Part One: Last night, my friend and Horror Vision cohost Ray reminded me about one of the institutions in LaLaLand that I adore: Henry Rollins. One thing LA has going for it is that, if you are music-minded, Rollins was, for a time, ever-present. The old LA Weekly free magazine sported a column by him (now long gone since the paper was purchased and 'streamlined' somewhere around 2017. Even better, Rollins has a two-hour radio show every weekend on local public radio KCRW, 89.9. I was a loyal listener for years, then, at some point, they moved his shows from Saturday night to Sunday and I just fell off. Ray's reminder came in the form of a two-part aha moment. First, KCRW has an app where you can stream their programming regardless of when/where you live, and two Rollins is back on Saturdays at 10:00 PM! Now, sure I could have been listening all along via the app, but the Rollins Saturday night was an event, similar to Joe Bob's Last Drive-In, and I really kinda want to listen to it when it airs. So that's what we did last night.
Part Two: Damone is not a band Rollins played last night. I found this band and their debut album with is twenty years old this year in the resulting rabbit hole I fell through after Rollins' show. This is straight teenager powerpop, a genre I do not usually go for. But this... my mileage isn't super sound on this - the album wears a bit as it goes on, but only a bit. And this opening track kicks some serious ass.
This reminds me of a kind of teenage Danko Jones in a way, and with a similar quasi-70s aesthetic, it reminds me how there was a moment in the very early 00s when it seemed like 70s Hard Rock started to resurface.
I think about other bands I can name from the teenage power pop area of music and they all lean into calling themselves punk or pop punk - I think that's where they go wrong. They're all also fronted by men who go out of their way to sound like pubescent boys, so that doesn't work for me either. I don't know if it's the mainly female vocals, a girl rounding up to being a bit macho, instead of a boy rounding down to come off vulnerable, but Damone just works where most of those other groups fail miserably. Also, they're named after Damone! You know, Dream Police?
Play:
The other rabbit hole I fell down yesterday:Working on-site is exhausting for a myriad of reasons, so I haven't had a lot of time or energy in the short periods when I'm in my hotel. Haven't had the energy to watch much let alone read, so it's a good thing I brought my Switch, and even better that the algorithm saw fit to pop up a video on youtube titled, "Super Cyborg is basically Contra on Switch."
Yep. True. Well, the first level is almost exactly Contra, and a lot of the gameplay is the same, but it's going to some weird places with insect and sealife-based bad guys, with some pretty gross ideas they throw at you to shoot. And, of course, there's a 40 lives code, which really opens up the enjoyment.
Playlist:
Windhand - Eponymous
Cough & Windhand - Reflection of the Negative EP
Henry Rollins - KCRW Broadcast 727
The C.I.A. - Surgery Channel
Damone - From the Attic
Card:
A direct commentary on not forgetting how good I have it right now, and how much I miss K while I am away. Wealth, indeed.
