I Left My Heart in Sunnyvale

I don't know of another piece of music that fills me with such calm. I think it's because I started really getting into Trailer Park Boys shortly after I moved to L.A. in 2006, and I associate those first five years there as being the last bastion of the world before the post-apocalyptic bullshit started. This isn't political - well, not entirely - everyone's wrong. Everything's broken. This song represents a kind of precipice to me, and although the world has since fallen off, every once in a while I hear this and it slows the fall, reminds me what it was like to have our feet planted on what we thought was solid ground*.

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* It was never solid ground and every generation feels this. The current generations, though, are the ones living it.     

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NCBD:

Short week this week.

Finally - "The Quintesson War" begins! I've declared my love for these odd techno-organic monstrosities on this page many times, and I'm happy as hell to have a six-issue arc dedicated to them in Void Rivals. Unlike fellow Energon Universe title G.I. Joe's current "Dreadnok War" storyline, VR isn't going bi-weekly for this stretch, and I'm fine with that. Just happy to be getting more Quintesson goodness!

When I downloaded this cover, I noticed right away the "7 of 8" added to the corner box. NO! I thought Zander Cannon's Sleep was going to go on longer than just eight issues! I will miss this book SO MUCH! That said, I can not wait for the revelations we're sure to be getting over the next two issues. I mean, I don't need it all explained and wrapped up, but I'm dying to get at least a glimpse at what it is that Jonathan becomes when he falls asleep. That's really all I ask. 

The penultimate issue of this Event Horizon prequel series. This one isn't quite what I expected or hoped for, but it's definitely building to something. I'm hoping that something is as INSANE as those snippets of these events play in the movie. We'll see. 

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Watch:

I had the distinct pleasure of being offered a copy of Kyle Valle and Erin Áine's ZombieCON, Vol. 1 this week. Here's a trailer that just barely scrapes the surface of goodness contained within:

This is a super indie film, but I have to say, they really made everything about it work. This feels like it should have come out ten years ago - NOT a knock - and reminds me so much of Joss Whedon - specifically that Dr. Horrible web-series Whedon did circa 2008. This comes from a place of love with the Convention circuit and the entire culture that goes with it. 

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Playlist:

Radiohead - Kid A

Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire

Somnium Nox - Apocrypha EP

Somnium Nox - Terra Inanis EP

Black Taffy - Out Moon 

Metallica - Ride the Lightning

Metallica - Kill 'Em All

Odonis Odonis - Eponymous

Ashes and Diamonds - Are Forever

Eagulls - Eponymous

Faetooth - Labryinthine

Deadguy - Near-Death Travel Services

Deftones - private music

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Three of Swords

• Five of Pentacles

• Seven of Pentacles

Blockage, worry and calamity. 

I had an Al Swearingen moment this morning. I drank a bit more beer than I probably should have last night, fully expecting to wake up in the middle of the night to answer the call of nature. Didn't happen. As a matter of fact, I woke up this morning and didn't feel an aching desire to relieve myself then, either. All day this has haunted me. I drank a ton of coffee, but never really felt like what came out was equal to what went in. That's not normally how my body works. So I see this full, and I'm a skosh concerned. 

Let's put a pin in this one and hope everything comes out okay tomorrow.

Cycle Sluts From Hell - I Wish You Were A Beer

 

Wow! I have not heard this in a very long time! I first heard this via the Operation Rock n' Roll compilation cassette I spoke at length about HERE. The band's 1991 eponymous debut turned out to be their only album, but it's pretty great. I never made it past the two singles back in the day - not for lack of interest, but hey, we didn't have the luxury of streaming back in 1991, hahaha - but I'm listening to it now and it feels a lot like what I'd pretty much always assumed: a bit of a female take on Gwar without the Horror Fantasy theatrics. 

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Watch:

I had an impromptu Jeremy Saulnier weekend this past Friday and Saturday. Started Friday with Blue Ruin, which I'd not seen since somewhere around the time it first hit streaming.

This 100% holds up to the fairly lofty place that first viewing gave it in my head. I don't know if I've ever seen a revenge film with such heartfelt emotion. As big as this goes stakes-wise, Blue Ruin always feels grounded in the real world, with real people who do the things I think many of us would do in such a dire situation.

Next up, on Saturday I finally got around to Saulnier's 2024 film Rebel Ridge. 

This is one I'd rather not post the trailer for. I'd not seen it before viewing, and after watching it just now, I have to say, just go in as blind as possible. Saulnier's not reinventing the wheel here; he never is. The point is, he has such a unique style as a filmmaker who marries Suspense and Action. This one is about as tense as Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners, and that's saying something. Outstanding performances all around, but Aaron Pierre is just magnetic beyond words. 

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Read:

I blew through a re-read of Nathan Ballingrud's Crypt of the Moon Spider, the first book in his Lunar Gothic Trilogy on Saturday. I've been meaning to get around to re-reading this and picking up part two since it came out in October. Instead of giving the bezos corporation more money, I drove over to our local independent book store, Clarksville Book Shop, and asked them to order me Cathedral of the Drowned. I can't wait to read this one. 

In the meantime, however, I grabbed this off the store's shelves and am already over 100 pages in:

I knew nothing about this novel or author Isabel Cañas, for that matter, but if there's one predilection I tend to exhibit more or less consistently, it's going in blind. So far I'm pretty deeply immersed. Here's the solicitation blurb:

"When a demonic presence awakens deep in a Mexican silver mine, the young woman it seizes must turn to the one man she shouldn’t trust… from bestselling author Isabel Cañas. In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family’s isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong. Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family’s legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin’s betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can’t help but notice her every time she enters a room or the growing tension between them… and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon’s thirst for blood grows stronger."

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Playlist:

Carter Burwell - Blood Simple OST

Vitriol - Eponymous

Jim Williams - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched OST

Testament - Para Bellum

The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir

Dance with the Dead - Driven to Madness

Meg Myers - Sorry

Perturbator - Age of Aquarius

John Coltrane - Blue Train

Odonis Odonis - Eponymous

Coleman Hawkins - Wrapped Tight

Cycle Sluts From Hell - Eponymous

Archspire - Carrion Ladder (single)

The Ocean - Fluxion

Oxcar Peterson, Joe Pass & Ray Brown - The Giants

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Queen of Cups

• Knight of Cups

• Two of Pentacles

Pursuit of artistic endeavors can only be upheld with compassion for the world around you and the adaptability that requires. Because, in 2025, compassion can be a difficult thing. Maybe not for those in your immediate circumference, but definitely for the world at large. 

This is a fairly banal, vague reading, but there's something here. While I'm typing this, the Ocean's refrain, "Tonight we celebrate the human stain" echoes through my ears and makes me wonder if there might be a way to use art to connect to someone who I don't see eye to eye with. You can ask what's the point, but at the same time, partisanship and cynicism have all but bankrupted our culture and society. While art remains pure. Is there a way to use that purity to reach beyond our broken means of communication?

New Music From Amigo the Devil!!!

Not sure if this track heralds the coming of a new album from our friend, but any day with new music from Amigo the Devil is a good day.

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Watch:

I love this time of year for cinema. There is usually a wealth of non-genre film that pops up and offfers a brief respite from my obsession, but there's also occasionally a last-minute entry that arrives and shakes up my carefully thought-out Best Of list we do over on The Horror Vision (coming soon). This year, Dust Bunny is that film.

I approve this trailer, but as always, if you're reading this and you have any interest in seeing this and haven't already watched the trailer, skip it and go in as blind as possible. I knew nothing about this one when I sat down, and the viewing was all the better for it:

Dust Bunny reunited Writer/Director Bryan Fuller with Hannibal star Mads Mikkelsen, and throws Sigourney Weaver, David Dastmalchian and Shelia Atim for good measure. If you're a fan of Hannibal, this is not that. The interesting thing about this film's aesthetic is that Fuller seems to have gone back to the toolbox and reappropriated the stylistic elements he used to create his first show, Pushing Daisies, which I haven't seen in a very long time. Doesn't matter - the iconoclastic, singular fairy tale style is unforgettable, and here it is again, except honed by the nearly twenty years of experience Fuller has sweated and bled for since. 

Dust Bunny is beautifully weird, existing in a world that is unlike any other. Also, it's adorable without losing its teeth, and violent without being too much for a kid. This is a gateway drug, people, and my mind still reels at the fact that the studio dropped the ball rolling this out wide (I had to drive to Nashville to see it). This would have been a perfect family film. Well, in my world, at least. 

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Read:

One of the rituals I'd forgotten how much I loved is the NCBD binge. Back in the day, I'd always come home from the shop, whole up on a couch with some coffee and read through my new stack. That's been gone for quite some time, but I'm bringing it back in a slightly different form. 

Wednesday night after work, I hit Rick's Comic City and hung out with Ryan and Walter there, talking comics and movies, then came home and hung out with K for a few hours. After she went to bed (I've moved back to being a night owl; she usually doesn't like to stay up beyond 11:00 PM), I cracked a beer and ascended the stairs to my office and read David and Maria Lapham's Good As Dead issues 1-4 in a tight burst.

Another outstanding series from the Laphams. There's so much going on here, so many fantastic characters, but it doesn't feel crowded. Instead, every new appearance adds a layer to the mystery. Good as Dead is violent, funny, tragic, baffling and compelling. David's in top form with his line work, and colorist Dee Cunniffe helps give each scene, each story, each character their own life within the greater context of the overall story. Which starts like many other Crime/Noir stories do - an unexplained, extremely grisly suicide - and then slowly grows ever more involved, until we're balancing on the cusp of something both staggering and more than a little crazy.

Perfect!

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy and Stiggs OST

Steve Moore - Christmas Bloody Christmas OST

Metallica - Master of Puppets

Moon Wizard - Sirens

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Phil Manzanera - Diamondhead

Dreamkid - Daggers

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land

Odonis Odonis - Eponymous

Eagulls - Eponymous

Phil Manzanera - Listen Now

Orville Peck - Pony

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Eight of Cups

• IV: The Emperor

• Five of Wands

Searching for deeper meaning than what I've found in 'known' places. This is a DIRECT call from the cards for me to engage with them more, because honestly, I've been half-assing it here for a while. I need a curriculum.

The Return of... Plague Bringer!!!

In celebration of the fact that Plague Bringer is back and playing their first show in ten years at this year's Forever Deaf Fest in Chicago on April 1st and I grabbed tickets HERE.

These guys have such a small internet presence. Thanks to the Spreading the Plague YouTube channel HERE for posting this video. Lots of great stuff on this channel - go check it out.

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NCBD:

What a great week! Let's go:

I really enjoyed issue 3 of David and Maria Lapham's Good as Dead, so I'm charged for #4! This book has some really interesting things going on in the background, and apparently, that's about to go off this issue!

This bi-weekly schedule for GIJOE's Dreadnok War storyline has really given the book the boost it needed! We've got major The Hills Have Eyes vibes in the outback with everyone's favorite grape soda addicts, and now that we've gotten an almost otherworldly, animalistic view of Cobra Commander, the pull on this one has strengthened for me quite a bit. 

I recently covered Tynion and Walsh's Exquisite Corpses on The Dread Broadcast because I think it's a book people need to know about. 

It feels like it's been forever since the first issue of Dan Jurgens, Mike Perkins and Mike Spicer's follow-up to last year's Bat-Noir, Bat-Man: First Knight, which I wrote about HERE. So far, I dig this new series just as much as the first; I could literally read one of these every year and be pretty happy. Batman fits 1930s Noir so well, and these creators really flourish in the style. 

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Watch:

Finally! The trailer I saw for Damian McCarthy's new film Hokum has hit YouTube, and I can share it! I know, I know - I don't normally like to watch trailers. I saw this before Sisu: Road to Revenge last month and was left jaw agape - another fantastic Neon trailer that shows us so much without telling us anything at all. Now that's how trailers should be!

Especially for McCarthy's films, which, to date, with Caveat and Oddity, are extremely unique and unnerving creations. Hokum - out May 1st - looks to be no different. 

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Playlist:

Tim Hecker - Infinity Pool OST

Bluekarma - The Information

The Afghan Whigs - Gentleman

Frank Black and the Catholics - One More Road for the Hit

Ritual Howls - Ruin

Drain - ... Is Your Friend

Plaguebringer - As the Ghosts Collect, the Corpses Rest

Orville Peck - Pony

Radiohead - Kid A

Radiohead - OK Computer

Dreamkid - Daggers

Eldov - A Story of Darkness and Light

Mondo Decay - Nun Gun

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Four of Wands

• Seven of Wands

• Eight of Cups

Don't allow harmony to convince you to drop your guard. 

Phil Says Listen Now

From the 1976 album Listen Now, by Phil Manzanera and 801. I'd never heard this before last week; a good friend pointed out that, while I was familiar with plenty of Brian Eno's post-Roxy Music work, I'd done myself a disservice by not dabbling in Manzanera's. He was right; this is a fantastic record, start to finish. Lots of those 70s tones that would get coopted by soft rock like Ace a few years later, but here, with a healthy dose of Art Rock overtones and sometimes perplexing structure. 

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Watch:

In attempting to compile my top ten Horror of 2025 list, I've come down to a series stand-off.

Weapons vs. Bring Her Back. 

To this end, I rewatched Bring Her Back last night. 

I'd not seen this poster before. It made me laugh. Uncomfortably...

In doing so, it's hard to imagine any film could compete with this. Still, Weapons will get its day in court soon enough, and I will make my decision.

With Bring Her Back, the Philippou Brothers have crafted an expertly executed film that not only pushes into extreme territory without crossing any of my lines but also features characters with such emotional complexity, gravity, and resonance. I love Andy and Piper, and I love their relationship. I feel such pathos for them from the very beginning of the film. Seriously, I was moved to tears during the film's opening and again multiple times throughout. I was also sickened, spurred to cover my face with my hands, and feel such enormous trepidation for them. And this is the third time I've seen this film this year!

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Read:

I'll be talking about this one on an upcoming episode of Drinking with Comics, but this past Saturday I blew through Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins' Lois Lane: Enemy of the People. 

If you know me, you know that I abhor Superman, and that would normally extend to his supporting cast, simply for serving Supe's overall story. 

That is not this.

First, take note of the writer again: Greg Rucka. This is a 12-issue mini-series about Lois Lane investigating Ice and Deportation corruption, the death of a Russian peer, and trying to stay one step ahead of the hired killer big industry has hot on her heels. Superman drops by occasionally to check in on her well-being, but she always lovingly sends him packing. "I can handle it," is her constant refrain. Added by Renee Montoya, Lois digs in and serves up some serious Rucka political vibes in a story that would make a great double feature with the first Volume or two of Marvel's original Alias series that introduced Jessica Jones. 

 Super blown away by this one. This is one of the reasons I do 'podcasts' - I often need help stepping outside my own prejudices, especially when it comes to DC comics. Thanks, Shin!

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Playlist:

Mondo Deccay - Nun Gun

Hangman's Chair - Saddiction

Slow Crush - Thirst

Plague Vendor - By Night

Wrené - No skin against the wind (single)

Asaf Avidad - Live at the Acropolis

Asaf Avidad - Unfurl

Phil Manzanera - Listen Now

Phil Collins - Face Value

D'Nell - 1st Magic

Miles Davis - Ascenseur pour l'échafaud

Calexico - Second Shift

United Future Organization - 3rd Perspective

Cynic - Focus

Porter Robinson - Worlds

Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ten of Pentacles

• Four of Cups

• Knight of Pentacles

All three cards deal with material wealth and luxury, but the Knight of Pentacles (Disks) specifically points to saving. I'll just take this to mean I'm back on the right path. 

New Music From The Afghan Whigs!!!

 

The Afghan Whigs covering Polica? I haven't thought about Polica since... well, since HERE. So f'king cool! The Whigs also released a Still Corners cover. I've always loved the way, every once in a while, out of the blue, these guys will release a couple of covers. Very cool. Hoping this means there's new music on the way. 

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Watch:

Last night I took in a viewing of Mike P. Nelson's (why can't I think or say that name without thinking of Craig T. Nelson?) new remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night. 

 

I'll tell you right off the bat, I'm not much of a fan of the original. It's fine, just so sleazy it's not really my thing. That said, this film has a sequence that's getting some press where Santa kills a whole shit load of nazis.

Pretty fucking satisfying, in 2025, where nazis apparently think they're an identity choice or a protected group, to be getting so many stories lately where nazis get killed. Because, you know, the only good nazis are dead nazis. We all know that, right?

Anyway, as for the rest of the movie... It was AWESOME! I really dug this one. Go in blind, and if you can, see it in theatre. This is not a straight remake of the original film; writer/director Mike P. Nelson really does something different and, in my opinion, awesome, even while still incoporating the many of the main plot points of the '84.

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Playlist:

Brand New - Daisy

Barry Adamson - Cut to Black

Sumerlands - Dreamkiller

Phil Manzanera - Listen Now

Dreamkid - Daggers

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Phil Collins - Face Value

Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons

Faetooth - Labrynthine

Mondo Decay - Nun Gun

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ten of Pentacles

• XI: Justice

• II: The High Priestess

Lasting stability threatened (or perhaps earned) by intuition. Wow. Literally applies to my thoughts right before writing this. Don't overthink a good thing and thus, sabotage it.

New Music From Nothing

New music from Nothing! Lead single from their upcoming album A Short History of Decay, out February 27 on Run For Cover Records. Pre-order HERE.

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NCBD:

A nice, tight list of great books today. Let's get 

I guess I'll be leading every Transformers entry in these pages with, "Look at that cover!" because hot damn if Dan Moya isn't turning out some of the most elegantly pleasing covers in all of comics at the moment. I was a little concerned about switching out the analog space-dust style of Jorge Corona and DWJ for this more polished look for the book. However, it's been incredible so far.

Jason Aaron is out, and Gene Luen Yang takes over writing as of this issue, backed by Freddie E. Williams II and Andrew Dalhouse on art. I will miss Juan Ferreyra's art; Ferreyra's look was new to me and gave the book a bold new look that I think we were all ready for with 2023's continuity-adhering relaunch. Now, it looks like the new team has once again reinvented the book from the ground up, and I find myself once again happy that I didn't jump off when the issue counter got reset. 

Minor Arcana continues to thrill me with its seaside vibes and mysterious characters. 

Always a great thing to see Cobra Commander rising from the ashes of his missteps. Also, to have Copperhead feature so prominently on a cover makes my heart sing - one of me favorites, he is!

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Watch:

I finally had the chance to sit down and watch David Cronenberg's latest film, 2024's The Shrouds. 

After a few initial misgivings, I ended up really liking this. It reminded me a lot of Cronenberg's novel, Consumed, which I am a fairly big fan of. There are a few nuances to Vincent Cassel's acting choices (which might have more to do with an otherwise solid script), but overall, The Shrouds starts in a relatively small place and expands into a very Cronenberg-esque conspiracy. I've been thinking about his predilection and approach to conspiracy lately; most of his films deal with secret cabals and their agendas. Starting with Consumed - unless I'm missing something - those conspiracies become global, moving away from small groups of rag-tag conspirators to incorporate global countries. North Korea is a major force in Consumed, and both Russia and China may or may not figure heavily into The Shrouds. Fifty years of making films that have grown in budget, scope and acclaim have helped David Cronenberg become a Director with global urgency, and that is on full display here. 

I watched this on the Criterion Channel app, but it's likely available elsewhere as well (although Criterion is becoming a must-have channel in our house, so I'd just recommend signing up for the trial and checking them out).

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Blackbraid - Blackbraid III

Willie Nelson - Oh What a Beautiful World: The Songs of Rodney Crowell

Deadguy - Near Death Travel Services

Fever Ray - Eponymous

Brian Eno - Ambient 4: On Land

Stone Angel - Eponymous

Carter Burwell - Blood Simple OST

Tim Hecker - Infinity Pool OST

Nothing - a short history of decay (pre-release singles)

Mondo Decay - Nun Gun

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Page of Swords

• XIV: Temperance

• Eight of Cups

Agility again. Agility tempered with emotional control. Or, perhaps, Agility achieved through emotional distance?