From their 1996 album Fantastic Planet, which is really pretty new to me here, thirty years after its release. Failure was never really on my radar in 1996. About twelve years ago, I remember reading something Heaven Is An Incubator wrote about them and wondering how I'd missed them. I gave Fantastic Planet a spin back then, but it didn't leave an impression. Also, that would have been before the advent of Apple Music, so I'm unsure how I listened. Regardless, I would not have had the ability to relisten as often as I can now.
I played Fantastic Planet through once this past Friday morning because Mr. Brown and I decided to hit next year's Space Echo concert and see Baroness, Spotlights, and, with Failure headlining, I figured it would be a good time to take another dip in their sound.
On my first go-through, I instantly understood why/how I had missed these guys. I actually think I was aware of them to some degree in the early to mid-90s, but here's the thing - I was DONE with this sound by 1996. Just done with it. By the time Nirvana's In Utero came out, I was pretty finished with anything that shared DNA with their sound, be it in songwriting, production or both.
I'm not saying Failure is a copycat band. Not at all. However, the production on this album definitely owes something to the zeitgeist sound of the day, which is all based on Nirvana's sound. "Alternative" radio beat that shit to death in 1994-97, and just that through-line would have been enough for me to turn my nose up at this back then.
Back to the present, by the end of that first listen last Friday, I found I wanted more, so I played FP through a second time. By the end of that, I was hooked (album opener "Saturday Savior" has been in my head all day as I write this on Saturday). It's nice to go back and find something from that era to look at with fresh eyes, so to speak, because the only bands from the "grunge/alternative" watershed that I followed were Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. The two that, in my opinion, have the most distinct sound. Now that we're thirty years away from this sound, though, I can hear this album for what it is. Pretty fucking great.
Watch:
We continued the Noirvember celebration this past Friday with a double feature of two Noir classics: one from the original era of the genre and one of the Neo-Noir persuasion. First up, Joan Crawford and Jack Carson in Mildred Pierce. I adore this film, and recently picked up the Criterion Blu-ray as part of the current Criterion sale.
Next up, Rian Johnson's debut, Brick.
I'd not watched this one in some time, and was thrilled to see how well it holds up. A very clever approach to updating the Neo Noir formula and applying it to the Southern California High School vibe, not unlike Rob Thomas' Veronica Mars, of which I am also a pretty big fan. Here, though, Johnson makes the choice to have his teenage characters talk in a quasi-Mickey Spillane dialogue; this could have gone way wrong, like that one guy's Romeo and Juliet movie from the '90s. Instead, it just really works, principally because the performances are so strong. Joseph Gordon Leavit stopped being the kid from that shitty sitcom about aliens, and Nora Zehetner, Luke Haas, Noah Fleiss, Noah Segan and Matt O'Leary all knock it out of the park.
Read:
Last December, I stumbled on Hellbore Magazine. A fantastic Occult/Folklore/Folk Horror magazine with articles on everything from Haunted Sites to Nigel Kneale. My primary contact with Hellbore was twitter, which I denounced earlier this year, and it wasn't until recently I found them on IG. Glad I did. Check out this offering they have up on their site at the moment:
How could I not procure a copy of this for my overfilled bookshelves? You can check this out and order it on Hellebore's site HERE.
Playlist:
Orville Peck - Appaloosa
Failure - Fantastic Planet
Failure - Comfort
Odonis Odonis - Eponymous
The Velvet Underground - Sister Ray
The Velvet Underground & Nico - Eponymous
Slow Crush - Thirst
Sylvaine - Nova
Willie Nelson - Oh What A Beautiful World
The Volume Settings Folder - Negotiating Obstacles EP
Mars Red Sky - Eponymous
Dean Hurley - Analog Resource Vol. II: The Philosophy of Beyond
Perturbator - Age of Aquarius
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Queen of Cups
• Nine of Swords
• Five of Cups
Lots of emotion undercut with anxiety.
