!

B: Nikki went to the great beyond! But he came back!

M: This was apparently before naxolo...naxostuff.

B: I think that's just adrenaline. I was happy, but I kept doing heroin! That's how drugs work, kids. Oh my god, they didn't need to show the vein thing more than once.

M: Well it's a good message to kids watching this. Drugs are gross. They will turn you into a bleeding arm gross man-thing. Now they're sober and shit and they hate each other.

B: They can't stand to be around each other when they're not high. They all had massive prima donna egos.

M: Hardly a shock. But they're all good clean boys now. Trying to have family lives and shit. And hating each other. A lot more. Vince is going to be a huge dick about this. He wants to have FUN. I really enjoy's Mick's little asides. He's just kind of in the background with his fucking vodka like - these dudes are all idiots.

B: Vince's wife left him. And he left the band.

M: If Pearl Jam is here their career is almost over anyway.

B: And then the 90's happened! It was a bad time for Motley Crue. Big manly rocker boy egos clash! I don't like you guys anymore! We're gonna get a new singer! John uh....Corabi. But they don't have a blonde guy anymore so it's never gonna work.

M: You can't have a buttrock band without a blonde guy!

B: Oh yeah Vince's daughter died of cancer, I forgot about that.

M: WHAT. That's super fucked up. Nobody likes new Motley Crue without Vince. He was kinda one of those unique voices. JohnBoy out here like WHOO I'M IN A ROCK BAND! He's about to be so disappointed.

Someone's gonna get a punch in the head. Who d'ya thinks gonna get a punch in the head?

B: There's a whole crowd of people out here booing you!

M: Everything is going to Motley Hell. Vince's kid is dying, Mick isn't looking so hot, Tommy's Heather is leaving him, Nikki is just sulking.

B: Yeah we had a good ride, except for all the drugs and you know...death, and crime...and punishment...Vince's kid, yeah she died. Nikki visits his dad's grave.

M: And meets a half brother he didn't know he had?? What the fuck is this shit

B: Oh he means a FAMILY! He needs a family!

M: His own MOTLEY CREW. NIkki and Tommy make up and touch tips and go out to find Mick who is looking more and more like death warmed over every day. But to be fair, he's got a condition.

B: We're getting the band back together, even though they just broke up. Vince, we love you man. You're our blonde man, man. There may be a million other slutty blonde men out there but you're OUR slutty blonde guy. Sometimes a family is four dudes who do drugs.

M: They're gonna go perform again I guess? Long slow dramatic walk to the stage.

B: Maybe the real treasure...the REAL MOTLEY CRUE is the friends we made along the way! And some tasteful ass shots!

“ One day you’ll look back on this as the best time in your life.” “ I sure hope not!”

M: Priorities. I guess they played together for another 20 years for some fucking reason.

B: Until 2015 but...They're doing a stadium tour like...as we speak.

M: Why. I don't really have anything to add. Biscuits just hurt himself headbanging. Oh my god. I just realized I forgot to turn the speed down and we just watched that entire movie at 1.25 speed. No wonder Tommy Lee was talking so fast.

B: *chokes to death on laughter* I can't believe we did that.

M: That's so fucking funny.

B: It's so on brand. I THOUGHT the songs sounded weird!! Holy fuck, oh my god. I don't even have any closing thoughts now because that's so fucking funny. Closing thoughts: we are two of the dumbest people who've ever lived.

#Motley crue #review #munchflix #the dirt #tommy lee #nikki sixx #vince neil #mick mars #humor #rock and roll #mötley crüe

[gonegrove]

okay but seriously i love PASSIONATELY the idea of billy being a huge fan of twisted sister and dee snider and not just bc i grew up listening to dee’s radio show and grew to love him when i only knew 1 fucking twisted sister song lol

but like of al the metal bands they’re one of the more camp and pageantry laden bands. like they took the name “twisted sister” and ran with it hardcore to the point dee talks about crossdressing and their costuming/makeup has huge drag energy.

and i LOVE thinking about THIS being the band billy is OBSESSED with because he loves the music and how intelligent they are and eloquent (dee snider spoke to congress at a hearing about music censorship in 1985). we’re not gonna take it from the album stay hungry came out in 1984. shoot em down (under the blade 1982/5) has lyrics like “they don’t care about feelings/they were meant to be stepped on/and while one is healing/they go and step on another one”. it’s a band neil would hate because they’re like, aggressively queer, and i say queer explicitly because even if every single member was the most cishet man you’ve ever met they’re still dressing up in glam metal drag and engaging with femininity/gender in a way that would not vibe with a huge amount of people. that’s queer. and it fits well into like why billy cares so much about his appearance that he’s more into those kinda of bands on the glam end.

i can see billy watching the congress shit with rapt attention bc dee fucking snider is his idol and seeing him rock up to this suits and ties bullshit in his denim and shirt and just rock fucking shop would be so powerful. liking twisted sister is a meaningful piece of defiance for him, intentional or not, because they’re the antithesis of everything neil is and respects and billy’s continued refusal to let them go is powerful. like yeah he might have to hide those albums under his mattress or replace them or something but he’s not giving up on twisted sister just because neil hates them the most of all his music. because billy loves them the most.

#billy hargrove #meta

[fallatyourfeet]

🎶✨when u get this, list 5 songs u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool)🎶✨

Thanks for tagging me in this ask @runnning-outof-time . Sorry it's taken me so long to answer, it’s been crazy here and I'm sick to boot. But anyways, enough complaining.

Okay, so I'm going to shamelessly promote my country's music here, because why not. I'll add links in case any of you are interested in taking a listen.

BTW, I've put way too much effort into this.

1 - Battle Scars (Guy Sebastian) So this is an acoustic version. The single is good too, but I much prefer this one. Guy has an astonishing voice. I just love a guitar and beautiful voice combo.

2 - Breathe In Now (Katie Noonan) Again, I really love the single performed by Katie's band (George), but this live performance is just amazing. She has such a gorgeous gentle voice and the songs lyrics are just beautiful.

3 - Rain (The Tesky Brothers) Okay, so this band live literally an hour away from me. They are old school blues. AND I LOVE THEM. If you decide to click the link, you will see the lead singer (Josh Tesky) singing. He has my favourite type of voice, it's so raspy and husky. If you have a decent knowledge of different era's of music, just think of a white Otis Redding.

4 - Not Too Late (Ricki-Lee) I love this woman's voice. It has that rasp that I love so much, and she can belt it out too. It's another bluesy song. And it is beautiful.

5 - Into Temptation (Crowded House) Honestly, this is one of my all time favourite songs, I love love love this band. They are an Australian formed band, but the main singer is the extremely talented Neil Finn from New Zealand (We often like to claim New Zealanders as one of our own). He is such an amazing song writer.

FUN FACT: I wanted to call this blog @intotempation but I was worried everyone would think it was filled with smut fics, so I went with my second favourite song of theirs.

I know I've used up my 5 slots, but I can't go without at least mentioning Powderfinger. An Australian rock band from Queensland. On any other given day, I would have added one of their songs. They are one of my all time favourite bands and they probably give away my age, but I don't care. They are awesome and I love their lead singer's (Bernard Fanning) solo stuff, hence the name of my Wattpad blog @TeaAndSympathy. It's his first solo album and it's quite folky, there is not a single song I skip. I love them all. He is such a brilliant lyricist.

I think I have taken this ask way too seriously. But if any of you guys are interested in taking a listen to these songs, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments, or anon ask if you'd prefer.

#sorry to bore you guys #guy sebastian #katie noonan #george #the tesky brothers #ricki-lee #crowded house #powderfinger #music #Australia

[themowearchives]

Press Archive, Part 1

The Noise

Cinnamon, Demo of the Month, October 1998

Opening track Free To leave has kinda rough-edged and spartan production values, but we can tell from the get-go that Sue has an in-your-face mode of presentation which might well lead to- forgive us if we gush- stardom. These songs are brilliant, stellar, and other adjectives connoting brightness that we tend to use when we get tired of the word "great." The jangly and harsh Cry For Frances deserves to be singled out- it's a classic right up there with "The Boy With Perpetual Nervousness" by The Feelies, or "Hate My Way" by Throwing Muses...We've listened to it a couple dozen times, and each go-round reveals new chunks of vituperation, presumably directed against Courtney Love- I like the way the singer mocks the former Ms. Cobain's vocalizing in the coda, and I think the hapless Brit who slapped together that Kurt and Courtney documentary ought to seriously consider playing this tune under the closing credits (and whoever thought of sticking a xylophone in there deserves a round of applause.) Equally wonderful is Paint the Town - the faux naif primitivism of Beat Happening meets the earnest lyricism of Jules Shear circa "Shadows Break" - this tune is inimitable in its own way as Green On Red's "Gravity Talks." Take It mines an elegiac mode that goes back at least as far as Neil Young's acoustic musings or Smashing Pumpkins in orchestral mode a la "Tonight, Tonight." It exploits a start and stop rhythmic impetus about as smartly as any band we've ever heard outside of the now-superannuated Rolling Stones. This one sent an art chill down my spine from the very first listen. Even the less successful songs, like Stay Away and the Laura Nyro-esque The Station adhere to a certain standard of excellence. Tape of the month for October. (Francis DiMenno)

Band profile by Joe S. Harrington, February 1999

I saw the live act: Sue in the red dress. And the cigarette. It was perfect. No wonder she has a "smoky" voice on Free To Leave (which is a dusky number with a broomsweep rhythm literally kicking up some dust (as in "head out on the dusty trail" etc.) Actually let me correct myself: that was the second time I saw 'em. The first time I must confess I thought "oh, more girl/boy stuff, total '91" and took the cassette they gave me and smashed it on the pavement walking home from the Middle East drunk one night at three in the morning. But then I might've done that with any cassette by any up-and-comers who'd foisted their homespun hopes and dreams on me. However, like Malcolm McLaren (another anarchist who was sick of it all) I know shit from shit. So that second time I saw 'em the SONGS kicked in. Maybe it was thanks to drummer Tony, who's a kick-ass stick-twirler worthy of your praise, awe and money. Listen to his machine-gun hands all over Cry For Frances, a great expositional forum for Sue which she embellishes even more in live-performance so that her manifesto becomes even more dramatic with her punching the mike stand and stomping down a li'l harder in her cowpoke boots. It's got one of those refrains that totally takes off, which can be said for almost all of their songs, once you really listen. Steve's Paint the Town is another winner. But then again, Steve's always been one of my fave over-emoting artists, ever since his days in Meatsicle, or his forays into poetry reading, which was really just a disguise so he could perform his exhibitionist/primal therapy looney tunes. He is one too (a loony that is) but with a winning personality and a high tolerance for alcohol. Sue's no slouch in that category either: she comes up from the tradition of other hard-boozin' lay-days like Patsy Cline and Jenny Mae, a real raucous jet-age momma who's voice evokes the slaughterhouses of western Kentucky. Which isn't where she's from at all. Hell, I don't know where she's from. Maybe Venus: check out the dreamy middle-eight in Stay Away which almost bursts out of ethereal Barbara Manning territory and then tell me she's in any way earthbound. I don't think so. Steve said she even got compared to Laura Nyro by one reviewer, then he asked "is that a compliment?" And I told him: "Yes son, it's a compliment." Sure enough, she emotes in the same realm of late-night loneliness and haunted obsession as Ms. Nyro did once upon a time. In fact, I can still smell the candle wax burning.(JSH)

The Weekly Dig

Treblemaker CD review, October 25, 2000

There is an irony in the new album, Treblemaker, by local rockers My Own Worst Enemy. The most memorable track on the album, Cry For Frances, is an angry, accusatory diatribe against Ms. Courtney Love. This song is the only one with the lyrics printed in the liner notes: "You're more vacuous than your band's name/fascinating/come on fascinate me/I hate you." Yet, throughout the album, listening to lead singer Sue, she sounds like, well...her voice has that thick, boozy slightly nasal tone, like Courtney Love right before she starts screaming. In fact, I'm sure My Own Worst Enemy could do a fabulous cover of Miss World. The rest of the album lacks the aggressive guitars of Cry For Frances. In fact, the band is made up of and acoustic/electric guitar combo that gives them a jangly kind of Throwing Muses sound. The album is pleasantly poppy, with switching girl/boy vocals and halfway catchy songs. Free To Leave is possibly the strongest song on the album, with searing vocals and propelling, pulsing drum work. It's a treat to hear this song. The richness of the guitars and vocals sound like a band larger than My Own Worst Enemy's three-piece of guitars and drums. The song also successfully works the hard/soft dynamic, filling in the song with girlish contradictions. (Maybe I'm a sucker for dramatically jangly guitars.) Other songs are less successful, trying for pop intimacy, but they're not very hummable. Treblemaker is a debut album filled with potential, and I hope that the band can develop upon it's best moments, creating more drama in it's two-guitar attack. (Elisabeth Donnelly)

The Noise

Treblemaker CD review, December 2000

My Own Worst Enemy is the rough-cut, unpretentious rock of cigarettes and straight liquor. The band doesn't even have a bass player, for the love of god! The production on Treblemaker, their debut CD, has a sort of Dumptruck sensibility, complete with fuzzily distorted guitars at low volumes, drums set nicely in the background, vocals up front and clean. Lead singer/songwriter Sue is no lilting, yodeling, cookie-cutter, modern-rock femme vocalist. Rather, her voice embodies all the desperation and formidableness of a late 70's Patti Smith. And when Garfield, the first cut on the CD, takes an unexpected turn into its somber but infectious chorus, Sue's unmistakable talent for songwriting shines through as brilliantly as her voice. As far as the lyrics go, Treblemaker is a journal of loss and bitterness, sometimes mellow and dreamy, sometimes edgy and biting. And just when you think you've reached your fill of alcohol-laced depression, here comes guitarist/songwriter Steve with Paint the Town, and electrifying blast of a tune that rises above the somber mood of the rest of the CD. But of course the sentiment here is just as stark- "let's paint the town red tonight!"- like rising out of your depression long enough to go out and get blasted on alcohol. Steve's singing on this track and one other entitled Portland is emotive and raw. In fact, their songwriting and singing styles complement each other perfectly. If you like honest, guts-on-the-table rock devoid of trickery and preciousness, then My Own Worst Enemy is the band for you. This is the kind of CD you'd expect to hear blasting from behind the counter of your favorite indie record store. With any luck, Treblemaker should become a college radio favorite. (Wayne Gibbus)

The Noise

Butterfly demo review, May 2002

The opening track (MIA) is power pop produced with the echoey twang of rockabilly and performed with the reckless killdevil ambiance of Ventures-style surf twang. A fragment of delight. Poison is a Boston-area classic-in-the-making, a song slopping over with the sort of pop theatrics that could have issued whole from the maw of 7 or 8 Worm Hearts circa 1989 or maybe even the Dangerous Birds circa 1983. A blast from the unreconstructed recombinant past. Best of all is Not The One, which is sui generis- in some strange way. I would hardly care to associate with the kind of person who couldn't appreciate the madman incantation of a chorus like "I'm the one you wanted, not the one you got." Nor should you. This is one demo you shouldn't oughta let get away. (Francis DiMenno)

[cityoftheangelllls]

My Personal Tier Chart Ranking of Some Classic Rock Bands

Here are the bands listed, in order of their ranking:

ABSOLUTE LEGENDS THAT WILL NEVER BE TOPPED EVER (my absolute favorite groups):

Queen

Electric Light Orchestra

ABBA

Styx

Jefferson Starship

The Beatles

Toto

Heart

(Paul McCartney and) Wings

Fleetwood Mac

The Doors

Hall and Oates

Genesis

Yeah!! Really Good!

The Cars

Foreigner

The Eagles

Duran Duran

The Scorpions

Led Zeppelin

Uriah Heep

Van Halen

The Doobie Brothers

Bad Company

Huey Lewis and the News

Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young)

The Raspberries (I've always been partial to them since Jim Bonfanti, the drummer, is my great uncle)

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

America

The Police

Creedence Clearwater Revival

REO Speedwagon

The Alan Parsons Project

Supertramp

Cream

The Guess Who

Yes

The Moody Blues

The Little River Band

Ehhhhhhhh They're Okay:

The Rolling Stones (never really got myself into them but I do like a few of their songs, including Miss You, Jumping Jack Flash, and Paint it Black)

Rush (still trying to get a little more into this band since I've discovered some stuff of theirs that I really like, also the late Neil Peart is a fantastic drummer and although Geddy Lee's voice takes some getting used to, he doesn't sound as bad as many people make him out to be)

Kansas

Aerosmith (I honestly find them overrated and overplayed, especially freaking Dream On and I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, although I do really like Same Old Song and Dance, Back in the Saddle, and Angel)

Pink Floyd (I now like them a little more than I used to, when I thought they were incredibly bland, and I think the album The Wall is a masterpiece)

The Who

Deep Purple

Grand Funk Railroad

Steve Miller Band (I hear their hits WAY TOO MUCH on the radio, especially The Joker, which I positively fucking hate, but they honestly aren't too bad, and their stuff from the late 60s, like Space Cowboy, is definitely overlooked)

Thin Lizzy (The Boys Are Back in Town is my favorite of theirs atm, I haven't really found anything of theirs that lives up to that but I still enjoy listening to it)

Steely Dan

Jethro Tull (a lot of their songs are pretty decent, and if there was ever a hard rock band that could masterfully blend in the flute, then this was it. Locomotive Breath still slaps)

The Yardbirds

U2 (again, never really got into them, although I love Bono's voice)

Journey (ISTFG if I hear Don't Stop Believing one more goddamn time I'm going to rip the whole radio out of my car and toss it out the window. But seriously, I would have genuinely enjoyed that song if they didn't overplay it to the point where it's grating on my ears. I never was a huge fan of Journey in general, although I do like Stone in Love, Who's Crying Now, Girl Can't Help It, and City of the Angels (my blog's namesake!))

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Tom Petty (RIP)'s voice has never been one that I've absolutely loved, but he still did put out some great songs, like Breakdown, You Got Lucky, Mary Jane's Last Dance, and Refugee)

Don't Really Like But Will Listen To (and by that, I mean I only like one or two of their songs, or if I'm stuck in a waiting room or something and genuinely don't have a choice)

AC/DC (never really liked their sound, only song of theirs I genuinely like is Highway to Hell, although I think Angus Young is a fantastic guitarist and Bon Scott was one of the greatest rock band frontmen, it's a shame we lost him so soon)

KISS (all their songs except for Beth pretty much sound the same and it's pretty irritating, although I still find them listenable. I do like I Was Made for Loving You, but that's pretty much it)

The B-52s (Love Shack is one of the cheesiest and most obnoxious songs I have ever heard and I immediately change the station when it comes on. A lot of their other stuff isn't really enjoyable for me either, but I do like Roam)

Bon Jovi (Livin on a Prayer is right up there with Don't Stop Believing as one of the most overplayed and annoying 80s anthems ever. Along with that, I just never really liked their overall sound or Jon Bon Jovi's voice, although I do like Runaway)

Lynyrd Skynyrd (Simple Man and What's Your Name are okay but I just never really cared for this band. I also can't take Sweet Home Alabama seriously anymore because of how it became meme material)

ZZ Top (I never really enjoyed their sound that much, I also can't take them seriously anymore because of how my mother once said they looked like a group of child m*lesters)

The Beach Boys (their musical catalogue is almost purely 60s surfer corniness and that's not really my cup of tea, and I don't really like that many of their songs to be considered a fan. I do love Good Vibrations and Little Saint Nick though)

The Monkees (I just never really got into this group to the point where I genuinely enjoy their music, sorry)

The Kinks (Catch Me Now I'm Falling may be the only song I enjoy by them, really. Also, I think Lola is incredibly obnoxious)

DO NOT LIKE, PERIOD:

Guns and Roses (sorry, but I just cannot get past Axl Rose's whiny, screechy vocals, and I want to rip out my eardrums whenever I hear anything by them, especially their cover of Live and Let Die and the two songs they always play on the radio, Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child O' Mine)

Dire Straits (I just do not like the sound of this group at all, I'd much rather be listening to music from Sesame Street)

Talking Heads (they're just awful IMO, and Burning Down the House is one of my least favorite songs from the 80s)

Red Hot Chili Peppers (again, awful and really tacky)

The Ramones (I never liked their sound, and from what I've heard, all their songs are repetitive and bland and they sound really unenergetic, but maybe that's just me)

**Please keep in mind that this is solely based on my opinion, and I don't expect any of you to agree with me 100%. Please don't be rude when replying or reblogging, thank you!**

#there are a few bands that technically aren't rock in there #i intended for this to be just classic rock originally but then abba got swept in there #and since they are one of my all time favorite groups I couldn't help but add a few more pop groups in there #there's also not a lot of hair bands in there since i'm not a hair band person #classic rock #im not tagging all the bands

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Fandom: Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young Pairing: Nail Young/Stephen Stills, David Crosby/Graham Nash Word Count: 1,564 Warnings: Period-Typical Homophobia, Drug & Alcohol Abuse Rating: Teen Synopsis: David Crosby and Graham Nash have been dating for a year, but when Stephen and Neil want to go public with their relationship, the band begins to crumble. Crosby and Nash were the iconic gay couple of rock n roll! How dare their friends take that title from them!

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When David Crosby and Graham Nash walked into their Los Angeles home, they stepped into a room that wasn’t so different than the ones they’d always shared. After all, it was still their house. It was only when they got to the kitchen that things started to take on a new twist. Stephen Stills stood in the kitchen, shaking his head.

As Crosby and Nash approached him, Stephen let them know he had a message from Neil Young. “This is your father’s house,” he said. “You’re his sons.”

Graham Nash and David Crosby were just beginning to open their minds to the idea of same-sex relationships, and their gay friends and fellow musicians in bands like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) were no exception. David Crosby had written the song “Our House” for his and Nash’s wedding, and, although they’d never played the song publicly, Crosby and Nash had discussed the possibility of it being CSNY’s wedding song.

“There was some trepidation about having a song be played at our wedding,” Nash said.

“I was really nervous about it,” Crosby admitted. “We didn’t want to get carried away or anything.” But they went ahead with it and on August 15, 1969, Crosby and Nash married in a small, private ceremony in the mountains above their house.

“It’s pretty much a family,” Crosby said. “I think there’s always been a certain amount of family feeling in CSNY.” Although Crosby and Nash were married, things in the CSNY camp were beginning to crack.

Stephen Stills and Neil Young’s relationship had grown so strong that they were having trouble being apart from each other. Neil had even written a song called “It’s So Easy” for Stills’ solo album. Crosby and Nash, however, felt they weren’t able to take Neil and Stephen as a couple as seriously as the other four band members could. It was because of that, plus a mutual suspicion of each other, that Crosby and Nash didn’t want to be publicly associated with Stephen Stills and Neil Young, even if they didn’t want to be married.

“Crosby didn’t want Stephen’s stuff to get big, and Nash didn’t want Neil’s stuff to get big,” said Nash. “It was very strange,” Crosby agreed. “Nash and I were very much together, and that was obvious. But on the other hand, I think Stephen and Neil both had a sense of themselves, and neither of us was going to get in the way of that. It was the only way to go.”

However, Neil and Stephen didn’t seem to care about the lack of public support for their relationship. When the band began to plan their next album, for which the song “Southern Man” would become a hit, Neil told them that they could put him on first because he was the “best writer.”

The others, including Stills, found this kind of attitude annoying, but they could only accept it for the time being. The band’s third album, the hit-making Déjà Vu, was a huge success. As the group began touring in support of the album, Crosby and Nash’s relationship fell apart. They’d been apart for a long time, and it was the first time they’d ever been apart. Nash wanted to take a break from the band for a while, so he decided to return to England and record his solo album Once Again with Graham Nash, which was released in 1971. He stayed in England until 1973.

It wasn’t that David Crosby and Stephen Stills were never apart. They spent a lot of time apart, especially during those years when Stills had begun to experiment with a variety of drugs that were in style with that era’s flower-power movement.

“I was a druggie,” said Stephen Stills, who’d begun to use cocaine, mescaline, and peyote as well as LSD. “I was just going crazy. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just flying high, doing too much, doing way too much."