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vyl3tpwny · 9 months

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Music Genres

When I was kid, you would have probably heard me say something like “I don’t believe in genre labels”. To a degree, there is still something about that sentiment that I agree with; I don’t think you can really put music and styles of music in neat little boxes. But otherwise, I was pretty much wrong about everything else.

Let’s go over that.

pictured: Mala, one of the godfathers of roots Dubstep

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To be blunt, “genre” isn’t just about approximating what a song sounds like. If you say “I love pop music”, that honestly doesn’t mean much. The more specific you get, the more you will approach something someone can imagine like “I like experimental progressive noise pop music”. Ok, I can start to imagine things that likely approach what you're talking about, but even then it will usually not help someone fully understand what something truly is. In categorizing and approximating music styles, genres only go so far. So what makes them important then?

Well, not to say that approximating a style when describing an artist to someone is a bad thing or that doing so isn’t meant to be valued, but it’s hardly the only reason these labels exist. Importantly, “genre” helps establish culture, history, and a musical identity. So when you're trying to tell someone you're listening to a "progressive rock” project, you’re not just imagining odd time-signatures and complex riffs, you’re also meant to understand and consider that whatever is being described as to you has some sort of relevance or importance with regards to the history behind progressive rock; the culture of college bands in the UK, the sound that the punk movement revolted against, the progression of musical storytelling in rock music since the late 60’s and early 70’s, stuff like that. There’s a distinct culture and history you can pinpoint and understand when you describe something as being progressive rock and you can’t just go around calling any complex electric guitar oriented music "progressive rock" unless it has those specific ties as well as understanding and iteration of the roots.

pictured: Genesis, because progressive rock mention

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Genre labels help to clarify what kind of culture and histories a music project is being associated itself with and where a lot of its inspiration comes from. This is much more compelling reason for underlining the importance of genre labels and why they should be used correctly.

So, there is something I need to get off my chest then. There are a lot of misuses of genre labels all over the place, especially online. And I’m not talking about saying something is “Alternative Rock” when it’s clearly some kind of “Folk Rock” record instead. What I’m talking about is something like “Dubstep”.

Even as recent as a few years ago, I started personally reclaiming the term “Dubstep” as a genre label to describe any bass-adjacent music. At the time I did this, I thought it was cool, because the term Dubstep had been dubbed (pun intended) to be cringeworthy lexicon to some people. And while I feel that’s a noble reason to reclaim something like that, because some weirdos think it's cringe, in this case I actually think it’s wrong.

The term “Brostep” has been used to describe any non-roots bass-oriented music that originates from the proper roots Dubstep. It’s a term I didn’t like FOREVER, especially because the phrase was derived as a generalization of the kind of people who tend to listen to it. However, I actually think that Brostep is a title that people should be more comfortable and confident with labeling things as.

The original Dubstep came as a result of Jamaican immigrants bringing Dub music to the UK, which then fused with the remnants of 2-Step Garage which was prominent in the 90’s just years prior. Timbah.On.Toast made a great video called All My Homies Hate Skrillex and it is a really good breakdown of what separates roots Dubstep from the Americanized Brostep, which came after it. I think everyone knows by now that I have a deep, deep love for EDM based Broste and I am the biggest Skrillex fangirl alive. So being both a Brostep and Skrillex superfan, please understand that I think the video is one of the most important things you can watch as an EDM enjoyer.

Conflating the term Dubstep with things that aren’t actually Dubstep is honestly a slap in the face to all of the pioneers of Dub and Dubstep, which famously were both pretty much ENTIRELY invented by black people. I think it’s fair to say that incorrectly labeling music in this way has racist implications. It dishonours and twists the legacy of the music. You can find og Dubstep to listen to on the RYM Ultimate Box Set > Dubstep page. Check some of that out, then listen to some 2010, 2011 Skrillex and see how different things really went.

It confused me at first when I was a teenager, I didn't understand why so many people hated Skrillex back in the day. I came to realize so much of the hate wasn’t even really with regards music itself, but the total lack of understanding or care for the roots of the genre, which all of his work was founded upon and he then subsequently bastardized without caring at all. It was pure disrespect, it was practically cultural erasure and so many people will now only know of Dubstep as “that Skrillex transformer screech music”. Yeah. It actually fucking sucks.

But there is a LONG history of black music being erased from history and being undermined, whether entirely intentional or due to systemic unawareness.

I saw a post the other day talking about how it sucks that so much music is just lumped into being “video game music” when so much of this stuff has deep roots and cultural significance. The first example pointed how a lot of acid jazz music is just described as “Persona music” by the layperson now. Meanwhile, Acid Jazz as a genre is a huge development on things like roots jazz, disco, funk, and hip hop music. You know. All genres that were invented by black people. Fascinating, right?

Jungle music was also mentioned. And this one is very particular for me. Jungle music, when not being generalized as "PS1 Music", is often just called drum & bass or breakcore (also please Google the difference between breakbeat and breakcore, thanks) which are all fundamentally misunderstanding what Jungle music even is. Much of Jungle music, AS MANY THINGS DO, finds VERY prominent roots in Reggae, Dub, and sound system culture in Jamaica as well as countless other prominently black communities in the UK.

But it doesn’t stop there.

If you’re unfamiliar, there is a genre called “IDM”, otherwise known as Intelligent Dance Music. When I was a kid, and I first heard that word, I immediately was like “that is the most pretentious, stupid thing I’ve ever heard”. Eventually as I grew up, I just stopped thinking about that and started referring to more music as IDM. This style of music is generally characterized with “complexity” and being “not much danceable”. While I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the music that is called IDM, I do think there’s everything wrong with the term IDM, intelligent dance music.

When asked how he feels about being labeled as an IDM artist, Aphex Twin responded:

"I just think it's really funny to have terms like that. It's [basically] saying 'this is intelligent and everything else is STUPID.' It's really nasty to everyone else's music."

pictured: Aphex Twin, the funnyman himself

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I think most people would agree with this sentiment. It’s so strange to call one kind of music “intelligent”, out of the hundreds of thousands of genres out there. But let’s bring this back to Jungle music. The reality is that IDM started to become a term around the same time that Jungle music became prominent, in the 90's. Both styles of music are complex, introspective, skittery, and chaotic (but refined and often disciplined) genres. Except, of these two, Jungle music was the one pioneered primarily by black artists. IDM was a sort in competition with Jungle. To therefore call IDM “intelligent” in comparison to Jungle music ... well. I don’t feel like I really have to explain why that’s fucked up.

A lot of people have proposed different names for IDM. A quick look on reddit yields things like “Experimental Electronic” and “Brain Dance” (which was coined by Aphex Twin's label). Me personally, the term “Electro-Prog” comes to mind. Sounds cool.

Similar conversations are presently being had about the term “Riddim”. This brings us back to the dubstep side of this discussion again. Riddim, as an EDM genre, is an offshoot of Brostep music that focuses a lot on repetition over the downbeat, maintaining an insanely distorted sound design, a lot more than the average Brostep song. However, the term “riddim” originates — yet again — from the Jamaican Patois for “rhythm”. And Riddim as a musical style in Jamaica is actually more associated with things like dancehall and reggae, rather than the commercialized "Riddim" that is several hundred times removed from its own roots.

Last year, musician INFEKT proposed that what most EDM listeners call “riddim” should be referred to instead as “Trench” in an article on their website. This proposed name is derived from Getter’s use of the term on his 2014 record “Trenchlords Vol. 1”. I don’t personally know how much I resonate with the term, but whatever the consensus is, I don’t think we should be conflating a westernized, commercialized, and EDM-centric genre like this to Jamaican roots music. Over and over again, it seems that black music is constantly overwritten by developments like this, so I think more care needs to be taken in not allowing that to happen.

As a side note, a lot of people online seem very keen on appropriating Jamaican Patois quite often? There are so many examples of this. When the term “Bomboclaat” started making the rounds on Twitter a few years ago, so many white people were quick to either talk wildly about the term and trend or otherwise start saying it as well. There was a fucking article that sought to answer “The Bomboclaat >> Meme << Meaning Explained”, like they’re not dissecting an element of Jamaican slang lol. Then there was a period of time where people were constantly saying things like “On Jah?” as a stand-in for “On God?” even though this, again, is Jamaican Patois. And even now, you have tons and tons of non-black people going everywhere being like “what is blud waffling about?”, the phrase “blud” ONCE AGAIN also being Jamaican in origin.

I shouldn’t even have to explain what makes these kinds of appropriations weird and messed up. But black people lose jobs and are denied basic things in life over their hair styles, their expressions and slang, and so many other things that a white person can just appropriate and face zero consequences whatsoever for.

That aside, aside. Understanding and labeling genres correctly is such a big part of music history and highlighting and preserving cultures worldwide. When efforts are made to undermine the meaning of a genre label or otherwise use it incorrectly, so much damage is done to the communities and people groups that innovate and pioneer this art to begin with.

For these reasons, I will gladly use the term Brostep. I will happily call things Electro-Prog. And when you talk about genres like Jungle and Dubstep, say it with your whole chest. Be proud of the human race, show respect and love for the people who have forged the greatest parts of music with their bare hands. We will always stand on the shoulders of giants as musicians, so instead of pretending you yourself are the giant, build monuments and maintain the history of these people. You as an artist are nothing without them.

pictured: Augustus Pablo, one of the most important innovators of Dub. Without him, and without many of his contemporaries, I would reckon that half or more of all modern music would simply not exist.

CONTENT WARNING FOR THIS FINAL SECTION, THERE ARE LIKE LOTS OF STRANGE SLURS AND RACIST VIBES.

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One last thing I wanna mention, this is slightly tangential but I think it's relevant to this conversation. It's always weird how lots of websites categorize things like this:

From Big Fish Audio... "G**sy*? "World/Ethnic Loops & Samples"? What the fuck are you talking about. Seems like racism to me.

On Loopmasters they have a "World" section. Any Americanized genre gets its own category, but the entire continents of Africa and Asia as well as the country of India and region of the Middle East (which are part of Asia, hope this helps btw) and lastly South America are stuffed into the nebulous "World Label". Seems like racism to me. Are you telling me you weirdos can't figure out a better way to represent these things?

But then Psy Trance gets its whole entire own category? Aren't there only like five people who listen to Psy Trance? /hj . But like come on.

Shoutout to WA Productions for categorizing a universe of suspiciously mostly black music as """Urban"""". And this company is a dime a dozen, hundreds of corpos do this shit.

East fucking West, what is this dude. There is a racism happening, I just know it. Please give me a count of how many poc are on payroll at your company, I am so curious.

And while we're at it, East West, what is this. Tell me. Fucking tell me.

Thanks for reading.

#vyop

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tainted-liquor · 9 months

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'Baby Mama.˚ *꒰ঌ✦໒꒱ * ˚.

Father!Hobie Brown x Mama!BlackFem!Reader Ingredients: Extra sugar, kisses, and tons of smiles! TWs: Dumb dad Hobie, cussing, thas it W/C: 891 A/N: You have a son🥺

It had been about 3 months since you and Hobie welcomed a tiny bundle of blue into the world. To say he was head over heels was an understatement; he was enamored. There were a couple of times where he popped a nigga with the force of a bullet train in the name of your son, Renzo, for various reasons. He popped Miles for "holding him the wrong way", judo-flipped Pav for attempting to hold the baby's hand, and absolutely smashed Miguel for even breathing too hard at his son during his nap time. He was the most adoring and doting father you had ever seen before Lil Renzie could even open his eyes.

Initially, Renzo wasn't a planned baby, as fucked up as that sounds. Hobie didn't quite believe in bringing another life form into an economy that was falling apart at every turn, rendering it impossible to live without relying on some sort of capitalist company. But by no means take this as a hint that he was in ANY capacity a deadbeat, absolutely not. He hated the idea of bringing a child into a world of pure evil but hated the idea of abandoning a human being somewhere out in the world even more and leaving all the responsibility on his mother. If the kid is his, IT'S HIS. So when he got the call that you were in labor, he dropped whatever it was he was doing.

"Yeah love, y'alright?" He cooed almost as soon as he answered the loud ringtone of his 1000 BCE phone. "Hey, so I don't wanna worry you or anything, but my water broke n' we're on our way to the...Hello?" You pulled your phone to your face to look at the screen, only to see that Hobie had hung up. You thought that maybe the call dropped and he was out on a mission, but no; Hobie was rapidly approaching your location from his watch, heaving and panting as he practically flung himself out of HQ. It took him a total of 2 minutes to seemingly appear by your side. "I'M 'ERE! IM 'ERE WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENIN'-" He yelled in the middle of the hospital. From that point forward, everything was chaos.

It took several midwives and you to calm him down, and 9 doctors to wrestle him out of the delivery room when it came time for you to push. Best believe he was still there every step of the way, despite the plethora of faculty asking for him to leave the room. At the end of the day, nobody wanted beef with the 6 foot 5 tall ass punk man with the meanest resting bitch face of all time, so they miraculously left him alone and let him be present for the entire birth. And when your son was finally born, he started baby bawling right along with him. Yes, he was crying as loud as humanly possible.

"Here, sweets you hold him-...are you crying?"

"No." He muttered with his eyes literally full of tears.

From that day forward, all he ever did was spend time with his son. Whenever he went to HQ he would insist on keeping Renzo so you could "get some rest", sticking him to his back as he did idle tasks, getting into nonsensical babble wars, and helping him learn how to stick to walls. Whenever he was allowed to dress up Renzo, he had the little homie dressed down in spikes, black leather, and a mini version of whatever outfit he had on without fail. He even made him a mini version of his guitar out of some plywood, rubber bands, and spare metal. There were times when Hobie would help Renzo "play" his fake guitar, muttering some of his song lyrics in the process.

You woke up from your cat nap to hear giggles coming from Hobie and Renzo in the living room. You shuffled your way out of your bedroom to see what was happening, and instantly covered your mouth so they wouldn't realize you were there just yet. Hobie stood in the middle of the living room, arms crossed, and staring at the tiny baby on the couch. "Ah-! Don't laugh at me, young man. You need to start learning how to be a proper Spider-Man!" he 'argues' as he holds back giggles. Renzo offers him a sleepy blink and yet another fit of laughter as he falls over on his side. You silently emerge from the doorframe, picking up your son and holding him near Hobie's face.

"C'monn, he's only a baby! Tell daddy I don't need to be a Spider-man just yet" you coached with a kiss to the side of the baby face. "I need to focus on being mommy's baby!" you giggled. "Ahh, c'mon. He should be able to stick to walls already, yeah?" He snickered. You rolled your eyes as you watched Renzo practically jump from your hands to Hobie's, earning a loud laugh from your 'husband.' "See? Proper Spider-Man! Yeah, mate!" he chuckled as he held a squirming Renzo. He watched as his tiny feet kicked and danced in his red and blue "Spider-Punk" onesie Hobie knicked from his world. You watched as his small grin turned into a full grin and his waterline pricked with tears.

"Don't cry, Hobie."

"'m not."

#atsv #across the spiderverse #into the spiderverse #hobie brown #hobie brown x reader #spiderman #spider punk #into the spider verse #spiderparents #hobie x reader #atsv hobie #hobart brown x reader

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porlatamconlouis · 24 days

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louis in panamá! louis back in latam!!! louis is back in his spirit home!!!

the crowd was amaaaazing! listen, every louis show i've been to holds a special place in my heart for different reasons. but being in a crowd where everyone around you gives out the same energy, even when they don't fully know some songs, is something i've been craving for a long time now, and it's just the beginning and i'm sooo excited. the venue itself was kinda meh inside, the way they used the space was terrible in my opinion but as a brightside, gaby and i had lots of space to jump and dance and lose our entire minds.

the setlist order change threw us off, but god i love it. the 'chemical' cover... idk how to explain it but the videos i've seen so far (which haven't been many, i'm on wifi most of the time) don't do it one bit of justice. his voice! his voooooooice! that's all i kept saying throughout the song. because i didn't know the song, and the arrangement was so punk that i thought it was a song from an early 2000s pop punk band that i wasn't recognizing. but duuuude, his voice. i hope we get a good version, because that boi whined away with his whole chest... honestly. and i can't fucking wait to see how more and more comfortable he'll get with the song and more people singing it with him, and just... yeah!

oli, krystle and helen were in the open space where there were no chairs, right in front of us... oli walks to not draw attention to himself, but boi, most of us know you by now. i didn't see anybody coming up to them which was nice. they went to the sound booth for a big chunk of the show. and during ooms krys and helen came back to jump and dance to the side there. i loved seeing them like that!

the happiness we felt when we saw lucia coming down! gaby and i were jumping up and down screaming "lucia! lucia is back! lucia!", hajshajshs. and theeeen, at the end, as i always do if possible, we went to the soundbooth to thank my friends (jdelf, tom and oli c.) for the show, and we thanked them for bringing lucia (the lightbulb) and not leaving her behind, and they were amused (and probably a bit weirded out (they've seen me in the same shirt at least 4 times lmao)) and saying thank you for appreciating them and just yeah. i like to think maybe they already knew her name was lucia, but also, i'm glad someone on the ground straight up told them how fucking appreciated she is. 💚 look at herrrr! (lol)

living all my favorite songs live again was so cathartic. didn't know how much i needed it, wow. also, how are we gonna call that insane set of songs before the encore? my vote is for "rip steve's arms" or "no breathing mix" or "lose your shit time". because going from 505 to bty to kmm to ooms is fucking wild, man. it was absolutely incredible, i think i ascended a little bit and was fully exorcised, thanks.

oh! the kmm lights? soooo good! i know they've been done at all the shows after '22 but like... idk. it felt a bit extra special? and he sensed it as well, he couldn't contain his little smiles. and he gave it a shout out. literally everyone knew they had to do it. so cool!

as a sad note, during sibwawc, the lights from the stage weren't really colourful, they just kinda went from orange to white from what i remember. gaby and i waved our flags for the entirety of the megamix (and a bunch of other songs too, hajshajs, duh) and since we were going off the whole time, and not as many people were, he did see us all the way to the back and pointed at where we were and we looked at each other and just kept going. we then corroborated our stories in the hostal, hajdhaj. enjoy the following video as if you were next to us and just jumping around, okay thanks (when you see everyone else jump around that's when he comes to our side).

anyway, i wrote all of this while on the airplane that's gonna take me to puerto rico, which is a bit delayed. oh, and el puma rodríguez is on this flight, lmao. iykyk. some ladies, while boarding, just stood in front of him and took a selfie, eeep. right, here's some carpet photos.

i'm so lucky i get to do this insane adventure, i'm so happy.

(meant to save this in drafts while the video uploaded but guess it got posted instead, hajshajsh. anywaaaay... thanks for the lovely notes, loves.)

#jules blah blah #show ciudad de panamá

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thats-the-teen-spirit · 4 days

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Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: NeX GEn album review

Well I didn't expect to write a full BMTH album review today but here we go. The band officially blueballed their audience to the point that as soon as they passed the longest streak without releasing an album, they surprise-dropped it completely unexpectedly. Just a heads-up, I'm not familiar to the lore of the album, what the Nex Gen is or whatever but still, here's my review:

[ost] dreamseeker

This is the shortest and most basic noise intro they've done I think for a while, it's just sounds of steps and the fade in to the first track

2. YOUtopia

Way before the album was announced, back during the Survivor Horror album cycle Oli said something along the way that the Post Human series wants to explore each of their favorite and most played genres, one of which was "emo" as he said. Emo in a sense that MCR or Underoath was emo, not the old-school way. YOUtopia has definitely the MCR feeling to it, not as much as LosT has though but that is not the point. This song has a bouncy riff, catchy chorus (similar style to Werewolf, the song the guys did with Lil Uzi Vert on his latest album) and the most 'amo' feel outside of the singles for me. Great song, definitely will be played during concerts.

3. Kool-Aid

The last single before they dropped the album, possibly the most balanced song out of the singles. Very catchy chorus, even the first few seconds feel like the "you're gonna die in the pit" fright that I usually feel at concerts. The breakdown is crazy, it has a very death metal guitar solo, what more do you want?

4. Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd

When I first read the title I thought this would be the most emo song on the album. I was not wrong. The style of 80% of the song is pure pop punk. There's the old school blink-182-like riff, the chorus sounds like it's from a 00's teen movie. Sometimes in the song there are cheeky blastbeat parts which I adored with Super Mario coin sounds that were hilarious. Oh and there's the Poliphia-bridge that made me smile. This is gonna be a top song on the album for sure for me. It's just so unapologetically fun, it's crazy.

5. liMOusIne (feat. AURORA)

The most out of place song for me, it doesn't even feel like BMTH. It sounds like they hopped on the Deftones-core hype train with the 8 or 9 string low tuned guitar riff that is more Sleep Token than BMTH. Still it's a banger, the bridge by AURORA is really catchy as well. The outro of the song is probably my favorite of theirs outside of One Day the Only Butterflies... on the previous album.

6. DArkSide

DArkSide was the fifth single, and in my opinion the most basic bitch one. It just sounds like they wanted to rip off Linkin Park's Somewhere I Belong again, this of course doesn't mean that the song is bad. In fact it grew on me a lot since it got released. The lyrics are very edgy which is expected from a BMTH song but this song was also a bit too cheesy for me, it definitely goes for the safe radio play option that the band still needs to be as popular as they are.

7. a bulleT w- my namE On (feat. Underoath)

If you read this review carefully you might have noticed that I namedropped Underoath earlier. Well, they are featured on the album. This one literally feels like an old-school Underoath song but with Oli's vocals and the modern hyperpop spin that they do through the whole album. At some point Spencer's vocals felt like they were originally be Jordan's which kinda broke my heart a bit, since the Oli+Jordan duo were my favorite songwriters in the scene. If you're a fan of Underoath you should definitely give this one a spin.

8. [ost] (spi)ritual

Intro=Dark Signs by Sleep Token, Lyrics=Fully Satanic, title=clever wordplay. It's a 2 minute long interlude that has some guitars in it so most fans will not be disappointed in it, the biblical references are there for the edge of it but are barely audible, if you're one of those fans who recently got offended by their latest marketing ploy (the Jesus one), then I'd suggest skip this one. Also it's BMTH, they have always been against religion in general so... don't be surprised.

9. n/A

This song broke me. The first two lines are: "Hi, My name is Oli and I'm an addict. I'm here cause I'm not quite all there". The guitar work is very simple in the beginning, reminiscent of Where is My Mind by the Pixies, but you can sense that something big is coming. This is the most personal song on the album, I haven't heard Oli open up this much about suicidal thoughts and addiction since Sempiternal. It also has a grotesque feel to it as he discribes how he would kill himself in various ways (jumping down a building, making love to a chainsaw, etc). This one is also pretty emo, but not just because of the lyrics, by the sound as well. Definitely will be landing on my playlist.

10. LoSt

Undoubtedly my favorite song on the album, i've been constantly listening to it since it came out last year. If there is a thing called "I'm not Okay"-core this is it. The breakdown is the funnest one through the whole discography of the band, the chorus is a clone of the aformentioned MCR song and the pacing feels like a pop punk banger with an easycore breakdown. Still 10/10 for me.

11. sTraNgeRs

It's kinda crazy to think about how much time passed between each single and the album itself. This song will always remind me to coming home from my ex-girlfriend whom I've completely alienated from at that point and humming to myself: We're just a room full of strangers. I know that the original meaning of the song is quite the oposite, it has a sense of unity and togetherness but still, my personal story overwrote this one for me and I cannot help it. This was the second single and in my opinion didn't age as well as the others but still a very good song.

12. Rip (duskCOre RemIx)

Some segments of the lyrics of this song can be found throughout the teasers BMTH put out in the past few years. This one is a purely hyperpop/heavy pop banger that is very common towards the end of the record. The pacing is again very pop punk and emo, but it has those glitchy effects and even a dance beat at some point. It's a fun one but the poppiest out of the whole record I think. Oh and there's a woah-woah post-chorus which is again, very pop punk. Also despite the sound is very happy and hyper the lyrics are very self-loathing and depict the disappointment Oli had with himself after relapsing during COVID. Just a not so fun fact.

13. AmEN! (feat, Lil Uzi Vert and Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw)

The heaviest song on the album that was premiered live in my home country last year. I'm really disappointed I missed that and am still salty about it. Anyway this song is the same as Darkside for me, it's not a bad one, in fact, the old school BMTH fans will like this one the most, but for me it's not as exciting. I'd rather listen to the random bullshit they come up with than Oli trying to replicate Suicide Season style vocals which tore his throat up back then. But back to the song, it also grew a lot on me, the choir breakdown will always be fun and the lyrics have very much the Hospital of Souls kind of feel and edginess.

14. [ost] puss-e

Speaking of randomness, this one is about the female genitalia. it's an interlude (as every song beginning with [ost]). I think it's the biggest brain fart they had since the Music to Listen to... EP dropped. The callout before the breakbeat is literally: What would you do for pussy?. It's a random noisy shitshow that people will be mad about just like they were during the amo era but this is still unfathomably BMTH at their finest.

15. DiE4u

It's crazy to think about but this song came out almost 3 years ago, back when Survivor Horror had its album cycle and people were still mostly locked up in quarantine. The lyrics are about addiction again, not surprisingly and were inspired by Oli's relapse that I mentioned earlier. During COVID he made some very bad choices that lead him to get on ketamine for the first time since I think 2013 or so. This song is basically him singing to the drugs, it's a little fucked isn't it? It definitely didn't hold up as well as LoSt or AmEN because back in 2021 Oli was still trying to spread the idea he had about making a new genre called heavy pop. Well, some of his ideas are on the album so I guess he was successful.

16. Dig it

The closing track of this massive album and again we're back to the topic of self-hatred. Oli is again very disappointed in himself to a melody that is similar to Something in the Way by Nirvana. Maybe that was an inspiration, since that song also screams self-loathing. Then there's the modern pop drumbeat, but still the instrumentals are very lowkey, it's clear that the intention is to focus on the lyrics. The closure of the track gets heavy as usual and we hear Count Your Blessings era vocals again. There is even a little snippet at the very end after a little silence, that the AI playing the album failed which means the album is over.

Overall it's a great album, I think Oli and the band ended up with a terrific record, however I still miss Jordan's work on some of the songs. Maybe some ideas were scrapped, maybe even reworked at certain points but I'll always miss his handprint from now on I think. All of the fanbase will be happy with this record I guarantee it.

#bmth #post human: nex gen #post human #nex gen #next gen #bring me the horizon #oli sykes #lee maila #metalcore #album review #review #new album

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unholyverse · 7 months

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waterparks // kerrang! magazine issue #1645

(full article text under cut)

BRING OUT THE BIG GUNS

WATERPARKS MAY VERY WELL HAVE WRITTEN THE POP-PUNK ALBUM OF 2016. IN FACT, AS FAR AS THEY SEE IT, THEY'VE WRITTEN A DEBUT BIGGER THAN ANY GENRE BOLD ENOUGH TO CLAIM IT. THEIR TIME IS NOW….

The first 30 seconds of Made In America, the sixth track on Waterparks' debut record Double Dare, serves as a mission statement. Opening with a riff that any far heavier band would be proud of, before giving way to a verse backed with scattered synths and leading into a pop chorus that could raise the roof off of any club on the planet, the message is clear: expect the unexpected.

They'll be classified as a pop-punk band based on associations and aesthetic, but there's no-one around Waterparks-neither in genre nor age group- making music like they are. Album opener Hawaii (Stay Awake) contains an almost rapped refrain; Take Her To The Moon would sound just as good on an Ibiza beach as it would at Slam Dunk Festival; and Little Violence takes punk to its most antagonistic lengths. Waterparks aren't confined by genre or convention, picking and choosing the best of whatever the hell they like—like children running amok in a toy shop—and combining it perfectly.

"We've tried to make it a point to not just make a 'pop-punk' or a 'rock' album," says frontman Awsten Knight, settling into conversation with Kerrang!. "We played it safer in the past, but this is going to be people's first real impression of us, so we just needed to push this shit to China. We wanted to make sure that people expect to not know what to expect from us. It's 2016-you can do whatever you want."

Be that as it may, to be this daring on a debut album takes confidence. But if a conversation with Awsten is anything to go by, it's a quality that's far from lacking. The Texan native is, like the state from which he came and still resides, both brash and unashamed of his lofty ambitions. In fact, anything other than determination to be the best is frankly off-putting to him.

"I've heard bands during interviews being like, Y'know, if people like it, that's fine, we just want to play music…" he scoffs. "Dude! No! Why would you dedicate your life to something and not care if it does well? That's insane. I don't wanna be like, 'Let me know what you guys think, I hope you like it!' Fuck that. It's, 'Here are some absolute jams, take it and we're gonna keep giving you music and it's gonna be tight as hell.'" And what of his own ambitions for the band? "I want it to be the biggest thing ever," he asserts. "And if that's an attitude that turns people off, and if people don't want good things for us… They can eat dicks."

I here's far more swirling around in Awsten Knight's head than sheer bravado, however. There's a depth to rock's newest future superstar that's mirrored on Double Dare, which boasts substance to back up its all-consuming style. Singing "You drop your guy and take me on / It's everything I wanted / But then what? / Would you get tired of my, time?" on 21 Questions, Awsten shows self-doubt in what might feel like triumph for others. On Powerless, Awsten laments with brutal honesty how he doesn't hear from his friends anymore. Clearly. Waterparks is so much more to Awsten than a chance to have pop choruses sung back at him.

"I don't like talking to people about personal shit," Awsten reveals. "I'll just put it in the songs. There are lyrics that you could look at and be like, 'Oh, he wants to die,' but then the next song could be like, 'Aww, he's in love. This way I don't have to talk about it in real life."

The time leading up to Double Dare gave him lots to not talk about and even now, speaking to K! about it all, Awsten retreats into himself more than seemed possible from such an outwardly charismatic dude.

"I went through a while where I didn't talk to anyone or want to see any of my friends." He pauses. I got out of a four-and-a-half year relationship in that time, too. A lot of weird and sketchy things caused me to be a recluse for a little bit."

Even the usually cast-iron confidence in his band can falter slightly if Awsten thinks about the wrong thing. He worries that the amount of attention they're getting might jinx them. "It's weird when people say, 'Waterparks are going to blow up.'" he admits. "What if we don't? I don't want people to look back at all those articles and see us as just some band that flopped."

There's a duality at play: Awsten, the fiercely driven, self-assured frontman faces off against Awsten, the self-critical, occasional loner. It's a battle that he's keen to see end in a tie.

"I'm always both," he says of his split personality. "If I was either of those personalities full-time, shit just wouldn't get done. If I was a bummer all the time, then our shows wouldn't be fun. I think the balance is there and that's what makes it work."

Awsten, more than anyone, knows who he has to be and what he has to do for his band to be successful. And where those two sides meet is in his work ethic. When Waterparks needed flyers made, he learned Photoshop. When they needed a way to sift through their many, many different ideas before paying for studio time, Awsten set up a studio at home. Merch designs? Promo filming and editing? All Awsten. "I hate being dependent," he stresses. "Nobody's going to work as hard for your band as you will yourself. If you're stuck relying on people, you're going to be fucked."

But with that hard work about to pay off in the biggest way - Double Dare is set to propel his band into the ranks of pop-punk's elite - are Waterparks and Awsten, self-doubt and all, ready for the level of success headed their way?

"Well, we better be!" Awsten exclaims without a second's thought. "Everything that we have right now as far as the album and all the other cool stuff we have going on and the things we've accomplished, those aren't accidents. I quit school to do this full- time, so if we get to that point and I'm like, 'Oh, I'm not ready,' then fuck me, it's my fault.

"I honestly try not to think about any of it too hard, though," he continues more soberly, "because that would mess me up. But we're pretty ready."" And they'd better be.

DOUBLE DARE IS OUT NOW VIA EASY LIFE

TOY STORE-Y

WHAT WOULD WATERPARKS GET UP TO IF THEY GOT LOCKED INSIDE A TOY SHOP OVERNIGHT? LET'S FIND OUT, SHALL WE…

AWSTEN KNIGHT (VOCALS/GUITAR) "Completing the prophecy, as my eyes roll back, my skin turns purple and I crawl backwards to the ceiling!"

OTTO WOOD (DRUMS) "If I managed to get trapped in a toy shop, I would monopolise the Lego market and make it a real pain in the ass for anyone who was looking to construct the biggest Lego house ever (laughs)!"

GEOFF WIGINGTON (GUITAR) "Let's see…If I was to get trapped in a toy shop overnight I would most likely find myself building the biggest Lego house ever. Once that's ready, I'd go and find myself a wife and a dog, so we can all grow old together. The end!"

WORDS: KYAN DE PREITAS // PHOTOS: MICHAEL ANTHONY

#waterparks #awsten knight #geoff wigington #otto wood #i.zip

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edge-oftheworld · 2 months

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thinking about the way when i interact with fellow aussies on here I see so much disappointment about how they didn't come here on their last tour. how sydney 5sos fans are a different brand of human i'm not really sure how to describe (we all freaked out when we went to the same concert lauren was at for example). thinking about how the australian leg of take my hand tour felt like it was almost its own thing, sandwiched between the gap after the bulk of the tour before it and that short gap before they announced the most recent tour after it--almost as if it was meant to bridge both of those tours. how they played in newcastle and on the gold coast and it wasn't quite cairns or coffs but it was a bit more than your state capitals headline tour. how, with the exception of the big four, we often don't realise how small our cities are on a global scale. there are only 27 million of us on this desert island.

thinking about how they wrote easy for you to say and had to perform it on tour six months before its actual release, it was so important to this setlist, to the vibe, and how it's about nostalgia and missing sydney and they finished the tour in sydney and it makes me wonder, i can kind of guess when the song means the same thing to me, how much it hurts to be able to perform here and yet not be able to stay for longer than a holiday. and yet they do do that for us, put on shows about as regularly as any other artist does. even if they didn't play splendour in the grass. or falls festival. even if it's been four years since fire fight australia, it was only months ago sierra was promoting beyond blue as a charity to donate to. friends of friends did some fundraiser for a youth centre in blacktown: maybe I have to look to see it, but I can see the impact they've left.

and then I see how happy they all seem to look when they've gotten a chance to hang out in australia. ashton covering songs in the heat. calum obviously having a blast. luke dropping sydney pics that were assumedly from before it got really hot, looking carefree, a familiar skyline and familiar urban graffiti. the way when michael arrived in perth for the first time after lockdown he simply had to tell us all right away. and i've always kind of seen them coming back here for good? heck, joel madden even assumed right on his podcast some of them might have already. the way ashton doesn't have a dog in the states, and how i've always seen him with an aussie. the way luke integrates seamlessly into the life and culture of the inner west area; and calum carries blue mountains vibes with him wherever he goes, as michael does with the sydney pop punk scene. we know brandy and sierra at least love australia--i was actually fangirling about sierra in their comments with the veronicas just the other day (bless them for deciding my comment was something that needed to replying to). while crystal does have a massive group of usamerican friends and family I can see her enjoying the vegan places in melbourne and brisbane (they're coming to sydney too. the inner west and parts of the north side are almost there) and maybe being a little more hopeful about politics. I can also see it being a really healthy place to raise lua.

maybe it's the hopefulness of an urban designer who sees the impact of art and culture and having people around who create for a living on our cities, but maybe I see myself in 20 years bringing my kids to see them play and being able to tell the story of a series of songs (red desert, efyts, whatever is next in the theme in the works for 5sos6 as well as the solo stuff like a lot of wfttwtaf and boy) and how they figured out what we all have to, how to find and create a place that's home to you--because it's actually a pretty likely event. and i love seeing the evolution from the 'let's get out' / 'worked every weekend just to get out of town' vibe of self titled and sgfg to now. I really do want them all to feel like they can relax now after so many years of working and depriving themselves of the love that comes from belonging (I do feel like we've heard more about it from luke and ash specifically) and I also get the subtle vibes of where that might happen. and how much it might hurt when they don't get to have that. what did they do for aussies? gave us hope that we could make it, in whatever we want to do and whatever success means for us. maybe it's just me though. for now. maybe i've got the expectations of someone who grew up unable to afford things like concerts mixed with the anticipation for this june. I hope i'm not projecting, but also, the empathy I feel when I see myself in someone is usually spot on.

so idk. one day i'm gonna design some really classy public housing made to unfuck the status quo and i'm gonna raise money to build it and sierra will write a song and say she's doing a donation to this charity in australia doing things about homelessness and the class divide and it's gonna help me fund it. that's just one option of something i can see going down that's not completely unrealistic if very very optimistic but it's how i live my life. but i'll go to a 5sos concert eventually. i'll play their songs i've arranged with an orchestra one day too and we'll do it impressively, noticeably. i don't really know what else i'm supposed to expect? I know my experience is worlds away from many people's. but these guys inspire me to create and I don't really need anything else to do that.

#will add that i think if they were to move back here it would be something that would require work to be better than as kids #because it was never perfect for them to begin with and we do all deserve better than to pick the less uncomfortable uncomfortable option #fr though sierra + the australian music industry is just #like i really feel like she's at home there. more so than 5sos even #australia #5sos5 city #what am i talking about #i feel like it's just my experience really #official efyts post #nfattne tour brisbane #5sos #5 seconds of summer #luke hemmings #ashton irwin #calum hood #michael clifford #sierra deaton #almondmilkhunni #crystal leigh

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koumeowkami · 1 year

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artists i associate to the diabolik lovers characters

(+ explanations/headcanons!)

this is gonna be a long post since i absolutely LOVE talking about music. you may take this as a music recommendations post lol. also check my DL playlists out if you want to! 💗

SHU — WITHIN TEMPTATION

let's start with some nice symphonic metal! it's pretty obvious since shu likes classical music. he's relatively calm (maybe too much) but there's a storm inside of him: his double side fits this band a lot imo. moreover, within temptation are powerful but also ethereal, so even though they're "heavy" i think he would give a chance to them :D he would occasionally cover their songs on violin if he feels like it.

REIJI — APOCALYPTICA

staying on the symphonic metal side, we have apocalyptica. this band is so peculiar since it's only formed by three cellos and drums, but i can assure you they're metal lmao. they're neat, polished, elegant and mature: all of these are basic reiji traits! (shu likes them too but he listens to them secretly lol)

AYATO — PARAMORE / HALESTORM

here he comes. my lil punk boi. i think about too many artists when it comes to ayato, cause honestly just every pop punk artist does it for me, but early paramore music gives me HUGE teen emo vibes (both angsty and romantic) that represent ayato so well!! i already stated it in my rocker!ayato headcanons post, but he would blast the RIOT! album at every hour of the day.

regarding halestorm, they represent his "darker" side. they're heavier and more aggressively free-spirited. now tell me if he wouldn't sing Love Bites (So Do I) to yui "jokingly" lol.

KANATO — THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE

how could i NOT associate kanato with the band that basically gave birth to the creepy cute genre, the birthday massacre? their particular goth/industrial sound blending with the vocalist chibi's cute, almost ethereal voice gives so many kanato vibes!! not to mention that the official color of the band is purple lmao. he'd find their album covers very aesthetic, i'm sure of it :D and i also think his fav album would be Violet, the creepiest of them all.

LAITO — LADY GAGA / THE PRETTY RECKLESS

basically laito's two personalities lmao. lady gaga doesn't need any introductions: her provocative and sexy persona shocked everyone and basically all of her songs could potentially be in laito's sex playlist.

the pretty reckless are also indeed sexy, but sexy-depressed??? sexy-angsty?? some of their songs are about embracing one's "dark" side, some others are about dealing with depression (especially in their latest works). i like how they both use the "sexy" façade while actually having more to offer. considering how much laito is broken inside, their music fits so well.

SUBARU — BRING ME THE HORIZON

i'll keep saying this: emo music isn't enough for this guy. this dude listens to metalcore and whatever is heavier than emo pop punk. i actually had issues with picking a band for him cause most of them are casual listens to me but!!! in the end i chose bring me the horizon. angsty emo. pure rage. that's simply subaru for you! sometimes he would sing to their songs in his room but never admit it lol.

RUKI — HIM

honestly, this guy would love gothic rock. i just know it. HIM is the perfect band for him! their dark, elegant, kinda sad sound reminds me of him a lot. and the lyrics too!! they're really poetic, mostly about love and death with a few mentions to eden (pun intended?); the vocalist ville valo often takes inspiration for his lyrics from the books he reads! ruki would definitely dedicate Vampire Heart to yui btw.

KOU — AVRIL LAVIGNE / ICON FOR HIRE

LISTEN. i've been headcanoning this ever since my first DL post ever but kou would be a huge avril lavigne fan. it would mostly represent his frivolous idol persona, but also some of what he hides underneath.

his realest and deepest side is represented by icon for hire. they're heavier, aggressive and talk a lot about sensitive topics. kou has one of the worst pasts among the DL characters and has dealt with pretty much everything going from depression, to abuse, to drug addiction, to suicidal tendencies. i think he'd find some sort of comfort in their songs.

YUMA — P.O.D.

i always pictured yuma as a hip-hop kinda guy, so i think he would like nu metal. being part of the angry and bothered trio with ayato and subaru, he's relatively the calmest one but that means nothing since we're in DL lol. p.o.d.'s passive-aggressive style reminds me of him so much and i swear i ALWAYS think about him when i listen to Youth of the Nation, it's like it talks about him and his brothers specifically.

AZUSA — EVANESCENCE

there are two types of emo: the angry emo and the sad emo. azusa obviously belongs to the second one. i can't really associate him to one genre in particular, it just depends on the ~vibes~, but i chose evanescence for him cause their lowkey eerie, slow style fits azusa a lot. fear of abandonment and selflessness are some of the themes they've covered and Lithium is the song that makes me think about azusa the most.

CARLA — NIGHTWISH

carla has that gothic royal-ish attitude that reminds of the first nightwish era (with tarja turunen as vocalist). i mostly tend to associate the deep, elegant lyrical vocals with carla's deep voice lol. it's just a matter of ~vibes~ again :D

SHIN — FROM FIRST TO LAST

this little shit would only listen to post-hardcore. nothing reminds me of shin more than a cringy "i'm angy >:(" music genre. i actually do enjoy some post-hardcore and from first to last is the exception. i think shin would fit especially in the Dead Trees era, aka FFTL's villain arc™: very silly, angsty and full of villanous vibes but more mature than their previous works.

KINO — AMARANTHE

gamer boi coming through with electronic metal!! amaranthe's futuristic mix of edm and metal + their in-your-face attitude is a perfect match with kino. PvP is THE kino song. the music, the lyrics, the game concept just suit him so well!! slay.

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allaboardthevespa · 3 months

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Senses-Focused Ellabby HCs!

Your ambassador of Ellabby has returned. Headcanons of the gals based on the five senses! Three for each sense

💖Sight💗

Whenever the girls are cuddling, they sometimes start complmenting every little thing about their partners, from their face to their earlobes to their fingers. So on and so forth. “All of me loves all of you!”

Ellie is a total sucker for bunnies. Even seeing a picture of a cartoonish bunny rabbit is liable to send her into a gushing frenzy. Gabby is well aware of this and regularly gives her bunny-themed gifts.

Being a skilled artist with an excellent eye for fashion, Ellie often finds herself drawing pictures of her girlfriend wearing her fashion designs.

🎵Hearing🔊

Ellie loves when Gabby goes into one of her silly rambles about what she loves, finding it adorable how excited she gets over everything, and loving the sound of her voice.

Gabby is a little self-conscious about her singing voice, but Ellie loves hearing her sing, no matter how loud she gets.

The girls have gotten into each other’s favorite music genres a lot, with Gabby generally liking more low-key and emotional female vocal music like your Billie Eilish and your Girl in Red (as well as Enej, which Word of God has confirmed her to love), while Ellie is very into pop punk. They’ve sung one another’s favorite songs together a lot. (Ellie’s favorite song is Only One by Yellowcard while Gabby’s favorite song is Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish.)

💐Smell🌹

Ellie’s pretty vulnerable to smells in general. Having worked at an awful bartending job, she can’t handle the smell of alcoholic beverages without feeling sick due to the painful memories. Nonetheless, this makes Ellie love the scent of flowers even more. Flowers make her feel safe. Meanwhile, Gabby just loves flowers because she’s a nature-loving sweetheart and admires all its charms, smell very much included.

Gabby is something of a rose enthusiast. She knows which ones are the easiest or hardest to grow, and which ones have the smells she and Ellie like best. She can sometimes be seen online talking with fellow rose enthusiasts. She’s also surprised Ellie with many bouquets of her favorite roses!

The girls like stopping at perfume stores and sampling the perfumes they have on offer, and buying their favorites.

🍧Taste🧁

I’ve probably mentioned this before (apologies if I haven’t) but the girls dislike fast food outlets (especially given Gabby’s veganism and dislike of big fat corporations) and much prefer smaller businesses. Most of their dates are at tiny vegan cafes in towns and parks.

Gabby absolutely adores dark chocolate (girl same). The girls often grab any dark chocolate they find in corner stores!

The girls also love fruit sorbet, and regularly have dates in cozy ice cream and sorbet shops and sharing them.

🤝Touch👏

Ellie understands how touch-starved Gabby is and thus won’t hesitate to give her cuddles and kisses when she needs them. Regardless of whether they’re in public or in private, they cuddle and kiss a lot, and they feel safe in each other’s arms.

The girls adore warm fuzzy blankets. (you could’ve guessed by yesterday’s fic lol) They love cuddling beneath them, and whenever one of them is sick (usually Gabby because Ellie has a strong immune system), the other one will wrap them up in a freshly-washed fuzzy blanket to warm them up.

Gabby’s most tickle-sensitive spots are her tummy and neck while Ellie’s most tickle-sensitive spots are her sides and underarms. Both girls get jumpy if you even poke them there, but they’re always willing to let each other go crazy on those spots. Getting tickled by their lover brings them a lot of serotonin.

#disventure camp #disventure camp gabby #disventure camp ellie #ellabby #gabellie #headcanons #senses #AGAIN I DEPICT ELLIE AS SUCH A SOFT GIRL LMAO #in this house we love and appreciate pop-punk stan ellie

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rachelchinouriris · 3 months

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questions you would ask louis

another great question

as someone who’s been in the industry for years and has seen all sides of it, what’s something (or some things) you would change about it? what advice would you give to aspiring musicians who don’t know about how the industry works?

what’s your the step by step writing process? anything in particular you do that may be different to other writers? any rituals?

what’s one artist/writer (dead or alive) you’d love to collaborate with?

with the away from home festival and 28clothing, what’s another business endeavor you’d like to pursue?

at the beginning of your solo career you had a pop/mainstream sound, which slowly developed into the rock/punk/indie sound you have now (godbless). she is beauty, however, is more of a dancey psychedelic sound reminiscing of your early sound, which brings more flavor into the album. are there any other genres you’d be interested in exploring?

related to prev: i’m not sure if you’ve ever talked about it, but what made you go for a mainstream sound at the beginning? and how was the journey from that to finding your true sound?

speaking of, according to different interviews/tweets, you were working on an album around the back to you/just like you/miss you era. what happened to that album? what are your honest thoughts and feelings on it? how would have it sounded like? any songs from it (besides always you) that were reworked for walls and/or faith in the future?

you’ve said your favorite part of being a musician are the live shows. what is the main feeling you get when you’re up in stage? how does the energy level of the audience play into your feelings and overall performance? what is your favorite moment when you are performing? favorite fan projects?

louies louies louies. every night you express your gratitude and love for your fans, and something i’ve observed is how your relationship with fans and vice versa is quite different from any other musicians’ relationships with their fans. why do you think that is? what distinguishes it from others?

you wrote the majority of one direction songs and had more control of the band’s sound in the later albums. what motivated you to fight for more creative control? what challenges did you (guys) encounter? what was the label’s reaction if you’re comfortable sharing that? and how does it feel to know the band wouldn’t have reached the status it reached without you because you’re the heart of it you have the most writing credits?

how are them creative juices going? any new songs or ideas *eyes emoji*

(i think you’re one of the most influential artists of our time whether the public sees it or not. your music has helped us in many ways. your music came to me at a time where i needed it the most. i felt comforted by your words, knowing i’m not alone. you gave me a safe space to be myself, who i truly am, and feel nothing but pure joy. being at your show and seeing all those pride flags, being wrapped in my own flag, while listening to all this time, she is beauty and copy of a copy of a copy was an experience i will never forget. you’re the reason i met incredible people who i love with my entire life. i will always be grateful for that. thank you for sharing your art with us. you’re very talented and you deserve to shine as an artist after all the bullshit you had to deal with. i’m so proud of you and i’m happy to be here and be your fan) can i give you a hug?

send louis related asks because i miss him

#ask #answered #anonymous

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manysmallhands · 5 months

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Top 10 Albums of 2023!

This was all supposed to work out differently. As i recall from the now long distant past, my original plan was to do a countdown where i put up one post a day throughout December. However, I got Covid on December 1st and that plan immediately became lame and useless. After that, my assumption was basically that i wouldn't be able to do any of this, but i got better more quickly than i'd anticipated and found myself working on these reviews in bits as the month has gone on. So, having rushed through all the the song blurbs that i wanted to do, here i am on New Year's Eve with a more or less finished Top 10 albums to put up.

The only problem is that there are ten quite lengthy reviews here and the vibe is already pretty tl:dr. But tbh that's fine: there really is only my girlfriend who ever reads everything (and i believe her, trust is what love is all about after all) so for anyone looking at this and thinking blimey, that's a lot of text, my advice is: you don't have to read any of it. Just look at the albums, scan thru to see if it sounds like something you might like and give one or two of them a listen if that looks like the case. The words are really just to keep me occupied but i'd like to hope that someone likes some of the records.

I said yesterday that i would reveal what the best one is and so I am now delivering on that important promise. The best one is Scarlet by Doja Cat. Anyone who follows me on whatever platform already knows that the best one is Scarlet by Doja Cat. Don't make me say it again.

Barbie - The Album

Few people have seemed much interested in the Barbie soundtrack, other than the punters who kept it atop the compilations chart for four months. I, as ever, channel the spirit of the populous. The sound is basically 80s synth pop updated for a modern audience - the likes of Haim and Ava Max slot in predictably well - but its the extra dimensions created by how the artists interact with the film that provide some of its more interesting aspects. Sam Smith’s Man I Am reflects a surprisingly LGBTQ Ken despite protestations (certainly its "I'm not gay bro, but..." T-shirt is prompting a lot of questions already answered by the shirt), while Billie Eilish dwelling on life as a manufactured product makes for interesting and uncomfortable parallels in What Was I Made For. Mark Ronson’s plasticky production suits its subject to a tee, further cementing the conceptual unity of the project.

Star turns abound throughout the album as A-listers like Dua Lipa and Lizzo bring their best games alongside some terrific and unlikely downcard cameos. What Was I Made For? and Dance The Night were both deserved #1s, but the pacey pop punk of GAYLE’s Butterflies and Dominic Fike’s breezy, hook laden Hey Blondie are as much highlights as any of the bigger names here. Special mention should be made for Ryan Gosling’s I’m Just Ken, a blockbuster 70s rock number that, whilst puncturing the wider stylistic template, is batshit and hilarious enough to more than justify its place as well as netting him a surprise hit too. The quality lapses once or twice (Tame Impala in particular are bloody awful) but by the time Ava fires the final laser I’m generally happy to go back and start all over again. With banger after banger here, my verdict is in: the Barbie soundtrack is *Charli voice* HOT!

Claire Rosinkranz - Just Because

While this has been a year that I’ve gotten more fully into pop, it took a while for me to find many new albums that I’ve been interested in. This may partly be to do with me clinging to an idea that LPs ought to be substantial beyond having good hooks and charm. In truth, all I needed to do was revert to my indiepop training, where bands have never knowingly been fussed about having any great weightiness. But even so, it took Just Because to make it clear to me that no, you really don’t need any grand vision at all: a high number of great if frothy pop songs will do just fine. It’s a record which bounces from banger to banger in an endearingly sunny style, with each tune so catchy that their lightness becomes a strength rather than a weakness.

Rosinkranz’s voice seems to mark her out as one of the many Billie clones who populate the current pop scene but her musical ambitions are both simpler and more instantly engaging. Not yet 20, her songs have an element of schoolyard whispers which add a welcome silliness here and there, but she also plays with the intensity of youthful emotions to make them a little heartrending even as she goofs off. Highlights include Dreamer, a break up song where the vocal makes it clear that she’s far from as done as she says she is, and Wes Anderson, which offers some sombre advice but packages it in a song so sweet that you’d never know. But in spite of all this it makes no end of year lists (well, maybe just the one), being merely a lovable set of songs that are very hard to forget. Need it be more? I don't believe so.

Doja Cat - Scarlet

Mired in discourse throughout the year, Doja Cat still found time to make a chart topping single (Paint The Town Red) that took the world by storm and a cracking album which, sadly, did not. Scarlet was in my opinion the better of the two: largely ditching the afrobeat pop of Planet Her, Doja staked her claim as an old skool rapper and brought it off pretty well, mixing hard rhyming with her more scattershot pop delivery and sounding entirely comfortable wherever she landed. While flitting musically between modern RnB and neo-soul grooves, her subject matter was largely taken up by how much she hated her fans, a bold strategy that found her shedding support even as blistering tracks like Fuck The Girls shaped up as some of my favourites of the year.

Whilst I’ve found myself uncomfortable with both the company that she keeps and the views which she may or may not subscribe to (i feel safe in saying that she's a right wing edgelord but i suspect that’s the least of it), Scarlet is such a good album that I’ve found myself, if not making excuses for her, then at least deftly navigating around my distaste in order to keep listening to it. While Agora Hills often reminded me how serious she is about her scumbag of a boyfriend, it’s still a song that can submerge me in its beauty entirely; while some of the complaints from her online audience are less easily dismissed than others, it’s more comfortable just to think about the morons calling her a devil worshiper, especially when she mocks them so wickedly on the elegant Skull And Bones. Am I the problem? Maybe I am: it’s a place I often find myself in with hip hop, where faves are frequently problematic and exceptions beg to be made. As such, I can not wholeheartedly recommend this record to people who might want to take a principled stand against some of her bullshit. I can only say that, as a musical talent, there was no one better all year.

Lana Del Rey - Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard?

After 2021’s fairly middling brace of albums, Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd always felt like it was going to be a return to form and this time the faithful were not disappointed. It was another epic and sprawling record which unfolded like a cross between The Bible and a 50s musical. While changeable in style, ranging from hammy country ballads to trap beats and beyond, the thing that springs to mind most often is the Great American Songbook, as Lana takes the melodramatic grandeur of those standards and soaks them in her own messy and complicated worldview. This draws in family, romance, the future, her relationship with religion and how it all scrappily fits together, ranging widely and wildly across 75 extraordinary minutes.

Much of the album feels like it’s being broadcast from a kind of dreamworld, although one that overlays with reality neatly enough. Lana’s dismissive “if you want some basic bitch go to the Beverly Centre and find her” line undercuts the mood on the otherwise lush and evocative Sweet but the impact is hilarious rather than jarring, a perfect marriage of the strange and mundane. In contrast, the brooding A&W initially brings that realism to a far more uncomfortable level, before goofing off wonderfully in the second half in a way that only Lana ever really dares to do. Much of the record feels like it's creating its own language, as key phrases (“let the light in”, “when you know, you know”) are repeated and musical themes come back around in strange modulations. All in all, while perhaps less satisfying as a pop record than Norman Fucking Rockwell, Did You Know… feels like her most complete statement on a personal level yet, whilst still working well within the broader world that she’s spent over a decade constructing.

Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We

Despite liking the odd song or two, I have until now been largely immune to Mitski over the full length of an album. But The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We has a much more organic sound than I’m used to hearing from her, well adrift from the polished guitar rock of her big 10s records. Instead, it takes many of its cues from classic folk and country, occasionally lush and expansive, often determinedly sombre but always at a distance from the areas where she’s generally been at home. Opener Bug Like An Angel is a brooding scene setter, where Mitski unveils the terse and grumpy presence we will grow familiar with over the next half hour. The main elements of the album are already in place - the spare instrumentation; Mitski’s extraordinary voice, hard and intransigent but still full of yearning; the occasional, overwhelming interjections from the wings. It all creates a distinctive atmosphere, extremely intense but intimate too: we’re allowed into Mitski’s world but there’s a lot to take in.

Lyrically, the songs are both heavily allusive and extremely personal, like hearing ancient parables told by the characters from the story. Surprise hit My Love Mine All Mine seems to sit apart as a relatively standard love song but a closer listen reveals deeper layers; the placing of her love as something independent from its object makes it feel more of a piece with the album’s other enigmas. At a time where Mitski seemed to be cooling on being a rock star, The Land Is Inhospitable adds a new twist to her long musical journey, seemingly presenting a more intimate portrait while in fact retaining most of her essential mystery. As an album, it really is quite something: what that is I’m less certain of but I like it regardless.

Olivia Rodrigo - Guts

Tho I wouldn't have called myself a hater (I don’t think I would have been bothered enough), I don't really like Olivia’s all conquering debut Sour, which I thought a bit too one-note and overpopulated with slushy ballads. But by the time Guts came around I was open to listening again, drawn in by its excellent singles and primed for a different experience. Vampire, the best of them and more or less of this year, was a fantastic example of taking something that Olivia is clearly very accomplished at (the grand piano lament) and then, rather than running that into the ground, instead using it as a springboard for an entirely different idea. Get Him Back and Bad Idea Right hark back to earlier guitar based tracks like Brutal, but on Guts they form a much more substantive part of the album, cementing its brand of addictive pop grunge and working up a much goofier version of her messy teen persona.

Elsewhere, the ballads did in fact return. Some have speculated that this may have been a bad idea (right?) but for me they’ve been growers, particularly the likes of Lacy and The Grudge, where Olivia explores the bitterness of youth and uses it to tear holes in the people who’ve wronged her. But if I’m honest, it’s the rockers that I’m usually waiting for: whether the new wave pastiche of Love Is Embarrassing or autumnal Cure homage Pretty Isn’t Pretty, each one feels like a mini-revelation and it’s the style that I hope she leans on most in the future.

Palehound - Eye On The Bat

Palehound have been around for a while now and every so often I’ve given their records a try and haven't really managed to connect with them properly. Eye on the Bat has been the first exception, though whether that's because it’s any better than the others or I just made more of an effort with it I don’t know. Its template is certainly well worn in the indie world - country rock with varying degrees of aggression or melodic sweetness - but there’s still a lot here that grabs my attention, especially in the charming indie pop of the title track and the heart-rending melancholy of Route 22.

But the thing that caught my ear the most was Ellen Kempner’s disarming honesty, with much of the album spent documenting what sounds like a deeply messy break up. Whether she’s bitterly picking through the fall out on Independence Day or remembering some hilariously embarrassing bedroom scene on opener Good Sex, Eye On The Bat's almost diaristic view is mesmerising throughout, making you warm to Kempner even as she works thru some of her own worst traits. And aside from anything else, her understanding of relationships underlines her strengths as a lyricist, as she dissects their complexities with wit, sympathy and occasional anger to capture all the stuff that transcends whatever we were hoping for in the first place.

Poppy - Zig

After the wild ride that commenced with 2020’s extraordinary pop/metal mash up I Disagree, Poppy has journeyed thru indie rock, goth and punk to wind up back where she started, only not quite. Zig may represent a return to pop - indeed it’s produced by Weeknd affiliate Ali Payami - but it’s one that’s filtered thru all of the places she stopped off along the way.

The crepuscular grind of Church Outfit and Knockoff sound like more danceable versions of the I Disagree sound, while the crunching title track suggests that she can still go as hard as ever. But there are nods to a lighter side here as well, particularly in the strong trio that wind up the album: The Attic recasts her sound in a euphoric drum n bass clatter whilst closer Prove It kicks up a remarkable blend of manic hyperpop and gentle electro-balladry, whilst still working in the rich emotional palette that she’s developed in recent years.

In one sense this is a huge departure from the frenetic punk of last year’s Stagger EP but the vibes here stake out territory that you’d still find oddly familiar. Some of the gothy ballads are less immediate than other songs but nothing on Zig is boring, just varying refinements on her ever evolving musical journey. The critics were split, occasionally rattled and sometimes just plain baffled, but that’s only to be expected by now. Poppy follows her own plan and rarely sticks to the same tune: in truth it’s a privilege just to be a witness to the chaos.

Sweeping Promises - Good Living Is Coming For You

One thing that I find missing in a lot of modern guitar based music is snappy songs with good catchy hooks. While Sweeping Promises appear to place their focus elsewhere - their high concept sound is best understood as someone broadcasting direct from 1979 through a wristwatch speaker - their second album still finds time to deliver fully on the tunes. Good Living Is Coming To You is steeped in bubblegum melodies and memorable choruses, with songs that become earworms before you’ve even registered how catchy they are.

More than anything, it's dominated by Lira Mondal’s imperious vocals: whether it’s in the cascading harmonies of Throw Of The Dice, the fierce yells and hisses that close out the title track or her sweet voiced switch-outs on Ideal No, her character springs out of every song in a way that few singers ever really manage to impose. While you might think that the post punk era has been mined to death by now, Sweeping Promises drag new life into it by going back further: their sound may be heavily rooted in a specific moment but the elements of songcraft often have more in common with 60s girl group classics than gnarled art rockers. Ten bangers and no filler: Good Living Is Coming For You is everything I wanted from it and more.

Wednesday - Rat Saw God

While the queasy vibes of 2021’s Twin Plagues are still high in the mix here, it was the welcome injection of melody on Wednesday's third album that managed to alert the media. That lightness was more apparent in Karly Hartzman's lyrics than you might notice on a passing listen too: though often praised for her grimly amusing takes on middle American backwaters, the key to them was her deceptively soft touch, casting a sympathetic eye over grisly scenes even as she retained their gnarlier undertones.

Single Chosen To Deserve, with its crunching chorus and heartwarming romantic turnaround, feels like the designated big moment from the record but in reality Rat Saw God has an embarrassment of riches. Quarry in particular, with its Waterloo Sunset-esque signature and matter-of-fact dissection of grim local gossip, is an almost pop version of the most haunting aspects of Hartzman's craft, while the washed out bounce of closer TV in the Gas Pump pitches a lonelier scene in a similarly gorgeous manner.

This is not to forget that Wedneday can still rock extremely hard when they want to, especially on the brutal 8 minute Bull Believer, an ambitious multipart epic that ends with Hartzman screaming “FINISH HIM!!!” repeatedly over the chaotic finale. But while Rat Saw God brought this kind of sawtoothed sound back to widespread acclaim, its real trick was how it sugared the pill just enough to get it past even the most determinedly sweet tooth.

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gerogerigaogaigar · 12 days

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We're almost at the end. Since this is the gay sex website or whatever I've put together a list of lgbtq+ rappers. This list obviously trends a little more towards the modern scene and a little more obscure. But there are definitely some very big names here.

TERROR PACKETS Backxwash is my favorite modern rapper. She's a trans woman who often raps about trans issues. She needs to be more popular. please I need people to listen to her she is so good and I want queer horrorcore to be A Thing.

New York Angel Haze's relationship to gender is "I don't consider myself of any sex. I consider myself an experience." I like the beat on this song, just that fuzzy bass hit and claps to help emphasize his bouncy flow.

Georgia You probably know him from rap crew Brockhampton, but Kevin Abstract's solo work is arguably better for the way it blends hip-hop and R&B. Kevin Abstract is an out and proud gay man and he sings about it frequently.

MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) You know this one. Lil Nas X kinda surprised me when he put out an entire album that was actually good start to finish, but the lead single still stands out as one of the best pop rap tunes I've ever heard.

WAP Once again, You know what this is. Both Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion have come out as bisexual. And when you consider how often both women rap about pussy it's clear they weren't really trying to hide it.

Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.) Princess Nokia feels like they should be bigger. Their music is catchy, a little experimental and brings a bit of punk influence. Their back to back 2020 releases Everything Sucks and Everything Is Beautiful ought to be on more people's mind. Oh and Princess Nokia is bi and uses she/they pronouns.

Rent Bounce music is still a little way from being mainstream, but once people start paying attention they're gonna be bumping Big Freedia nonstop. You might recognize her voice from Beyonce's hit Break My Soul. Her genre defining style blends hip-hop and dance music in a way unique to the New Orleans club scene. Big Freedia identifies as a gay male, but also is okay with any pronouns and acknowledges that a lot of her style and gender presentation is based on the local drag scene.

Don Dada Cakes Da Killa is one of the more popular gay rappers out there. Don Dada has a groovy house beat that gives his voice a nice bounce.

SORRY NOT SORRY Odd Future alumni Tyler, The Creator had been hinting for a bit that he might be bi and this song from his most recent album confirms it. On top of that it is a great dialogue between the two sides of himself, the one that feels insecure for his past behavior and the side that wants to be proud of himself.

Ladies First The first female rap star recently introduced the world to her girlfriend. So it looks like there have been queer rappers as far back as the 80's. Looking back at her biggest hit I guess it is about loving women when you get down to it.

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marmie-noir · 1 year

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Dance like no one is watching :: A Miguel O’hara ficlet

We stan Lyla in this house. Also, I am so down bad for this man it’s disgusting. I have this image in my brain of a geneticist spider who instead of fighting focuses on documenting all the spider men that join up with the society and also works with Miguel to help him make anything he needs really. The dynamic has so much cute potential! The spiderlings, the name you had lovingly chosen for the younger spiders in the Spider Society, were really the ones to blame. It started with Miles, the teenager always having sort of song playing when he would swing on his webs. You had been pulling data from Lyla’s data bank when it had come through, the AI apparently listening in as well.

Then, it was Gwen, the charming white suited crusader having a more laid back music taste. You’d also snatched a few of her audio clips through Lyla as well, the AI all too happy to have someone to share the data with as Miguel was apparently not interested in music. Then came Hobie. He listened to everything. From punk metal to romance ballads to even some pop music that had you raising a brow. But still, Lyla gave it to you, delighted as she delivered the data while appearing in her little holo-form on your workbench as you slaved away in the labs.

You weren’t sure who had brought this song to your attention, which one of those adorably frustratingly talented young people had been jamming to this specific beat, but it was stuck in your head. Finally, after days of humming it and finding yourself swaying to it while mixing test tubes you gave in. “Lyla, play the damn song.” “You got it boss!” Lyla sounded almost giddy, the music bumping over the speaker system that was in the labs. Normally it acted more as paging, or played relaxing music while you were hunched over your slides and microscopes, but it appeared to be at least semi-decent as the familiar beat pounded through the mid-sized labs space. It was addictive in an annoying way, the beat and the singer’s voice making you do more than just swing your hips. Before long you had an empty beaker standing in place of a microphone. You were mid-serenade to a full sized Lyla complete with some of your best dance moves when the sound of someone clearing their throat had you jumping nearly a foot in the air, throwing the glass beaker at the intruder. Miguel’s large hand easily caught the glass, lowering it to his side with a raised brow and placing it on the desk. It looked so small in his huge hands, your own eyes lingering there before moving up to meet the crimson of his. “Oh, um, Miguel hi.” You tried to play it cool, brushing your hair behind your ear before your fingers tangled together behind your back. The music was still bumping and he watched you for a few seconds in silence before Lyla thankfully turned it down a bit before shutting it off completely. “What, uh, what brings you to the lab?” You asked, fighting off the blush that was threatening to consume you whole. It didn’t help that his eyes lingered on your face, a little smile touching his lips before his mask fell back in place. “Lyla said you had something for me?” Your eyes snapped to the AI who chose that moment to disappear from view, her holographic self blinking out of existence. Feeling more alone now than you had with the illusion of a friend you turn to face him once more.

“I guess I do have the read out of Earth-8411’s Peter.” You said, looking down at the watch on your wrist and passing the data over. “Oh, now that you are here, could you give me more venom when you have a chance? I’ve burned through what you gave me before.”

He raised a brow but went to sit down on one of the backless stools spread throughout the work space. “Hand me a vial, I can give you some now.” He offered, voice deep and filling the space.

You move to grab a tube, approaching to hand it to him. Normally Miguel would bring you vials of the stuff for you to research, never had you seen him gather it yourself.

Opening his mouth you watched with absolute fascination as his fangs grew and he placed a fang in the narrow glass vial. His eyes narrowed just a touch but then a thick yellow tinted venom slowly flowed from the long white fang. Once the vial was half full he lowered it, the fangs slowly going back to their more manageable size and he licked at the one he had used, almost out of habit.

Holding the vial out to you it took you a few moments to grab it from him, fingers brushing slightly, finding the vial warm. “I’d give you more but I think I’m heading out and I’d like to have more just in case.” He said, looking up at you slightly as he was seated you were not. “Is that enough?” Glancing down at the vial you nod before looking back at him. “I’m so jealous. I want fangs.” That had both his eyebrows going up and his lips quirking in a smirk. “Really? They were kind of a pain to get used to.” “Oh, I’m sure, but like just dropping them like that? And having the toxin? That has to be sick, especially mid-fight if you wanna just make someone go to sleep quick you just have to make your suit do that cool thing you programmed it to do and-” You placed the half full vial in storage, capping it carefully. Turning to meet his amused eyes you pause and find you had been practically fangirling right in front of him. “I mean, it’s just different from all the other spiders and all, you are interesting. Scientifically.” Good cover. His expression didn’t change, a quiet amusement in the lines of his face. “Yes, well. Thank you for the files, let me know when you need more venom.” Miguel said, turning and giving you his broad back as he went to leave the labs. Pausing near the door he called over his shoulder “Lyla, resume music.” The familiar beats began to fill the labs again, leaving you a blushing mess hiding behind your hands at your workstation, missing the little smile on his lips.

#miguel o'hara #spiderman #spiderman 2099 #miguelxreader #lylaisbestwingman #not beta'd #spellingerrorsbetweenmeandgod

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polyamorouspunk · 23 days

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Happy Friday!!

I have so many projects going on man I'm going crazy lol. I think some of the projects need put on hold until I save up for a decent sewing machine though.

But I've got my garden going again, and my coworkers gave me a deadline to write a childrens book based on doodles, and Im working on my zine that for some reason I can only open in chrome(???), and I wanna do a little research with my punk 101 posts, and also I need to do research that Im not really in the mood for so I can make that music map.

Oh and also I'm going to see Radium Girls (a play) tomorrow with a friend, and I'm debating if I'm going back to my college sunday for my friends graduation, but I dont really want to cause its gonna be raining. And also also, Some (different) co-workers wanna play dnd with me, but I dont think I'd like playing with them just from knowing them for a few months but I dont know how to be like 'no', but also Im on a HUGE dnd kick (I got new converse I need to show off btw) but have no one to play with and that makes me sad, but I dont want to play with people who will make it not fun for me :(

But how are you? How was your week? Any fun plans??? (side note: do you like dnd, just out of curiousity?)

I ain’t making people scroll though this

My week has been… better. Better than last week. Monday I took a day trip to Virginia Beach by myself to kind of clear my head and my soul, purge some of that pain and negative energy. Last night when you sent this though it kind of just… came back… which is why I didn’t answer this then.

Tomorrow I’m going out with my family to some botanical garden that only opens like 4 times a year or something to the public. We’re bringing lunch with us so I guess we’ll be eating together somewhere, maybe at the gardens.

I’m counting down the days until I fly back to CT to go see Electric Callboy with my friends, and then hopefully go to the aquarium with my gf + friends. Other than that I don’t have any plans for that trip. I still have to tell my brother + my other friend when I’ll be up, I just feel like any spare moment I have I use to recover some psychological HP.

I’m going from working 30+ hours a week to only 3 days a week soon because we’re getting self checkout on Monday. Hopefully I can use that time to work on some things for @prideful-things-shop, mainly the snowglobe tumblers (don’t worry, you’re getting one of the Eeveelution ones).

I’m still waiting to hear back if we can go to that concert and trying to book my tattoo appointment for that Friday.

I LOVE Radium Girls, I read the book, it’s one of my favorite books. I know they turned it into a play and a movie, but I haven’t seen either of them. I actually grew up near one of the locations in the book. They put a mall right next to it, so that’s where I used to go to the mall. I’ve never been to the clock factory, but it’s a museum now. Maybe I can add that to the list of things to do when I go back home. It’s also right across the highway from one of those defunct Jesus theme parks. I’ve wanted to visit that too.

I’ve never played DnD, but my friends made a game that’s similar and I was part of the pilot test group for that, and apparently they’re still playing all these years later. It’s been almost a decade.

My mom wants to make raised beds but we haven’t gotten that far yet. She wants a saw, just hasn’t been able to spare the money for it yet. I’ve offered to get it for her but she declined. We were looking at them while I was looking for the drill I bought for the tumblers. She has a lot of potted plants though lining the porch, including some herbs, and I think she’s planning on some carrots and cherry tomatoes.

I’ve been studying the sub-genres of metal music for a while, basically so that I can ID a song/band by it’s genre and guide people towards recommendations based on what they already listen to (country, pop, rap, etc.). The idea of making a music map sounds really exciting, I would love to do some research for something like that (like I said, I’m already using spare time to do that on my own anyway).

I’m really hoping once I have more free time I can also go back to working on my patch pants. My grandma bought us a sewing machine from the thrift store she works at, and she taught my mom how to use it, and my mom has used it to make pillow cases for outside pillows, but she didn’t buy outdoor fabric and they faded quickly. This year I paid for some outdoor fabric we picked out together along with some more fabric for my patches, so I’m turning our front porch into a fruit-themed area, which my mom isn’t really thrilled about but I’m the one paying for everything, so…

The other day there was a big snake on the front porch and my mom had to kill it. It was a pretty rough experience for both of us. We have a cat that lives on our front porch which is who found it, and then our neighbor has a cat who lives on her front porch, and we’ve had snakes get in the house before, and now we have indoor cats, so it’s just a risk we can’t take. It made me reflect a lot about city vs country life and a lot of things tied to that (poverty, race, queerness, etc.).

Here’s to hoping we can both have a relaxing but productive summer, and I’ll see you soon xoxo

#punk gets mail

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stan-the-cinnamon-roll-uris · 2 years

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After thinking about the whole using your favourite song to get free of Vecna concept for a bit I started wondering how the group would react to their favourite songs post-Vecna.

Because even just talking from my own experience, even the best songs can absolutely be ruined by trauma.

So in the end, once Vecna is dead and everything is said and done, I imagine it's gonna go something like this:

Max who survives Vecna in the end. Battered and bruised, almost blind and bound to a wheelchair but she survives. And she still has Lucas. She still has her friends that care for her and look after her, her found family, only that now whenever she hears Kate Bush, she ends up with full blown anxiety attacks, feeling like she's back in that horrible place in the Upside Down. Not just with "Running up that hill" but Kate Bush in general because it's the singer's voice that is branded into her brain now.

Eddie, who gets released from the hospital after the group barely got him out of the Upside Down alive and immediately sets up a date for a Corroded Coffin band rehearsal even though he's supposed to take it slow but this is all he ever wanted to do. His trip to hell and back is all he thinks about in the days leading up to their band meet up and the fact that he helped save the world with a Metallica song and his own electric guitar. But once he sits in front of his waiting band mates his hands freeze. And he tries to play, just like he remembers doing in the Upside Down, he can almost feel it in his fingertips, too, but sitting there in Gareth's garage he can't. It's like his hands are stuck to the strings and his throat closes up and his healing bites start itching again and it's not fair because that's his song now and he was so certain they'd kill it at their next gig but Eddie can't. Not that song. Never again.

Now, Nancy is the one that never really cared much about music but she cares a lot about being prepared, especially after getting dragged into everything with the Upside Down. Nancy, who is the one collecting all of their favourite songs, neatly putting them on a list and fixing up a mixtape for her car. Thankfully she never has to use it but she can never bring herself to throw it out, either, because what if the time comes where they need to be prepared again? So instead it ends up getting banished to her glove department. Never able to throw it away, but unable to look at it without shuddering, either.

Or Robin who didn't even know what song to chose in case of a Vecna emergency because her favourite song changes daily. Robin's cassette collection at home is diverse and excessive, as her mom loves to remind her, but it's just hard when sometimes she needs to listen to the same 5 songs for a month and other times it feels like she needs to listen to 100 different songs a day. Even when Nancy comes to her about the mixtape she's not sure she even chose the right song so she just ends up doing her own mixtape. She keeps it with her until the day Vecna is defeated before crashing it under one of the Beamer's tires as Steve is finally teaching her how to drive.

And lastly Steve who always listened to Queen, Abba, Madonna and everything pop on the radio but after almost losing several of his friends it's just not the same. Everytime he listens to "I want to break free" now, he remembers Russian spies and finding Eddie half dead in Dustin's arms and watching Max at the hospital getting wheeled into surgery and he gets anxious and there's so much anger now. Robin and Dustin have tried to get him into different styles of music before and now there's Eddie who only ever talks about Metal and that's not quite it but turns out Punk works quite well when you want to scream it out alone in the car.

#feel free to add to this please #I know there's a bunch of characters missing but these where the ones I couldn't stop thinking about #stranger things #vecna #max mayfield #Steve harrington #eddie munson #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #lumax

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