Final list - 31 Scary Movies in 31 Days

Which actually turned out to be more like 57 movies in 31 days, oh well!

31. Halloween 1-3
30. Pumpkinhead & Trick r Treat
29. House of the Devil

28. The Devonsville Terror - Okay, this might seem like a weird pick. Director Ulli Lommel is not exactly the seal of quality. I watched this on cable back in the day and found certain scenes so memorable, I was desperate to remember the name of the movie 20 years later. I described the "burning witch wheel" on one of those find the movie sites, and someone immediately knew. I was so excited to rewatch it and amazingly, it held up! The 70s and 80s were big on witch stuff - this, Crowhaven Farm, MST3K-famous Touch of Satan, Superstition, etc. There was even a Scooby Doo episode in Salem. I think it was called Which Witch is Which, because I mean, obviously it was. But Devonsville Terror is my favorite. If you like this kind of witchy movie like I do, also check out Crowhaven Farm. And Scooby Doo too, why not.

27. The Changeling
26. The Midnight Hour & Night of the Living Dead (1990) - The Midnight Hour is basically a fun Halloween party in movie form. Probably funner than most actual Halloween parties tbh. Night of the Living Dead (1990) - a remake I actually LIKE? It's a Halloween miracle! Yeah, I really Dif this updated version directed by Tom Savini. Tony Todd is great, Barbara becomes a badass, the ending is different but still effective.

25. The Shuttered Room
24. Silver Bullet
23. The Gift and Creep. Also Creep 2
22. House on Haunted Hill
21. Fright Night (1985)
20. The Babadook
19. The Fog (1980) & The Legacy
18. Curse of the Cat People
17. The People Under the Stairs
16. Beetlejuice & Ghostbusters (1984)
15. Let's Scare Jessica to Death
14. Legend of Hell House
13. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
12. Night of the Creeps
11. The Dead Zone
10. It Follows
9. Troll 2 & Best Worst Movie
8. The Gate
7. Carnival of Souls
6. The Last Exorcism
5. House with a Clock in Its Walls
4. Ghost Story
3. Poltergeist
2. Black Roses
1. Boys in the Trees

Honorable mentions (too obvious/popular) - Psycho (1960), Carrie (1976), Get Out, Creepshow, Elm Street 1-3, and The Conjuring 1 & 2.

Honorable mentions (kinda goofy but I like 'em) - Psycho II, Chopping Mall, Trick or Treat (1986), Freddy vs Jason, Graveyard Shift, and Devil Dog: Hound of Hell.

I've watched a lot of movies over the past few days. Post coming tomorrow!

Scary Movie (1991)

I'm gonna keep watching scary shit all through November. You're not the boss of me, calendar!

For Halloween yesterday, I managed to watch about 2 1/3 of the 4 movies I wanted to. We moved into a house this year, so we had trick or treaters! Awesome, but not conducive to movie watching. So I'll watch the other... 1 and 2/3 today. First I want to discuss Scary Movie. This is NOT the 2000s Scream parody; I don't watch that cheap crap. I watch this cheap crap!

So this says 1991 but it might as well be 1981. We've got all the tropes - button-down Norman Batesy nervous guy, dudebro named Brad or Chad, we'll just call him Chadbrad, his hot blonde girlfriend with feathered hair and a skimpy outfit who spends most of the runtime with her face mashed against his, and a big-haired brunette hot chick in a low-cut dress who Norman is lusting after. We'll call him Norman, but what was his name? Something equally sweater vesty - ah yes, Warren. There's also a fat bearded guy in a red striped shirt who exists only to stand around pointing and laughing at Norman. He's like a weird amalgamation of Nelson Muntz, Where's Waldo, and a lumberjack. This movie has really well-rounded characters. 🙄

Standing around awkwardly while a guy tells a girl in a bee costume "let's pollinate" is definitely a mood. I mean, we've all been there.

This guy is totally wearing an invisible sweater vest.

So the plot here is there's an escaped killer mental patient on Halloween night - no really, I know your mind is blown by that original concept, but that's what they went with - and he's near this farm that holds a yearly haunted attraction, which is where our Trope Squad is. If you watch this movie for any reason, watch it for the design of the haunted farmhouse. The scenes where Norman gets lost in the house's various pitfalls are cool, though they'd be even more effective if Norman was more compelling.

Okay, so our mismatched group is hanging out by the entrance goofing around. Brunette chick seems to kinda like Norman and at first you're like, no way. Then you realize brunette chick is kinda weird and might actually go for him, who knows. This is a girl who steals salt shakers and toilet paper from restaurants, carries them around in her purse and shows them off like trophies. This is an actual plot point. Norman overhears on the police radio that the killer has escaped, and starts suspecting he's inside the house. Is he right, or just paranoid?

There's an incident inside the house and everyone is told to evacuate. Is the killer on the loose? Norman sure thinks so. Some neat scenes of him wandering through the house becoming increasingly scared and confused ensue, though it goes on for too long and starts to wear out its welcome. Like, just LEAVE dude! He finally makes his way towards the exit but oh noooooo, brunette chick's purse is lying on the floor with the salt all spilled out, symbolizing... nothing, actually. But Norman decides to be a hero and runs back into the house. That might make him sound all noble but he really wasn't that interesting.

At one point he falls through the floor and lands on a big pile of pumpkins and I just have to admire how pure the Halloween imagery is.

The he tries to get up and his feet get stuck in rotting pumpkins and I just start giggling. I feel a little bad laughing at this poor sap, but he's stuck in gooey pumpkin guts! Best scene of the movie, 10/10. Alternate title: Pumpkinfoot!

I am giving this movie a soft recommendation, so I won't give away the ending. I didn't like it very much, but it is kind of a twist.

THIS JUST IN! The actor who played ol' Norman/Pumpkinfoot was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor in 2010. You cannot make this shit up. It was for something called Winter's Bone, which is a way better title for a horror movie than Scary Movie. It was nominated for an Oscar, so is probably not a horror movie. Let's just say his twitchy bug-eyed performance in this movie did not exactly scream "future Oscar contender," but hey, you gotta start somewhere. You go, Pumpkinfoot!

Movie update

I have not had the best luck with new-to-me horror movies this year. I'm going to attempt to watch four movies today and hopefully turn that around. I mean, one's gotta be good or at least so bad it's good, right?

So I watched Movie House Massacre aka Blood Theater aka Why Did I Watch This? Why did I watch Movie House Massacre if I was looking for a good movie, one might rightly ask? The short answer is, I'm an idiot. The longer answer is, I'm always looking for hidden "so bad it's good" gems. Stuff like The Brain and Black Roses. Movie House Massacre is the debut of Rick Sloane, known for the MST3K-famous Gremlins ripoff Hobgoblins. Hobgoblins is a bad movie, but it's really entertaining and I like it. Sadly, I can't say the same for Movie House Massacre. You can see some of his humour starting to develop, and I loved the ridiculous B movies they were showing at the theatre. ("Who brought a chainsaw to the prom?!") These were apparently nods to Sloane's earlier short films, such as "Chainsaw Chicks" and "Clown Whores of Hollywood." I think I would have rather just watched a collection of those.

Sloane was only 21 when he made this, so props there. I did make it all the way through, it went by pretty fast I guess. There are some great 80s fashions, and a memorable popcorn stand kill (that unfortunately is just a dream sequence, but still a cool visual).

Unfortunately, the rest of the kills are lame and completely unmemorable. Oh, and there's one truly awful thing - this weird little sting plays EVERY TIME a door closes. Is it supposed to be... funny? Scary? Annoying? It's so baffling I don't even know what to call it. This movie sounds cool on paper - killer stalking a spooky old abandoned theatre with a history of violence - but there's very little payoff. I think this is the third movie I've watched this month with Mary Woronov. She's like Cameron Mitchell, she just shows up in everything. But except for one funny line about "chalk lines," she's wasted here. This needed to be really over the top to work, like Hobgoblins. Unfortunately, the curtain just falls flat.

Then I wasted a whole night on something I thought would be horror but turned out to be Canadian made-for-tv drama. I kept falling asleep, and when I woke up the third time and realized there was nothing supernatural like the movie had hinted, I just gave up and went to bed. A quaint curiosity I guess, if you like low-budget Canadian dramas with misleading titles (Graveyard Story) and really stupid people. A child was kidnapped, and the kidnappers send her mother a coffin with a bit of the kid's dress hanging out when they don't get the ransom they asked for. Neither the mother or the woman she works for (who's there when it happens) ACTUALLY CHECK TO SEE IF THE COFFIN CONTAINS A BODY. Cause kidnappers are so honest, they'd never fake anybody out, the kid must be dead! They then BURY THE COFFIN WITHOUT EVER LOOKING INSIDE IT and the mother ends up COMMITTING SUICIDE OVER AN EMPTY COFFIN. And like, couldn't you tell just by the weight there's no body inside? I don't think they put rocks in there, or anything. UGH! I hate plot contrivances that hinge on dumb shit like that - but that's for another post.

I haven't wasted the whole month, I rewatched some of my shout out movies I hadn't seen in a long time, like The Changeling and Night of the Living Dead (1990). I also rewatched Session 9, a really cool movie that does deliver on its supernatural promise. It takes place at an actual abandoned insane asylum in Massachusetts, it's creepy as hell, and if that sounds cool just watch it. I don't want to give anything away. I highly recommend it, to the point that if I do another shout out next year I'll include it.

The four movies I'm planning to watch today are Witchboard, Dementia 13, Just Before Dawn, and Scary Movie (1991 - NOT the dumb Scream spoof thing). If I don't watch them all today I'll at least watch them this week. Oh and I also really want to rewatch the first Insidious.

Wicked Good (Halloween) Wednesday

Enjoy Halloween with a couple of great creepy sounding songs, and rocktober on!

My theme song for this month, and probably going into next month too! I've had a fair amount of horror movie disappointments this year, so I'm gonna keep searching for good (or at least so bad they're good) ones.

Feel Good Frightful Friday ~ Gerard Way

Okay, how about something positive for the last weekend of Rocktober? This new Gerard Way song is amazing! Super catchy with maybe the best title ever. This has almost 900 likes to one dislike. ONE. On the cesspool that is youtube. Enjoy!

THE REVENGE OF NOPE

I was thinking about my movie shout out from yesterday, The Shuttered Room, and how I need to watch more old British horror. So of course, I picked the worst possible thing ever!

It sounded like a straightforward, moody witch flick, which is what I was in the mood for. "A young woman is driving alongside a lake. She has an accident and the car plunges into the water. Her body is then possessed by the spirit of an 18th-century witch who was killed by local villagers, and is bent on avenging herself on them." Sure, sign me up. But what I got instead was a weird, silly, unpleasant thing that made little sense, looked like shit, and didn't even deliver on the synopsis.

May I present (sigh)... The She-Beast.

A couple is honeymooning in Transylvania for reasons that are never explained. I wouldn't even honeymoon in Transylvania, and I'm a damn ghoul. These seem to be quite normal British people, so I have no idea. They're forced to stay the night at the only hotel in town, run by who I can only refer to as Romanian Torgo. Get this - the couple pull up to the hotel, the husband says "it will be dark soon," and then a creepy bearded dude shows up at the car to take their things in. Both this and Manos the Hands of Fate were made in 1966 so I don't see how one could have inspired the other. (And the only thing either movie could inspire is a sigh.) So yeah, I guess 1966 was just the year of the Bearded Peeping Tom at Questionable Lodgings.

I prefer Manos to this movie. Yeah, really.

So the couple settles in and things start getting steamy, cause nothing says sexytime like a hotel room that almost definitely contains lice. Romanian Torgo peeps on them through the window, because of course he does. He's Romanian Torgo. It's a fascinating coincidence, and it's one of only two reasons to ever watch this movie. Husband beats up ol' RoTorg, he doesn't much care for that and tampers with their car. So yes, they do end up plunging into Drowned Witch Lake, that part is accurate, but "Her body is then possessed by the spirit of an 18th-century witch" NOPE! Instead of the actress being possessed by the witch, which might have saved this movie because she's the OTHER reason to watch it at all, we get a dude in hag makeup. I'd question this choice but they could obviously only get the actress (Barbara Steele) for a day or two, so instead gave us dude in hag makeup. The makeup is suitably hideous but with how unpleasant everything else is, it's almost too hideous. This movie never rests your eyeballs from ugly, except the few scenes Barbara Steele is in.

It's also really weird tonally. Why is there unfunny comedy? I half expected the Benny Hill theme to fire up during RoTorg's unnecessary attempted rape scene. It's that kind of movie. I really expected it to start playing during the wacky car chase that seemed straight out of a caper movie. What IS this thing?? There were even "boing" noises when two men fell down. Hilarious! I'm guessing the attempted political (?) humor went over my head, as I don't know anything about 1960s Romania, but who the hell would?

Oh, and Van Helsing is in this. Because witch hunting is what he's known for. Sure.

This is a damn mess and I don't recommend anyone ever watch it. So why did I see this through to the end, when I gave up on Spookies? Well, I didn't remotely care about anyone or anything in Spookies; there were no stakes. But I liked Barbara Steele and wanted to see if she'd be restored to her body (or whatever the deal was) at the end. And she was... I think... but there's a creepy little moment with her at the very end that offered the only slight "scare" in this "horror" movie. So... yay? Maybe I'll check out something else she was in. It couldn't be any worse than this, right? 👀

NOPE.

After last night's glorious Red Sox victory, I was in the mood for some good old bottom shelf of the video store 80s trash. Sometimes these turn out really fun, like The Video Dead or The Brain. And then, sometimes you get...

Spookies. This movie is AWFUL. I couldn't finish it, and I finish most every bad movie I start. Sometimes I watch them again! This was so bad, I turned it off and put on Rifftrax A Talking Cat?!? instead. At least I got some real horror, thanks to the cat mouth animation.

"And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

I only watched 30 minutes of Spookies, but where do I even begin? It starts with a kid acting the way no kid ever acts. Talk to a random guy hanging out in the woods like it's no big deal? Sure! Walk through an old cemetery up to a creepy house like it's no big deal? Sure! Become delighted upon discovering balloons and a cake with his name on it in said murder house instead of becoming terrified and running the fuck away? Sure! Only a laughing severed head in a gift box finally clued him in that something might be a little off. Look, growing up in the 80s was different, but it wasn't that different. We still had a healthy fear of scary things. And there's no explanation of who the kid is, what he's doing there, just plop! random kid we're supposed to follow. And then he's gone! I'm sure glad that pointless crap was in the movie.

Then a group of... varied adults show up to the house? I say this because one acts like a punk straight out of an old juvenile delinquent film, one is at least 20 years older than the rest of them, and the others just seem to be random 20somethings. Who they are, how they know each other, what they're doing there, why that's none of your business, mister! Just watch the damn movie! These people range from meh to annoying to omg I want to strangle you.

And the acting. OMG, the acting. There's this creepy old wizard (?) who lives in the house and he's so hammy and bad. Not even in a fun way, just NO. Everyone's terrible but he might be the worst. And he has this... cat-man pet (?) that doesn't really look like a cat. The talking cat was more believable! Is he enchanted to think he's cat, or something? It just seems to be weirdness for weirdness' sake, and I HATE that.

Writing, direction, editing, all a big nonsensical mess. I didn't know what was going on and I didn't care to. No one acted like a person or was remotely engaging. The ONLY things I'll give this movie are one, the setting is actually cool. Big old spooky house with a graveyard, that should be my jam, but they wasted it. And two, there were some surprisingly good makeup effects. A movie like this you'd think would have the cheesiest effects ever but nope, someone actually put effort into it. Another waste.

Maybe I'll watch the rest of this sometime, just cause I'm a completist, but I can't imagine it gets better. The tone it set really left a sour taste.

EDIT: I watched a review of this, and some fart monsters show up later. Yeah, looks like I dodged a bullet. Like the rest of the effects, the fart monsters look good. Damn shame, really. I hope the effects guy got paid in something other than hot dogs and skunky weed, but I kinda doubt it.

When Nostalgia Eats Itself

So this Pitchfork article about rock band Greta van Fleet has been all over my timeline today, and for good reason. It's amazing. I have no hate in my heart for this band but damn, do I aspire to this level of savagery.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/greta-van-fleet-anthem-of-the-peaceful-army/

I should say, I have never read Pitchfork and have only heard a couple Greta van Fleet songs, so I'm about as far from an expert on these subjects as you can get. But it does reiterate a point I've been trying to make for so very long.

While I've heard little of Greta van Fleet, that's kinda the point. What I heard didn't inspire me to seek out more. I'm not saying they're bad, they just struck me as more of a cosplay or tribute band than a real thing. What's the difference between them and other bands I've praised for their more traditional sound, like Blackberry Smoke's 70s-esque Southern rock? Blackberry Smoke doesn't seem to be aping any particular band, they're just doing a sound that should be kept alive. They're carrying a torch. Same with The Struts and their take on glam. Should Led Zeppelin-esque hard rock be kept alive too? Absolutely! But when it's so on the nose, it just isn't that interesting.

But as someone who loves classic rock, shouldn't I be glad someone's carrying that torch? Shouldn't I be glad it's popular? I guess it's better than than no rock at all, sure. But honestly I don't know. It goes back to what I said yesterday about movies in the 80s vs now. People who loved the 80s are now making movies, but instead of channeling WHAT we loved about 80s movies - the creativity, the originality, the sense of fun and adventure - they're just remaking 80s products. Way to miss the point. No one's gonna be nostalgic for 2010s 80s nostalgia in 30 years, you know? If we'll be nostalgic for anything in this becursed decade, it'll be original stuff like The Conjuring movies or yeah, Stranger Things. An homage with an original story is the good form of nostalgia. It's like Stand By Me, or It.

We seem to have entered the age of endless remakes, reboots, and sequels - which isn't always a bad thing. I've watched all the big horror franchises through many times. I like franchises. Sequels can be a great way to expand your characters and world. But I'm SO sick of all the remakes and reboots and sameyness. It's short-sighted and cynical. If you want to cash in on my nostalgia, make something I'll actually be nostalgic for. And while I enjoy the superhero and Star Wars movies, there's definitely a glut, and eventually the bubble will burst. It already has somewhat, with the underperforming Solo. (Which was a fine movie, but oversaturation's a bitch.) This is happening because for now, these are proven moneymakers. Why not just keep making them instead of trying something new? Imagine if that had been the case in the 80s. "Okay, it's 1988 and we're losing money, time to remake ET!" Sure, there were plenty of sequels, some good, some bad, but at least they were original at one point. Now we're rebooting sequels! And there was always fresh content coming along, they weren't so utterly reliant on the familiar.

And the same goes for music. I don't just want a Led Zeppelin remake. I want a band that channels the excitement and power and NEW-feelingness of now-classic rock that fans must have felt back in the day. That's what makes something nostalgic in the first place. Please, do keep classic sounds alive. Music doesn't have to be of a specific time. Music has no confines. But it does need to feel inspired. I feel like creativity has been slowly grinding to a halt this decade, and I don't want it to die. We had a real, explosive rock revival not that long ago with bands like The Killers, The White Stripes, MCR, The Strokes. They didn't sound just like anyone else; they were an organic mix of all their influences which produced something original.

From what I've heard of Greta van Fleet, they're another case of nostalgia eating itself. In 30 years, people might still be nostalgic for Zeppelin, but their knockoff will be all but forgotten. It's like erasure by nostalgia; the original almost always wins. But hey, if you like them, rock on! I get the appeal. There are WAY worse things you could hear in 2018. But to me, they're kinda the endless Spiderman reboots of bands. I want something new. I want to be surprised by entertainment again.

Since I mostly talk about scary movies here now, I changed my blog theme for the first time in like 10 years! 12 years? Anyway, I realized the pink birds weren't exactly a match with my content, so now my blog is dark. Like my SOUL. Muahaha, etc.

Tragic Tuesday ~ Warlock, Tragedy Girls, and Spellbinder

I haven't watched many new or new-to-me horror movies this season. I've been rewatching some of my "shout out" movies as well as a lot of the Rifftrax horror titles. I'm gonna try to ramp it up over the next week and a half but the Red Sox are in the World Series, so idk. Why must all the things I love happen at once?? I am planning to see the new Halloween at some point, but probably streaming. I am curious with all the wildly varying opinions, but I've had a lot of spoOoOky expenses this month lol, and seeing a remake in the theatre seems like a poor financial choice. I love Jamie Lee though, and while I didn't much care for H20, I'll give this one a chance.

Anyway, last night I watched Warlock and hoo boy, was that a big pile of silly. This is the kind of movie where a witch hunter from the 1600s comes to modern times (well, the late 80s) and says things like "thither" and "maiden" and calls airplanes "flying thunder machines." Ugh. It's played pretty straight which could make it funny, but somehow just makes me tired. Like okay dude, you say thither or zither or whatever a lot, you don't understand 1989, I get it. A lot of people didn't understand 1989. Do you know how many top 5 hits Milli Vanilli had? Three!! Thither that.

The female lead, who's from 1980s Los Angeles, is named Kassandra. With a K. Cause she's kooky! With a k.... zzzzzzz. Yeah. It's that kind of movie. There was a hilarious part at the end where the flaming warlock skull goes "agh!" and the thither guy just stomps the hell out of it with his boot. Seriously, that made me laugh harder than most comedies. Was it supposed to be funny? I have no idea!

It's pretty nonsensical too, this movie about a 1600s warlock that comes to the 80s... okay, besides that, there's stuff that doesn't hold up. Even before 9/11, you couldn't take a giant fuckall KNIFE onto a plane. Or a big witchy staff thing. "Kassandra" is one of those movie characters that acts like no human acts. I believed thither guy was actually from the 1600s more than I believed she was a real person. The way she and her roommate react at the beginning when this guy just crashes through their window - no screams, no "OMG what just happened!" More like, "hey, guy that just suddenly crashed in our window, you want some ice cream?" They don't actually say that, that would be funny if it was a comedy, which it isn't, so the blasé way they behave makes no sense. It's like Tommy Wiseau directed the scene, but then it would be unintentionally funny.

Finally, the warlock's entire M.O. doesn't make sense. He was trying to gather pages of this old book that would reveal the true name of God at creation, and speaking it aloud would somehow reverse creation and umm, you see the flaw here? The warlock would cease to exist too! What could he possibly hope to gain from that spell? Was he just that petty? Was he pissed that he came from 1600s Boston to 1989 and the Sox still hadn't won the series? Cause honestly, I'd get that.

I wouldn't say this is a bad movie, it's a "if you're flipping channels late at night, sure, why not" movie. It's corny and not in a very fun way, the effects are cheesy, nobody is believable as a person, but I did watch the whole thing and the ending wasn't too bad? *shrug*

I also watched 2017's Tragedy Girls, which has an interesting premise. Two teen girls set a trap and kidnap a serial killer so they can... learn to be serial killers from him?? And it's a comedy? Okay, I had to check that out. When I first started watching I was like "oh no, I'm not sure I can spend an entire movie with these characters." They really lay on the modern teen girl speak, or at least what the filmmaker thinks is modern teen girl speak, I have no idea which. (I couldn't stand being around teen girls when I was one.) And they're pretty in your face with it. This is intentional, as it's meant to parody social media mugging and that whole culture, and the actresses do a good job portraying that. It's just... oh Lordy, do you have to get used to them, especially if you're over 25. (Still preferable to "thither" though tbh.)

Then I got further in, and it hit me: this is 2010s Heathers, just not as good. The teen lingo that didn't annoy me in Heathers annoyed me here because it's not my generation. (And Heathers wasn't muggy because there was no social media factor.) When I realized that, I got a little more into it. Another difference from Heathers is neither character has a conscience. There's no "my teen angst bullshit has a body count!" moment here. But that's ok; we don't need another Heathers (sung to the tune of "We Don't Need Another Hero"). The original is timeless.

The kills are creative and over the top, so points for that. There are also some classic horror homages, like when the original killer (who's intentionally kind of a dollar store Michael Myers) jumps out a high window and walks away, similar to the end of Halloween. And of course, the whole prom scene and Carrie. The standout performance for me was Savannah Jayde, playing a "do-gooder" who was actually a total bitch - the kind of character you love to hate and watch die spectacularly. I would have SWORN she was the younger sister of Mona on Pretty Little Liars. She looks similar and even had a similar affect at times, but no. She was good though.

So if you like Heathers or the premise sounds interesting, I kinda recommend this, but not if you have a lower tolerance for 2010s teen girlery than I do. It was right on the edge for me.

Last week I watched 1988's Spellbinder, which was more my kind of movie though maybe not quite as interesting. If you like 80s horror and witchy/culty type films like I do, you might like this. It's an easy and entertaining watch. Will it stick with you, maybe not, but it's a fun diversion if you wanna pass an evening with some popcorn. It's your typical story, guy saves girl from creepy guy, they fall in love, move in together, guy gets caught up in cult of devil worshippers, you know, the usual. There's a scene I especially enjoyed for its effects, where the cultists press their hands against a window and it starts like, bending in. Cool!

Hey, windows aren't supposed to do that!

And oh yeah, Mrs. Roper plays a super menacing badass cultist in this movie. I'm not kidding, Mrs. Roper might make you pee your pants. If that's not worth the price of admission, I don't know what is. The ending is kind of interesting. You think you know what's going to happen - then oh wait! - and I'm just gonna leave it there. Far be it for me to spoil a movie from 1988.

31 Scary Movies in 31 Days, part 2

11. The Dead Zone - One of my favourite Stephen King adaptations, and how could it not be with wonderful performances by Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen, and tense direction by David Cronenberg? Feels quite topical today as well. (My favorite King adaptation is Carrie, but that seemed too obvious.)

12. Night of the Creeps - Probably my fave 80s horror, just a super likeable and fun movie from start to finish. This isn't a B-movie, this the B-movie.

13. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (part four) - Despite the now-laughably inaccurate title, my favorite of the franchise. Corey Feldman is great in this and it's really entertaining. I recommend most of this franchise - 8 & 9 are pretty bad (not really worth watching), X is gloriously bad (totally worth watching), and the remake is okay. If you're a Supernatural fan it's worth watching for Jared, I guess.

14. Legend of Hell House - writeup here: https://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.com/2017/11/#2098673667907110365

15. Let's Scare Jessica to Death - One of those great, creepy atmospheric movies you kinda get lost in. I've seen this so many times and never get tired of it.

16. Beetlejuice and Ghostbusters (1984) - A two-for of my two favorite movies ever! Creative, funny, and endlessly rewatchable. I miss the 80s, when there was so much original content that was popular. Now it's like, "we miss the 80s, let's remake something from them!" which completely misses the bloody point of why we liked the 80s!! MAKE NEW SHIT.

17. The People Under the Stairs - If you're reading this you probably know and love the Elm Street series, but have you seen this underrated 1991 Wes Craven gem? Talk about original, this movie is so weird I'm not even sure how to describe it. Part satire, part disturbing, all entertaining, with an actual feel-good ending. The commentary on race and class is still very relevant, sadly. This would make an interesting double feature with Get Out, now that I think of it.

18. Curse of the Cat People - Despite the title, this isn't a horror movie, but it is a strange, beautiful supernatural fairytale from the 40s that they used to play like 4 times a night on AMC. I once stayed up all night just watching it. It's a fascinating movie with good Halloween vibes. It's called Curse of the Cat People because the ghost of the main character from Cat People is the star, but otherwise it has nothing to do with Cat People, it's a completely original story. Kinda the Troll 2 of the 40s I guess, except really good.

19. The Fog (1980) and The Legacy - A Frightful Friday special featuring two movies that personify the two things that can make a horror movie for me - atmosphere and creative kills. In The Fog the monsters are literally in the atmosphere, you can't get much more atmospheric than that. And The Legacy has some cool kills. Writeup here: https://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.com/2017/11/#7252125330217192852

20. The Babadook - Oh man, this movie. Not just a great horror but a great movie, period. The monster isn't the real scare here, no, this deals with some deep psychological shit. It's very affecting but can definitely be disturbing. I love a good psychological horror movie though, so this is right up my alley. Killer performances, too. This movie can probably be interpreted many ways, but my take is the Babadook was the physical manifestation of grief - having it overtake you, fighting it, and then starting to slowly live with it. There were some other interesting factors too, such as a mother resenting her own child, which I think play into the "monster" too.

21. Fright Night (1985) - I'm not usually into vampire movies, as they tend to get bogged down with tedious melodrama and romantic subplots. But this is a perfect blend of laughs and genuine suspense, with likeable characters, a great Roddy McDowall performance, and that fun "adventurey" feel so many good 80s movies had. (See also The Gate, Goonies, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Silver Bullet, Stand By Me, etc.)

22. House on Haunted Hill - Eccentric millionaire Vincent Price invites people to a spooky house party with a cash prize - if you make it through the night! dun dun dun. Oh yeah, this is my jam. Watch it on its own first, it's gleefully deranged with some very memorable scenes, then watch the Rifftrax version for extra fun!

Aww man, I'm running out of October. How sad. I've got some great stuff coming up, so stay tuned... or slay tuned!

Feel Good Friday ~ Boston playlist!

Hey, did you hear the Red Sox are in the World Series?? To enhance your rooting experience, here's a lil playlist of Bostony goodness. I could have made it longer but it would have been just 12,000 more Dropkick Murphys songs.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6m6aBNKZPlJN5J3wkhFxa5

Feel Good Friday ~ Heart

Underrated album alert!

It's that time of year when I listen to pretty much nothing but 70s and 80s rock, and I've been on a Heart kick. I'd never heard their 1983 album Passionworks, save for the song "Allies," and boy am I glad I checked it out! Apparently it didn't do well critically or commercially, and I'm scratching my head why. It's not quite up with their 1985 self-titled album, but it sounds damn good to me.

31 scary movies in 31 days

Here are the first 10 days' selections!

1. Boys in the Trees ~ writeup here: https://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.com/2018/05/#8172500277149178629
2. Black Roses ~ writeup here: https://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.com/2017/11/#6954391626129860750
3. Poltergeist ~ the first scary movie I ever saw! Still holds up. Skip the tepid remake. :/
4. Ghost Story ~ brief writeup here: https://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.com/2015/09/#5048169280312382136
5. House with a Clock in Its Walls ~ writeup here: https://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.com/2018/09/#9171137233636890802
6. The Last Exorcism ~ suspenseful, beautifully-acted modern horror. A real standout for me.
7. Carnival of Souls ~ what good low-budget filmmaking should be. A little slow and padded in parts, but great use of location and atmosphere, and kind of a deep story when you realize what's going on. Classic.
8. The Gate ~ awesome movie for both kids and adults, just skip the sequel. :/ writeup here: https://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.com/2017/10/#6488220639445534709
9. Troll 2 & Best Worst Movie (documentary) ~ I can't possibly add to the dialogue about Troll 2 at this point, just watch it if you haven't. Something so uniquely, perfectly bad that is also compulsively watchable can only be called a work of art. And I just watched the documentary, which was great! Made by the guy who played the little kid, featuring the director and a lot of the actors. Inexplicably missing Creedence Leonore Gielgud, though. :/
10. It Follows ~ writeup here: https://mrsrowsdower.blogspot.com/2018/05/#6355608101387170837

21 more to go! I'm trying to do a nice mix of old and new, mainstream and more cult-y. I might not shout out anything super-popular that everyone's seen, like the big franchises, or I might pick one from each since I like them so much. My main goal is to shout out stuff people might have missed, or not seen in a long time.

Thrilling Thursday ~ Sorority House Massacre, Wolfcop, and more!

In addition to shouting out a favorite spooky movie every day in October, I'll still be watching and rewatching other movies and talking about them. Here's what I've seen lately.

Sorority House Massacre (1986) ~

Okay, this is officially the most 80s horror movie ever, just beating out Chopping Mall. This covers ALL the bases, there's even a trying-on-clothes montage (including boobs, because 80s). I wouldn't try on clothes without a bra, so I'm calling shenanigans. There's a nerdy guy, a sexed-up couple, and of course, an escaped mental patient with a not-so-mysterious connection to our final girl, whose name is LAURA. Spoiler: he's her BROTHER! I'm guessing her last name is Smode. There are lots of jump scares of the "oh no the killer is sneaking up on her oh wait it's just a frat guy acting like no sane person acts" variety. At the end we get the classic "he's dead" and NO HE'S NOT DEAD YOU IDIOTS, KILL HIM SOME MORE! Oh never mind, you're dead. At least nobody said "it's all over," that would assure his immortality. OH, and there are several Nightmare on Elm Street-esque dream sequences! Did I miss anything??

Most. 80s. Shit. EVER.

...I stand corrected.

I think my favorite part was during the ending credits. I have questions.

If she really was Hammer, wouldn't she have yelled "U Can't Touch This!" as he was stealing her car?

via GIPHY

Yes, I pretty much wrote this whole thing so I could make that joke. WORTH IT.

Sorta recommended, but only for the outfits.

In theatres, I saw The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018). I read and loved all the John Bellairs books this movie is based on, so I was pretty excited. And it did not disappoint. Sure, there's some silly kids' stuff, but there's also a lot of genuinely creepy stuff, as well as heart and great performances by Jack Black and Cate Blanchett. This really reminded me of watching scary movies as a kid in the 80s (including the 50s setting. The 80s were obsessed with the 50s). Suitable for kids, but with just that little edge to creep you out for days. I still remember how much I loved that feeling as a kid, and watching this as an adult you kinda relive it.

It lets you imagine a time when a witch might have had a purple house to match her aesthetic, instead of how homogenized everything is now. And it has the greatest of all messages, which is "FUCK NORMAL." Oh and this was directed by Eli Roth, who I usually avoid like the plague. I think he might have found his calling.

Next up is Wolfcop (2014). That's one word, wolfcop. Here's one more word, badass! A beleaguered, alcoholic small town cop becomes a werewolf. I'm not gonna go into too much detail on this one bc spoilers, but I will say werewolves can be tough to pull off and this pretty much nailed it. For a low budget movie, the transformation scenes are really scary and well done. Good performances, a unique setting and premise, lots of fun moments, and even a non-obvious twist ending.

Rifftrax: The Bermuda Triangle ~ This movie was WAY TOO LONG with a lot of slow parts, but I actually kind of enjoyed it at its core. Trim off maybe 20 minutes and you've got a spooky little story, complete with Creepy Little Girl™ with Creepy Doll™. Was that already a trope back in 1978? If not, congrats on being ahead of the curve, Bermuda Triangle! I wouldn't recommend this without Rifftrax because of all the slow stuff.

It's that time of year!

Let's start the greatest season with my Rocktoberfest 2018 playlist. 2 songs for each spooktacular day! What a deal!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4APuVsOwtUpNA3a5jUERlA

I have a fun & active October planned, so stay tuned.

Top 60 fave songs + hon. mentions breakdown

Okay, let's commentary this bitch! First, some stats. These apply to the top 60 only.

Oldest song - A Lover's Concerto, 1965
Newest song - I Can Feel it Calling, August 2018 (!)

Songs by decade:

60s - 3
70s - 8
80s - 11
90s - 10
2000s - 18
2010s - 10

Well, that was interesting. I was always "80s pop girl," then "90s country girl," but I seem to have settled into "2000s indie girl." Progress? Or maybe that's just the mood I've been in for the last... two or three years. I know I will never be "2010s girl," unless I decide I just wanna listen to Creeper forever. Which is possible, actually. There are the same number of songs from the 2010s as the 90s though, so that's something!

I wanted to break it down by genre too, but so many songs fall into a gray area, where would I even put them? "Indie?" Under the general umbrella of "rock?" What are the New Pornographers, or the Shins? What is Fleetwood Mac? What is Tom Waits? What is love, baby don't hurt me no more?

If this list made one thing clear, it's that I like big, anthemy-feeling songs. I like wistful, hopeful melancholy. I like songs I'd get tattooed on my body, if I had the slightest bit of pain tolerance (srsly, I might as well be made of tissue paper). I like the "carry on, we'll carry on" of "Welcome to the Black Parade," the "it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going" of "Last Hope," the "everything will be alright in the end" outro of "Foolish Father." I like the chills I get from "House on a Hill," particularly "I am not afraid, I won't burn out in this place. My intention is to fade, and I will." I like the righteous "fuck you" of "forget your high society, I'm soakin' it in kerosene." I like the comforting yet heartbreaking "what a beautiful face I have found in this place." I like to yell "let's get hexed, let's hang out!" to no one in particular. These songs are all iconic to me, and I can't imagine life without them.

A few more notes -

9. The hardest choice for this list was between Tom Waits' "Time" and "Take it With You." I could have easily picked either one.
12. This is actually "Pizza Cutter" by Letters to Cleo, not "Little Rosa." Spotify oopsed up. "Little Rosa" is also great through.
13. I think "Hotel California" and "Welcome to the Black Parade" are the two greatest rock songs ever written. That shit sets MOODS.
18-20. Some Boston band love. Also, how many times can I include my girl Kay Hanley while still sticking to my rule? The answer is three.
24. Yes, my favorite Green Day song is from Uno! Sorry? rofl.
25. Yes, a song released this month made my top 60 of all time. This isn't something I'd usually do, but sometimes you just know, y'know? This has so many of those anthemy-feeling moments I can't even narrow it down to one. This is the best Killers song the Killers never made.
27. The second-hardest choice was between "My Maria" and "Neon Moon." I went with the upbeat one, but it could have been either. There isn't a lot of country on this list for two reasons. 1, it got hit hard by the one song per artist rule and 2, no Garth on Spotify.
35. There's only one hip hop song, and it's Macklemore. Sorry? rofl. But "Downtown," damn. This is a hip hop song with a glam rock chorus about buying a moped and riding it through the streets of Seattle. That is a thing that exists, and it's gloriously weird and I can't imagine it not existing. This is the "Bohemian Rhapsody" of the 2010s. Mow yer damn lawn and sit the hell down!
47. This song calls back to my #22 song, "Crimson and Clover." That's awesome.
52. I used to joke "ALL songs are about death," because of "The Way." Like, what a happy-sounding song! Where are they going, Disneyland? To have a picnic? Yay! ...oh, wait. This is about death. They're not coming back from this picnic, ever. So, any song can be about death. "It's a Small World?" Yeah, we all share the fact that we're all gonna DIE. And I never explained the joke, so plenty of people probably think I'm crazy. Yay!
57. If your favorites list doesn't include at least one ABBA song, you're not living your best life.
60. And we end with more Boston love, a song specifically about the Red Sox. This song has the most personal meaning for me than any other really. I moved to New England in 2004. I was already a big Sox fan. This song also came out in '04, and I basically adopted it. When the Sox eventually won the World Series that year, I took partial credit (for being there, y'know) and gave the rest to this song. I kinda blended the two together. Am I the reincarnation of Tessie? Maybe! I used the name "Tessie" on social media for years. This was my shit. Damn I miss the Sox.

Hon. mentions -

2. "Hotel California" was an easy pick, but if it didn't exist, "Take it to the Limit" would have easily made the main list.
3. Same deal with "Strawberry Fields" and "Blackbird." Some bands just write too many amazing songs.
7. "The House that Built Me" is probably a better Miranda song than "Kerosene," and it's also deeply meaningful to me, but "Kerosene" is such a huge song in my life. I might never have gotten back into country after 9/11 if I hadn't heard it.
11. I also managed to fit Kay Hanley in twice on the honourable mentions, teehee. I probably should have included the Dropkick Murphys' "Dirty Glass" to make it another three.
19. "After Hours" has some of my favorite lyrics and yeah, I'm pretty sure this one's about death too. "If you close the door, the night could last forever." But "Science vs Romance" was MY song for years and it got me through some tough times. So many hard choices!

This was a lot of fun to put together and make. Long live music. Peace!

Top 60 Favorite Songs EVER! (1 per artist)

Been working on this for awhile, super excited to have it done! One song per artist for the sake of my sanity. A solo member of a band counts as a different artist. I'll do some commentary in a new post. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/user/emperorcupcake22/playlist/4pOfmu4suTRXgDPNlhkWPR

Honourable mentions, the toughest songs I had to cut:

https://open.spotify.com/user/emperorcupcake22/playlist/5HFNkxErdOGIVGRKJ5pwJf

New music Tuesday ~ Halestorm, Trash Boat, Trophy Eyes, and Houndmouth

I think I've listened to four new albums since the last one I mentioned, which was Gorillaz. (Side note: I decided to relisten to Taylor Swift's Red and man, that album is so much better than I remembered. Just skip the pop singles and enjoy.) Okay, let's talk new music!

First we have Vicious by Halestorm. If you like good, straightforward rock n roll with killer vocals, this is an easy listen. To me, Halestorm has always been good but only made great by Lzzy Hale's vocals. They're not doing anything new and the songs aren't the most standout or creative, but that's kind of the point. With that comes consistency. Sometimes you just wanna rock, and you can rock right out to this. Definitely recommended - I think it's my favorite of their albums - and I'll be spinning it a lot come Rocktober. That's what this is, an album made for Rocktober. You want that vibe, you got it.

I don't dislike any song here, but a few favourites are "Killing Ourselves to Live" (great 80s singalong chorus), "Black Vultures," "White Dress," and "Vicious" ("what doesn't kill me makes me vicious" YUSSSSSSSSSSSSS)

Next up is Crown Shyness by UK band Trash Boat. I'd seen this name pop up in relation to Creeper, but only checked them out after positive buzz about their new album. And yeah, I dig the hell out of this. Pop punk that rocks, or rock that... pop punks? Despite my love of some of the older pop punk and emo bands, I haven't gotten into a lot of the newer stuff. Maybe my tastes have just matured since then, though I do still listen to the old stuff. Just not much was clicking with me on that front - until Trash Boat. They're not that "standard" pop punk sound which can get old and samey pretty fast. They're also not that screamy hardcore sound which makes me feel like someone's trying to jam large pieces of furniture in my ears. There's an element of that, but it's not overdone. I really like the balance they strike here - easy to listen to, but enough edge to keep it from being boring.

Again, this is a good listen all the way through for me, but a few favourites are "Undermine," "Old Soul," "Inside Out," and the slower, very feel-y title track if you want some old school emo vibes.

I continued in a similar vein with another buzzy band, Australia's Trophy Eyes. These guys hit me upside the head (in a good way!) with the opening of their song "You Can Count on Me" - "Some of my friends sell drugs, but I just sell sad songs" they shout, in one of the most singalong, anthemic choruses I've heard in awhile. So I checked out The American Dream hoping to find more of that attitude and well, on the whole this album isn't for me. It has too much of those modern poppy touches I don't like, the gang vocals and the "whoa ohs."

However! In addition to "You Can Count on Me," there are two songs here I really love and want to shout out. Continuing with the "sad song" theme we have "Autumn" - "Keep your home in your heart, keeps you out of the rain, don't let those sad songs rot your brain." Yeah, that's about as emo as it gets but it's also GREAT. And it references The Killers' Sam's Town which I've been playing the hell out of all year, so yeah. THEN there's "I Can Feel it Calling," a six-minute fucking rock n roll anthem I've been listening to almost nonstop. Seriously, if you like big, arena-ready songs, check this out. It has the crashing guitars and drums your little rock n roll heart has been craving. Also, this Killersesque kind of song suits the singer's voice way more than the poppier stuff does. I hope they go more in this mature direction in the future, because they are way too talented to just pander to "the kids." This is a legit rock band that I hope is in the process of coming into their own.

Last we have Golden Age by Houndmouth and ummm... did no one tell these guys MGMT already released an album this year? Pop production strikes again. :( It's worse than kudzu. Look, this is not a band I want to be snarky about; I want to support smaller bands and I still have their song "Sedona" in heavy rotation. It's also fine that they changed their sound. They weren't an easy band to label in the first place. But... I couldn't get through most of this album. Several songs, including the opener, are just a distorted mess over an electropop beat. The song "Golden Age" literally sounds like a straight MGMT rip. I like MGMT in small doses, but I don't need another one. And that's one of the more listenable songs. "This Party" gave me horrible flashbacks to Weezer trying too hard in the 2000s. Like Raditude, who is this album even FOR?

HOWEVER! There's one song on this album I love, and another I like, so let's end on a positive. "Modern Love" is a lovely, hooky guitar song with an easy summer vibe, and when the hints of distortion come in they really work in contrast to the more organic sound. If the album had been more like this, I would have loved it. "Waiting for the Night" is also pretty interesting. You have a catchy chorus that sounds straight out of the late 70s or early 80s, a riff that really reminds me of early Belle and Sebastian for some reason, and fuzzy, distorted guitars that again work in contrast to the rest of the song, rather than swallowing it whole. This is a cool, layered track that shows what the band can do when they're trying. I really don't know what they were doing on most of this album though.

So overall, the past month has been pretty great for me. Three full albums I dig (including Gorillaz), and a handful of cool songs from albums I was middling-to-negative on. I'm generally a full album person, but when I can mine even a few new songs from an album I'm pretty happy. I just want fresh music.

Here's a summer playlist featuring all this* and more! A few of the songs are from last year.

*except "Autumn." I can't put a song called "Autumn" on a summer playlist, my aesthetic will explode into a black hole.

https://open.spotify.com/user/emperorcupcake22/playlist/7pW57VXuMCYSs3PX5g0vy6

tbt ~ My Favorite Year

You'd think picking a favorite year in music would be really hard for someone who has heard and loved so much music over four decades, not to mention all the great years before I was born. But nope, it's really easy - 1994.

I don't wanna hear about that awful Jason Aldean song that sounded NOTHING like 1994, but he's right that it was a good year for country and an even better year for alternative rock. 1994 was the first year I heard what would go on to be three of my favorite bands to this day - Weezer, Letters to Cleo, and Green Day. I like to take myself back and think about the first time I heard "Buddy Holly," or "Here and Now," or "Basket Case." Songs I played so to death that year and the ensuing years that I'd be fine with never hearing them again. But the legacy of those three songs... damn. They, and the albums containing them I immediately rushed out to buy, and all the albums that came after, made me the music listener I am today more than anything else. That all three bands released new, quality music in the past couple years says a lot. It says, "dang girl, you've always had good taste." And then I feel good because I love my music. :)

So while those three albums alone would cement 1994 as "my year," what else of note to me came out?

Whip-Smart by Liz Phair - This album was so on heavy rotation I could have put it up with the top three, but it was not my introduction to Liz. Just a fantastic follow-up to one of the greatest albums ever.

Rubberneck by Toadies - WHY couldn't these guys stick around? This has been described as "Southern gothic doom" and oh my lord, am I all about this album. Any rock fan today should listen to this immediately, it will sound so fresh and sick and not "90s dated." Truly its own beautiful, unique little piece of music history.

Sixteen Stone by Bush - Okay, this thing sounds 90s af, but that's part of why I love it.

Mellow Gold by Beck - Honestly, I don't love this album. It's a little messy and weird for my taste. BUT it did introduce me to Beck, a favorite artist to this day, and I was right on top of the classic Odelay! when it came out thanks to this debut.

Definitely Maybe by Oasis - Oasis' first album and their second-best. These guys fell off, but man were they great in 1994.

American Thighs by Veruca Salt - The introduction to another of my staple 90s bands, and still my favorite of theirs.

Purple by Stone Temple Pilots - My second-favourite STP album (after Tiny Music). They were my favorite of the grunge bands cause they had more of a, classic rock mixed with grunge sound? I dig it.

Okay. I brought up the Aldean song, so where's the freakin' Joe Diffie, huh?? It's okay, I got your Diffie. Let's get into 1994 country. Well, here's the thing about 90s country. As much as I love it, I never had a whole lot of albums. It was more of a singles thing. Oh I had some Garth and Alan Jackson, but it was more about the radio. And oh yeah, greatest hits albums. I had a lot of those, actually. Are they even a thing anymore?

Was 1994 the best, or even an especially good year in 90s country? No, not really. But that's not putting it down; it's just that every year of the early-to-mid 90s was a great year. 1990-97 all kinda run together for me, y'know? But it was a very good year for Joe Diffie. This was the year of "Pickup Man," "John Deere Green," and "Third Rock from the Sun." Oh Lordy, that is Peak Diffie right there. They named an entire tv show after one of his songs! It ran for five years! #rememberthediffie

So before I get into my favorite songs of the year, here are a few notable albums I remember owning.

Garth Brooks - The Hits. Yeah yeah, a greatest hits album, but you don't understand, man. This was THE greatest hits album. This thing was like an event. This had ALL the big songs on it, and I played the hell out of it. This is a must-have for every country fan, in my totally not humble opinion.

Who I Am by Alan Jackson - Still the definitive Alan Jackson album for me, featuring "Livin' on Love," "Gone Country," and "Song for the Life." Classic. Maybe this was an especially good year.

Waitin' on Sundown by Brooks and Dunn - Maybe a somewhat overlooked entry in their catalog between Brand New Man and Borderline, but a darn good one. Featuring the classics "She's Not the Cheatin' Kind" and "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone."

And some favorite songs that I didn't already mention -

"Callin' Baton Rouge"
"Every Once in Awhile"
"Fast as You"
"Hangin' In"
"I Just Wanted You to Know"
"Life #9"
"State of Mind"
"That Ain't No Way to Go"
"Trying to Get Over You"
"When You Walk in the Room"
"Wish I Didn't Know Now"
"You Will"

1994. An unmatched year in alternative rock, and part of a string of great years in country. So many artists that helped form my taste and I still love to this day. It was a bad year for Tim McGraw though, yikes. Oh, not commercially, but... "Indian Outlaw?" "Down on the Farm?" Yuck! No, he'd have to wait til '95 for that pure 90s goodness, with songs like "Can't Be Really Gone" and "She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart." Eh, not even the best year can be perfect.

You'll notice I didn't say anything about pop music. Well I didn't listen to it, I was all rock and country. Okay, I love "The Sign" by Ace of Base. There, I said it.

EDITED TO ADD: The #50 song of 1994 was "Loser" by Beck. Of the YEAR. On the POP CHART. That alone proves my case, 1994 was COOL AF. You know what the #50 song of 2017 was? That braying goat song! 2016? A dull, already forgotten whinefest by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez. 1994 will murder you in your sleep, 2016! Oh! And #51 was "Found Out About You" by the Gin Blossoms. Remember when you could get big making melodic guitar songs? 1994 does.

And, if I wasn't on social media, I'd be blissfully unaware of all of this. It has nothing to do with my everyday life. I think about that a lot, yet I still go back every day in some attempt to stay connected, I guess.

I wonder how many other Gen-Xers feel the way I do rn. We're caught between these two EXTREME sides, the pro-Tr*mpers in our parents' generation and the "cancel culture" of teens and college kids. And I'm like, I just wanna wear flannel, listen to tunes and chill, y'know?

Don't meet (or tweet) your heroes

Social media + fan culture = toxic stew.

The phrase "don't meet your heroes" has existed for as long as I can remember. It's not something to take 100% literally, more of a caution. If you're gonna meet your heroes... be prepared.

Fan culture has also existed forever but hoo boy, has social media made it awkward. And intense. All the scary, tribal ways we process politics now is happening in pop culture too. Most people don't see it because it tends to be very young people. I only see it because music youtubers I follow occasionally point it out. And it's a problem, folks.

We have become so unbelievably homogeneous as people, just in the last 10 years. Must every single thing in our lives match up to our personal beliefs? What kind of narrow-ass way is that to live? Social media is clearly the catalyst here, but I'm not blaming social media itself. We can still learn to think for ourselves and not join the mob.

Social media essentially lets us "meet" our heroes every day. This is not a good thing. This is why I only follow two of my favorite musicians on twitter, Kay Hanley and Hayley Williams. These are people I've been familiar with for years and feel comfortable letting into my home via computer. Hell, Paramore even does a great song on this subject called "Idle Worship." I think some of their fans need to listen to these lyrics.



But social media is just the tool. How you use it is up to you. I choose to follow a small amount of people to keep the noise level down. It seems a lot of high school and college kids just get into a band and start following every member. You see the problem here? What are the odds that every member of a band you like is gonna say only stuff you approve of? And then you're gonna stop listening to them when they don't? It's almost like a trap. Human beings are not perfect, and they don't all agree. It's called fucking life.

I'm a pretty progressive person and I'm not coming from the "LOL TRIGGERED SNOWFLAKES" perspective. I HATE that shit. But I bet a lot of people would I assume I am coming from there, simply because I disagree with "cancelling" someone over one dumb tweet. I think people have become so sensitive because of our awful cultural/political climate right now - and I mean, rightly so - that they're having these extreme reactions over everything. And that doesn't help, it only serves to alienate us further from each other.

There are cases where I would stop supporting someone over "one tweet." If they used bigoted hate speech, or threatened violence against a person or an animal. But here's what happened yesterday. I've never heard either of these bands and again, I only know about it from music youtubers, so I'm not naming names. I don't care. One guy in a band on Warped Tour said something about another guy in a band on Warped Tour who I guess had spoken out about his performance anxiety. First dude basically said "We're out here doing what we love every day, why is this guy complaining about it, suck it up." Yeah, he actually said suck it up. It's a bad tweet and a bad look and as someone who suffers from anxiety, I sure as hell wouldn't follow someone who's so intolerant of it.

But would I stop listening to his music? No. No I wouldn't. Because that would imply I have to stop listening to everyone I don't agree with. I read a couple months ago that Shania Twain was all pro-Tr*mp, and I rolled my eyes and moved on. I didn't delete her songs. The two things have nothing to do with each other for me. As for what this guy said - it's insensitive, but it sounds like he doesn't understand anxiety and is just coming from a "count your blessings" kind of place. It's ignorant, but does it make him a bad person? I don't think so. And does it really even matter, if you like the music?

Don't meet your heroes, and if you accidentally meet them and they step on your foot, just let it go man. There are more important things to worry about. Don't get so caught up in these people's lives. I mean, think about it. Unless the only bands you follow are straightedge and deeply religious, your favorite musicians probably do some fucked up shit. Drugs, sleeping around, excessive drinking, etc. But we don't judge that stuff because we don't see it. We don't want to see it. But then we follow them on social media and expect them to be perfect angels?

Let's contrast this with two bigger things that have happened recently. First there's the case of Roseanne. While I found her racist tweet reprehensible, at first I wasn't sure if she should lose her whole career over one tweet. Like wow, that seems a little witch hunty. But here's why an actual bigoted tweet is different from one insensitive tweet. If you make a mean-spirited racist joke, you're probably a racist. And if you're a racist, there's probably a pattern of it going back years that just wasn't made public. I don't think Roseanne was fired over one tweet. I think it was a public catalyst to get rid of someone who's been toxic for years. I mean, if you're a bigot, you're a bigot, you know? It's not limited to twitter. There's no evidence the guy who made the dumb tweet is actually bigoted against people with mental health issues over that one comment. He was saying focus on the positive and stop complaining, in that wrongheaded way that people who don't understand mental health issues do. But ignorance and being actively bigoted are two different things.

My second example has nothing to do with social media, but still serves to contrast. Roberto Osuna, the Jays' former closer who (allegedly) physically abused his wife. I say allegedly because he has not been convicted yet, but there's no gray area here, he obviously did it. Anyway, as soon as I realized "yup, this guy I had so much stock in yesterday actually did this thing" I wanted him gone from my team and life. I didn't know if I'd be able to root for them anymore if he was there. THAT'S the kind of situation where you stop being a fan - or "cancel" to use the annoying AF lingo. It's very important we make these distinctions between actual violent crimes, or actual hate, and someone just making a bad tweet, or down the slippery slope we will go. Best case scenario, this dude was misunderstood, misspoke, or will learn from his mistake. Worst case, he's just an asshole. Imagine if we stopped listening to all rock stars who are assholes. OMG.

Don't meet your heroes unless you're prepared to know they're human. Some humans are assholes, but can still do great work. This is part of life. And unless it's an extreme case - like the kind of thing that would make the news - let's keep music, film, art, sports, etc. about what they are. They're some of the few purely enjoyable things we have out there. Let's just accept that the people involved aren't perfect and take the gift they've given us anyway. Otherwise, we're all gonna be living increasingly narrower lives. And that scares me.

Feel Good Friday ~ best musical moment of 2018 so far!

Where else are you gonna find a "feel good" post dedicated to a song from an album about the plague? Nothing but Quality Content™ here, folks.

But seriously, is there a more cathartic moment in music this year than at 1:39? *drums* THIS IS THE MOMENT OF JUST LETTING GO! That's how music is supposed to feel. I'm glad someone still gets it.

Another thing I was thinking about - I don't think musical tastes have actually changed much, if at all. What's changed is how we listen to music and how it gets popular.

Imagine if streaming, memes, and viral hits were a thing in the 80s and 90s. I don't think people would have had any better taste, maybe it would have even been worse! But thankfully those of us who grew up then were spared, and presented with mostly music that took actual effort. Because in most cases, you HAD to make an effort to be heard then. Of course there are always dumb novelty hits and exceptions, but how many "Ice Ice Baby"s would we have had? How many Milli Vanillis? (That they even had more than one hit might be the biggest shame of my generation.) But that goes along with my point. People will always listen to shit, and there was probably a TON of shit we never heard back then because there was just no way for it to circulate. MTV mostly used its power wisely. Probably the worst thing they did was promote a lot of terrible late-stage hair metal, but I think they were as glad as everyone else when Nirvana came along.

So it's no wonder those of us who grew up back then, and still have a hunger for new music, are put off by today's scene. For kids it's just normal cause they've never known anything else, but I'm glad I remember a time when quality was still a factor, not just clicks. And I'm glad there was no Zombie Challenge or whatever dumb viral shit back then giving the lowest common denominator control over music. And children. I think that's the biggest reason for the change. Kids will click on any dumb thing, and they don't have to pay anything for it to count. And then we all pay for it. How many dumb things would I have uncaringly clicked on as a kid, if I'd had the chance? Probably a lot. System be broke, fix it, blah blah blah.

And now I'm gonna have a rockin' weekend with some Trash Boat, Halestorm, Killers and Weezer. Peace.

"Music taste doesn't matter, listen to whatever you want!"

Sometimes I see comments like this, boldly proclaimed as if from a mountaintop, and you know, it's my job* to think about them and break them down.

*not actually

This is one of those statements that seems obvious on the surface, the "all lives matter" of music hot takes (without the baggage), but like that, it doesn't really stand up when you question it.

My knee-jerk reaction: of course you can listen to whatever you want in private, you can listen to Hitler's Greatest Hits (there's a pun in there somewhere) and ain't nobody gonna stop you. That's just a basic right we all have. How does it hurt anyone else? And have I already lost my own case by bringing up Hitler? Dammit. Well the answer is probably obvious - what you buy and/or stream affects what's popular and therefore, affects other people.

I already made a whole post about why what's popular matters. Unless you live in a bubble, you WILL hear it. In a shop, a restaurant, the gym, out of someone's car, whatever. I never once voluntarily listened to "Shape of You" and I heard it approximately 1635345 times the past couple years. Thanks, people with terrible taste!

Also, if one kind of music gets popular, it tends to push out a lot of other music you might want to hear. Like rock. Or actual country. Or hip hop that doesn't suck. Look what's happened just in the past 10 years. Rock has all but disappeared from the mainstream except for a boring Nickelback clone or two. If you hear a rock song in a public space today, it's probably from the 90s or before. Country radio pushed out women and more traditional sounds to court bro-country and a slew of interchangeable t-shirted and ballcapped dudes. Hip hop - okay, I don't know what hip hop sounded like 10 years ago, but I know it CAN sound good and not like this boring shit that's taken over today. Basically, your shitty taste actually CANCELS OUT music I like. Why am I supposed to not care, again?

So yes, musical taste matters because popular music is played in shared spaces. It can either be like secondhand smoke, or a really nice perfume. Of course that in itself is dependant on taste. Which brings me to -

The other main point I want to make: some musical taste IS measurably better than others. And no, I'm not about to say mine is better than yours. I've said before that one way to actually judge "good" and "bad" music is the amount of effort put in. If it sounds lazy, like rap that's nothing but the same words repeated three times for the whole song, then it's bad. That doesn't mean you can't like it, but I won't say that buying or streaming it doesn't harm our shared musical culture. I'm not saying you have to think deeply about all the music you listen to, but maybe think a little? Ask yourself if the "artist" is looking to make art, or just money? Lazy can apply to music listeners as well.

So yes, if you just mindlessly listen to whatever comes your way in the background and don't really care about it, then your music taste is worse than mine. And I like "MMMBop."

People are gonna listen to what they want to and in the name of freedom, they absolutely should. But it's not all equal. That's a dumb thing to say. Some possible solutions to this, other than calling the Music Police, would be making chart position mostly dependant on purchases, so the dumb throwaway trendy streaming stuff doesn't catch on outside its little niches. If you're actually buying something, you're probably gonna think about it more. But that probably won't happen. People stream now. And it's something I find so weird - having all this music available should be amazing, it should open up the mainstream to all kinds of varied artists. But instead it's made the focus SO MUCH NARROWER. One thing catches on, and then that's all you hear. I'm guessing that has to do with greed, as most evil things do. But man, does it suck. Such squandered potential of a medium.

The other possible solution would be for the music industry to not be greedy and LOLOLOL I can't even finish. I mean hey, you gotta make a profit. But maybe instead of doubling down on garbage you can put some different stuff out there? Because honestly, I don't like blaming some random person listening to music alone in their house for the woes of modern music, even if they are listening to Post Malone. But I'm also not gonna say their taste is equal to someone listening to a band that spent hours writing their songs and days rehearsing them rather than just slurring random nonsense over a beat and going out for a smoke. No.

Annoying pop song alert!

Man, it's been a while since I've talked about an annoying pop song. Most of what I've heard this year has ranged from good to boring, with little really sticking out as bad. And if you're not gonna be good, go all the way and be bad, dammit. Boring is the worst, and that's what so much popular music has been recently. (From what I've heard, anyway. I don't think I've heard that rapper who died and if I did I might disrespect the dead, so let's just move on.)

The annoying song in question is called "Friends." *deep breath* So no one told you life was gonna be- NO! *slap* We are NOT doing that. Simmer down. So what makes this song so annoying? First of all, it's a spelling song, which is pretty much universally annoying.* If you grew up in the 80s, chances are hearing the letters "M-E-T-H-O-D" will trigger some kind of P-T-S-D. And that was an actual decent band. Duo. Whatever. What happens when this "Marshmello" fellow tries it? (I'm assuming it's a fellow anyway, it's one of those EDM producers who presents itself as an amorphous blob. We'll just go by Ghostbusters rules and say it's a Marshmallow Man.)

And this is the form of destruction we've chosen - stupid pop song. Okay, maybe it's not New York-crushingly bad, but a lot of things about this tweaks my nerves. Full disclosure - I had a previous, fleeting familiarity with Marshmello with his song "Wolves" ft. Selena Gomez. That song is... okay. Yeah, it's kinda catchy, I don't mind it. But this. First of all, this "Anne-Marie" chick makes Selena Gomez look like she has a personality. I don't know how she pulls that off but it's impressive. We're talking Bebe Rexha levels of generic here, which I'm sure means she'll be on the next huge "country" smash with that guy who did "Singles You Up" or whatever. These are the times we're living in. (Hmm, maybe I wasn't so far off with the "choose your form" thing...)

ANYWAY, we've got some weird EDM dude and a generic female pop singer, that's just another Tuesday, right? But no, according to Anne-Marie, this is the "friendzone anthem," and the world NEEDED a friendzone anthem. Since most of the world is not in the 8th grade I assure you that no, no we did not. And what's the deep, impactful, anthemic chorus of this... anthem? She spells out the word "friends." Except... if you're gonna make spelling out a word the centrepiece of your song, maybe you wanna enunciate a little better so it doesn't sound like you're misspelling it?? "F-R-I-N-D-S!" she proclaims proudly. I just wanna be "frinds," which sounds like some kind of weird kids' food from the 90s, like frozen pork rinds. "Try Frinds! They're extreeeeeeeeeme!" and then some kid with floppy 90s hair shoots down a waterslide with one.

via GIPHY

(While also playing a video game.)

If you listen close you can kiiiiinda hear her slide into the "E," but I don't recommend listening to this thing close or even far away. It's the epitome of a vapid pop song. I was gonna wait and talk about it on my worst of the year list, but I'd probably have forgotten everything I wanted to say about it and maybe even the song itself. And oh yeah, how could I forget this questionable lyric - "You really ain't going away without a fight
You can't be reasoned with, I'm done being polite." Umm honey, I think he's gone past F-R-I-N-D and into S-T-A-L-K-E-R at this point. Maybe it's time to just cut your losses?

*D-I-V-O-R-C-E is a good spelling song, because there's an actual reason she's spelling stuff out. Oh and "Respect," because Aretha is so fire she burns the spelling bee down.

W E E Z E R T I M E

So yeah, I like both of the Toto covers. Obviously I do. I love Weezer and I love 80s rock, you might as well ask me if I like sunshine and unicorns. DUH.

Of the two, I like "Africa" better. The "Rosanna" cover makes it a liiiiittle more obvious that Weezer's drummer is um, not quite on par with Toto's drummer. But putting that aside, I mean when you talk about Weezer you're pretty much talking about Rivers, and I think he brings the goods. This is what "Weezer covering 80s rock" sounds like all right, yup. It doesn't make me go "OMG BEST THING EVERRRRRR," but if they did a whole album of 80s covers I'd buy it. Oh yeah. Man, they'd do a mean "Surrender." I think that's actually a 70s song but w/e, same aesthetic.

How men and women can help each other out!

So I keep seeing this comment an actor made about flirting all bloody day and felt compelled to write about it. Pardon me, music lovers, let me get this off my chest and then I'll get back to talking about Weezer or whatever.

"I don't want to go up and talk to her because I'm going to be called a rapist or something."

No, the simple act of talking to a woman will not get you labelled a rapist, unless she has severe emotional issues. In which case she could accuse you of something without you ever even talking to her, and then do the same to your dog. That seems unlikely so you're probably safe, bro. If you flirt with a woman and she flirts back, that's okay and always will be okay. If she doesn't seem interested, step the eff off. That doesn't seem so complicated, does it?

Except maybe it kind of can be? I started thinking about how men and women have been socialized for so long and it's really kind of sick. A lot of discussion of this has fallen on men - men are socialized to feel they're entitled to women, to be persistent, to "break her down" til she says yes. Which can be true, and also really gross. But what about how women are socialized?

I wasn't personally raised this way, but a lot of women my generation and previous generations were - and that is to be coy. To say no or maybe when they mean yes, to string guys along because God forbid you actually act like you like a guy. Women must be pursued, or else be seen as forward, or desperate, or "not a good girl." Yeah, a lot of women were taught that being "good" means playing games with people. Being "good" means lying, or at the very least denial. All for what? To be a virgin, or appear like one? What century is this, anyway?? These old timey social mores kinda encourage stalking - and we wonder why things are so fucked up.

And even for those of us who weren't raised that way (and I really hope this next generation isn't), it's aaaaaallllll over entertainment. "Romantic" comedies can be poison. How many times has the plot of one of those things been "wearing someone down" til they get together in the end? This not only teaches women they can't be honest about being attracted to a dude, it teaches dudes that sometimes women lie about not being attracted to them. It encourages them to keep at it, which CAN lead to a woman feeling like she's being harassed. (Harassed, NOT "raped." Really wrong word to use there, Superman. Not one ya wanna throw around like a football.)

So while I think you should generally be able to tell if someone wants nothing to do with you and stop talking to them, there are gray areas here that need to be addressed. Let's stop playing games with each other. It isn't romantic, it doesn't make you "good," it just reinforces stereotypes that have done subtle but pervasive and long-lasting damage. Be honest and treat people the way you want to be treated. It's time to change the narrative. There won't be as many awful romantic comedies, but... yeah, there's really no downside to it at all! :)

tbt ~ Bush

Don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, since they're not talked about as much as some other 90s rock bands, but I think Bush's first two albums are really good. If you haven't revisited them for a while or heard them at all, check em out!

Feel Good (Inc) Friday

This long weekend, you could listen to 25 Drake songs, or you could listen to this fun, funky, fresh new album from Gorillaz, The Now Now. I know what I'll be doing.

I suppose this is as good a time as any to discuss the one album I've listened to since I moved, Panic! at the Disco's Pray for the Wicked. Man, that is a cool ass title wasted on a pretty mediocre album.

Why does it seem like most music now is either severely underproduced or overproduced? You've either got that droney, tinny stuff that sounds like a gnat cursing in your ear, or you've got this thing, which sounds like a bomb going off. Panic! at the disco, indeed.

Why did I listen to this instead of probably 50 more deserving albums that came out this year? Well, there's that cool title. I liked the first two songs I heard, "Say Amen" and "Silver Lining." And honestly, I have a pretty good history with this band. Pretty. Odd. is a beautiful Beatlesesque album that fits nicely on a playlist with early of Montreal. A Fever You Can't Sweat Out has that classic mid-2000s emo vibe, complete with ridiculous song titles you'll never remember. It was kind of a silly, over the top time, but by God it was something. There were guitars. There were live drums. There was a sense of deranged fun, which could almost make you forget that the songs were called things like "There's a Rock In My Heart and a Hole in My Shoe and You Put it There, Darling."*

*not a real song but I bet you had to look it up to be sure.

I wouldn't say I loved their (or I should say his, it's just Brendan Urie at this point) album Death of a Bachelor, but I liked a good half of it, maybe a little more. It had a good vibe, and while the pop production was definitely there, it didn't rub me the wrong way. I called it dance rock, and I think that's accurate. It's fun. This new album, I think, is trying to be fun but... that's just it. You can feel it trying, straining at the seams to be noticed. It's loud, but it doesn't say anything and it sure as hell doesn't rock. This is the first PatD album that hasn't felt organic to me, and I don't just mean instrumentally. Ultrapop production aside, there's just no there there.

I don't think Brendan Urie had much to say this time.

That might be okay, if more of the songs were like "Say Amen" (or "Victorious" from the last album). Songs that make you want to stand up and shout out their meaningless anthemic choruses, because you are drunk and happy. But I don't find the majority of this album infectious, and it definitely doesn't forward the cause of rock. They/he isn't rock anymore, and yeah, they were always pop rock at best. But they put out some good pop rock. Memorable. And while I wouldn't call this album "trendy" or "selling out," it somehow manages to be just as forgettable as if it was. I wasn't expecting this one-man "band" to save rock and roll, but by moving farther away from it, nobody wins. It's too pop for the old fans and not pop enough for the trend eaters. In the end, it just kinda makes me scratch my head and wonder why these bands don't even try to rock anymore. Music doesn't have to say anything, but it does have to make you feel something, even if it's just "wheeee this is fun!" And when the music is empty, making it louder does not make it seem bigger. Just the opposite, really.

I guess we'll see where he's at next album cycle, cause I feel like it's time for a change.

I wonder if we'll ever have another mainstream rock revival like in the early-mid 2000s with bands like The Killers, The Strokes, White Stripes, etc. (which probably led to later bands' success, like MCR and Paramore). What happened? Why did rock's relevance completely disappear with the new decade? Is this just another music "cycle," or has the current generation lost interest in rock? I feel like it's timeless and we'll have another revival in a few years, but I guess we'll see. Which isn't to say that rock is dead, by any means. A lot of these bands are still making good music, as well as newer bands like Creeper. It's just waiting underground til it becomes cool again, I guess. I'm sure eventually people will realize every trap song is actually the same damn song, and they'll get bored and be all, "what's that? a guitar? Hey, I haven't heard one of those in a while..." I swear that's all music trends are, just waiting for people to get bored with whatever's popular. Next! (And the good stuff usually comes back.)

Edited to add: Why does it matter if music I like is "popular," when I can stream or download and listen to whatever I want, whenever I want? Because I'm not a hipster. I like to feel like part of a society. Sure, there's some unusual stuff I like that I wouldn't expect to hear in the mainstream, and I like having some "on my own time" music. But I also like hearing music I connect to when I'm out in the world, at restaurants, shops, bars, etc.

Obviously no one wants to be constantly pummelled by shit they hate - for me, this droney trap rap trend has been misery - but it's more than that. You can somewhat tune that out. But - I don't want to tune out music. I want the "hey, that's my song!" feeling. The shared music experience. It's not like I hang out at places that are all teens and 20s, where I might not expect to relate to the current trends. These are shared spaces with people from all walks of life, yet they're still being controlled by these lowest common denominator trends. A little more variety would be nice, is what I'm saying. A little more organic music that some of us still relate to. And not just on 90s night! I love 90s night, but I hear that shit all the time. That's what I already have on heavy rotation. Play some NEW music that evokes the 90s or early 2000s, if that's what you're so hungry for, you know? I don't know why 90s ROCK = COOL, but any rock put out this decade is no longer relevant. Nostalgia has its place, but it's nice to feel you belong in the here and now*, too.

*Of course, that won't stop me from sneaking in a Letters to Cleo reference. :)

tbt ~ The Killers

This album may be from 2012, but the sound is rooted firmly in my childhood.

*a tumbleweed blows by*

So, I appear to have bought a house. Wait, how did that happen?? This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife. How did I get here? Letting the days go by, water flowing underground.

So. There's that. Hence the large tumbleweed population 'round here. I will resume blogging after we're settled in and my cats stop hating me. I haven't really listened to much new music lately. Stuck in the 90s and 2000s, doop de doo. There's an Oasis song FIRMLY lodged in my head right now. Those new FGL songs? Haven't heard em, can't say I really care. However, I did listen to my first ever Ghost song, "Dance Macabre." It's 80s AF and I dig it. Like, we're talking right out of one of those old Metal Mania videos.

Here's the thing. I like some harder rock, but "metal" is one of those musical descriptors that makes my brain shut off, like "trap" or "k-pop" or "industrial." I just associate it with screaming and noise. But what can one song hurt? And yeah, I guess it's "metal" in the 80s sense, not that current hardcore screaming shit. It's very melodic, and that's what I look for. So I'll probably check out the album, but for now at least I have a cool "new nostalgic" song in heavy rotation. It kinda feels like the right thing to start this new chapter in my life with, you know? Something that reminds me of the comfort of the past, while still being fresh. Old and new.

Total side note: I'm pretty sure IKEA is one of the circles of Hell.