I've written about Skid Row before, both here and back on Joup, and while I've pretty much always defended their sophomore record Slave to the Grind for being released the same summer as Metallica's Black Album and being heavier, my absolute love of their self-titled debut definitely disappeared for about a decade and some change after I deemed it too "hair rock" to partake in.
Fuck that.
There's no denying some 80s Metal cringe here, and how that "dangerous kids on the street" zeitgeist that all these bands tapped into and sold hard in the 80s reached its absolute zenith on this record. But looking back- that's a great thing. This isn't slaughter or winger - this is a more real version of the act, if such a thing is possible. Maybe it was Bach's track record over the last few decades - certainly his appearance on Trailer Park Boys made me believe he was still exactly what he claimed to be on this first album. An album that's so perfect, even its ballad holds up. Throw in the iconic single 18 and Life, and you get the perfect soundtrack to suburban, middle-class high school punk kids (not Punk kids) in all their cheap whiskey swillin', stolen cigarette smokin', guitar center hangin' metal-dude voguing, and no one sings it better than Bach.
Watch:
This. Now. Please:
Aw hell, they took my favorite Turtle and mixed him with equal parts my favorite Universal Monster? Just take my got-damned money, NECA.
Look at those lightning bolt sais!
Playlist:
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Alio Die and Lorenzo Montaná - The Threshold of Beauty
DeadMau5 - Catbread (single)
Van Halen - 1984
Card:
Looking at the bigger gameboard. Seeing beyond the smaller machinations, and really attempting to construct a bigger picture. Too much Mr. Miyagi of late, or am I crystalizing my vision for 2022? Only time will tell.
This song has been creeping back into my good graces for a few months now, and finally, I'm ready to scream it from the mountains - well, not that dramatic, but still, Ratt's "Round and Round" is a nearly perfect little piece of 80s pop hair metal. It fuses that "dangerous kids on the streets" vibe that no other music captures as well as 80s Hair metal (aka Butt rock, as my friend Two would say). This song really brings back memories of being a punk kid, stealing Cutty Sark or Seagrams VO from our parents and wandering the streets of Chicago's south suburbs, smoking marlboro lights and rebelling against our perfect little 80s suburban lives because... well, because we were fucking kids! And yeah, that's why rallying behind a tune like this has been a difficult place to go for the three decades since - it's embarrassing to think of yourself being so... cringe. But it was part of our generation, and I'm finally ready to own it.
Watch:
We needed a palate cleanser after the insanity of the Yellowjackets season finale, and we found it in Cobra Kai!
I'd been reticent to watch this, but after rewatching Karate Kid one and two for the first time since they were in theatres I found I really dug them. Nostalgia, of course, but also, they're good Hollywood flicks. My first bout with part three was a mixed bag - some fantastic stuff, and some terrible stuff. But once we started Cobra Kai, well, it's been three nights as I write this, and we're about a quarter of the way through the third season. The show is constructed in these perfectly balanced, bite-sized episodes that really accentuate the writing - which, while very tv - is also extremely well done.
I feel about Cobra Kai in a very similar way that I feel about IDW's TMNT. Whereas I've been saying for the last nine years that the latter is the best reboot of a preexisting property I've ever seen, Cobra Kai is the best continuation of a pre-existing property I've ever seen.
Playlist:
Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance
Author and Punisher - Drone Carrying Dread (pre-release single)
Author and Punisher - Maiden Star (pre-release single)
First single from the forthcoming album Impera. Man, it's been a minute... glad to have Papa and crew back. You can pre-order Impera HERE, but a word of caution - be careful. Their prices seem incredibly cheap this time around - I've always felt Ghost's merch was crazy expensive - but they really hammer you with add-ons while you're checking out. I fell for it (happily), but be warned.
If you're a regular reader of this page, you'll know that a couple years ago I began sifting through a lot of the 80s rock that I'd either ignored or abandoned after adolescence. I called the project "Recontextualizing the 80s" and meant it very much in earnest. I was a kid in the 80s but became a young adult in the 90s, and as many of us know, part of that process is breaking from the things you liked as a child. Right, because at 16, 17, 18 or even into your 20s, you're such an adult. More like, fake it 'til you make it.
One thing I've learned as I entered and defeated my thirties is there's really no such thing as 'adults' as they are advertised to children. The only difference between a kid and an adult is if you accept responsibility for your own actions and everything that follows through from that. Of course, I might just be saying that because I'm a nearly 46-year-old dude who still buys transformers and geeks out over Marvel Comics, but you know, I think I'm right. As a bartender, I saw a lot of adults who acted way more like children and thus was born my theory.
But I'm trailing off on a tide of tangents.
Anyway, the 90s served as the crystallization and final stand of the indie rock scenes that began in the 80s, and with their coalescing into the larger arena of pop culture, a complete refusal to acknowledge any music containing artifice. This was great at the time, but if you're even the littlest bit self-aware, you eventually realize that not every band or musician has to have a straight-lipped, white-knuckle chokehold on "TOTAL INTEGRITY OR DIE". Sometimes it's good just to have fun, and yeah, all the cocaine and mascara of the 80s metal scene pretty much tells you at a glance that's all a lot of those bands cared about. Sometimes that sucks, and sometimes it's okay and carries with it a certain kind of integrity in itself. So for the next seven entries of this blog, I'm going to post tracks that I've either rediscovered a fondness for, finally admitted a fondness for, or have discovered a fondness for.
Get ready, and please, don't throw any Pavement keychains at me. That shit hurts and I never really got into them in the first place.
We start with a song and an album by the 80s Prince of Darkness himself that I used to never like, even back when I liked Ozzy. With the exception of "A Shot in the Dark" - which I believe I've posted in these pages on several previous occasions - I never took a liking to The Ultimate Sin. A couple years ago, however, I decided to give it another shot and guess what? I totally dig every damn track on this record.
Watch:
Now, as if to fly in the face of everything in the previous section, I spent part of last weekend doing a mini Danny Boyle marathon. First up, my first (finally) viewing of The Beach.
I'm a big fan of Alex Garland's novel, and although Boyle's adaptation changed quite a bit from the book, I still dug it, especially the always delightful Robert Carlyle as Daffy.
Next, the original Trainspotting, which I've lost track of my number of viewings for and still adore.
Last and perhaps most bafflingly, I had my first-ever viewing of T2 Trainspotting, the sequel.
I really should have seen this one a long time ago, but never got around to it, always kind of bummed I missed its microscopic theatrical run. I suppose some of the blame lay with the fact that, since I've forced myself to stay away from reading Welsh's last few novels - despite the fact that I still count him in my top three authors of all time - I also moved away from all the other areas of his work. I'm pretty sure at the beginning of every year I tell myself and my readers that this is the year I return to reading Welsh, and finally acquire and burn through all those novels I've missed since I read Skag Boys, but the truth is, while I'm still working on writing a genre series, the idea of drifting back into Welsh's prose may alter my own voice in a way that makes these next two books even more impossible than they already sometimes feel.
Whatever.
T2 bears pretty much no resemblance to Welsh's Porno - which wasn't so much a sequel to Trainspotting as it was a sequel to both that and my favorite of his novel, Glue. But Boyle had no time to introduce that other book's key players - Juice Terry, NSIGN Ewart, wee Gally, or Billy Birrell, and as such, opted to make this more of a sequel to his previous film. Which was the smart move, even if it forced this film to hinge around the confrontation between Renton and Begbie, which does not disappoint, even if the rest of the flick - as enjoyable as it is, especially visually - feels a might rudderless at times.
Regardless of any of that, I still really enjoyed this one and will definitely revisit again, especially after I finally do get back on the Welsh Horse (pun intended but not to be read in any capacity other than reading the man's literature).
NCBD:
Marvel is basically stealing my wallet this week:
I've had no interest in the current Death of Doctor Strange storyline until this Black Knight tie-in one-shot. That's because it's Si Spurrier picking up directly from last year's Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade mini-series.
I'd imagine the cover to this one intimates a big reveal. Hell, I hadn't even stopped drooling over the art in this book or the total 70s-Marvel-inspired storyline long enough to wonder who was under the Masked Raider's mask. They have me curious now, though, but just to be clear - and because I almost never say this - I'm here first and foremost for the art. All revelations are just icing on the cake.
So Bruce Banner is essentially exploring the multiverse with the Hulk as a rocket ship? Yeah, it sounds daft, but again, it comes out with a distinctly 70s flavor in Donny Cates and Ryan "Invincible" Ottley's hands, and after picking up the first two issues on a whim, I'm digging Hulk quite a bit.
Let's interrupt the Marvel fanfare with the final issue of Maw, which so far, has been one of the best original concept Horror Minis I've read in years, ranking right up there with Autumnal, Black Stars Above, and The Plot. Great company to keep, and creators Jude Ellison S. Doyle and A.L. Kaplan have totally earned it.
Mr. Brown clued me in to the fact that the Moon Knight trailer dropped a few days ago, and after watching it, I'm pretty excited. The final shot of the costume looks a bit goofy, in the way Daredevil's did when they first introduced it at the end of the first season of the Netflix show from a few years back, but based on how much this one appears to lean into the mental illness aspects of Marc Spector, I'm more than happy to give it a chance.
Speaking of the show's apparent handling of Dissociative Identity Disorder, how many SJWs do you think are going to take to the Twittersphere to cry afoul? Let's hope that doesn't affect anything the show has planned.
I can't wait to sit down and re-read Lemire and Sorrentino's Cold War Psychic Animal WTF series in a tight burst. There's a lot I feel slipping through the cracks month-to-month here, and I'd imagine the big picture these cats are painting will be that much more effective when consumed uninterrupted.
This is where, if you've been paying attention for the last 9 months or so, I say, "I'm just picking up the number one," and then go on to read this new She-Hulk series monthly. Well, maybe that will be the case. I'm not sure I've ever read a comic with She-Hulk in it before. I mean, it seems like, with the number of comics I've read in my life, I would have had to have read something featuring Jen Walters, but if I did, I don't remember it. Still, I've always been aware of the character, and never particularly interested. Or, maybe the advance hype behind writer Rainbow Rowell and Rogê Antônio's new series will surprise me.
Everything about this cover for the new Silver Surfer: Rebirth commands me to buy this book.
I probably will not buy both covers for The Silver Coin #8 - I'll probably go with the Michael Walsh cover below because, hey, body parts in a bloody mop bucket, am I right? Still, the above alt cover by What's The Furthest Place From Here rock god Tyler Boss is pretty f'ing cool, too.
Number 125. Another landmark in the best reboot EVER.
And finally, here's one I really don't want to buy, but might:
It surprises me to no end that in falling back in love with the X-Men, years of oversaturation have left Logan off my radar and in the "Mutants I least want to see in a comic" list. So why even consider this? Fan inertia I suppose, and the hopes that Benjamin Percy might do something that restores my love of the ol' Canucklehead.
Playlist:
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
David Bowie - Station to Station
David Bowie - Let's Dance
Ike and Tina Turner - River Deep - Mountain High
Ministry - Moral Hygiene
Beach House - Once Twice Melody
Alio Die and Lorenzo Montaná - The Threshold of Beauty
Jim Jarmusch and Jozef Van Wissem - The Mystery of Heaven
Eddie Money - Take Me Home Tonight (single)
The Ronettes - Presenting the Ronettes
Pat Benatar - In the Heat of the Night
Donny McCaslin - Beyond Now
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry
Alio Die and Remco Helbers - The Garland of Dissolution
Seriously one of the most iconic voices of all time. So iconic, she makes me love an Eddie Money song.
Watch:
The sting of the anniversary of David Bowie's death and now Ronnie Spector's passing was traversed by some really good news (thankfully, that's too many bummers to deal with in one week) - Ti West is returning with a new movie!!!
I am SO happy about this. West has directed a number of TV episodes (his two on Amazon's Them were incredible), but hasn't done a film since 2016's In A Valley of Violence (which is on Netflix and SO worth your time). West is easily one of the best directors working today, in my opinion, and I'm hoping having A24 distribute this new flick will A) put it in theatres for longer than a weekend, and B) herald his return to filmmaking.
NCBD:
Not New Comic Book Day, exactly, but here's what I've picked up over the last few weeks via eBay and back issue bins:
I'd read the first issue of Hunger back when it first came out, then never continued. I've always wanted to go back and read the entire thing, though, because I'm something of a Galactus fan, even though I haven't really read many stories with him. Maybe that's the Unicron fanboy in me, I don't know. There's a lot about the Fantastic Four's history and rogues gallery that I retain something of an armchair interest in, but never really do anything about. I'm glad I bought this, even if just for the image of Galactus tearing through a hole in the fabric of the 616 Universe and entering the Ultimate Universe
Next up, I started reading The Low Low Woods when it first dropped back in early 2020, but never acquired all the issues. I finally solved that. Here's the bad ass cover I just scored for the fifth issue:
I'd put a poster of that on my wall. It's gorgeous. The book itself has an amazing premise - girls go missing in a small rural town where coal fires have burned for decades, then return missing time. The execution leaves a little bit to be desired, but overall I dig it. And for whatever reason, I wanted the issues of this one instead of the collected edition.
And I finally replaced the original Dark Horse Aliens Vs Predator that went missing at some point over the last few years. No idea where these went, and even though my Horror Vision cohost gifted me a beautiful hardback collection of this one, I had to put my hands back on the original floppies I bought as they came out monthly (or maybe bi-monthly) back in 1990.
Playlist:
John Coltrane - Blue Train
The Outfield - Play Deep
Alio Die and Lorenzo Montaná - The Threshold of Beauty
Felicia Atkinson and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Un Hiver En Plein Été
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - In Summer EP
Crumb - Ice Melt
Zombi - Liquid Crystal
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry
Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon
The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
Card:
Definite stagnation in creative areas at the moment, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel...
My friend and Horror Vision cohost Tori recently sent this track my way, and of course, once you hit play and hear the bassline that starts and runs through the song, you'll get why I immediately went back and looked up several records by Great Falls. This particular track can be found on the Split Single the band put out with Thou. Makes sense, right?
Tough as nails, this. Love when those guitars come in just past the one-minute mark.
Here's a link to the Great Falls Bandcamp, where you can find more of their music. Also, here's a link to the label that put that split out, Hell Comes Home Records. Some great stuff on there, including the album Trust Fall by Xnoybis, which I stumbled upon while writing this and really quite liked.
Cast:
The new episode of The Horror Vision went up (a day late - thanks Wordpress, you fuck), and it's a full-on, ALL SPOILERS discussion about the first nine episodes of Yellowjackets, just in time to prepare us all for this week's season finale.
I haven't had this much fun with a show since Twin Peaks. No shit.
NCBD:
Another NCBD! It's fairly light again, and my addiction has grown, so I might do what I've done the last two weeks and order some stuff online to accompany these. I'll post my recent eBay acquisitions on another day, for now, here's what I'll be bringing home from the shop tomorrow:
This one's been a fun ride so far. I'm really starting to love anything that has Reed Richards as a villain, 'cuz, you know, that's pretty much where he's been headed all along if you really think about it.
I haven't read the Joe Hill novella this series is adapting, but it's in Strange Weather, a collection of five novellas. I've read the first three over the last few months, and really dug them, so I'll pick this up and hold off until I get around to reading the story first.
Jeff Lemire's Mazebook comes to a close and it looks as though we're getting our minotaur. This book has been super cool - you can see how personal it is to the author, which makes it feel weighty, but shot-through with a mystery that has really been something to watch unfold through Lemire's art.
I am straight-up LOVING this newest series by Michael Rosenberg and Tyler Boss. What's the Furthest Place From Here? has become one of my most anticipated books each month.
Playlist:
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Ministry - Moral Hygiene
David Bowie - Let's Dance
David Bowie - Station to Station
Ghost of Vroom - Ghost of Vroom 1
Great Falls/Thou - Split (single)
Xnoybis - Trust Fall
Card:
A change in seasons or cycles. This is a HUGE point for me at the moment, as I have to migrate my entire podcasting setup from one service to another. It's nerve-wracking, but not nearly as much as every interaction I've had for every episode I've done through Wordpress for the last year. I should have changed this paradigm - this world - a long time ago.
I'll never forget it. I had just staged an intervention with my eventually-to-be ex-wife. Her parents flew out from the Midwest and the three of them were staying with me, in what used to be our home (and thankfully was now just mine). Her stuff was stacked all over my living room, and I'd graciously given up my bed so everyone else could have a good night's sleep after their long ordeal and drive out of the high desert. In other words, my life appeared to be in a shambles, but in reality, the shambles was well and truly behind me. She was probably at her lowest point, but I was on an upswing. I'd had a fabulous weekend. I had prospects for a social life. I had friends. I sat on the chaise lounge watching Chef starring John Favreau with my outgoing father-in-law (nice guy), trading texts and emails with prospective new love interests, friends, laughing and drinking beer well into the night, even though I had to be up at 4:30 AM for work.
Cut to when my first alarm went off. I was sleeping on the couch, my phone was beside me on the floor. I snatched it up as soon as I heard that tell-tale wake-up chime and silenced it. This would have been before I switched to an iPhone, so I was in Android country. Not sure how that factors, other than it's a detail I remember, so it fills the scene in. A moment later the phone buzzed again - too soon to have out-distanced my snooze - and when I picked it up, I saw a text from my friend Tori. It said, simply:
Dude. David Bowie died.
I felt at that moment that all the progress I'd made, everything, was for naught. David Bowie taught me how to age - how to grow older with grace. How to navigate life's unending menagerie of madness with tact. I'd just exhibited this lesson in the two-and-a-half years it took my marriage to end, to get to the point where I was, about to send my ex and her family off into the negative zone outside my own peripheral existence. And now, my teacher was dead.
Fuck.
Six years later, we return to the same stage - it's Sunday night while I'm typing this, the long-delayed love of my life curled up on the sofa by my side, Black Star playing on the stereo. I lost three cats, gained one, started a bunch of podcasts, ended one big one, gained friends, lost some, turned my back on others. Life continues to throw its curve balls at my head, and I duck and pop back up and smile.
Just like David Bowie taught me.
Watch:
Playlist:
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# A# ∞
Huey Lewis and the News - Sports
Tennis System - Technicolor Blind
Tennis System - Lovesick
Tennis System - Bitter (Single)
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Talking Heads - Fear of Music
Depeche Mode - A Question of Lust EP
Boy Harsher - Careful
Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars
Ministry - Moral Hygiene
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
Beach House - Once Twice Melody (Disc 1)
Felicia Atkinson & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Un Hiver En Plein Été
