Sunday, August 03, 2025
fools, liars, heathens, traitors/repent, be saved
fools, liars, heathens, traitors/repent, be saved
Two months after it was published, I finally got around to reading this "Jenn Pelly gets in the tour van with Waxahatchee" piece in the Oxford American.
Pelly jokes about Almost Famous in the article, but especially because of the Pelly twins' friendship with the Crutchfield twins, there's an interesting feel to it.
It also mirrors the last two Waxahatchee records a bit, in that it's joyous and at times and also immensely sad at times.
Most importantly, it's one of the greatest contemporary music writers on one of the greatest contemporary songwriters.
Album of the week
The Armed - The Future is Here and Everything Needs to be Destroyed
When I interviewed Japandroids for the first time, I asked Brian what he did at his day job. It felt like a pretty mean nothing question to me--something that I asked just so I could add a little colour about who these two guys were.
He paused uncomfortably and after awhile said, "I'm a scientist. I drop science."
It wasn't until we wrapped up that I understood why he was so hesitant and why his answer was so vague. They were still such a small band, but if they ever did "make it," he didn't want to be Brian with the office job from Vancouver, because Brian believed (and probably still believes) in the theatre of rock 'n' roll.
We ended up finding out a lot about Ozzy (belated RIP), but there was a long period before the reality show where he really did seem like the Prince of Darkness. And it's a lot cooler to think of Bowie as an alien than as David Robert Jones.
Which brings us to the Armed. The Armed believe in the theatre of rock 'n' roll.
The sprawling hardcore(ish) collective has some number of members, some number of which are named Dan Greene, one of whom is the guy who first writes the songs (but never finishes them and rarely performs them). Most of them live in some weird compound. It all sounds like some cult, except I kinda want to join the cult.
Dan Ozzi wrote an incredible profile on them for the Fader in 2023 and after reading it, I would say that I was hooked, but there was one problem. I thought the actual music was just pretty good.
I loved the idea of the Armed so much, but their songs never clicked with me.
Until now.
The other Armed albums had all the elements that are present on The Future is Here, but it finally feels like everything is there in the right proportions. It's relentlessly aggressive like their earlier albums, but the "that's not hardcore" experimentation is still there too. It just feels like it's in perfect balance now.
It's a brutal, beautiful half hour of music and I'm finally ready to refract.
Song of the week
The Berries - Angelus
Every part of this song is so subtle and understated, but it all comes together to make such a satisfying whole. The vocal hooks are never huge, but they come one after another, only taking a break for the guitar solo, before they come back in the bridge. And those guitars, man. Both the playing and the production sound so good. It's like Matthew Berry harnessed all the best parts of 70s classic rock radio and then let them loose for five near perfect minutes.
Classic of the week
The Walkmen - The Rat
Linds put her old party photo website back online, which made me think about the chorus to this one.
Here's a photo from a decade and a half ago where I'm probably telling Neil he should play something that no one else but me will enjoy.
More heat
Hayley Williams - Love Me Different
Apparently, "it's not an album," but Hayley Williams released 17 songs last week. This one's my favourite (although this one that's really giving T Swift is pretty great too).
Dovetail - raining here, too
The debut single from two kids from Vassar that met at an open mic night and bonded over their shared love of Elliot Smith. It's got that dreamy, lush thing that Beach House used to do so well, with the dueling vocals really taking things to another level.
Golden Apples - Mind
A bouncy little garage pop anthem about trying to exist when everything around you is terrible.
now playing: Songs:Ohia - Hold on Magnolia
