New Music for Olds is back and I’m as happy as an owl-octopus hybrid in a throuple!
Hoo boy, do I have three great songs for you today. And also some pseudo intellectual mumbo jumbo, which for my money is always preferable to genuinely intellectual mumbo jumbo.
Let’s get to it.
GOOD STUFF
Ye olde Glossary of Terms.
Jeff Rosenstock, “FUTURE IS DUMB”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on YouTube
Album: HELLMODE
Nutshell: Punk rock
Voltage: 8
Thoughts: Jeff Rosenstock specializes in high energy punk rock singalongs. What I admire about about the guy, aside from his DIY ethics and Robert Pollard1-esque prolificacy, is how he uses “all parts of the buffalo”, compositionally. A lot of punk bands come up with a big melodic hook for the chorus and then throw in a couple of unmemorable verses and (if you’re lucky) a half-assed bridge. Every section of “FUTURE IS DUMB” boasts a hummable melodic line, each of which could be the basis for its own song. There’s even a distinct outro, which is Finnegan bait. Also, the drums are ferocious and overwhelming, like when a bag of microwave popcorn really gets to the three-minute mark. Then there are the lyrics, which get at something that’s been nagging at me for years. As our culture is overrun by bumbling fascists and emotionally deficient tech bros, while the planet simultaneously burns up and drowns, it’s not just that the future is terrifying—it’s that everything seems so irredeemably, painfully stupid. What if Idiocracy was wishful thinking?
Pairing Suggestion: Burning it all down (with a smile!)
Jobi Riccio, “For Me It’s You”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Whiplash
Nutshell: Classic Country ballad
Voltage: 3
Thoughts: When Jason Isbell recommends an up-and-coming alt-country songwriter, I take notice. “For Me It’s You” bears the hallmark of every great country ballad, in that it sounds as if it’s always existed. It’s what I’ve come to think of as an “imaginary standard”. Like, if you told me this was an update of an old Patsy Cline or Willie Nelson tune, I’d believe you without thinking twice. I can already imagine “For Me It’s You” song being covered by 500 earnest Gen Z YouTubers, or in a knock-em-dead American Idol audition. Then again, would someone who truly relates to this song ever try out for a glitzy singing competition? One thing I despise about contemporary Country is its tedious self-confidence. Even the “sad” songs sound like they’re written by lifelong winners and jocks. But heartbreak and failure is where Country music truly shines and, by that measure, “For Me It’s You” is an unmitigated success.
Pairing Suggestion: Giving Eponine her own Nashville spinoff
Baroness, “Anodyne”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Stone
Nutshell: Progressive metal
Voltage: 8
Thoughts: There’s been a distinct hole in my listening habits these last few months. I enjoy a great number of musical styles, but there are times when only metal will do. What can I say—you can take the boy out of the suburbs, but the suburbs never truly leave the boy. But it’s been a long while since I heard something that truly rocked my balls off. Well, I’ve spent the last week with this new Baroness album and…my poor testicles! balls! I was a fan of this band 10+ years ago, but felt like I’d kinda heard all they had to say. But a couple of lineup changes have re-energized their strain of thoughtful stoner metal. Honestly, that term doesn’t quite capture it. Baroness sounds like when THC hits you in a bad way and you’re riddled with anxiety and paranoia—call it “too-stoned metal”.
Pairing Suggestion: Patiently hunting down your enemies
NOTE: You may have noticed Stone’s extremely cool album art, which was done by Baroness’ main dude, John Dyer Baizley (the guy in the photo). In addition to his own band’s albums, Baizley has done album art for a host of other artists and you should really treat yourself to a Google image search.
Alright, let’s hear it.
SOME BULLSHIT
Last week NMFO reader Bill TKTKTK posted a couple of really thought provoking comments. Here’s one section, inspired by the Jeremy Dutcher song I wrote about in NMFO #39.
I dunno if this will sound annoying to you, but I’m asking as a semi-obsessive listening-learner of music by LGBTQ folks. I found Dutcher before I saw this column, so I’ve learned he identifies within that letter-spectrum acronym -- though perhaps “Two Spirit” is more accurate (I’m unsure). That said, I’m constantly looking for sources that identify musicians as openly Queer (which I as a shorthand stand-in for the ever-expanding acronym). And since I’m pretty sure you identify yourself as Gay, maybe a mention of a musician’s Queer truth would be useful, helpful, noteworthy?
Before we get to the crux of this valid query, I should clarify that I am, in fact, straight. Tediously so. But Bill is not the first, or fiftieth or five-hundredth person to assume otherwise. My whole life, it’s kind of been a “thing”.
Regrettably, my body has gotten even, um, “straighter” in the years since this video posted. Sigh…
Anyway, Bill’s welcome inquiry got me thinking about why I don’t go out of my way to mention an artist’s sexuality or gender identification—if anything, I actively avoid doing so. I’ve never really thought through my rationale, so here are some scattered thoughts on the topic.
I’ve said this before, but music is what happens between your ears—everything else is culture. And I sometimes get annoyed by how much “music writing” is actually culture writing. It’s outfits and attitudes, personal biography and social commentary. That’s all worthy of discussion (and it certainly helps pad an album review), but does it enhance your listening experience? Does it inform what’s actually coming through your headphones? I’m not convinced.
I’m not suggesting that music writing should be confined to music theory and audio production minutiae, areas in which I’m confined to the shallow end. But I do like to focus on the act of listening, even I’m describing music in the most oblique terms. Where does a song take your brain? What memories does it evoke? What fantasies?
Replying to Bill’s query, my pal Hewitt steered him in the direction of Thus Love, whom you may recall2 made my favorite album of 2022. Should I have mentioned, in the midst of my gushing (seriously, that album kicks ass), that all three bandmembers identify as trans? Perhaps. It’s clearly noteworthy, in a macro sense, and I’ll admit that it inspires me to root a bit harder for the band’s success than I otherwise might. But I don’t have any unique insight on the topic and it doesn’t make a drum fill smoother or a chorus any more memorable.
There are certainly instances when aesthetics and identity become inseparable—good luck listening to a band like Man on Man without reflecting on sexuality. But nothing that shouldn’t feel like a homework assignment or an advertisement for my own moral rectitude. “Virtue signaling" is weak-ass term, usually employed as a defense mechanism by douchebags who know they come up short. But there can be a tendency in music writing to throw in a lot of sociopolitical pontification into what is ostensibly a review. That’s all well and good, but I don’t consider music appreciation an act of moral courage. I’m in it for the thrills, baby!
So why then, if I'm not overly concerned with scoring “Ally Points”, have I so often featured LGBTQ artists in this newsletter? Well, thats who's making a lot of the interesting music, proportionally. This is not confined to sex/gender and I have no evidence to back this up, but I believe that spiritual misalignment is our strongest and most reliable wellspring of creative energy. Conflict within the self, conflict between what society expects of you and what you feel internally. The sense of not being “normal”. The imagined you, locked in combat with the literal you. Even when those struggles are not explicit (or even conscious), the desire to put oneself right with the universe gets the gears churning and what comes out is called “art”.
So am I saying that discord inspires you paint a flower differently? Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying.
Bill, I’m not sure that I’ve appropriately answered your question and I’m even less sure that this was interesting to read. But I enjoyed muddling my way through a response and I’d love to hear what people think.
As a reward for getting this far, please enjoy this aerobic mix of (mostly) 90’s alternative rock songs. If you’re looking for looking to break a sweat to Spin Doctors, today’s you’re lucky day!
(Seriously, you’re gonna wanna click play.)
That’s all for today. Share this post, wont you kindly?
Of Guided By Voices fame
You don’t actually recall this, and that’s fine!
I actually think your explanation of why you do go out of your way to feature queer artists and don't go out of your way to identify them is one of the more interesting subjects you've tackled here. What makes it interesting, for me anyway, is that I've internalized all the cultural commentary in music journalism. To me, (and probably most of us?) it simply belongs. So much so it feels radical that you pointed out it isn't necessary. I wasn't aware I was seeing things that way. You surprised myself!
Wait...you're NOT gay?