Teenage Sex and Death At Camp Miasma

When Faster Pussycat's House of Pain came out in 1989, I was thirteen. My friend Zak bought (or stole) the cassette single. I remember it vividly, even though I couldn't tell you what the B-side was. We weren't really FP fans - despite listening to some other pretty hokey bands, something about the name turned us off. I don't remember if I had an opinion on this song either way back then. Let's just say I tolerated it.

K and I have been watching HOBOMAX's Peacemaker series - it's fantastic - and in season one, episode four, this song is used to fabulous effect. Hearing it, I had an immediate, almost unbelievably strong emotional reaction. I chewed on it multiple times over the next week, listened to the Wake Me When It's Over album, and, although that was pretty lackluster, the song stands. 

There's a definite Stephen Tyler element to Singer Taime Downe's approach, but where it comes off unabashed in other songs on the album, for House of Pain it really works. The guitar glitters in forlorn opulence, and the harmonica just seals the deal. It sounds like crying. Which is essentially what the song is about. A little boy waiting for a father that will never show. 

Damn. 

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Watch:

I'm rounding the final stretch on a two-week "no drinking" interval. The context is that K had a minor injury to her foot (she's fine), and the doctor prescribed a two-week course of an antibiotic that they warned "is tough on the liver." Because of this, I suggested she should abstain from wine, and I would support her by leaving my beers in the fridge for the duration of her treatment. We started Monday, 2/16 and both feel great, so we're thinking of instituting a loose, "only on the weekends" policy. I'll have one beer Monday night for the taping of DwC, but aside from that, we'll abstain until the weekends. 

I set all this up to set the mood for last Friday, 2/20, when I fired up Jane Schoenbrun's "I Saw The TV Glow." I talked about the profound effect this film had on me in Monday's post. I'm still thinking about it, over and over. A lovely feeling that was made even more acute when I saw Fango's post about Schoenbrun's new film this morning. I've vetted the trailer: it gives nothing away, other than this is now my most anticipated film of the year. Before you hit play, I strongly suggest watching this for the first time with earphones. 

I LOVE falling in love with a Director and then almost immediately discovering they have a new film coming out. Teenage Sex and Death At Camp Miasma lands in theatres on August 7th, and you can bet the farm I'll be seeing this on the big screen, whether I have to drive to Nashville, Chicago, or Berwin. (Berrr-winn!).

I am so excited for this!!!

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Playlist:

Sumerlands - Dreamkiller

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

Slayer - Decade of Aggression

Soviet Soviet - Endless

Tomahawk - Mit Gas

Deftones - Around the Fur

High on Fire - Snakes of the Divine

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞ 

Deftones - Gore

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Card:

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

• Page of Pentacles

• X: Wheel of Fortune

• IV: The Emerpor

"Getting a revolving policy going on Earthly matters that feel important but ultimately might not be so is the name of the game. Instead of trying to control everything and everyone, focus on what matters that you can control."

Me and That Monday

I'm not sure how I never posted this track before, because I can see I liked it and I recognize it. Regardless, I could not find it in a search on this site. Regardless of whether it appeared in these pages previously, I've really felt an affinity toward this band, this album, and this song lately, so here it is again and HERE is Me and That Man's Bandcamp.

If you're unfamiliar, this is Nergal from Behemoth's 'other' band, and it kind of sounds like if Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds hailed from Norway and sold their souls to the Dark One. Which is to say, they are AWESOME!

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Watch:

Friday night, I finally got around to watching Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw The TV Glow.

To say this film had a deeply profound effect on me would be an understatement. I know relatively little about Schoenbrun's; last year, I watched their We Are All Going to the World's Fair and was pretty blown away by that, as well. But TV... this one is so much more accomplished. Part of that is, I'd guess, that Schoenbrun had a bigger budget the second time around, but also, they have obviously honed their craft. 

There's so much 00s Hauntology in this film that it's almost unbelievable to me. I mean, that entire movement was so liminal and audio-based that I find the effectiveness of this filmmaker's ability to 'put it on screen' fascinating and deeply endearing. The blurred pre and post-millennium transition from a still mostly analog cultural paradigm to a fully digital one created a wave of interesting cultural artifacts; people repurposing analog alongside the digital and really projecting the past out into the future to create what was, at the time, a movement so rooted in uncertainty and change that it didn't last long and kind of ate its own tail on the way out, so it almost feels like it didn't exist at all. But Schoenbrun proves it did, with a movie whose plot is pretty much what I just described, verbatim. 

Also, have to say. I was a little more than halfway through and already spellbound when King Woman showed up and performed a stunning version of Psychic Wound. 

I mean, how could I not LOVE this film? 

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Playlist:

The Police - Outlandos D'Amour

Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool

Converge - Love Is Not Enough

Jerry Reed - East Bound and Down

Megadeth - Rust in Peace

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞ 

Faster Pussycat - Wake Me When It's Over

King Woman - Celestial Blues

Drug Church - Prude

Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me

Nihill - Krach

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Napalm Death - Resentment Is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes)

Napalm Death - Suffer the Children (single)

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Card:

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

• King of Pentacles

• Ace of Cups

• Two of Pentacles

"A connection of mind and spirit creates opportunity for lucrative partnership."

Some of my recent readings have really had a 'fortune teller' feel. I hate that. It makes it hard to take things seriously. 

Witchfinder - Approaching

 

Let's start Wednesday with some heavy slabs of pot-choked doom. The opening track from Witchfinder's 2022 album Forgotten Mansion. This one plods with a satisfying heft until it breaks out and starts to chase you, Clément's voice haunting the darkening skies behind you as you try to get away...

Love this f**king band.

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NCBD:

Another week brings another NCBD. Let's get into this week's pull list:

Loving these Energon Universe books, and especially love seeing the evolution of Cobra from the ground up as a merger between Cobra Commander and his, eh, backers, and Destro's MARS, which has a considerably heavier hand in this from the beginning. 

One more issue after this and Newburn concludes. Man, I do not think things are going to go well for almost anyone in the cast. 

Jeff Lemire and Gabriel H. Walta's Phantom Road just gets weirder by the issue. Let's see where we go this month. 

Another book I retained absolutely zero from after reading the first issue. I think my fascination with the X-Books that began near the end of Hickman's run is coming to an end. We'll always have the highlights of this era.

Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows' The Ribbon Queen comes to an end. Thus far I only have half of these in my possession, but those are four of the bloodiest, most compelling Horror comics I've read in years. I won't have the remainder of the series in my hand until early April. Can't wait to read the entire series straight through from beginning to end.

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Watch:

I only had to watch 17 seconds of this trailer to know I'm in:

In theatres May 3rd, from Writer/Director Jane Schoenbrun, whose previous film We're All Going to the World's Fair has been on my list for some time. 

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Playlist:

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield (pre-release singles)

Slayer - South of Heaven

Double Life - Indifferent Stars

Vince Pope - True Detective: Night Country OST

Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves

Various - Return of the Living Dead OST

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Card:

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

• Ace of Swords

• Six of Swords

• V: The Hierophant

Swift decisiveness will balance a shaky situation and provide guidance.