#more eps than albums are no-skip for me

[d-criss-news]

Evan Rachel Wood, Darren Criss on Stepping Into ‘Little Shop of Horrors’: “We’re Both These Little Theater ’90s Nerds”

The 'Westworld' actress and 'American Crime Story' star open up about deciding to take the stage together, personal connections to their characters, and their love for Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.

It’s early afternoon on a Friday when Darren Criss and Evan Rachel Wood pick up the phone, just five days before the duo is set to debut as the new Seymour and Audrey in off-Broadway‘s Little Shop of Horrors. Both are on their way to the Westside Theatre stage for their first top to bottom run-through, taking over the complicated but beloved characters based on Roger Corman’s 1960 horror comedy and deftly adapted for the stage by theater legends Howard Ashman (book and lyrics) and Alan Menken (music). Now in its fifth year, several notable names have left their mark on this U.S. revival of the dark goings-on of a Skid Row flower shop: Jonathan Groff, Jeremy Jordan, Conrad Ricamora, Corbin Bleu, Constance Wu, Maude Apatow, Tammy Blanchard, Lena Hall. But none quite like this, as an intentional leap together among friends.

As the interview begins, Wood — who is already at the theater — openly wonders whether she should take the elevator down to where she’ll soon meet co-star and friend Criss, before quickly interjecting that “you might lose me for two seconds.” Meanwhile, Criss declares he opted to skip the subway after realizing he was running behind, as he briefly turns on his Zoom camera to reveal himself in the backseat of a car.

Later, his voice will drop out for a few minutes, before reappearing, sounding winded. “I have my ear pods in, and so I just got out of the car talking to you guys, and you cut out,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Then I looked at the car driving away, so I just sprinted down the block to grab it.” This frantic energy is reminiscent of what you can find within this kind of scrappy, fast-paced, off-Broadway musical environment in the final days before curtains go up. As replacements, Criss and Wood will do so with less time to rehearse and no preview audiences on which to test their performances, but that doesn’t seem to phase either of them. Instead, with their easy and fun rapport, the duo celebrate the challenge of what it means to be passed this mantle for a three-month run, beginning Jan. 30. On Tuesday, Wood will make her New York theater debut, a long-awaited moment for the actress who grew up with a father (Ira David Wood III) as an actor, playwright and theater director in her hometown of Raleigh. With her early stage ambitions sidelined by a burgeoning film career — later including movie musicals like Frozen II and Across the Universe — the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated Wood will finally return to her performance roots, a year after news of her attachment to a possible Thelma & Louise musical adaptation for Broadway.

Little Shop of Horrors will also mark Criss’ first return to New York’s musical theater world since a multi-week replacement run in 2015 as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. On the phone, he’s adamant that, absent traditional musical theater training, he’s fooled the world into thinking he’s more than an “actor trying to act like he knows how to sing.” But with several EPs, a Christmas album, Billboard-charting work with StarKids Productions, and roles in musical-driven screen projects like Glee and Hazbin Hotel, it’s hard not to believe that the Emmy and SAG award-winning performer, like Wood, will be right at home. Ahead of their debut, the duo spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about sharing the stage, the impact of Little Shop of Horrors across the stage and screen, their love of Ashman and Menken, and why these roles are personally resonant and remain culturally timely. Darren, you said in a previous interview that you had been begging Evan to come do theater in New York for years. How did you make that happen now and for you both together? CRISS Let me just start by saying as much as I can before she can hear me. I’m in a regular habit of just exalting Evan for her talent. I’d done this before I even had the great privilege of getting to know and become friends with her. I’m always talking about how wonderfully talented she is and how I’ve always really loved her voice and her breadth of ability. When I meet people who are these wonderful triple threats that have a really strong theatrical background — people who can sing and don’t have as many opportunities as I wish they did — I get off on the idea of people who didn’t know that they could do this thing finally getting to see that they could do this thing.

Evan has done a lot of singing in her life. She’s literally a Disney princess for Frozen II and there’s obviously Across the Universe. But knowing that she has this really strong theatrical background, I’ve always been hell-bent on getting her on a stage. As a friend, she has popped up on many gigs with me in my personal life just for fun and parties I’ve thrown. She showed up for me on the Christmas album. She’s said yes to me far more many times than I frankly deserve. So when this came around, a lot of my colleagues — a lot of my friends — have been Seymour, and who loves theater that doesn’t love Little Shop of Horrors? It would be a really fun time for me, but the thing that would make it really, really special is if I had got the chance to do it with an Audrey that not only I thought really could bring something spectacular to the role, but on a personal level, this is off-Broadway. We’re all doing this scrappy theater thing in a basement together. If we’re going to live on top of each other might as well be someone but I’m also personally very fond of and have a wonderful relationship with. So short story that’s way too long, I went to Evan and said “Hey, I have an idea. Would you be available to do this?” and thank my lucky stars, she said yes. I’m just a pig in shit, getting to do this with her. It’s an absolute joy. Evan, what’s your response to that glowing review, but also, why did you want to make this show your off-Broadway New York theater debut?

WOOD Funny enough, I have been so close to being on Broadway a handful of times and something has always come in the way of scheduling or something falls apart. It was actually my dream as a kid. I went back and read some old interviews of mine when I was around 12 or 13, and I completely had forgotten that my dream was to go live in New York, go to NYU, and do theater in New York. That was where my sights were set before my life sort of got derailed for a moment. So it’s always been in my sights. It’s gotten increasingly harder over the years to make it work, especially if you have kids, to be away from home for such long periods of time. Usually, the theater commitments are an amount of time that I was just never able to do and so the timing was perfect because I was thinking to myself, “God, I wish I could go to New York and do a play, but maybe not a six-month run. Maybe something around three months. A classic musical that’s going to be really fun.” Darren called me maybe a week later and said, “I’d love for you to come and do it with me,” and it was like an instant yes. To piggyback on what Darren said, I feel very similarly about Darren and that whenever he’s asked me to do something, I just know it’s going to be great. I know it’s going to be fun and I fully believe in everything that he does and his talent. We’re both these little theater ’90s nerds that just hit it off in so many ways, and we collaborate well together. I just felt like we would like this project. It’s made so much sense for both of us that it was a no-brainer.

Little Shop of Horrors is one of those musicals that even people who aren’t big fans of musical theater and attend regularly are aware of, both in terms of story and music. Among the many adaptations of this, whether it was a professional or high school staging or even any of the movie versions, was there one that made you want to do this show? CRISS I’ll say this. As hip of an aura as I’ve tried to give off, make no mistake, I think the biggest gateway to this property for everybody is hands down the movie. I was not seeing off off Broadway theater in the 1980s. I wasn’t there, and that’s why I love movie musicals so much. As much as I love going to the theater, being able to go to a Broadway show is a very specific and privileged situation tied to being in New York City. But whether it’s a liked or celebrated movie, it is still going to be the most accessible thing in perpetuity for everybody. So definitely the movie and those songs. Before you can really understand the complexities of the thematic, Faustian elements and high dramaturgical elements of the story — and before you even get the comedy — you get the music. Especially when you’re really young and your parents are playing you things that you go, “OK, well, kids can get behind music.” It doesn’t take much to understand that the music from that show is beloved. I mean, this music and this show are like proto-Disney Renaissance. It’s like what got [Jeffrey] Katzenberg to ask Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to help them out. It was like, “We want to do some Disney musical fairy tales.” Now, because of the show, we have The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast.

I grew up in the ’90s, as me and Evan tend to relate upon a lot. With The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and these films that I loved so much, as I got older, I really wanted to know more about the people behind them. I became obsessed with, and I talk a lot about, Howard Ashman and how much of an influence he’s had on the musical theater genre ever since the popularity of those films. So I wanted to go back to the start of that, and that’s when I started to dive into Little Shop and discover how this was the sort of nexus — the genesis — of everything. WOOD Yeah, same. I grew up watching the film and being so terrified by it, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. I grew up doing theater. My father runs a theater in Raleigh, North Carolina, and so that was my childhood. I was always listening to show tunes, and as Darren said, the classic Disney albums, acting out plays in my living room and Little Mermaid was certainly one of them. Ellen Greene’s performance always stuck with me, and I am also a major Howard Ashman-Alan Menkin nerd for similar reasons as Darren. Those were all things that drew me to it. I was really terrified about and still am terrified about being eaten by the plant because it was like a deep seated childhood fear of mine that I had to conquer to do this show. It’s stuck with me since childhood. It’s not as bad as you would think. But it’s still pretty scary. Also just a fun fact, I was cast as Audrey in the seventh-grade school play, but I couldn’t do it because I was doing movies. (Laughs.) So I got pulled out of school, but I was almost Audrey in seventh grade.

CRISS You aged into it well. This is a much more appropriate time in your life being Audrey than in seventh grade, so worked out just great. (Laughs.) I just have to say, this production, we both have our careers going on and different dragons that we’re chasing in our professional and personal lives that committing to a big Broadway production is a huge investment. What’s so wonderful about this is, the way the show is set up, we can kind of come in for just a little bit. It’s really high output but like low stakes — and I don’t want to say that to be reductive of the production. I mean that the show is beloved. There are people that know this show but have never seen it, and have heard of it and know the songs without ever even having tried to listen and know the songs. So it’s so culturally ubiquitous, that it’s a very, welcome accessible thing for all kinds of folks and that might cross-pollinate between me and Evan’s demographic of people who might be interested in us. Also, it’s been running for long enough that I feel protected. I’ve seen this production several times. Evan and I went just last night. It’s something that you don’t have to figure out. One of the hardest parts about getting a show up on its feet is like, does it work? Do we want this song in? We got to do with an audience and you really have to workshop stuff for a long time. Shows take years before they’ve reached mainstream Broadway, so the fact that all that legwork is taken out is a no-brainer for us. It’s just this really like warm snuggle from something that we really love.

You’re right in that this is not a traditional production experience for you, as you’re coming in after others, and you have less rehearsal time, no previews. What have the challenges or exciting elements of that been for you so far? WOOD I don’t know about you, Darren, but I feel like one of the reasons why I said yes to doing this with you is because this is kind of where you and I thrive — in the fast-paced chaos. I need a challenge sometimes. I need that adrenaline and I need that fast pace, especially if I’m coming in to do theater. That’s where I grew up, and that’s what I’m used to. That’s where home is for me. So coming back into the theater into the organized chaos of it all feels right. My brain loves it and thrives off of it. When somebody says “Oh, this is a really hard number to learn,” I think, “This is going to be my favorite number.” (Laughs.) I love figuring something out, and picking it apart piece by piece and putting it back together, then conquering it. There’s just such satisfaction that comes from doing that there, Darren, and I think it’s similar for you. CRISS It is kind of a party trick some people are quick studies of, for better or for worse. I think this kind of pace suits us. I think it’s something that we wear pretty well, and I think we do that a lot in our own lives. But to do it together is pretty fun. I’ve thrown Evan into all kinds of things where she’ll just show up knowing a whole song last minute. That’s not too dissimilar, and it’s not like we’re learning new music. We know these songs.

In the theater world, you learn a track. It’s literally a track — there are little railroad tracks set around the stage because there’s no follow spots. The lights are where they are. You don’t have to do hours of tech rehearsal, figuring out where the lighting cues are. They’re there. It is our job to jump into a machine that is already very well-oiled and running. So in that regard, you’re kind of free from having to worry about that stuff. But you can just focus on your characterization and nuance within these very, specific directives. I’ve done a few put-ins. I think this is probably your first, Evan, for a show that’s already going. Correct me if I’m wrong. WOOD I did learn, for the record, Baz Luhrmann in one night and performed it the next night. CRISS Case and point. So yeah, doing a put-in — I’ve done it a few times for Broadway — it’s nice because then you can just focus on the little things that you really want to play with and not worry about these big macro things. What’s funny is that people always say, “Oh, I love Broadway music. I love Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors.” The word Broadway is often conflated with the music from narrative storytelling, whether it be from films or TV. This show was always an off-Broadway darling. It was only really on Broadway for a little bit in 2003. Beyond that, it’s the movie and this off-off-Broadway show, which started in the ’80s and ran for a pretty long time. Then in just so many regional and school productions. But it’s actually only been on Broadway for a minority of the time.

WOOD And that was intentional, right? It was really important to them to keep it off Broadway because that was the spirit of the show. It was on Skid Row. It wasn’t supposed to be a big huge glitzy production. CRISS When you contextualize it, it’s a famous show now, but if you’re in the ’80s, and you’ve got some big Broadway musicals happening uptown, and you’re trying to tell your friends, “Yeah, I saw this thing downtown. You got to come. It’s kind of this doo-wop that’s based of this Roger Corman B-movie. There’s a plant that’s a puppet but it’s hard to explain. You just got to come down and see it.” (Laughs.) Trying to contextualize that, it makes you realize this really is a weird thing, man. It’s a weird, off-the-beaten-path, outlying renegade show. You’ve both done musicals in different mediums, which is, obviously, a different process. Was there anything you brought in with you about doing it on-screen to your performances now? WOOD It’s kind of the opposite for me. I’ve carried theater into my film work because I started in theater, so I learned how to do things fluidly and without stopping. There’s a lot of stop and start in TV and film and sometimes that’s nice. But sometimes it’s frustrating, especially when you come from a theater background. There’s something so satisfying about telling the story from beginning to end and playing the entire arc of the character in one go. There’s just a certain energy and an aliveness that comes with that that you can’t have when you have the camera in the room and it’s constantly moving and starting and stopping and changing.

CRISS I would say the same thing. I don’t know if this math checks out, but I think I’ve spent in my collective hours working in any kind of performing art more time in a theater than I have on a set. That might not be true, but in my mind, it feels that way. I constantly feel like I’m bringing what I know in the theater to film and television. I’d always prefer to be doing theater, but these days, listen, I’ll work anywhere, anyhow. As long as, hopefully, it’s positive, and additive to the world in some way. The theater, without getting on a total spiritual kick, it is a holy place. It’s an ancient art form. It is catharsis. It is sharing something with people in real-time before your very eyes. It’s why, despite the fact that we have TV and film and every possible AR, VR medium to displace our reality, theater is still around. It’s why we go to church, why we go to temple, why we go to the mosque — so we can experience something that we collectively want to believe in. We’re strangers and we want to elevate ourselves to something that’s bigger than the sum of our parts. I realize I said I didn’t want to get into a whole spiritual thing with it, but there you go. That can only happen after the fact, months if not years after you do it in a film set.

Evan and I are about to do our first put-in rehearsal, which is to say, we’re going to do the whole thing top to bottom, but there will be a key character missing, and that is the audience. The audience is one of the main characters of any show. And as much as you’d not want to break the fourth wall — that they’re not supposed to be there — of course, they’re there. Of course, that’s why we’re there — to have that kind of sacred communion with an audience giving you the privilege of their presence. You have a responsibility and a duty to make sure that you are sharing some kind of worthwhile experience with them. So getting to renew that experience every night, to me, is the most noble vocation that you can have as an artist.

WOOD I learned how to sing before I learned how to act because I wanted to do musical theater. So this is my favorite thing to do. Of all the mediums is being able to marry the singing and the acting together. Always my first love. CRISS I’m still learning how to do those two things, which is why Evan Rachel Wood is in this production — to teach me how to do those things. (Laughs.) Part of why shows like Little Shop go on for so long — why they can get this many revivals or adaptations — is that there’s something timeless about the story and its characters. For you, what is most timeless about Seymour and Audrey? Amid all the other actors who have taken on these roles, what are you most connecting to? WOOD From what I understand, everybody that’s come in to do the show brings their own energy and spin on it. Especially with Audrey — Ellene Greene, her performance is so iconic. The look, the voice, the songs. So stepping into that is figuring out how I pay homage to the parts of this character that people love and expect to see, but also bring my vibe and energy to it. That’s exciting to figure out what my Audrey looks like. For me, it’s also hard not to relate to her and her struggles because, unfortunately, those are very timeless — poverty, abuse, patriarchy. She’s sort of a victim of all of those things. Not to get too real for a second, but I am a domestic violence survivor playing this character who is going through similar struggles, who has these similar feelings and dreams of getting out and going to a better place and getting far, far away from her past. They’re all very real things, but they’re in this setting of campiness and horror. What’s amazing about the show for me is that it is fun. It is campy. There are man-eating plants. But there’s such sincerity to it as well. Especially with Audrey, Seymour, and their relationship. There are so many beautiful real moments between the two of them. Themes of poverty and capitalism are still just so prevalent that that’s why it’s so timeless because these things just are not going away.

CRISS I’m glad Evan mentioned her own experience and what that brings to the show. I think, for my money, pathos is a dish best served sweet. Comedy and fun are a wonderful support system for really heavy themes. WOOD Exactly. CRISS I think I’m that I’m more likely to take something more seriously if it’s not shoved down my throat. This is a comedy and to me, there’s not a lick of fat on this thing from Howard Ashman who was just such an extraordinary dramaturg. He took this really silly B-movie, and managed to hone in on the very ancient themes. You’re asking what makes Seymour so timeless. It’s a Faustian tale. This is the one of the oldest fables asking what is the price of greatness. What is a man willing to do, willing to give up, willing to trade to get what he wants? WOOD He literally sells his soul. CRISS Yeah, he sells his soul. The plant is Mephistopheles in this parable of Little Shop. But, of course, if you’re going go downtown and say, “I’m going to do a show. It’s like a Faust thing, and Mephistopheles shows up,” you can see people’s eyes glaze over. Well, how about it’s this guy, there’s music that is evocative of what was popular in the late ’50s, but the plant sings. It’s sci-fi, but it’s horror, but it’s fun, and it’s comedy. Now you have my attention, now I’m subscribing to the fun and the music. But by the end of it, I’m experiencing a classic, traditional, academic tale in a really fun way. When you said there’s been millions of iterations of this show, my mind went to, there’s been millions of iterations of this story. This is probably just one of the funniest ones I can think of.

There is ancientness to this tale. I’ve realized recently I’ve made a lot of my roles, especially in the Broadway world, about people who would do anything to accomplish greatness. To varying degrees of evil or good or compromise, people are always trying to figure out what it is they have to do, and what they have to give up. What line they would cross to get it. A lot of times people are kind of conflicted [watching Little Shop of Horrors] because you are rooting for this guy doing this thing, but he’s doing something terrible. Does that make you complicit? Are you a bad person for wanting this? All those things are the bread and butter of good old-fashioned drama.

#darren criss #evan rachel wood #the hollywood reporter #little shop of horrors #little shop of horros bway #press #jan 2024

[munchboxart]

I watched Bee and Puppycat Lazy in Space last night since I heard that they re-animated the first few eps. I did watch the originals and seasons 1-2 back when it came out. I'm kind of mixed, Bee and Puppycat has always had awkward pacing issues but to me it was kind of endearing, but uhm, good lord it was more obvious in the re-animated episodes. I do like that they added more context to Bee/Puppycat's history, I love it a lot, I was hoping to see more of it in the later episodes 😭

I am kind of sad that a couple of the episodes were mega shortened to just short mentions, like Bee's Birthday job at Cloud World or whatever. I think the part I was a little more sad about was the "What's your favorite color?" part, it felt a little more rushed, I guess it was just trying to fit in Bee's Dad bit and them going to the Glitch Gorge scene, rather than just ending it there like in the original and having the scenes of Cardamons Mom and Deckard.

The rest of the episodes were just all of the "season 2" one's, which are pretty good. To be fair, I did skip a good chunk of it after learning it was just Season 2 again so if they added new scenes, I might have not known about it.

Other than that, uhmmm Moully is still one of my favorite characters (Wesley, Crispin, Puppycat, etc. too). For soundtrack, I am so upset that the Funny Lying OST where Space Outlaw and Violet are shown for the first time together to candy hunt are not in the album, it make's me so mad, that is one of my favorite OSTs and it's not in ANY OF THE ALBUMS RAHHHHHHHHHHH

Anyways I do recommend watching it if you want a slice of life thing, though maybe watch the first original season over the one on Netflix, but do note that it is a little longer than the one on Netflix, as it's all been condensed down to 3 episodes rather than it's original 10(?)

Edit: one last thing that I just remembered, I didn't like (or I guess I feel mixed) about the episode of Deckard going to the culinary school. I thought it went by a little too fast and Bee already knowing what letter it was without reading it (assumingly, and also the recycling bin should be way too dark for her to read in there 💀 unless she has night vision. What I DO like is that they made her being a robot more obvious and "accepted" (for a lack of better words) and just calling her a weird old young woman or something 😭 It makes the scenes of her thinking about how much time she has in the world settle a little longer, which I like

#i love bee and puppycat. i watched it as a kid when it first came out #im rlly happy to see it evolve so much. unfort i think im gonna be 35 when it gets another season #etc

[toomuchracket]

Flatmate! / Dad! Matty universe. The band accepting an award. Matty doing the speech. After he has done all of the formalities, he says (and IMAGINE this in his voice)

“and lastly, but most importantly to me, I want to thank my family. Everything I do is for you. Thank you. I love you so so much, my darlings’.

And you’re wiping a tear away, sat at the band’s table in the venue. Your children are at home, watching with Denise, cheering because ‘daddy is on telly’.

oh my god... ok, your little one is three and your eldest is five or six, and denise is over at yours watching them while you and matty are at the brits. obsessed with the idea that the two of them were proper curious while mummy and daddy were getting ready, and that they've put their own party clothes on to celebrate the evening too, despite not actually going to the ceremony :')) matty's like to you "honestly, if you didn't look so stunning tonight i'd literally suggest we just skip the whole thing and stay here to have a party with the girls", and you're like "if i didn't look so good? what about the prestigious 'outstanding contribution to music' award you and the boys are being presented with tonight?". and matty's like "no yeah of course that's great, but the real important thing for tonight is me getting to show off how hot my wife is on national tv" and he calls the girls over like "isn't mummy extra beautiful tonight?", and they're like mesmerised by your sparkly dress giving it "you look like a princess, mummy!" which sets them off on a "let's go and watch the little mermaid" moment lol. and matty's like "can't believe they'd rather watch the little mermaid than their own parents and uncles on tv smh", and you laugh when denise responds "you've got some cheek saying that, matthew, you were exactly the same when you were their age" - while matty cringes, she promises you that she'll make sure they see the boys get their award and then kicks you out of the house like "you're going to be late, go on!"

anyway, the ceremony is all chill - the boys do their red carpet pics, the significant others join them for a couple, then each pair gets a little individual shot, and then i think charli corrals the girls into a professional red carpet pic together too so you four can "break the internet" lol. you have some drinks and watch various artists you like (and some you don't, let's be real here) perform, cuddling into matty's side and just enjoying being close to him, you giggle at your friends ducking under the table to smoke cigs... just fun vibes, really, as you wait for the boys to be presented with their award. speaking of, i think it would be someone really cool that they got in to present it - in my ideal world, because she knows them already, it would be stevie nicks (which frankly you're freaking the fuck out about). and she introduces the boys, who go up onstage to rapturous applause and each do a little thank-you speech and talk about different parts of their career - idk who goes first and whatnot, but matty definitely goes last and discusses their more recent stuff. after thanking the people he has to, he'd definitely say something like "my incredible, gorgeous wife, my favourite person in the world, has inspired songs from every album and EP that the 1975 have ever released; i want to thank you, sweetheart, for loving me as much as you do - it's reciprocated, believe me - and for giving me not just inspiration, but our two beautiful daughters as well. this most recent album is a result of being around my three girls, my family, my whole world and reason for being, and it's all for them, as is everything i do. my wife is here, and i think our daughters are watching from home with nana, so i just want to say - my darlings, i love you so so much. thank you for everything you do for me. this award is yours, really". and you're just fucking SOBBING at the table, clinging onto carly (also sobbing. actually, all the girls are, and so are the boys), and when matty gets back to his seat the two of you have a big hug and a(n arguably damp) kiss. then your phone buzzes with a text from denise - a video of the girls standing in front of the tv in your living room, your eldest like "look! daddy's on the telly" and jumping up and down excitedly, and your little one going "mummy and auntie carly too!" when it cuts to a shot of the two of you during matty's speech, and the two of them getting even more hyped when they realise daddy is talking about them lol. and you show matty, giggling like "well, your mum's never getting them to bed on time tonight with them that hyper; he tears up a bit again when he sees them, but laughs too and says "fuck it. let's go home and party with them tonight, instead of staying out", and you're like "honestly great idea". and you do - you and matty skip the afterparties and go home to your babas instead, staying up drinking tea and eating cookies with them until they conk out on the sofa, then carry them to their beds and fall sleepily into your own, content with the lovely night you had <3

#mads muses #mads answers asks #matty asks #fluff asks #dad!matty

[fangirlmedstudentblog]

Ok, so now that I've watched the msp our skyy eps and slept on it, my thoughts are finally a bit more than indecipherable sobbing at every tinngun scene lol.

Spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen the our skyy 2 my school president episodes yet

Me after just looking at tinngun pics yesterday after the ep ended

But i will say one thing they've done well in these 2 eps is UNDERSTAND how to do a life swap au. It was one of my bigger fears about the our skyy msp episodes. Because life swap/role swap aus are often hard to get right. And I'm happy they understood the assignment 😃

Because i absolutely LOVE how they've swapped the lives of Tinn and Gun and how you can see it's changed so much about them, but yet at the core they're still the same tinn and gun we know and love!

I really appreciate how they've just kept the fact that Tinn is still so much more confident and ready to *go* for something despite the fear of rejection and Gun's still more hesitant, still the same boy who is still afraid of *why* he's so loved. (I have a feeling that his dad isn't alive even in this universe, though I'll be happy if that's wrong)

I've seen meta saying how Gun not having that creative outlet as in the original universe has kinda made him more subdued (he's still bratty). And it's so true.

Also there's something to be said around Gun's willingness to pine away from afar and just be happy in the moments he gets with Tinn that is so *him* but also a little nod to those in real life who are not as bold as the original Tinn. Gun's insecurities are something MANY of us have irl.

Gun always has been the one who's a bit more hesitant and it's always been Tinn who quietly but steadfastly just patiently waits for Gun, has always seen Gun and just aaahhhhhh it's so GOOD the way these two ALWAYS support each other 😭😭

Like how @bengiyo says it in their our skyy ep 2 recap, these eps show just how much of Tinn's trust and confidence in himself and his feelings were critical to the way the og msp unfolded and gave us so many of the moments we squeal about.

Also credit to @lurkingshan and @distant-screaming for their thoughts on this episode who are articulating what i feel much more concisely and without ending up writing a mini essay lmao

With that who talk of Gun and Por in the school bench scene (Never Let me Go school I see ya!) it's such a beautiful talk. The whole sequence is such a nudge to Gun and to those of us who are hesitant in real life to do a particular thing that there's not much use just thinking about what your alternate universe self will do and instead just try to go for it in your *own* universe.

I also loved all the references to aof's past works in the mv and the ost as usual are bangers. (Someone please buy me the ost album 😭)

If I had to say, maybe there's just three things I'd complain a little about these eps:

One, there should have been more i absolutely LOVED it

Two, i would've liked TinnGun to maybe have (1) new scene and a small cheek kiss at least (this is a bit more of a personal thing) maybe at that 1 year point ? I would've liked to see it at that point at least but that hand holding was also excellent 10/10 sobbed a lot

Three, I would've liked a glimpse into the lives of the original universe and how they are doing now (I miss them so much MY BABIES) and if that time skip scene had been for the original universe TinnGun somehow i would've loved it even more

Anyways that's all i have to say about these our skyy eps for msp (for now) and thanks for reading through my ramblings 💜

#tinn x gun #I'll see if i muster up enough courage to write more about these eps #because i have THOUGHTS about how Gun not having that outlet for his feelings via music and Tinn having that #and the decreased pressure on Tinn and the increased pressure on Gun due to their circumstances in this AU have contributed to how they are #my school president #my school president the series #our skyy 2 #our skyy 2 my school president #tinngun #guntinn #fourth nattawat #gemini norawit #geminifourth

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Regarding how Jimin tells stories like the rainy day fight, I don't think Jimin is comfortable going deep into stories in a public settings. He revealed a lot of rawness in his EP and yet when he had to discuss it on that live that was scheduled, he just skipped a lot of it or left it vague. I wouldn't mind it if it was just him being naturally bad at public speaking but I have a suspicion its probably a result of prior experiences. That he spoke about being better about how he handles his diet, and armys gave him an ed. That he talked about how he's changed and learned how to become a strong man and armys used that characterize his younger self as an insecure mess. He probably learnt to limit his emotional musings to his art.

Yes, I perceive it the same way. Of course his reasons are for him to know, but we also can't help but draw some sensible conclusions. As long as we keep in mind that this is just how we interpret it.

I do understand being wary and taking a step back. And the changes happened mostly during the height of the pandemic and currently. I remember watching some of his vlives from 2019 when he used to mention his friends. He wasn't giving personal details which is understandable, but he was telling stories. Now there's none of that. And it happened at the same time or perhaps when he was becoming very very private. More than he used to be. I'm not trying to say there's something bad in particular with this, it's just an observation. To me it looks like a conscious decision and in that case, I can't complain that I want more from Jimin just so I can be entertained.

Did I get a bit frustrated of how evasive he is even whilst talking about his album? Yes, I admit that. It's because I like to hear about the process, of the artist trying to explain in depth the concept, the themes, if/how personal experiences shape that. A lot of them do and they are opening themselves up and they show vulnerability in a way. Sometimes it's not that deep and other times it's painful. But what I have to remind myself is that ultimately, it's a choice. Just as I as a private, regular individual have trouble sometimes talking about my life with certain people, then the same can be available for artists.

On the other hand, being able to talk about one's art without revealing personal "secrets" it's also possible. You just have to know how to do it. Jimin has been active in the industry for more than 10 years and he's an experienced idol, but talking about group concepts and then having to do that about your own album that encapsulates personal experience is a different game. Which is why I can understand that as well and I think that I should cut him some slack because this was the first time he had to do it on his own. He'll get better and better as the years go by.

I'll add a little observation here. Kidergarden teacher is mostly a joke and he put on that role even while watching his Like Crazy mv. Jimin from 5-7 years ago would've probably had a completely different attitude. I believe that what current Jimin is doing is an active calculated choice in how he wants to be perceived. This is the side that he wants to show for now in some specific contexts (an important observation), whether I personally like or agree with it. My two cents, not some definitive verdict.

Lastly, allowing the art to speak for itself is an understandable choice and a good one as well. In his case, the work Jimin does can actually speak for itself because there's something of value there. It leads to multiple interpretations which I think it's amazing. Once the music is out there, it belongs to the listener as well. We add meaning to it. We also add layers over layers of meaning to music videos and photofolio shoots and teaser images. Some may be far fetched, others outrageous and others sensible. We can agree or disagree with them. What's important is that they exist, without the artist having to give a 5k words explanation of each piece. Jimin's interpretation is one thing, but it's not the only correct one. That's not how art works. And that's why expecting him to talk in detail might seem redundant. As I said, it's a choice. If an artist wants to add more, then that's great. If they let mostly their art to do that, then that's fine too.

#m thoughts #jimin #jimin livestreams #jimin album

[skinnytuna]

I really really like that long post you did about making art. especially: 'i have somehow convinced myself that, if i maybe try a little bit, not exceptionally hard, but only a little bit, maybe i will somehow magically be good enough and worthy of critical praise.'

I spend all my time thinking about the beautiful or ""groundbreaking"" things I would make but no time actually doing it. and then when I attempt to create something the actual discomfort of physically drawing, writing or even coding is so unlike the idealised version in my brain that I have to stop because it is so frustrating. I wish I could be the sort of person who decides to spend hours upon hours perfecting a craft. but I just cant. weirdly I've come to terms with it. theres a whole world of art that exists just for me in my head. maybe one day ill be able to translate it into reality. but for now, im just going to be happy with the dual presence of my shitty real art and my lovely art thats just for me.

(also: I dont think your posts are lacking. the way you use language is unexpected and hilarious. I like it a lot.)

we should have a word for the terminal need for validation but lack of any and all discipline ... seems like a relatively new phenomena. i'm considering the strong possibility that it's a widespread result as the death of the "hobby"... however many years ago i imagine it was normal to just do something for yourself, because you love doing it. in fact i see a lot of my friends parents still doing stuff such as this.

i have a lot of friends whose dads make eps and albums for fun. for them only. no wishing on a star for it to blow up overnight. none of that. security in the quality of it. security in how far it probably won't reach. now that security, of course, could just come with age. but i suspect there's a generational parasite.

we were all raised with Numbers. the follower count, the like count, these are burned into our psyche. a neurosis coiled tightly around an objective metric of validation. a handful of years ago such a neurosis couldn't even exist! and it especially couldn't exist in a matter of seconds or minutes. your value as a person is a pair of dice that you roll and you snatch them back the moment you see snake eyes. almost all of the amateur art, music, writing we are exposed to has a number right under it. you don't get to evaluate it yourself. there is immediately a pavlovian connection, i like this thing, this thing has this number attached to it, if i can get a number like that i'm worthy of coexisting with this thing.

there's an almost instant dissociation between the craft, the skill, the time, and the FRUIT. what you get back. we are almost trained to care more about how popular something is than how good it is. not like, hollywood productions, or Columbia Records' chart topping album by a thirty something with A&R parents, but how popular someone just like you is on the internet. a plausible professional with a twitter account who draws whatever they want. someone you could relate to. someone you could be.

but because you want the numbers you skip the learning... you make something and put it out. and you keep doing this. your learning is public, your honing of the craft is documented before an audience of hopefully thousands. and you see what they respond to. and their responses steer the direction of your learning. you never have an opportunity to make something shitty. make something no one likes. experiment. you just keep feeding the computer. and it works until the point where you want to do something else, or something real, or something better, or something serious, and realize you don't know how. and you're like Fuck Shit why did I hustle instead of learning in peace.

but of course this is all by design. the numbers can't teach themselves more numbers if you doodle in your sketchbook and don't show anyone. i'm not sure if it was ever a specific person's idea to make everyone's entire life a performance, but whoever engineered it did a damn fine job. takes a sledgehammer to break out of. oh well ! in a few generations i'm sure all of our skin will have glare dampeners evolved specifically to vlog better with. and everyone will have forgotten what it's like to do something in your room, by yourself, because you like to do it

#forgot i had a tumblr im back hello

[ghost-texture]

I’ll always share my Spotify wrapped because I think it’s neat as hell to see what everyone listened to this year. I didn’t get L to the OG to the top like I wanted, my commitment to the bit waned unfortunately.

2023 my music listening habits were very different than they normally are, I spent less time keeping up with new releases and wayyy more time exploring artists and genres that I previously hadn’t really listened to.

That being said there were still a few projects from this year that I really loved that I figured I’d take the time to write a little about now.

5. Actual Life 3 Piano EP (January 1-September 9,2022)- Fred again..

Really inspiring EP for me, it’s a quiet reflective audio journal featuring some ambient sounds, some really cool samples, and some pretty piano playing throughout it’s a lot more lowkey than his album last year but I really enjoy that.

Favorite track: Nathan (Varner Road)

4. Quaranta by Danny Brown.

While I really enjoyed Danny’s work with JPEGMafia this year, I ultimately prefer this solo release from him this year. It’s a follow up to his album XXX, on that album Danny was a 30 year old struggling to make it as a rapper, now a decade later he’s obtained the success he once wanted so badly and he finds himself reflecting on where he was and where he is now. While financially Danny is better off than he was a decade ago,mentally he is still hurting and struggling as much as he was then. It’s a raw and vulnerable album with some excellent production throughout and some of the best verses of Danny’s career in my opinion.

Favorite Track: Down Wit It

3. Census Designated by Jane Remover

On Census Designated Jane Remover moves away from the hyperpop and digicore influences of her last album and leans more into rock and shoegaze, although there a certainly still a ton of fun little glitchy and stuttering effects throughout. If you like Ethel Cain I’d highly recommend this album.

Favorite Track: Cage Girl/ Camgirl

2. Wallsocket by underscores

A really wonderful pop rock concept album filled to the brim with infectious hooks, creative sampling and a lot of fun vocal manipulation throughout. There are no skips on this thing, every song is bursting with this really great creative energy. There are only few songs that I fell in love with this year more than You don’t know who I am.

Favorite track: You don’t know who I am.

1. 10,000 gecs by 100 gecs

The second I hit play on this album and I heard the THX logo sound followed by gunshots and the sick main riff on Dumbest Girl Alive, I knew this was going to be my favorite album of the year.

Here the gecs expand on their sound from the first album, refining it and fine tuning it, while still maintaining the playful energy that made the first album so exciting. Every song on the album has at least one or two lines that have permanently burrowed their way into my brain like the best ear worms do.

This album really flexes the duos skills at genre blending as they take from nu-metal, rap, pop, rock and ska and fuse them all into this wild album. It’s an unpredictable and fun listen one second they’ll be singing about struggling to make it in Hollywood, and little later you’ll get a song about having a tooth removed.

There’s a playful rebelliousness to all of their songs that I just can’t get enough of.

Favorite track: Dumbest Girl Alive (duh it’s my most listened to song this year) but I also wanna shoutout Most Wanted Person in The United States, that song fucking rules.

What’d you like this year?

#spotify wrapped #2023 music #danny brown #100 gecs #underscores #jane remover #fred again

[facewithoutheart]

Shuffle Tag! The ADHD Version where I tell you when and why I’d skip a song…

rules: put your music on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up, then tag ten other people

Thanks for the tags @sillyunicorn, @cutestkilla, @prettygoododds, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, & @iamamythologicalcreature

I’m cheating btw and I’ve put my songs on shuffle but I’m only counting the ones I wouldn’t immediately skip:

1. Bottom by Tool (I’d try this one out but likely would skip fairy quickly; I keep trying to like Tool’s full discography but basically I love Lateralus the album and the song Sober)

1a. Dream of You by Jazz Emu (I liked one of their silly songs on TikTok and impulse added the whole album but I just don’t enjoy it and am too lazy to search and delete.)

2. Queen Bitch by David Bowie (another song I’d try to get through but I’m sorry Bowie fans I just struggle and would probably skip eventually)

3. Mona Lisa by The Lonely Island (would listen to it in its entirety, singing along like the lyrics aren’t “Mona Lisa you’re an overrated piece of shit”; I am obsessed with this movie and this song and now it’s in my head)

4. Your Boyfriend Sucks by The Atari (I would listen up until the part where they talk instead of sing because that part annoys me both in sound and content but I wouldn’t be able to resist listening to at least part of this song for the high school nostalgia)

5. The Ghost Inside by Broken Bell (50/50 chance of me listening up until the chorus and skipping bc I don’t really know this song or making it through the whole thing; it’s peppy so I might finish it)

6. Oh Klahoma by Jack Stauber (would probably play this in most of its entirety, especially right now because this gives me such Fall vibes and I am hurting for cooler weather)

6a. Passenger Seat by Death Cab for Cutie (instant skip; sorry ‘bout ya Transatlanticism but I like very few of your songs)

7. Schism by Tool (100% would listen to this song in its entirety, scream the lyrics, probably close my eyes while singing, “Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion,” which I know by heart y’all, no faltering, I know the pieces fit because I watched them fall away, mildewed and smoldering, okay I swear I’ll stop. Remember when I said I liked Lateralus??)

7a. Red and Black from the Original London Les Mis Soundtrack (sorry Broadway I listen to, like, three songs from this soundtrack and I’d nope out of this song asap)

8. No Such Thing by John Mayer (ok I know he’s a total dick but this song is a banger and I’ll scream the lyrics while thinking of my friend from high school sharing this song before a swim meet, all of us listening in on her burnt CD that she played on a portable player, because a) it’s a sweet memory and b) she’s since passed and I love that this is one of the ways I get to honor her)

9. Monuments and Melodies by Incubus (shit this is one of the few Incubus songs I don’t know very well; I’d probably listen curiously for a few minutes then skip onward hoping my shuffle will take pity on me and play another song later that I’m more likely to know)

10. Love Is Colder Than Death (EP Version) by The Virgins (would play for half the song before getting annoyed it’s different than the album version)

Tagging five peeps @skeedelvee (look I failed the three-skip game!) @tea-brigade (give me your songs I know they’re good) @palimpsessed (hi I miss you) @stardustasincocaine (are these unhinged? Please please) & new friend @best--dress (hi show me your songs?)

#shuffle game #tag game #no one needed this level of detail but I don’t care #enjoy my adhd brain thoughts #this was a fun way to escape from my soul-stealing day

[songsfordustmites]

i was tagged by @wormdream to shuffle my music and share the first ten songs that appear. i am doing this from my computer which has some stuff that i don't listen to anymore on it and also has a bunch of live bootlegs and b-side/compilation/unofficial stuff that i'll probably skip for this. thank you, anyways! <3

everything that could have been - kittie. from the album funeral for yesterday. i think there's too much repetition in this song at the end. could have been either condensed down or added some more words to it. i am excited for the new kittie album though!

put your hand inside the puppet head - they might be giants. from their album they might be giants. i love the music video for this song.

a man alone - aaron freeman. i did say i was going to skip the unofficial stuff, but this stopped me in my tracks. i only went through aaron's music once and should totally revisit it again. i have two versions of this on my computer, one is thirty seconds longer than the other. i got the shorter one. very sweet, very somber.

gioco d'azzardo - paolo conte. from his album appunti di viaggio. the instrumentals are great in this. conte is just really good at writing music. i still haven't heard all of his albums though.

paloma - tall juan. my beloved tall juan!!! i got into him in high school whilst looking for free stuff on bandcamp. he is also friends with mac demarco who i used to listen to all the time. i think it's funny how the lesser known artist that i found out about through a bigger artist stuck with me and the larger artist didn't. i was so happy to have seen him in february. he was so nice and very funny.

town to town - hello the band. one of flansburgh's side projects. it's a good song. i think it's interesting to see what they make without the other john.

mad (feat. lil wayne) - solange. from a seat at the table. i haven't listened to this album in a long time. i listened to this a lot in high school. her voice is sooooo beautiful! this is still the only album i have heard by her. i should take the time to listen to her other albums some day. ALSO she had the best song in yo gabba gabba.

the last song - sleater-kinney. from their self titled album. i am still on the fence about them. this is the only album i heard from them, i found it at a thrift store. maybe i'll enjoy their other albums more or maybe i just need to listen to this one more. sometimes whenever i finally listen to an album by a band that is influential within a specific scene, i get the opinion of this is something i would have liked more when i was an angsty teenager and was being introduced to punk with the more well known stuff. like i am at a place where i don't need the introductory stuff, i already have bands that are deeper into that genre that i can jam out to. does that make any sense? they're not bad like listening to ramones or some shit. like why would you waste your time with ramones or sex pistols or some other shitty popular punk band? sleater-kinney i can appreciate and would have loved as a kid when i needed more female fronted bands that were really cool and were more of my style. kittie is another example of this. i do love kittie a lot, but i wish i knew about them before as a kid. we should revisit this topic later.

tender situation - ween. from the album pure guava. ween is another band where i wish i got into when i was a kid. same with tmbg. i think i would have had the opinion that their early stuff was better unfortunately, however, they would have been perfect for fourteen year old me. i could have been burning their stuff onto cds for friends and making them listen to it like i did with daniel johnston. i love ween. i got into them after listening to most of the flaming lips' albums and was so disappointed by their stuff and ween ended up being exactly how i was hoping the flaming lips would sound.

(system)control - bleed the pigs. from the mortis fatum ep. FANTASTIC BAND! exactly what i needed after listening to so much boring indie rock. i neeeeeed to listen to more bands like them. the mixing is exactly what i like with the vocals not being too high up which i find is a problem in a lot of metal and punk and just rock in general. everything about them is just perfect!

well...i won't tag anyone for this. the commentary wasn't even part of the tag game, i just like to talk about music.

#i had a whole different list at first but completely scrapped it #i know that defeats the purpose however i wasnt fucking with it #also for this new list i listened to every song through unlike the first time #i wish i could add all my records tapes and cds to this #i am more diverse with my music when it comes to physical media. it's easier to get into stuff that way for me

[woolieshubris]

okay so before tumblr rudely interrupted me, i was wanting to ask about your thoughts on atarashii gakko's new album, ichijikikoku! since i know you listen to them too :) i remember you saying a bit ago you thought their single 'the edge' was a bit boring, and i would be inclined to agree. but i think the songs on this album are fun! especially 'otome no bigaku' and 'odoru honno 001', which really feel reminiscent of earlier songs of theirs to me <3 'seishun wo kirisaku hado' also has a really fun and interesting feel to me, i really like it. and of course the addition of 'otonablue' on this album is. yes!!! i really like otonablue, i have for a while. it's one of my favourite songs of theirs overall. 'janaindayo' and 'giri giri' i also really love the sound of, tbh the only song on this album im not super a fan of is suki lie. overall i think it's really solid!! i will say it has a very different overall style than their ep snack time, and songs such as nainainai but i don't think that's necessarily a bad thing? i do miss that style a bit though. ANYWAYS i would love to hear your thoughts ^_^

MAN I LOVE IT SO MUCH. They went more for the ballad/rock stuff which I heavily prefer (mostly because they genuinely are good vocalists). Otonablue is genuinely like top 3 songs of theirs and top 10 songs in general for me, so to see an album drop that features it!!! Incredible. I do really like snack time and nainainai, ("free your mind" being a standout for me), but I was worried that it was going to mark a more permanent change in their artistic output. I hope that their new album performs well (especially overseas, because they were promoting snack time in the US at least), so that they realize that it's not a lost cause.

Janaindayo: it feels like an anime opening to me? (Maybe it is one?) I love it though!!!! This shit slaps. I love the speed of it. It feels like I'm running while listening to it

Seishun wo kirisaku hado: THIS SHIT IS SO GOOD.. it feels just like Splatoon music to me. I love vocal filters in songs. This is so fucking good. I don't really know how to put into words how much I like this track.

Giri Giri: interesting. A more typical pop track for sure! Giri Giri means round and round, (like spinning). I do genuinely like how they just let the vocalist go during the bridges. Not my favorite, but I don't hate it.

Suki lie: Also very typical pop track. I don't hate it (I've been listening to a lot of kpop lately so this just feels like a mediocre kpop track to me...) But yeah def a skip. I love the jazz section in the middle but the stuff around it... :(( It's just so mid LOL. maybe I'd like it more if I knew what the lyrics meant but yeah. A bit too repetitive for me

OTONABLUE: OTONABLUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE !!! (Incredible song love it so much it's my favorite out of the album. I love how it uses 80's synths. If this song doesn't have a music video I hope it gets one for sure)

Otome no bigaku: YESS let her SING!!!! me when women sing with deep voices and go crazy and go wild and just sing !!!!! I love music !!!! I love women!!!!! I wish we had a music video of this I wanna know which girlie is the one who sings

Odoru honno 01: YEASHDHXHHSAHA. it's not my favorite song out of theirs but I genuinely hope this is the direction they take their music! Imo it suits them really well as a band it seems like they want to do more uplifting and fun tracks for people to blast in a car with their friends and this def feels the most in that wheelhouse out of all of the tracks presented.

IMO everything after otonablue slaps!!! Suki lie def feels like they put it on their because their producers made them, but the rest are incredible. I wish they reserved the more traditional pop tracks for another EP but whatever it's still a great album :))) we love atarashii gakko in this house

#long post #atarashii gakko

[azantiss]

Week 2: An Album a Day 2024

8. VALKYRIE ONE, Set to Stun

this set to stun album is arguably more varied than their others, specifically it has, i think, a lot more really dramatic build up moments that are incredible to listen to. this is another metalcore album but with a lot of funky variety. i personally love it. it was a no-skip album for me some highlights included 'Walk Tall II,' and 'V: VALKYRIE ONE.' they also play around with a lot of different lenght tracks, with lengths ranging from one to nine minutes, which is fun. this album is relatively short and a great listen for enjoyers of fast paced metal.

9. YUNGBLUD, YUNGBLUD

this album is fun. did not top some of his other stuff, specifically weird!, for me. i enjoy some tracks as one offs but at some point he has started to feel repetitive to me. this is not to say i do not enjoy the tracks, they just tend to feel overplayed relatively quickly. this is a pop/alternative album with some really fun moments as well as some ballad type pop punk sound. some highlights include 'The Funeral' and 'Sweet Heroine.'

10. I Love You, I'm Trying, grandson

this is a pop/alt album with some genre mashing which is definitely fun. i enjoyed the album, specifically some of the tracks as stand alones. my one issue with some stuff from this grandson album is it becomes difficult to lose yourself in the music. that is something i personally highly value in music so having that missing makes it hard for me to enjoy something as much. 'Drones' and 'Something To Hide' were some of my highlights.

11. Tell Me I'm Alive, All Time Low

i keep revisiting many tracks on this album. this is an alt rock album with some really intense feels. all time low has so much variety over their career and this is an incredible album that i enjoyed more than some of their earlier stuff (i have not heard everything for the record). if you enjoy emotionally packed rock songs, check this one out. highlights include 'Modern Love' and "English Blood // American Heartache.'

12. Omnition, COSM

yall i only found this album because i was digging through the cd closet at my radio station and i thought the cover looked cool. this album is amazing. i dont know what genre to label it as. it is rock adjacent for sure but it's generally slow and drawn out /pos and full of emotions and feels like it scratches all the right things. truly an amazing find and has like next to no streams. the entire album is great but some specific highlights were 'Never Enough' and 'Whirlwind.'

13. All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (Deluxe), AURORA

i love aurora her stuff is always so good and fits right in the autism playlists /pos. this is a pop album with some alternative feel at times but mostly pop imo. it is so hard to pick favorites off of this album but some highlights are 'Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)' and 'Running with the Wolves.' a very fun album with a lot of fun rhythms and time signatures, if i am remembering correctly.

14. Manny's Chromatic Anachronicles (EP), Paticornio

this, if i am remembering what actually happened, is an EP made by a member of a discord server for an artist i enjoy. it is sort of indie rock/alternative. it has some really fun guitar and drum styles, along with some fun sounds and harmonies that remind me of the vibe of AJJ or just general folk punk. some of my highlights are 'Blue' and 'Red.' the cover is also really cool. there are four tracks on the EP and each is a color title; the album cover is 4 squares with pictures featuring each color, which is a cool touch.

#azantisalbumaday2024 #valkyrie one #set to stun #yungblud #i love you im trying #grandson #tell me i'm alive #all time low #omnition #cosm #all my demons greeting me as a friend #aurora #manny's chromatic anachronicles #paticornio

[caluski]

Few days ago @ikonofilizm tagged me to do the "put music player on shuffle and list 10 first songs" thing Thank You my dear I loooooove doing this shit 😁😁😁 let's get to it

1. Lucky to get him by Aly and AJ - revisited this album recently, it's really nice and chill, I like the direction they're going in now as adults. I was never really into Americana, but maybe theyve kinda changed that with this release.

2. Another life by Jadu Heart - god, this was the first song I've ever heard of them, such a throwback!!! I remember walking thru the city at night time, walking back from a party I think? Alcohol leaving my body and I just stared at the starry sky. An unbelievably beautiful track. Since then the duo became one of my favorite bands atm.... Please give them a chance, especially their last EP.

3. Liquid air by Temples - one of my favorite tracks from their new album. Talked about them more than a healthy amount of times recently; really good neopsychedelia if you're into that stuff, a 10/10 album for hot summer days.

4. DYNA by PEEL - some more neopsychedelia! It's been a while since I listened to it, but I used to have it on repeat so much.

5. HAUNTED by Isabel LaRosa - ugh, i remember when it came out and I discovered it in like one of those spotify playlists. It had like a thousand plays maybe!!! And I loved it so much, I added it to my midground playlist and had it really high up on my wrapped for that year, and then I checked back a few months ago and it became like a tiktok sound or something with like a billion plays :((((( I guess good for her but mannn my pretentious soul was hurting LOL

6. Assumptions by Sam Gellaitry - some house...ish dance track, i guess. It's fun and I like that vibe of sort of city pop it has going on, but the fucking high pitched sound at the start is the WORST. So fucking annoying. Every time it comes on, even though I actually like the song, the noise just pisses me off and I cant help but skip it!!!! Who thought it was a good idea to START with what sounds like fucking tinnitus.

7. Upside down by Sacha Rudy - ohhhh throwback... I used to love every single track this guy would put out since like 2019. And then he released that EP last year and other than "upside down" I really just couldn't get into it. Felt like a mess. And now he's disappeared since! Can't help but hope he'll come back with something as good as "be a man", because that was my most listened to track that year. So good.

8. Lamb's wool by Foster the People - HEY that's my song!!!!! Oh no wonder it's coming up on shuffle when I've listened to it so much again this past few weeks. This time it's the original and not the Poolside version. One of my all time favorites, like, ever, and if you can only listen to one of the songs I've listed, please make it this one. Who DOESN'T love tracks about how terrifying death is??? I'll hold you so you're not alone 🤓

9. Blessed by August Charles - people who listened to my dinner party/cafe playlist probably heard this one. Ugh it makes me so melancholic. Really good tho. No wonder it's his most listened to track.... I should probably check out his other works bc I really like his voice.

10. Theme of Re:Served by Re:Served - instrumental track with So Few listens that it doesn't even have the count visible on spotify! I remember being obsessed with them back in 2016, when the way I would discover new music was by downloading random japanese experimental albums from my favorite site. This is honestly just like runway music. I love runway music with good bpm. This one is good. You should listen to it and become their third monthly listener with me.

Thank youuuuuuuuu for tagging me!!!!!! Sorry its so long tho!!!! I love talking about songs I love!!!!! Tagging back: @moldavite , @slavicafire (i know u never do these but hope dies last!), @ferdydurke , @jurajurica , @kotikonnut , @skrzynka , @nocylipcowa , and everyone else who listened to at least one of the songs 😁😁😁 let's have a lovely Sunday afternoon everyone mwah

#pogaduchy

[why-so-serious-lucifer]

K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Chung Ha

Chungha first debuted in 2016, through the temporary group I.O.I., which also launched the careers of soloist Jeon Somi and actors Kim Sejeong and Kang Mina. As a soloist, she debuted with Why Don’t You Know in 2017 after I.O.I. 's disbandment.

Here are my credentials: I’d consider myself a casual fan of Chung Ha, who I know mainly through her friend Sunmi. I’ve heard a decent amount of her title tracks, and a few b-sides, but I’m looking forward to hearing more of her songs and forming a more accurate opinion of her work as a whole.

Why Don’t You Know is surprisingly chill with its acoustic guitar and lighthearted whistling effects, but has a calm kind of tropical summer catchiness that’s honestly pretty effective. It’s not an instant classic, as it does sound a lot like other tropical-inspired songs, but I did like it, minus the rap, which felt a bit too harsh for a song like this. (Also, can I say, I love that yellow, green, and red cardigan she wears in the MV! It’s stunning.)

From the EP, Hands On Me is a jazzy little opening, and I wish it was longer. It reminds me of a 9Muses track in the best way possible. Make A Wish continues that jazziness with a self-assured, smooth Chicago-esque showmanship that I really appreciated. It’s definitely a shoulder-dancing song, if you know what I mean. Cosmic Dust is a pretty traditional ballad, but provides a nice showcase for Chung Ha’s vocals.

Roller Coaster is pretty minimalistic at its beginning, and I was a bit worried that it’d be boring, but it turns out that those worries were unfounded. By the chorus, it spirals into an engaging dance floor bop that had me nodding my head. My only gripe is that I wish it took its high points a little higher, with perhaps more vocalizing or more of a cathartic point at the end of the chorus (a la TXT’s Chasing That Feeling), but overall that’s a small critique.

From the EP, Offset, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Do It at the beginning but I grew to appreciate its energy. I liked Bad Boy a lot, though I enjoyed the fast-paced verses and pre-choruses more than the chorus. Its last minute got me, though, and it became a solid hidden gem of mine. It was a bit of whiplash, though, to go from the fun of Bad Boy to the abject heartbreak of Remind Of You, a good lesson that not every album necessarily needs a ballad if it doesn’t fit in.

Love U is a song that I hadn’t realized I’d actually heard before, since I’d only heard the chorus. The opposite of Roller Coaster, its intro starts with a hard-hitting trap beat, while the song itself feels more like Why Don’t You Know with its bright summery energy. I enjoy the background vocalizing and the underlying drum beat too, though I feel like the chorus is a bit too empty for me to like as much as I did Make A Wish or Bad Boy. From the EP, Blooming Blue, I enjoyed the bright call-and-response of “I’m in love, I’m in love” from Cherry Kisses and the bass guitar contrasted with Chung Ha’s high voice in Drive.

Gotta Go is a single, and intrigued me right from its unique flute-meets-trap sampling, that matches with Chung Ha’s signature synthy background. The chorus is very interesting, because it both is and isn’t an anti-drop; it doesn’t exactly release the tension of the song, but it doesn’t let it fall away either. Instead, it’s a little like a Taemin track in that the tension never really goes away. I do like the high note before the last chorus, though I wish that there was more of a bridge. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this one. It’s not a favorite, but I don’t hate it, and I don’t think I’d skip it if it showed up on my shuffle.

Snapping picks up similarly to where Gotta Go left off, with a beat in the middle of a lot of k-pop; not a super invigorating one, but not boring by any means. I’m glad that the anti-drop was left until the end of the chorus, as if it was the entire thing, I would be disappointed. I do really like the “now I let you go.” As is, I don’t mind this one, and I wouldn’t skip it, but I wouldn’t search it out either.

From the EP, Flourishing, I had a clear standout in Chica. Clearly taking influences from Latin Pop and some Spice-Girls-esque feel-good-you-can-do-it-babe Girl Power, it’s hard not to smile when you hear it, especially at the “chica, chica, see you’ve got it all; chica, chica, see you’re beautiful!” All in all, it’s a delightful addition to my playlist. I also liked the song Flourishing itself, especially its pre-choruses.

Now, we start Chung Ha’s 20-song epic Querencia, which has four sides, Noble, Savage, Unknown, and Pleasures, and each has a title track. Side A, Noble’s, is Bicycle, a sing-talk track that leads with a trap-beat background and melds K-pop girl crush with Ariana Grande-esque lyrics. I…really do not like this song. I have a very low tolerance for “I’m cooler than you” music in general, but when it’s pared with such an empty chorus and feels like a recycled Blackpink b-side? Yikes. Sorry, Chung Ha. From Side A {Noble}, I liked the subtle Latin-pop influences and interesting percussion of Masquerade and the great, chugging beat that’s so great at leading Flying On Faith (a rare completely English song that I loved).

Stay Tonight is Querencia’s second single, and thankfully returns to her signature synthpop. The verses had me nodding my head—a huge improvement from Bicycle—and had me excited for the chorus. But, after the great high note in the pre-chorus, the chorus itself didn’t feel like enough of a payoff, instead feeling more meandering and unengaging. While I absolutely liked it more than Bicycle, it’s not in my top 10 of her singles.

From Side B {Savage}, I enjoyed the way-too-short a-capella section at the beginning of the choruses and the “don’t make me, don’t make me dream of you” in Dream Of You (another English language track I enjoy). I also liked the breathy vocalizations in both Bother Me and Chill, Chill especially.

Play is the third single, and embraces a more playful and upbeat sound that harkens back to Why Don’t You Know, Love U, and Cherry Kisses. Though the subject isn’t that different from the other two, the genuine fun that its chorus is when it explodes and the excellent interpolation of reggaeton (in both the beat and the choreo) and brass makes this one something special. The chorus here absolutely delivers, with several parts all coming together to form a very satisfying payoff. Definitely my favorite single so far.

Demente is also a single from this side, and shockingly, it’s all in Spanish. It’s not unusual for K-pop idols to release songs with Latin pop inspired beats, or even in different languages, but this is definitely a rarity. Demente (which means “crazy” in Spanish), is honestly a really solid, catchy pop song, and (though Spanish isn’t my first language) if I didn’t know that she wasn’t fluent in it, I wouldn’t have guessed. As I’ve mentioned on my blog before, I’m a linguistics major, so this was a delight to listen to. Genuinely, kudos to Chung Ha, and to Guaynaa, the featured artist, who has the distinction of having a rap that I thought really added to the song. From Side C {Unknown}, my hidden gem was the acoustic guitar and piano led, comfortingly slow Byulharang.

X is the final single from Querencia, and is a more emotional, stripped-back performance that Chung Ha dedicates to her mother and the work that they both put in to achieve her dreams of becoming an idol. Filmed entirely in black and white and featuring an enormous, Godzilla-like Chung Ha wandering through a tiny, closed-off city fighting against her, it’s a great example of why soloists should write their own tracks. It’s imbued with a lovely sense of pathos and feels like a fitting way to end a magnum opus of an album. From Side D {Pleasures}, I liked the restful album closers in Everybody Has’ traditional ballad structure, the calmly catchy Comes N Goes, and the instrumental Querencia.

Killing Me is another single, and while it’s similar to Gotta Go, it feels sleeker and more streamlined, focused on achieving the goal that is its chorus. Because of this, it’s quite short–under three minutes–and, though it’s not the best of her singles, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Another perfectly fine track that I wouldn’t skip but wouldn’t search out.

Sparkling feels more like Roller Coaster than anything from Querencia, which had me excited right away. It has, well, unsurprisingly, a sparkling quality to its instrumentals, and would be right at home on a dance floor. It’s delightfully bubbly, tip toeing and tap dancing all over the place with delight, and that energy is infectious. As always, I wish it had a more defined chorus, but I really like the lead-in in both the bridge and pre-choruses.

From the EP, Bare & Rare, Good Night My Princess caught my ear immediately with a sense of warmth that’s unusual for a ballad, and I loved it even more when I found out that Chung Ha wrote it as a thank you for all the sacrifices her mother made for her to be able to grow up and pursue her dreams, similarly to X. The song features Chung Ha’s voice at its most lovely, and it made me tear up a little, if we’re being honest. I also enjoyed Bibi’s feature and the excellent sense of drama in Crazy Like You, the celebratory mood in Louder, and especially the crying-on-the-dance-floor vibes of Love Me Out Loud (which gets more addicting with every repeat).

I’m glad I did this! I enjoyed Chung Ha’s work more than I thought I would, although I shouldn’t be surprised as a big fan of Sunmi and synthpop in general. I learned that she writes many of her own songs, and that she speaks some English and a little Spanish, so color me impressed. I found a bunch of songs I enjoyed—mainly b-sides—that I added to my playlists. So I’d say you could consider me at least a fan now!

My Top 5 songs are Play, Love Me Out Loud, Chica, Cherry Kisses, and Flying On Faith, with Good Night My Princess as an honorable mention. Chung Ha gets an 8.25 out of 10 from me, which is about what I expected. I think that where her songs often falter for me are the choruses, which unfortunately is one of the most important parts. When she pulls it off, she’s made some excellent tracks. But more often than not, I find myself loving the buildup but being disappointed by the pay-off. There were very few tracks I didn’t at least enjoy, and this isn’t me saying that I think her work is bad. But with just a few changes and a greater sense of pay-off, she would have a pretty unbeatable discography.

Next time, we’ll be starting a two week series on a pretty huge girl group, and we’ll be having a boy group supplemental next week. Tschüss!

#ioi #ioi Chung ha #chung ha #K-pop #K-pop soloists #k pop girl groups #discography deep dive #review #sparkling #why don’t you know #play #Demente #love u #querencia #Spotify

[thesinglesjukebox]

TORI KELLY - "CUT"

Alex brings us some UK garage not actually from the UK...

[6.64]

Alex Ostroff: At the end of the first year without any regular Singles Jukebox coverage, the prospect of selecting just one track for Amnesty Week was daunting. Should I choose a fun quirky pop-rap track that reflected the continued importance of TikTok in drawing attention to new music in 2023? Or maybe a pop-country break-up anthem that draws equally from 'Tim McGraw' and 'We Belong Together' that would have been Jukebox catnip back in 2009 but can't seem to break through in 2023? Or maybe yet another British attempt to revive the spirit of R&B girl groups? Ultimately, I picked Tori Kelly's "cut" - a track that I suggested was an American big-pop-chorus approach to PinkPantheress' UK garage revivalism in an earlier Amnesty Week blurb. But while there are undeniable 2step influences here (the first single from Tori's 2023 EP samples Craig David directly), "cut" functions equally as millennium pop revivalism. Darkchild and Timbaland both get writing credits, although presumably just for the vibe that Kelly and producer Jon Bellion are trying to evoke and the ad-libs that Timbaland added when they sent him the track. For years, I couldn't tell you the first thing about Tori Kelly's music. She seemed to be one of those artists with an incredible voice who was perpetually singing as part of award show tributes, but who never settled into a clear artistic identity; cursory research indicates that she yo-yoed from a 2015 Max Martin-produced debut to two explicitly Christian gospel albums to acoustic YouTube performances. There's nothing particularly novel or boundary-pushing about "cut": a trilling acoustic guitar loop, garage drums, arpeggiated violins, Timbo mumbling in the background, Tori jumping the octave for the final chorus, an onomatopoeiac hook that tries to evoke the sound of a skipping heartbeat. But it somehow embedded itself in my brain all autumn and never let up. "cut," and the rest of this year's Tori EP, made me sit up and pay attention to Tori Kelly for the first time a full eight years into her career -- and made me actively excited to see what she does next. [9]

Katherine St Asaph: Timbaland jumping on a trend in 2023, and Tori Kelly jumping on a trend at any time, is probably a sign that the trend is on its way out. The returns haven't totally diminished, though. [6]

Micha Cavaseno: When UK garage touched US shores, a lot of the forms were unrecognizable compared to the source material -- Craig David's "Fill Me In" is one thing, but "7 Days" isn't exactly bubble & squeak. I would like to say that there was a big period of us dancing to Monsta Boy or Masters of Ceremony just so my own nerdy adolescent pursuits felt a little more valid, but no, I'm pretty sure we just listened to Blu Cantrell and that Mary J. Blige comeback record around that time. So really, I'm just fascinated at anyone from the US deciding to emulate a style that's so comparatively niche. As far as retro-UKG from the last few years, it's definitely not hitting "One Kiss" levels, nor is it even Jorja quality, but maybe that's the consequence of things getting lost in translation. [7]

Aaron Bergstrom: Tori gives it a valiant effort, but this still sounds like the batteries slowly running out on a Timbaland Speak & Spell. [4]

Taylor Alatorre: A second-string Timbaland beat scores some major points off the bench, assisted by Tori Kelly's infectious enthusiasm at being allowed on a Timbaland beat of any sort. One can choose to dismiss Tori as Ariana Grande for church moms who did the math on "34+35," or one can choose to celebrate her for that same reason. Her brand of pop soul is clean in more than one sense of the word -- witness how she skims across those challenging vocal phrases like they're beginners' exercises, or how she uses the pauses in the production to turn a lead-in to the chorus into a game of musical jump rope. Let's not agonize over the fact that the definitive slumber party music of two decades ago is now reappearing as adult contemporary; instead, let's call it incremental progress. [8]

Brad Shoup: Howling at the possibility that Timbaland is going to become a hired-gun ad-lib guy, like how a few years back everyone was hiring Nile Rodgers to strum a little. At least Nile gets some co-production credits! [6]

Nortey Dowuona: The skipping garage drums are well mixed. They slip underneath Tori's voice comfortably and bind it tightly, spinning in a dervish across the chorus. The boxy bassline synth below it is a nice counterpoint to the topline synths, which are surprisingly thinned out by reverb and EQ once the last chorus kicks in. It's a good idea and a good choice, but not something you will remember once you stop listening. [6]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: The sound effect at the beginning of the chorus is so bizarre that multiple times while listening to this, I literally looked around to check whether there was a pipe that was emitting steam, a large man sighing slowly, or a freezer opening. Aside from that, "Cut" is expertly crafted pop reminiscent of the early 2000s, each motif stitched together tightly with Tori Kelly's adept voice. [7]

Ian Mathers: I wish they'd built out the "singing the drum part" bit into the chorus, because it's better and more distinctive than the actual chorus. [6]

Oliver Maier: Lots of fun if not especially sticky. Not often does a pop song feel like it's distinctly missing a guest rap verse, but such is the void that opens up at around 2:18. [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: "I'm glad she's having fun" is classic smug pan verbiage but this genuinely works because Tori Kelly is having a lot of fun! It still never breaks through to be anything more than really really good Timbaland/Darkchild cosplay, but I'm not sure if it aspires to anything greater either. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#tori kelly #music #pop music #uk garage #timbaland #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #Youtube

[thats-the-teen-spirit]

Top 10 songs of 2023, reviewed by yours truly

As per tradition when Spotify Wrapped comes out I write short reviews of the best songs of the year so here we go:

10. One More Time by blink-182

The biggest reveal from the world of pop punk last year was that blink-182 is back... again. First I was a little sceptical especially after hearing Edging but this song, and its video made me listen. The lyrics are about the long lost friendship between Travis, Mark and Tom, and to be completely honest I shed a couple teardrops the first few times I gave it a listen. Amazing song from an amazing record.

9. Homicide by Magnolia Park

I'm completely new to this band, I found this song randomly in an Instagram reel that caught my attention. It's super catchy, almost Linkin Park-ish vibes that is a little "Octanecore" little pop punk, but nevertheless an absolute banger.

8. Jaded by Spiritbox

Spiritbox is the new shit in the scene, everyone and their mom knows about it. But just a little less than a month ago they put out an EP consisting of 6 melodic and heavy bangers called The Fear of Fear. This song stands out from the EP because of the insanely catchy chorus, the breakdown with the clean guitar melody and just the overall feeling of the song. Courtney has always been open about her influences (even and especially the pop ones) and this song is a great example to it.

7. Lost by Linkin Park

On the 20th anniversary of Meteora, Linkin Park released a bunch of unreleased material from the recording session of the legendary album and this was the first single off of it. What more can I say about it? If you haven't heard it despite liking Linkin Park then shame of you.

6. Without A Whisper by Invent, Animate

Another surprise as I've never been a big fan of the band. Not being so into the Deftones-y spacey vibes before, this band always has been a hit or miss. Until Heavener. It's blended so seemlessly that first I didn't even notice that there's now screaming instead of singing with a bunch of reverb. I still almost never skip this song despite Heavener being released earlier this year.

5. Fake Out by Fall Out Boy

This one is probably the only song on the list that is not a single, not even the top 3 from their album So Much (for) Stardust. The boys are officially back and this song proves it, The falsetto hook in the chorus got stuck in my head after the first few listens. I'm really really glad they are back to playing instrumental music because that's what they do best.

4. Might Love Myself by Beartooth

For me this year was about healing. Healing from a past breakup, losing my previous job, and just in general the depressing reality of adulthood. After hearing the first singles from the latest Beartooth album it was obvious that Caleb, the singer for the band had been through a similar journey prior to writing this record. This song stands out for me because of the overwhelmingly positive self-loving lyrics that are a must-listen when you have been through a lot of shit. I also like the little "whoo" before the second chorus, it really makes it sound like Caleb had a lot of fun recording it.

3. Haunted by Spanish Love Songs

The most underrated band on the list by a landmile. Also probably the most depressing band I've ever listened to, which says something. The whole new record No Joy has some really interesting musical changes from the previous ones, there's less screaming, less distorted guitars, it has more of a The Killers vibe than something off tumblr's 2015 pop punk hardcore best of (looking at you The Story So Far). Haunted is a bittersweet tune about being nostalgically sad about the old days, and for an old fart that is closer to 30 than to 20 it's a comforting thing that I'm not alone with this feeling.

2. LosT by Bring Me The Horizon

What do you get when you mix 'I'm not Okay' and current era Bring Me The Horizon? That's right, this fucking banger. I think throughout the year this song was the only one that I've never skipped. The pop punk-emo feeling is in every note, the breakdown is easily my most favorite of the year, the callout for it is even. "I think i'm gonna break down". Fucking genius by the most dynamic songwriting duo of the music scene, Oli and Jordan. The powerpop elements are also fun to listen to, it just blends really well. 10/10 banger, looking forward to the EP.

Ascensionism/Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token

The biggest band of the year was 100% Sleep Token. My Spotify was POSSESSED by their music this year, so obviously it was a tough choice to pick a song from their latest album so I cheated a little with the longest, most progressive songs of the record. Their music feels like a religious experience for me and the best example to this is Ascensionism, the "YOU MAKE ME WISH I COULD DISAPPEAR" line hits, the rap part fits perfectly, the guitars are heavy as balls, the piano intro is the perfect introduction, it's a 12/10 song, it's that good

And honestly I have the same feelings about Take Me Back to Eden. The titular song and its callbacks to Chokehold made me feel like I'm in a chokehold myself. The epitome of great songwriting was when from the nature sounds through rapping we got to the heaviest, low tuned breakdown of the last couple years

So there you have it, my personal top 10+1 list. If you read my review this far, thank you.

#song review #song #music #songs #long post #long text #review #top 10 songs of 2023 #blink-182 #one more time #magnolia park #homicide #spiritbox #jaded #lost #linkin park #without a whisper #invent animate #fake out #fall out boy #fob #might love myself #beartooth #haunted #spanish love songs #losT #bmth #bring me the horizon #ascensionism #take me back to eden

[freakingoutthesquares]

Sounds, 8 March 1986 Words: John Wilde, Photographer: Jayne Houghton Transcription: Acrylic Afternoons

Meet the "new hard centre" in indie pop's choc box. John Wilde finds that Pulp have grown on him.

Pulp, neither putty nor pretty, meet Sheffield's steely stone gaze with a prickly, lawless grin or two. Defying, denying the commandment that equates Sheffield pop vultures with a stinging, heart-attack splutter... Pulp, some kind of self-made Christs, seem solitary and even freakish besides. Oddballs or oracles? Let's see.

Voice Jarvis Cocker, either the Alex Chilton or the Bamber Gascoigne of the new pop, first rallied his troops together over ten years ago, "Inspired more by The Sex Pistols than Jethro Tull" and intent on being "the Finnegan's Wake of post-punk". After more lulls than lunges, here they are. Last year's 'It' album dribbled out on Red Rhino, oblivious to the uncaring skies and hampered on its way by bitter Simon And Garfunkel comparisons. Musically too cautious and lyrically self-conscious, it mostly choked on the vitriol.

Then last month's 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes) And Other Pieces' appeared; Pulp with a rocket up their arse and a racket in their hearts. A regenerated, most degenerated Pulp, swapping a casual canter for a scurvy disrespect. "A new hard centre," as guitar/violin Russell Senior quaintly puts it, staring into his mug of gin.

The EP's strange but endearing conceits have been swamped by the fussy over-concern towards its more, er, fleshy areas. There's a wry point buried someplace within the lust-lorn 'Little Girl (With Blue Eyes)' - 'There's a hole in your heart, and one between your legs. You've never had to wonder which one he's going to fill' - which has had their dissenters waving copies of Spare Rib and generally missing the seething satire of the line. Then there's (gulp) 'The Will To Power', a sturdy crack across the rib-cage of fascists and scumbags all: 'The only choice, the only voice in the darkness. 1933, where are you now, where are the broken bottles... where's truth and beauty?'

"We're not actually real-life fascists at all," states Russell with a sandpaper-dry smile and a swift shine of his NUM button. 'Little Girl', meanwhile, is as much a pure love song as 'Baby I Love You' or 'Baby Love'. This is what Jarvis tells me.

Whatever, this year's Pulp is a different kettle of spiders to last year's Pulp or the Pulp that have been lazing about in Jarvis Cocker's head for the last ten years. Just one year ago, I saw them in London, displaying all the hesitancy and spineless inhibition of 'It'. All that saved them was their apparent unsoundness of (collective) mind and their ragbag appearance, a look recalling the barmy escape party from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest more than anything. Twelve months on, Art Garfunkel is left picking the pubes from his teeth the morning after and Pulp turn into a monster, sort of.

This year, they know their onions, a five-sided mess of snide rustlings and furtive fumblings. The Velvet Underground skip behind the bike-sheds for a surreptitious snog with Ted Rodgers, that sort of thing. Violin shrill, guitar grind, drums à la Maureen Tucker, vocal deadpan though often impassioned, full of hemmers and hawers. Like those Velvets, they frisk and skit from 'Sunday Morning' tranquil to 'White Light White Heat' bedlam, a disquieting imbalance but a good one.

... "'It' was our puberty, a document of teenage crushes and talking about ideas when you don't know much about them, loving the idea of love rather than 'it' itself. The LP is almost embarrassing to listen to now for us, but it was accurate for that time. We didn't feel comfortable with all that smoothness. Now, the overall feel is not wafting away on clouds of marshmallows. It's more an underlying feeling of striving or longing for something that isn't quite there. It's more painful now - grabbing, clutching and missing."

Currently confined to a wheelchair following a three-storey fall out of a window ("I thought it was a door" / "I was exorcising a demon" / "Did it for a bet" depending who he's telling), Jarvis is unrelenting. Onstage, while the other four ends of Pulp run amok, nutty as a fruit cake, with this grumbling spire of noise, Jarvis sits there a long way from Val Doonican and 'The Green, Green Grass Of Home'. Limbs twitch, eyeballs bulge and bounce, body snaps in short convulsions. Most interestingly, as the songs persist to their fickle climaxes, Jarvis clutches the chair arm, his hands sliding in time to the clumsy beat, his body wincing and starting, the chair a sex object. Thrilling. But they're not just as sexy as your sister.

Neither wilfully opaque nor bleeding bloody awkward, Pulp are many shades, fitting into the Sheffield brute-funk mosaic not at all. "We are ten times more Sheffield than any of those bands. Just because it's from Sheffield, why does it have to sound like a steel factory? You go to Grimsby, you don't expect fish-slapping, or the noise of trawlers. We stem from our industrial culture more than Chakk or anything like that. We're just not what the current image of Sheffield is supposed to be."

And so what? Pulp are not perfect, but they make most indie pop seem like it has its head packed with cotton. Pulp have only marginally more charisma than Leslie Crowther but have the gall and nerve of a madman. Pulp will barely rise from cultdom, they're too full of nonchalant anarchy for that, but in the small pond... they will be nasty and endure. They'll annoy the living, shitting hell out of you, and you'll rub up to the person next to you because of it. They're haywire and, like The Raincoats or The Mekons, they're better for it. Their songs build and build and, unlike bubbles, they explode and still last.

Jarvis?

"It's like someone once said... as soon as you realise that except for love and art it's all a bucket of shit... well, that's true about us."

Pulp. Nowhere near the bucket.

#jarvis cocker #pulp #80s #interview #printed interview #russell senior