NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS #58
Your thoughts on Raymond Carver, motherhood and/or Wawa?
A fine Friday afternoon to you, dear reader.
You are quite likely any packing up after a grueling half-day of work, ready to enjoy this blazing early Summer weekend at some sort of lake or beach house. Good for you. And if not? Even better for you! I’ve spent the last four days in the woods and I’m starting to think that leisure is overrated. Every crevice of my body is clammy and the non-crevice areas riddled with mosquito bites. At least, I hope those are mosquito bites. Is leprosy seasonal?
Whoops, penis just fell off. That can’t be good.
But enough about me. Let’s get to the tunes. Today, I bring you…
Music for family abandonment!
Primo earth mother shit!
Your passport to Psycho Mode!
Plus, NMFO Fictional Band Madness enters the homestretch!
But first, a grovel:
Onward!
GOOD STUFF
New here? Have a peek at the Glossary of Terms.
Young Jesus, “Brenda & Diane”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: The Fool (out now)
Nutshell: Stirring Dad Rock
Voltage: 6
Thoughts: “Brenda and Diane” is essentially a Raymond Carver story in song form—a tiny snapshot of not-so-quiet desperation. I recommend checking out the lyrics, which are as writerly as any I’ve seen recently. Despite being titled for women, “Brenda and Diane” feels like an intensely male song, both sonically and thematically. You’ll immediately pick up on the earnest “Dad Rock” of The Hold Steady and The War on Drugs (and Springsteen, because duh). This feels like the kind of song a guy would listen to while abandoning his family. Every guy over a certain age feels an intangible but unrelenting desire to escape. Escape from what, you ask? To quote Marlon Brando in a movie I’ve never seen, “Whaddaya got?”
Pairing Suggestion: Speeding past Whole Foods in a blaze of glory
Bat for Lashes, “The Dream of Delphi”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: The Dream of Delphi (out now)
Nutshell: Art pop
Voltage: 3
Thoughts: Let us depart the realm of male midlife crises, in favor of some primo “earth mother” shit. New music from Bat for Lashes is always a cause for joy in Finneganville and a few listens in, The Dream of Delphi already feels like a worthy addition to Natasha Khan’s discography. Kate Bush seems to be everyone’s artistic inspiration du jour, but Khan has been it doing longer and better than just about anybody. Her new album was inspired by the birth of Khan’s first child, the titular Delphi, and it’s suffused with warmth and delicacy. But even at its gauziest (and this title track is pretty damn gauzy), Khan’s music always hints at some sort of portentous depth just below the surface. If you haven’t already picked up on this, I’m a sucker for anything that sounds like a pagan ceremony.
Pairing Suggestion: Writing a doctoral thesis on matriarchal societies
Lip Critic, “In The Wawa (Convinced I Am God)”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Hex Dealer (out now)
Nutshell: Discombobulating mix of punk, noise rock and drum ‘n bass
Voltage: 8
Thoughts: It takes a lot to get me “hyped” these days, but this raucous adrenaline shot does the trick. The title says it all, perfectly capturing Lip Critic’s combination of silliness and grandiosity. Death Grips is probably the closest analogue, but I always found that band more interesting to talk about than listen to. If you’re seeking dynamic range, look elsewhere—Hex Dealer is twelve tracks of…well, this. But if you’re looking to enter Psycho Mode, “In the Wawa (Convinced I Am God)” will make you want to trash whatever room you’re currently in—and bounce around while doing so. Choose your listening environs accordingly!
Pairing Suggestion: Lobbing molotov cocktails from a clown car
This week’s songs evoke three very different states of being. Your vote should tell you a lot about yourself, mental health wise.
Your thoughts on Raymond Carver, motherhood and/or Wawa?
SOME BULLSHIT
After a brief respite, it’s time we return to…
NMFO FICTIONAL BAND MADNESS!
If you’re a “newbie” (a word I’m reasonably certain people stopped using around 2012), we here at New Music for Olds are in the process of determining the single greatest movie/TV band of all time. Here’s where things currently stand:
Look, I’ll admit it: when this tourney began sometime around the invention of the cotton gin, I didn’t realize just how long it would take to see things through. But the finish line is slowly coming into view!
Let’s finish strong, people. Run through the tape.
The Vegas Buzz: Scott Pilgrim has hung tough-ough, but I suspect they’re about to lose-ose.
The Vegas Buzz: Sure, you know “That Thing You Do” was written by Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger. But did you know “The School of Rock” (the song) was written by Sammy James Jr. of the Mooney Suzuki? What? You don’t remember, nor give a shit, about that band? Ummmmm, “Alive & Amplified”?? RING A BELL MUCH?? Dear god you’ve stopped reading, haven’t you?
The Vegas Buzz: Choose your preferred unarticulated love story!
The Vegas Buzz: My greatest fears have been realized. Who to choose: the flamboyant androgynous Glam deity or the other flamboyant androgynous Glam deity?? If this was uo to me1, these combatants would be facing off no earlier than the Final Four. Alas… Do what you must.
The Vegas Buzz: Vote your conscience, but “Girls5Eva” S3E2 contains my favorite line of 2024, delivered by the great John Lutz.
The Vegas Buzz: How the fuck is 2Gether still in this tournament? This is like a classic “Cinderella story” if, instead of a glass slipper, Cinderella lost one of her Skechers.
The Vegas Buzz: Finny Fun Fact: When “The Nanny” debuted, my first thought was “Wow, they gave Bobbi Flekman her own show!”
The Vegas Buzz: I’m basically done putting my thumb on the scale, but I will reiterate my unfounded opinion that dudes who were super into Powerpuff Girls are weirdos.
And that’s all I have for you today. Go enjoy your Summer weekend!
LEPROSY UPDATE: Most of my fingers fell off over the course of this newsletter. I’m banging this out with my chin.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It is, in fact, entirely up to me.
Great edition. I’m really confused by the app button here that says manage subscription but then when you touch it, it says you can’t manage the subscription in the app. I guess the email says « upgrade to paid » but I don’t really read an email anymore so if you can explain to the cheap seats, let me know.
Girls5Eva should gets extra points in my book just for naming their reunion tour Returnity. Both hilarious and yet perfectly plausible