I hadn’t realized until this moment that I associate most Fugazi records with specific seasons. “13 Songs” was a winter album. “Repeater” was a summer album. “Steady Diet of Nothing” took me back to winter.That’s appropriate, given that winters where I grew up were long and boorish, a seemingly infinite slog of depression. “Steady Diet”…… Continue reading Discography: Fugazi, Part 3: Steady Diet of Nothing
Category: Pop Culture Noise
Discography: Fugazi, Part 2: Repeater
If I had any doubts about how great Fugazi was, those were removed when I heard the title track on “Repeater.” The chorus is not remotely something you’d expect from anything resembling a punk band. And that rhythm section? Holy cow. This was a band that clearly knew what they had in Joe Lally and…… Continue reading Discography: Fugazi, Part 2: Repeater
Discography: Fugazi, Part 1: 13 Songs
Fugazi was working class punk rock when so many other punk rock bands seemed like they were still living off their parents.For as liberal as they were, Fugazi spoke to my blue collar surroundings and helped me to realize that those to things were not antithetical. You could sit at a crimping machine attaching to…… Continue reading Discography: Fugazi, Part 1: 13 Songs
Live! Music!
The first concert I ever attended was at Kent State University. It was a double bill, with Tesla and Great White. Some band called Badlands opened. Shut up. It was the 80’s.I remember that I didn’t wear my glasses because I thought I might lose them and probably because I thought they were severely uncool,…… Continue reading Live! Music!
Joss Whedon, Role Models, and Toxic Masculinity
I could say that becoming a father has made me more keenly aware of what a huge problem toxic masculinity is in our society. I could also say that it’s hard not to think about it given that our current president is the poster boy. But the reality is that it’s something I’ve battled with…… Continue reading Joss Whedon, Role Models, and Toxic Masculinity
Faith No More’s “Angel Dust” is Gloriously Adolescent
I don’t mean that the album is transitional, I mean that the album is the perfect encapsulation of being a teenager, perhaps more specifically a white boy not living in a city.I would love to think that my teen years were grunge, but that’s probably more the romanticized view than anything else. The reality is…… Continue reading Faith No More’s “Angel Dust” is Gloriously Adolescent
My wife challenges me to blog about Cars
My wife, who, as you no doubt know by now, works at Pixar, pointed me in the direction of this article on the “existential quandaries” caused by the world of the Cars movies. I told her that I thought the questions the writer offered up were really obvious and that my questions are much deeper.So…… Continue reading My wife challenges me to blog about Cars
Rewatching Buffy: Season Seven
The seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn’t as bad as the sixth, but in some ways it’s more painful. It’s more painful because it starts off strong, then falls apart completely. It’s more painful because this is it: this is the last season of Buffy that we will ever get, and it doesn’t…… Continue reading Rewatching Buffy: Season Seven
Rewatching Buffy: Season Six
The criticism that Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is bad bothers me. Oh, not because it isn’t bad – it’s god awful. No, it bothers me because people seem to think it was bad because it was “dark.” But heavy storylines can work perfectly well – there’s nothing inherently bad about serious stories.…… Continue reading Rewatching Buffy: Season Six
Rewatching Buffy: Season Five
Season five of Buffy is my second favorite, behind the third season. It’s more consistent than seasons two or four, but the overall story arc (and the main villain) pale in comparison to season three.Dawn Finally Arrives/Origins of the SlayerThis is probably an unpopular opinion, but I liked the addition of Dawn to the cast. …… Continue reading Rewatching Buffy: Season Five