Music, Music, Music

It's good when you want to listen to something

Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast. But it’s also great if you wanna get all revved up on a Friday.

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White Reaper, “I Can’t Escape Myself”

I really like these kids because they’re from Louisville, not far from me, and they make actual music.

This is a different sound for them, more post-punk than their usual guitar pop, and there’s a good reason for that. It’s actually a cover of a 1980 song by a British band called The Sound. I’m pretty old and I’d never heard of that band before today, so my hat is off to these youngsters.

According to White Reaper guitarist Hunter Thompson (no relation):

“The sounds we made sound so much like The Sound, you’re gonna have trouble differentiating our sounds from The Sound’s sounds.”

That’s some big talk. Let’s see if he’s right:

Yep, pretty darn close!

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Joey Valence & Brae, “John Cena”

You can’t see them.

Not their best track, but I always root for these guys because I miss the Beastie Boys.

And speaking of old rappers…

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Norman Pain, “Sindhu Sesh”

Norman is part of the adorably repulsive Northern Boys, which is usually a lot lighter and more poppy than this. But sometimes you just gotta vent, right? Norman has had a pretty tough life by all accounts, so it’s inspiring to watch him spin gold from tragedy.

I really dig guys like Norman, Pete & Bas, and the other elderly British rappers working right now. Rap is all about storytelling, and who has better stories than a bunch of drunk old dudes?

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The Voidz, “All the Same”

I have no idea what he’s saying either, but I like it. This is the singer from The Strokes along with some other weirdos, including Beardo from all those Dirt Nasty songs. If you don’t know what any of that means, don’t even worry about it.

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Brute Spring, “Through the Window”

I know absolutely nothing about this band, or guy, or whatever this is. But I miss industrial rock and this scratches that itch.

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Aircooled, “Transmission Transmission”

Yeah, why not?

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That’s the only new music I really liked this week. No matter how broken the music industry is, it’s heartening that so many people still have the drive to express themselves in song.

You can also check out the Spotify playlist I made for Aaron Bushnell, the insane antisemite who literally set himself on fire rather than spend another minute watching Jews defend themselves from murderous terrorists. Thanks to my readers for suggesting several great additions.

TGIF (Treading Gracefully, Ingrid Faceplanted), and thanks for reading! If you like my writing every week but you’ve been too cheap to help me earn a living from it, you can always make amends. I forgive you and thank you in advance for doing the right thing. 👇

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Almost forgot: Richard Lewis, R.I.P. He made misery a lot of fun.