#2000s garage rock imagines

[indieboysarehot]

do i start writing fics again.

[mannatea]

what were your favourite bands and singers growing up?

I didn't have any (is the short answer).

Here's the long one:

To put things into perspective I once borrowed a radio from my dad's garage that wasn't being used and turned it to the country radio station. When I was caught a day or so later I got in big trouble for listening to corrupting evil tunes. 🤣 I don't remember how old I was. Maybe 11.

For most of my childhood we did not listen to music except for the local Christian radio station, and honestly...most of their renditions of hymns were boring compared to what we sang in church.

Imagine my delight and wonder when my band instructor handed me the sheet music to Long Train Runnin'. (IMO it's a banger for a band to play.)

My siblings and I were obsessed with video game music for a long time, especially Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX. Eyes on Me and Memories of Life sent us into orbit. We used the early Internet to try to find sheet music.

Until my late teens the only music I'd really been exposed to was some country music (on the bus radio), Ray Boltz (a Christian singer who later came out as gay and was shunned by the community—I still stan), and the Carpenters, because my mom would sometimes sing Top of the World. One time I saw a Carpenters "love songs" cassette for sale at the WalMart for a couple of dollars and by some miracle my mom bought it (we were pretty poor and I never asked for anything so this is a special memory). I eventually bought the cd version.

The theme from Road to Avonlea (The Fresh Hills of Mhic Cainte) was a big deal to me for years too.

We received a free Kurt Bestor cd (Seasons) in the mail once and I wore it out playing it. At some point I also wound up with a Christian music cd that had popular songs on it including Mercy Came Running (which I listened to relentlessly).

I borrowed the Pokemon the First Movie & Pokemon 2000 soundtracks from the library and recorded them onto cassettes; these were my workout tunes for literal years of my life. I also saw Rigoletto at some point and mostly rewatched it to listen to The Curse. Mulan and other films were rewatched a lot for the music too.

In my late teens I enjoyed Evanescence and Matchbox20 and a lot of other popular songs of the time on a radio I bought myself. In my early adulthood I discovered Josh Groban. I fell heavily into 80s pop & country music also. I stopped listening to new country music around 2012. My car's radio stations are tuned to a legacy country station and a legacy rock/pop station and I still have a lot of mixed cds I keep in the middle console. I'm very picky about music and rarely listen to new songs but I did really like Percolate (thanks YouTube recommendations).

Needless to say, I did not really "grow up with" favorites, so I had to find them much later in life. ;)

And you didn't ask this, but music more than anything has influenced me as a writer: Josh Groban, Carpenters, and specific songs like You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Piano Man, If We Hold On Together, Crane's Crying, You Move Me, You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This, and even Shut Up and Kiss Me.

Like, it's funny to me that my writing is far more influenced by the poetry in music than anything else, considering how late in life I was allowed to freely enjoy it.

[c-40]

A-T-3 062 Toto - Africa

I don't particularly like Africa by Toto but it reminds me of my sister and I like that. My sister used to play it in the mid to late 1990s at a club called 333 in London, England. Africa took a while to become a hit. It was released in 1982 the same year as its parent album Toto IV but didn't chart in the UK until January 1983 with the help of a music video. Once it became a hit it went stratospheric. When my sister was playing it at the 333 it had fallen out of fashion, it had become irrelevant, these were the days of jungle/drum and bass, UK garage, big beat, new disco... lots of heavy electronic dance music. My sister really likes Africa by Toto so that's what she played, and Supertramp, and Fleetwood Mac (again having a dip in their popularity), and Steely Dan... and the people that saw her play at the 333 loved it. Of course Toto's Africa has become very popular since the late 2000s, and musical atrophy has helped Africa become relevant again

I thought I'd post Toto now as Cheryl Lynn came up the other yesterday and Toto helped kick start her career

Africa it a bit of a problematic song. Co-writer Jeff Porcaro has talked about it as "A white boy is trying to write a song on Africa, but since he's never been there, he can only tell what he's seen on TV or remembers in the past" and descriptions were drawn from the pages of National Geographic and David Paich's memory of stories Catholic priest told him at school about their missionary work in Africa. Paich has said he based the lyrics on a late night documentary with depictions of African plight and suffering "It both moved and appalled me, and the pictures just wouldn't leave my head. I tried to imagine how I'd feel about it if I was there and what I'd do." We were entering the time rock stars arrogantly believed they had the power to change the world (like Bill And Ted), the result is clumsy and patronising (maybe not quite as bad as Band Aid's Do The Know It's Christmas Time)

It like the opening drums of the song, I'm sure Quiet Village have lifted them. As a kid I loved Joe Spencer's sleeve artwork for Toto IV with it's airbrushed rings and sword (he also did Rick James' Stone City Band logo)

[morningrainmusic]

Peak Indie Rock: 2004

A Google search for “best indie rock albums ever” produces some of the following results, sourced from across the web: Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998) Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights (2002) Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (1992) Pixies - Surfer Rosa (1988) Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) The Strokes - Is This It (2001) Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997) There are 42 more listed, most of them from the 90s. The 1990s was without a doubt the most important period for indie rock and the decade produced some of the best indie albums of all time. But for this exercise, determining which five year period had the MOST great indie rock albums, I have identified a clear winner in 2004-2009. This is of course entirely subjective. Had I been born in 1981 and not 1991, I would most likely be writing about the titans of 90s rock, all the bands immortalized by documentaries like 1991: The Year Punk Broke. The youngest Boomers and elder Gen Xers will likely cite the mid to late 80s as indie rock’s most fruitful period as they shove a copy of Our Band Could Be Your Life in your face, and they’d be right to. It would be foolish and disrespectful to ignore the seismic impact of these artists, who essentially founded the genre. Artistically and commercially, there is a sacred lineage—without The Velvet Underground there is no Pixies, without the Pixies there is no Nirvana, without Nirvana there is no Hoobastank. Joking aside it’s hard to imagine “The Reason” nearly topping the charts (it hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100) without Nevermind and how it transformed the music landscape. Point being, your mileage may vary with this list and the selected time period itself. But there is definitely a compelling case to be made for this admittedly, very specific question of “Which 5 years was the best run for indie rock albums?” In an article for Vulture, Larry Fitzmaurice attempted to define indie music in the 2010s, and provided a nice primer on how the early 2000s “garage rock revival” created fertile ground for the rise of great, and increasingly genre-blending indie rock bands. Into the 2010s and today, “indie rock” has become less of a cultural focus, replaced by simply “indie music,” a catchall that includes a much more diverse and wide-ranging set of artists, sounds, and styles (which is a good thing). If The O.C. was airing today, concerts at the Bait Shop might feature artists like Snail Mail, Young Fathers, and Arlo Parks rather than The Walkmen, The Killers, and Modest Mouse. But in the 2000s indie rock was king.

Before jumping into the list, here are some completely arbitrary “ground rules” I created. First, one album per artist. This made for some tough choices, as bands like Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie, and TV on the Radio put out multiple great records between 2004-2009. Second rule—indie ROCK only, meaning electro-leaning groups like Cut Copy, The Knife, Crystal Castles, and Junior Boys as well as indie-adjacent hip hop artists like M.I.A. and Madvillain are not featured. And that’s it! Without further ado, let’s go back in time to 2004:

Bows + Arrows by The Walkmen February 2, 2004 / Record Collection The Walkmen has one of the best and most distinct vocalists of the 21st century, six mostly very good albums, and strong critical support and yet they never reached the commercial heights of most of the other bands in this list. Initial passes of the band’s second album, Bows + Arrows, may reveal why this is the case. “The Rat” was an instant classic that probably overshadowed everything else here. While the rest of the record is undeniably solid indie rock, it lacks the immediacy of albums by similar wheelhouse groups like The National or Spoon. So why is Bows + Arrows here? Because slowly over time, it becomes increasingly clear to me that it is just as strong as the majority of those revered Meet Me in the Bathroom-era albums, even stronger than a lot. It is the drunken, impeccably produced, slightly downbeat and melancholy cousin to The Strokes’ debut. All these years later, it’s time the culture move on from “is this it” and start asking “What’s in it for me?” Side note: Plenty of 20th anniversary pieces will be written about each of these albums in the coming months and years. Here’s one on Bows + Arrows for Stereogum. Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand February 9, 2004 / Domino Here’s an album I loved when it was released but have rarely revisited since my youth. In all honesty, I did not expect it to hold up. Boy was I wrong. This debut album by a Glasgow band with a ridiculous name is loaded with punchy dance-punk riffs and infectious melodies. There is of course the big inescapable hit “Take Me Out” which graced Playstation and Mitsubishi commercials and remains Franz Ferdinand’s calling card. But nearly everything else here is just as captivating. A joy to rediscover all these years later. Fun fact: Kanye West, who released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004, liked Franz Ferdinand. He described their sound as “white crunk.” Source: Stereogum 20th anniversary piece.

Hot Fuss by The Killers June 7, 2004 / Island

I remember being twelve years old, listening to “Somebody Told Me” on a burnt CD in my childhood bedroom. A website called The Facebook had launched a few months prior, though I had no awareness of it. George W. Bush was on his reelection campaign vs John Kerry. The war in Iraq raged on. American teens and pre-teens were a couple months away from being inundated with Napoleon Dynamite quotes. And here, this captivating song about “a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend,” replete with strange (to my young ears at least) synthesizer flourishes came pumping out of my plastic stereo, a karaoke machine from some Christmas past that had been coopted for the sole function of playing burnt CDs in my room. Before this devolves into an exercise in nostalgia or some over-the-top mythologizing of The Killers’ debut, I should acknowledge something: Hot Fuss is an absurdly front-loaded album. Tracks 1-5 are good (“Smile Like You Mean It”) to exceptionally great (“Jenny Was a Friend of Mine,” “Mr. Brightside,” “Somebody Told Me,” “All These Things That I’ve Done”). Tracks 6-11 are a wash of plodding, forgettable, and half-decent tunes. Following the explosive first five songs, one of which (“Brightside”) has become something of a millennial folk anthem, puts the second half at a big disadvantage. But the power and impact of the hits cannot be understated. Bands like The Strokes, The White Stripes, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had already gotten the ball rolling in vanquishing nu-metal, culturally if not commercially. The Killers and Hot Fuss however, were the final nail in the coffin, possibly the closest thing to actual “saviors of rock” in the 21st century. And yes, Hot Fuss was released on a major label, Island, but in sound, aesthetic, and approach the early Killers were very much an indie band. You hear about as much New Order on the album as you do U2. Guitarist Dave Keuning recorded some of his parts from his Las Vegas apartment. There’s a hipster-maligning bonus track called “Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll,” which is underrated. This is an indie rock album.

A Ghost is Born by Wilco June 22, 2004 / Nonesuch

At the time of its release Pitchfork’s Rob Mitchum called A Ghost Is Born “wildly uneven” and “less cohesive than any other Wilco album.” Dean of American rock critics Robert Christgau called it “a privileged self-indulgence.” I call it Wilco’s second best and quite possibly most interesting album. My favorite, as you may have guessed, is Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the high watermark for 2000s indie art rock, label disputes, and black and white making-of documentary filmmaking. How to follow up such a gargantuan artistic achievement? Well they brought back Jim O’Rourke, who mixed Foxtrot, to produce and cranked out some slow-burners punctuated by skronky Television-influenced guitar solos. For good measure, Jeff Tweedy and co threw in a few sweet, melodic tunes like “Hummingbird” and “The Late Greats” that show off some of that AM radio pop finesse from Summerteeth. This might have created some musical whiplash on initial listens, sure, but “wildly uneven,” this album is not. There’s a reason all of these songs (with the exception of “Less Than You Think”) are beloved by Wilco diehards and casual fans alike. Each one either rips or quietly wriggles its way into your subconscious and stays there for life.

More Adventurous by Rilo Kiley August 17, 2004 / Brute/Beaute Rio Kiley’s Jenny Lewis is a master of one-liners and quietly devastating character portraits, all neatly wrapped in shimmering indie pop—the candy-covered coating to a not-so-secretly wounded interior. She’s also adept at writing clever, poppy love songs that you end up humming to yourself for weeks. Both are here on More Adventurous, a high point in Rilo Kiley’s discography. Further reading: NPR | Rilo Kiley And The Alt-Pop Force Of More Adventurous

Rubber Factory by The Black Keys September 7, 2004 / Fat Possum

Rubber Factory was in fact recorded in a rubber factory. Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums) rented out the second floor of a long closed General Tire factory that Carney described as "not really ideal in any way.” He continued, “It's too far away. It's on the second story. It's hot as hell. You can't open the windows. The acoustics are horrible." The mixing console they used was purchased on eBay and frequently malfunctioned. They recorded on recycled tape from their label Fat Possum. When they were finished, they left the damned machine behind and six years later the building was demolished, very possibly with the console still inside. These are the kinds of details from which rock legends are born. Before the music of The Black Keys was ubiquitous on rock radio and in car commercials, the band was just a couple of dudes in Akron, Ohio playing unpolished blues rock tunes in Carney’s basement, and then amongst the rubber. It was on this album, not their 2010 commercial breakthrough Brothers as some might have you believe, that they first proved they could craft a cohesive and consistently excellent record.

Funeral by Arcade Fire September 14, 2004 / Merge

So much ink has been spilled about Funeral, nearly all of it laudatory, it’s hard to know what’s left to say or where to begin. When thinking about 2000s indie music this, for many, is the album that comes to mind. Funeral was a game-changer. Which is kind of amazing, considering there is nothing cool about Arcade Fire. They wore ties and vests and dresses. They favored elaborate instrumentation and big earnest shouting over streamlined guitars and detached/passive/brooding frontman singing. They sing about their parents. There are about nine people in the band, and one of them plays an accordion. Arcade Fire and Funeral had something far more powerful than the cool factor though. They had resonant, powerful, life-affirming, transportive music. And basically overnight, the next 10+ years of indie rock was set on a new course that, for better or worse, included the rise of groups like Of Monsters and Men, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Florence + The Machine, Mumford & Sons, and The Lumineers. Fans still celebrate songs like “Wake Up” and “Rebellion (Lies)” with an almost religious fervor in part because they cut right past the bullshit posturing of so much rock music and go straight to the heart. The album is an elegy, recorded in the aftermath of several deaths in band members’ families. But it’s also a reflection on how disillusioned many young people felt at the turn of the century. Look no further than the lyrics Win Butler sings on “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”: Ice has covered up my parents’ hands Don’t have any dreams, don’t have any plans Growing up in some strange storm Nobody’s cold, nobody’s warm The band has made more great albums in the 20 years since Funeral (The Suburbs is probably their best), but none have had the same impact as their debut. They’ve also been plagued by sexual assault allegations against Butler in recent years, which certainly taints the music a bit and will negatively impact Arcade Fire’s legacy. Still, Funeral changed indie rock forever and remains an undeniable classic. Shake the Sheets by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists October 19, 2004 / Lookout!

There’s this clip of Ted Leo performing “Me and Mia” in 2007 on MTV’s 24-hour Human Giant takeover. If you are under the age of 25 that sentence is likely completely unintelligible. But anyways, about a minute into the performance Leo’s amp goes out and, like the seasoned pro that he is, he asks someone to bang a pedal to revive it, still singing along to the melody on live television. It is fixed, and Leo finishes the song. I am likely reading way too much into this small moment, but I see it as an allegory for Ted Leo’s entire career. Ted Leo is a punk rock lifer and devotee of power pop, classic rock, and politically-charged songwriting. Despite widespread critical acclaim, years of breakneck touring, and a collaboration with Aimee Mann, Leo’s music still feels like a well-kept secret. You may not know his work, but someone you know does and that person is likely a diehard fan. The fact that Leo jumped around five record labels for seven studio albums (plus one he crowd-funded and released himself, 2017’s The Hanged-Man) is astonishing, as every record is good to great. So to me, that MTV clip represents Leo as the steadfast survivor, able to adapt to a fickle, constantly changing, in many ways broken industry and put forth exactly the kind of art he wants to in spite of it. Shake the Sheets is one of the great albums. Though not as widely beloved as The Tyranny of Distance (2001) or Hearts of Oak (2003), Sheets finds Leo firing on all the familiar cylinders and asking some urgent questions that are just as relevant today as they were 20 plus years ago. On Oak, it was “where have all the rude boys gone?” On Sheets, it’s “when will we find a chord as resonant as to shake the sheets and make us move?” Leo believes in the power of punk rock to inspire individuals to organize to bring about positive change, and he’s one of the few modern voices who can thread a politically incisive lyric into his songwriting without coming off as preachy. Look no further than “Bleeding Powers,” an evergreen protest song, and one catchy enough to remain stuck in my head for the better part of the past year: And you still see people waiting for the next excuse for war And the road leads somewhere, but it's not yet to your door

[cyarskaren52]

YEAR IN REVIEW

The 100 Best Songs of 2023

Lana, Drake, Miley, Tyler, and many more

BY ROLLING STONE

DECEMBER 1, 2023

KYLIE MINOGUE RACED back to the center of the dance floor with a viral smash. A surprise Shakira track broke the internet. Sexyy Redd owned every summer DJ set. And NewJeans rode a drum-and-bass beat to pop heaven. It was a massive year for música Mexicana and Afropop, for noisy guitar bands, left-field hip-hop, and fearless country storytelling. Taylor Swift had a pretty good year too. 

100

Foo Fighters, ‘Under You’

ERIKA GOLDRING/GETTY IMAGES

But Here We Are, the 11th album from Foo Fighters, explores grief in unflinching detail — it was recorded in the wake of Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins’ March 2022 passing and the death of leader Dave Grohl’s mother a few months later. “Under You” has the sunny power-pop-adjacent feel of earlier Foo Fighters tracks like “Learn to Fly,” but its lyrics depict Grohl being nearly suffocated by the pain of losing someone. “Someday I’ll come out from under you,” he declares, well aware that despite the catchy melodies he’s laying down, grief still hangs over him. —M.J.  

99

Jung Kook feat. Latto, ‘Seven’

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BTS member Jung Kook’s soulful vocals are backed by an insistent garage beat on this swirling confection that’s squarely focused on getting down every day of the week. He drives home his lust with some well-placed falsetto runs, while his foil, the “Big Energy” MC Latto, delivers a winking verse that manages to turn the dance-floor-filling DJ staple “Cha Cha Slide” into a teasing come-on. —M.J.

98

Hemlocke Springs, ‘Enknee1’

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Don’t let Hemlocke Springs’ beloved TikTok bridge “girlfriend” give you the wrong impression — this new indie artist is no one-hit wonder. “Enknee1” is both a hyper-pop sensation and a sharp coming-of-age analysis — and who better to reflect on that subject than a Dartmouth Ph.D. hopeful turned viral star? “But I have learnt people aren’t puzzles (No),” she sings before sliding into the sweeping synth chorus emblematic of her awkward, authentic charm. “But thеy puzzle me, be thе things they don’t want to be.” She turns that confusion into something relentlessly catchy. More, please. —C.J.

97

Geese, ‘Mysterious Love’

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These Brooklyn kids are just passing the age when they can order an IPA in the bars they play, but they’ve clearly spent plenty of their prodigious youth immersed in the vicissitudes of their parents’ (OK, grandparents’) record collections. They really know how to fuck up the oldies. “Mysterious Love” sounds like post-punk guerrillas laying siege to a classic-rock radio station, piling up prog power, avant-rock chaos, boogie wonderment, and psychedelic sprawl. It’s proof that their 2021 hype-magnet debut Projector was no fluke. —J.D.

96

Addison Rae feat. Charli XCX, ‘2 Die 4’

OSCAR DEL AGUILA/VARIETY/GETTY IMAGES

Addison Rae’s pop career felt conspicuously short after she dropped her debut single, “Obsessed,” in 2021. But after several songs leaked online — and exploded on TikTok after— it was abundantly clear that was only the beginning. The star of the leaks was “2 Die 4,” a slinky hit with the type of ear-worm hook that burrows in your brain forever. For the official release, Rae linked up with Charli XCX, who adds a little sexy soul to match Rae’s budding pop princess prowess. —B.S.

95

Aespa, ‘Spicy’

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The K-pop group Aespa tried something new this year with “Spicy,” the lead single from their third EP, My World — The Third Mini Album. Previous releases had an experimental sound and leaned heavily into AR and virtual reality with a unique concept featuring an imagined world, villains, and avatar members. “Spicy” showcased a new side of Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning. With strong vocals, grimy synths, rolling bass, and huge drum buildups, the song brought the girls closer into the real world of universal pop thrills, reminiscent of early 2000s pop a la Britney Spears. As they tell us in the lyrics, it’s a “10 out of 10, honestly.” —K.K.

94

Samia, ‘Charm You’

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On “Charm You,” Samia makes a cathartic breakthrough over a sunny, simple instrumental. “I just saw my whole life flash before your eyes/and I don’t want to charm anyone this time,” she sings. A declaration that vulnerable might deserve either pity or fanfare, but Samia sounds surprisingly relaxed as her vocals float over buoyant guitar strums. The effervescent track is a standout on Samia’s second album, Honey, which showcases what she does best: pointedly chronicle the nuances of desire, devastation, and the delight of learning how to dance through it all. —L.L.

93

Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris, ‘Miracle’

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Nearly a decade had to pass for Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris — the duo responsible for “I Need Your Love” and “Outside” in 2013 and 2014, respectively — to reunite for another electro-pop smash. “When you have that connection with someone, you miss it,” Goulding told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “It’s hard to just put that aside.” The result of their unique chemistry was “Miracle,” a psychedelic EDM hit in which Goulding asks, “Are you too cynical to believe in a miracle?” in her effervescent voice, backed by ethereal piano, Nineties synths, and a pumping bass. It was a gift to see these two back together. —T.M.

92

J Hus feat. Drake, ‘Who Told You’

BURAK CINGI/REDFERNS

Beautiful and Brutal Yard, the J Hus album from this summer, had the feeling of being just ahead of its time. Hus, a reliable provider of diaspora-spanning hits, connected with Drake on the pitch-perfect “Who Told You.” Of all of Drake’s globe-trotting ambitions, his forays into Afrobeats and sounds from West Africa bear the most fruit. Here we’re greeted by “One Dance” Drake, laying on the accent just a tad more subtly. Along with J Hus’ infectious hook, the song is an ideal anthem, one that I suspect finds a permanent spot in the pantheon of summer hits. —J.I.

91

Tove Lo, ‘Borderline’

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Tove Lo co-wrote “Borderline” with fellow pop titan Dua Lipa, and it’s brimming with the kind of unforgettable melodies that are a hallmark of both artists’ best work. Built on a foundation of burbling bass and a Prince-like drum pattern, the song puts Tove Lo’s edgy lyrics about insecurity and codependence front and center. “I like to push you to the edge as long as you say you’re mine,” she sings, ramping up the intensity for an almost-shouted chorus that promises to make this relationship work, whatever the personal toll. Deeply unsettling in all the right ways. —J.F.

90

Tierra Whack, ‘Chanel Pit’

RAHUL BHATT*

The bars might look silly on paper (“What is that shit I smell?/I am that shit you smell”), but that’s half the point — the way Ms. Whack sends that nonsense caroming off the music-box beat, bouncing new flows like rubber balls, is what makes this absurdist gem shine. And, as always, her brilliance doesn’t come into full focus until you see the video, where she raps the entire thing while going through a car wash, minus the car. Plenty of artists made music that addressed the world’s pain and suffering in 2023. Let’s hear it for someone who knows how to keep it fun. —S.V.L.

89

Soccer Mommy, ‘Here’

DANIEL TOPETE

Sophie Allison, the indie-rock singer-songwriter who records as Soccer Mommy, delivered a great covers EP this year with Karaoke Night. Along with songs by Taylor Swift, R.E.M., Slowdive, and Sheryl Crow, she delivered a for-the-ages version of Pavement’s classic powerless-ballad “Here,” tapping into the heartbreak that only exists on the edges of Stephen Malkmus’ imperious performance on the 1992 original. It takes guts to throw yourself into a sacred indie-rock text like this, but she lovingly makes it her own to give us one of the all-time great Nineties covers. —J.D.

88

Myke Towers, ‘LALA’

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There’s magic buried in the vocal chant from “LALA,” making the track so catchy that it stays planted in your brain long after it’s ended. The song has been blasting out of cars pretty much from the moment a snippet first came out in June — and that infectious sample sent it flying around TikTok with force. In a flash, it rose up the charts, making it onto the Billboard Hot 100. It also became testament to Myke Towers’ star-powered versatility: The sharp-as-nails spitter can launch caustic raps like no one else, but he’s also down for upbeat bangers that turn into streaming goliaths. —J.L.

87

Dijon, ‘Coogie’

STEVE JENNINGS/GETTY IMAGES

Dijon has never been afraid to expose the cracks of his voice in his folk- and R&B-inflected songs, but “Coogie” reveals him pushing himself and his songwriting to wrenching effect. As he sings of being held down by some inherent “meanness” or a bad spirit, he sounds increasingly more raspy and self-destructive. Along with an equally haphazard electric guitar, everything sounds like it’s drowning underwater. As the song never reaches a climax or moment of release, Dijon keeps the listener tight within his gripping performance — making way for a raw and slippery vision of indie music. —M.H.K.

86

Taylor Swift, ‘You’re Losing Me’

KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES/TAS RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

For her Eras Tour stop at MetLife Stadium in May, Taylor Swift caused mastermind chaos by exclusively releasing this Midnights-era track on a CD sold only at that weekend’s shows. That hasn’t stopped fans from turning to bootleg YouTube uploads to hear one of Swift’s most devastating songs about a relationship on its last pulse. Over a sample of her heartbeat, she delivers a gut-wrenching bridge that only a Sagittarius could write: Swift proclaims, “I’m the best thing at this party,” then immediately confesses, “I wouldn’t marry me either.” No bait-and-switch has ever cut so deep. —M.G.

85

Hotline TNT, ‘I Thought You’d Change’

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A proud son of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (well, probably not that proud), singer-guitarist Will Anderson has wound up in New York in his mid-30s fronting the fantastic shoegaze band Hotline TNT, unfurling his Midwestern sad-guy glory on the band’s new album, Cartwheel. On “I Thought You’d Change,” he takes a wicked case of relationship malaise, slathers it in gilded distortion and surging melodies, and what comes out is at once heartsick and heroic. The “you” in question probably won’t be changing anytime soon, but the noise in our boy’s head is there to pull him through. Always has, always will. —J.D. 

84

CMAT, ‘Have Fun!’

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Since debuting a few years ago, Dublin’s Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson has distinguished herself for songs long on clarity, wit, and killer melodies. This standout starts off vivid (and clear): “One hundred bright green birds atop a Tesco in Clapham/Me on you, it didn’t make sense, but it happened.” From there, Thompson laments a shitty relationship while riding bright, piano-led funk, flowing catchily as violins slash in and out and those damn birds start to haunt her. It adds up to something irresistible, and one of the year’s best breakup songs. —C.H.

83

The Rolling Stones feat. Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, ‘Sweet Sounds of Heaven’

DANIEL LEAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

“Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” the Stones’ greatest latter-day gospel-rock rave-up, reaches an emotional peak two minutes and 38 seconds in, when Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga bellow, “I’m not going to hell in some dusty motel/And I’m not going down in the dirt … I’m finally quenching my thirst.” It’s a genuinely moving moment of catharsis, like they’ve survived some dark night of the soul, and it builds from there into soulful jam reminiscent of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” or Sticky Fingers’ “I Got the Blues,” thanks to Stevie Wonder’s funky keyboards and a fiery horn line. Has any other band sounded this good 60 years in? —K.G.

82

The Hives, ‘Bogus Operandi’

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Twenty years ago, the Hives blasted out of Sweden with their matching suits, over-the-top bravado, and killer garage-punk tunes. After a long break, they came back this year with a new album, predictably titled The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons. “I go to work!,” Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist shouts on their blazing return single, and his fellow Hives answer his call with the same sugar-sharp energy that made them such a blast back in the day. Times may change, but some operandi remain as beautifully bogus as ever. —J.D. 

81

The Last Dinner Party, ‘Nothing Matters’

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The U.K.’s latest buzzy export is a baroque-rock dream. On “Nothing Matters,” the group is part ABBA, part Nineties Brit-pop throwback, and entirely bewitching. Lead singer Abigail Morris resigns herself to a surface-level romance of “a sailor and a nightingale dancing in convertibles.” The juicy chorus is increasingly raucous as the song wears on, exploding into irresistible, singalong-worthy “da-da-da”s. The song was a success on alt-rock radio this fall, and the band’s been getting themselves on the road ahead of their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, meaning that “Nothing Matters” is just the appetizer. —B.S. 

80

Feeble Little Horse, ‘Freak’

With a name like Feeble Little Horse, the chances for dinky annoyingness are staggeringly high. But this Pittsburgh twee-noise band don’t just not suck, they transcend. “Freak,” from their album Girl With Fish, goes by in the space of a hardcore blurt, at just 1:47, with singer-bassist Lydia Slocum’s voice barely rising above a shy mumble as she sings, “I know you want me, freak/Sports star honeybee, on my team.” Yet she exudes tepid swagger, and the guitars go off like a mushroom cloud inside a snow globe, creating a lush little biosphere of shy, torrid gorgeousness. —J.D.

79

Tems, ‘Me & U’

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Tems builds this sweet jam on supple Afrobeats with the simplest of words, and if its title conjures Prince, so does its conflation of the spiritual and the carnal, which comes across despite Tems’ professed intention to write about her relationship with Jesus. Between this, her co-writes with Rihanna, and her breakthrough cameos with Future, Wizkid, and Drake, this Nigerian queen clearly remains choosy about the company she keeps. —W.H.

78

Eladio Carrión feat. Bad Bunny, ‘Coco Chanel’

YOUTUBE

With the help of Bad Bunny, “Coco Chanel” — and its dembow influences and sexy lyrics — served as the anchor for Eladio Carrión’s great LP 3MEN2 KBRN. In its bars, Carrión and Benito reference everything from Ferragamo and Sega video games to Julieta Venegas and Avengers’ Thanos. When it dropped, the track also fed speculation that Benito was dating Kendall Jenner with the line, “The Puerto Rican sun is warmer than the one in Phoenix,” which was taken by many as a clever reference to Jenner’s ex, Devin Booker of NBA’s Phoenix Suns. —T.M.

77

XG, ‘Left Right’

YOUTUBE

On “Left Right,” XG masterfully creates the kind of late-Nineties and early-2000s-channeling hit that would otherwise only emerge from the use of an obvious sample. The record is nostalgic in presentation, but futuristic in delivery. The seven-piece Japanese girl group — based in South Korea — are evident students of the K-Pop titans. Each member’s strengths are highlighted as they demonstrate a vocal expertise that brings to mind their other prime influences: the R&B girl groups of the TRL era. —L.P.

76

Drake feat. Sexyy Red and SZA, ‘Rich Baby Daddy’

PRINCE WILLIAMS/WIREIMAGE

Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” sounds like an outtake from a So So Def Bass All Stars comp. It gets plenty of fuel from a Jessica Domingo vocal loop sample and kicks off with a command by Sexyy Red to “Bend that ass over! Let that coochie breathe!” In short, it’s a song where Drake lets women’s voices take center stage, even as he chimes in to add, “I’ve got some love inside of me/Please drag it out of me.” A guest vocal from 2023 MVP SZA only adds to the appeal of “Rich Baby Daddy” as a sweet and summery confection. —M.R.

75

Fifty Fifty, ‘Cupid’

YOUTUBE

The breakthrough single from K-pop group Fifty Fifty is a delectable chunk of happy-sad bubblegum, its plush harmonies and sing-song lead vocals making its gently frustrated lyrics (“So skeptical of love … but still, I want it more, more, more”) feel like they were transposed straight from a fluffy pink diary with a stubborn lock and entries written in loopy, heart-adorned script. Sadly, Fifty Fifty’s tenure was as fleeting as the romance “Cupid” longs for; three of its four members were cut from the group by its agency Attrakt in October, a few months after the track peaked in the Hot 100’s Top 20. —M.J.

74

Summer Walker feat. J. Cole, ‘To Summer, From Cole (Audio Hug)’

RICK KERN/GETTY IMAGES/HONEYLAND FESTIVAL

Summer Walker reportedly cried when she heard the “audio hug” J. Cole recorded for her 30-minute EP Clear 2: Soft Life. Indeed, “To Summer, From Cole” is a showcase for the North Carolina rapper, a soothing neo-soul track he co-produced with Kelvin “WU10” Wooten. “I just heard you had you another little baby, congratulations/I hope you got through it with no complications,” he raps in a mellow, gentlemanly tone. “On days you feelin’ like you on your own/I wrote this for you to put on.” Walker opens and closes the song with a simple melody and the words: “Call me when you need some love.” —M.R.

73

Chris Stapleton, ‘White Horse’

ASTRIDA VALIGORSKY/WIREIMAGE

“White Horse” is a powerhouse rock anthem that presses into uncharted territory for Chris Stapleton. “If you want a cowboy on a white horse/Ridin’ off into the sunset/If that’s the kind of love you wanna wait for/Hold on tight, girl, I ain’t there yet,” he belts over a stadium-worthy guitar riff. Co-produced with his wife, Morgane Stapleton, and Dave Cobb, and co-written alongside Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson, “White Horse” served as a rocking reminder that Stapleton is one of the greatest voices we’ve got. —J. Lonsdale

72

Armand Hammer, billy woods, ELUCID, and EL-P, ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’

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“Your money’s no good here,” warns ELUCID on this standout cut from Armand Hammer’s We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. It’s a roundelay between two Brooklyn rappers who offer riffs on a Eurocentric world in disorder as they portend a post-apocalypse society where money and celebrity are meaningless. “White women with pepper spray in they purse/Interpolating Beyoncé/Illegal formations,” raps billy woods with brutally dry wit. Meanwhile, El-P of Run the Jewels accompanies the duo with a loopy, arrhythmic beat that mimics a globe slowly spinning off its axis. —M.R.

71

Gina Birch, ‘I Play My Bass Loud’

YOUTUBE

Bassist Gina Birch is a DIY music legend whose work in the iconic London post-punk band the Raincoats helped lay the foundation for Nirvana, riot grrrl, and more. She released her solo debut this year, at 68 years old, and its title track was one of 2023’s most inspiring artistic declarations. The song recalled the Raincoats’ otherworldly feminist statement ”No One’s Little Girl,” with Birch’s joyful bass leading the way as she sang with wit and wisdom about grabbing your instrument and creating music that transforms your life, every time you poke out a note. —J.D.

70

Del Water Gap, ‘All We Ever Do Is Talk’

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Del Water Gap is a master of lovelorn melancholy on “All We Ever Do Is Talk,” a mournful ode to the honeymoon phase. The singer and songwriter finds himself riding a ceaseless emotional carousel in the wake of the realization that he can at once be full of love, but also fully devoid of those early feelings that once sent electricity through his veins. Over a moody Eighties-tinged track, he sprints through a maze of synths in search of understanding, asking over and over: “Will we ever get that feeling again?” —L.P.

69

Code Orange feat. Billy Corgan, ‘Take Shape’

YOUTUBE

If your favorite part of high school was screaming along to Incubus on the drive home, don’t sleep on Code Orange. But even if they nail that 2000s period sound, that doesn’t mean they sound like something off an old CD that’s been skittering around on the floor of your car. “Take Shape” — featuring haunting vocals from Billy Corgan — exemplifies everything that makes Code Orange tick: absolutely punishing guitars, Jami Morgan’s harsh yet melodic vocals, and brain-flexing lyrics about breaking free from societal expectations. Just try not to run any red lights while listening to this track. —B.E.

68

Tyla, ‘Water’

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This year, 21 year-old year South African siren Tyla flooded the airwaves with her global smash, “Water.” This summer, after it’s just-challenging-enough choreography became a mainstay on TikToks and Instagram, the song itself rose to the top hip-hop and R&B radio. The fluid Amapiano-meets-Afrobeats production cascades beneath a saturated, choir-style vocal top-line that goads a lover to “make me sweat, make me hotter, make me lose her breath, make me water.” The track and its dance are fun, sexy, inspiring, and even a little humbling–since emulating Tyla’s control of her hips is no small thing.–M.C.

67

Jisoo, ‘Flower’

YOUTUBE

Jisoo was the last member of Blackpink to release solo music, creating a feverish anticipation among fans. It was the worth the wait. “Flower” cemented the singer as a certified solo star. A sophisticated track with a staccato, Latin-tinged melody and Caribbean-inspired percussion, “Flower” feels instantly familiar yet unlike anything else on the radio. There’s a confidence to her voice that isn’t always as apparent when it’s blended with three other singers. But on this solo track, it’s clear that Jisoo is firmly in control. —T.C.

66

Thundercat and Tame Impala, ‘No More Lies’

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On this psychedelic-soul gem, Los Angeles is to blame for a relationship that doesn’t quite work. “I’m sorry, girl, didn’t mean to drag you in my dreams,” Thundercat sings, as he and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker create a beautifully hazy track. The two musicians let the groove move them toward a sense of understanding that always seems to be alluringly out of their reach. “It just felt like we were definitely long lost bandmates from another era,” Thundercat told Rolling Stone about working with Parker. —L.P. 

65

Becky G and DannyLux, ‘Cries in Spanish’

EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES/ COACHELLA

As música Mexicana finds recognition on a global scale, strains of those same folk roots — the lovely melodic turns, those quirky accents in the strings — are beginning to penetrate mainstream pop. A ballad of quiet despair, this track from Becky G’s superlative third album — a tribute to her Mexican roots — reaches a majestic kind of transcendence when young prodigy DannyLux enters the stage riding a lilting sad sierreño pattern. The spiraling organ notes at the end add sophistication, but “Cries in Spanish” is all about the vocal luster of its two stars. —E.L.

64

Fall Out Boy, ‘Love From the Other Side’

YOUTUBE

Fall Out Boy’s eighth studio album, So Much (for) Stardust, was the first time they’d worked with producer Neal Avron in nearly 15 years. The record’s lead single “Love From the Other Side,” was proof of how well their reunion was going to work. Everyone was firing on all cylinders: Avron built a soundscape of theatrical urgency around Pete Wentz’s unmistakable songwriting, while Patrick Stump braced for the impact of sacrificing himself to the beast of infatuation. Without falling back on regurgitative nostalgia, they created the most Fall Out Boy-sounding Fall Out Boy song in recent memory.—L.P.

63

Yahritza y Su Esencia and Grupo Frontera, ‘Frágil’

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Yahritza y Su Esencia’s “Soy El Único” was the first song to put the Mexican American trio on people’s radars. But “Frágil,” with Grupo Frontera, was the song where they really took off. On the norteño-cumbia track, Yahritza and Frontera’s Payo Solis sing about giving their entire, fragile heart away to a love interest. Yahritza’s high notes complement Solis’ masculine vocals as they sing about an ex-lover “whose soul doesn’t feel pain when it lies.” It was the first track from Yahritza to hit Number One on an airplay chart, and it marked out a pivotal point in Frontera’s ever-growing career. —T.M.

62

That Mexican OT With Paul Wall and DRODi, ‘Johnny Dang’

YOUTUBE

One of the feel-good stories of rap in 2023 is the emergence of Virgil “That Mexican OT” Gazca. The Bay City, Texas, artist grinded on the mixtape circuit for years before breaking through with Lonestar Luchador and its centerpiece, “Johnny Dang.” Produced by TobiAli, it’s a legitimate banger where OT bounces all over the track even as he teases, “I’m just rhymin’ words, I don’t even know how to rap.” Guest spots from Freeport’s DRODi and Houston all-star Paul Wall add excitement to a hit that promises to “slide down your block, light it up with flames.” —M.R.

61

Jenny Lewis, ‘Psychos’

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Jenny Lewis proclaims herself a “rock & roll disciple” on “Psychos,” and proves her devotion with a series of truths on the Joy’All soft rocker, custom made for Seventies AM radio. Her Tao includes acknowledging that “life goes in cycles [like] a merry-go-round,” that when you sing about turning down the treble and dropping the bass, your music better sound gloriously tinny, and that, most transparently, “I’m not a psycho/I’m just trying to get laid.” Lewis knows, of course, that it’s that fun and funny candor that won rock & roll all its disciples in the first place. Respect to the guru, namaste. —K.G.

60

Mitski, ‘My Love Mine All Mine’

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When you listen to any love song from the 1940s, you get the distinct sense that everyone’s singing to ghosts — lovers are always lost, lonely, or waiting. Mitski captures that swoony mood of exquisite loss in this goth-country epic, which sees the protagonist asking the moon to remember her to her loved one even after her death. Sweeping and gorgeous, this is as close to a ballad as you’re going to get with Mitski, who — even in her lighter moments — seems always tethered to the fact that even the greatest love stories end.—B.E.

59

Earthgang and Spillage Village, ‘Die Today’

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They make it sound so effortless — like they’re just coming up with these super-catchy hooks and funny-AF lyrics on a summer Sunday, in between hammock swings. But the greats have a way of making the hard jobs look easy. And this track cements Earthgang’s status as one of the greats: loose and free, like your favorite pajama bottoms; witty and a little maudlin, like an episode of Six Feet Under. “Tell me baby if I die today,” the Atlanta duo sing, “Would you come and kiss my cold face?” Sounding like that? For sure. —N.S.

58

V, ‘Rainy Days’

YOUTUBE

Each BTS solo project has its own distinct musical personality. V is the member of the group with the deepest love of R&B, soul, and jazz, a fan of legends like Chet Baker and Frank Sinatra who’s also a former saxophone player. He unfurled his old-school credentials on “Rainy Days,” crooning over a forlorn piano and laidback beat as he explored the refined depths of his deliciously cloudy baritone. The result was an undisputedly umbrella-worthy, new-look, quiet-storm pleasure. —J.D.

57

Yng Lvcas feat. Peso Pluma, ‘La Bebé’

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“Ella Baila Sola,” Peso Pluma’s corrido with Eslabón Armado, was a Top 10 hit, but it wasn’t his only major hit of the year. “La Bebé (Remix),” a Pluma-featuring track by the largely unknown Mexican reggaetonero Yng Lvcas, seemed to dominate Latin nightclubs overnight — and it played a huge role in Pluma’s 2023 takeover. Lvcas and Pluma sing to a muse who just wants to dance to a good reggaetón beat. “La Bebé” delivers exactly that. Mexico isn’t your typical reggaetón exporter, but with “La Bebé,” Lvcas told Rolling Stone he hopes it “propels Mexicans to look at their own people for the genre.” —T.M.

56

Tyler, the Creator feat. Vince Staples, ‘Stuntman’

CHRISTOPHER POLK/VARIETY/GETTY IMAGES

One of the highlights of Tyler, the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost deluxe is “Stuntman,” a track that exemplifies his creative genius. Vince Staples opens things up with a characteristically sharp verse over a minimalist mesh of claps, clangs, and colossal 808s, then Tyler arrives with a swagger that he carries throughout. The song’s de facto breakbeat is interspersed by a hook with a crescendo of synths that is indeed a perfect soundtrack for a multitalented artist to let us know, “I’ll show you how to stunt.” —A.G.

55

Twice, ‘Moonlight Sunrise’

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Twice played their first stateside stadium show last summer (which made them the first K-pop girl group to headline a stadium in the U.S.). It was a peak moment in their eight-year run. “Moonlight Sunrise,” the group’s second English-language single, was inspired by the moonlight at that Banc of California Stadium performance. “Baby, you can hit up my line when you need it/Said that you tried?/Baby, you succeeded,” they rap with elevated English skills. Twice underscored their maturity by showing an artistic range beyond their signature bubblegum pop, with a Miami bass-infused R&B track. —K.K.

54

Tainy feat. J Balvin, Young Miko, Jowell and Randy, ‘Colmillo’

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This masterful deluxe-edition bonus highlight from Puerto Rican superproducer Tainy’s stunningly brilliant Data is three or four bangers in one, the sound of an artist chasing his wildest musical impulses in whatever wild-style direction they take him. “Colmillo” opens as a house-music hallucination, then mutates into a club-swallowing reggaeton anthem that invites us to commune with the perreo gods, as if Tainy and his teeming crew of guests (veteran stars J Balvin, plus Jowell and Randy, as well as newcomer Young Miko) are holding our hand as we ascend to a velvet-rope party on the astral-plane. —J.D.

53

Shamir, ‘Oversized Sweater’

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Comfort is the theme of Shamir’s dreamy single, off his 2023 album, Homo Anxietatem (Latin for “anxious man”). “Oversized Sweater” delivers gorgeously on that warmth and familiarity, with Shamir making a perfect pastiche of Nineties indie pop and soft rock, reminiscent of Liz Phair, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Lisa Loeb. Inspired by a sweater he knitted in the months following a stint at a psych ward, the song is an uplifting tribute to the ways we look to soothe ourselves after a love has gone sour. “So I cuddle in the space/Of my oversized sweater/And sing until I believe in love again,” he sings on the chorus. The song fits as snugly as his favorite item of clothing. —B.S.

52

Feid, ‘Nx Tx Sientas Solx’

PATRICIA J. GARCINUNO/REDFERNS

Decades of Latin pop songs have drilled into our heads the questionable message that romantic love is the answer to everything, but Feid begs to disagree. The most intimate track on Mor, No Le Temas a La Oscuridad — the Colombian star’s sixth studio album — this dark expressionist miniature proposes replacing those post-heartbreak tears with an evening of dancing and self-acceptance. Anchored on deep bass accents and a nimble loop whose restless shuffle mirrors the protagonist’s emotional turmoil, “Nx Tx Sientas Solx” underscores the vulnerable, healing side of neo-reggaetón. —E.L.

51

Troye Sivan, ‘Rush’

Troye Sivan

YOUTUBE

A sweaty, lusty ode to physical connection, Troye Sivan’s “Rush” combines a pumping house beat and a horny-guy-gang chant to staggering effect, with the Australian pop enigma playing winking ringmaster at its center. The unrelenting three minutes of “Rush” feel like a snapshot of those summer parties that seemingly never end, stretching from the not-late-enough sunset to the too-early sunrise and beyond, bodies pressed up against each other even after everyone has collapsed from giddy, gleeful exhaustion. —M.J.  

Sent from my iPhone

[pointreyesjournal]

Camp 4 : ep148

Camp 4 is a walk-in, tent-only, campground in Yosemite Valley that is widely considered the birthplace of modern rock climbing. In the years following World War II, climbers began occupying this campground and it became the focal point of the rock climbing community. Pioneering rock climbers of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Warren Harding, Yvon Chouinard, and Royal Robbins inhabited this place as they performed first ascents of El Capitan, The Leaning Tower and Half Dome. Generations have passed through Camp 4 and groups such as The Stone Masters in the 1970s and 1980s, and The Stone Monkeys in the 1990s and 2000s have left their mark on rock climbing history.

It all sounds very glamorous. But in reality Camp 4 is a collection of tattered nylon tents filled with dirtbag rock climbers and eurotrash summer tourists looking for an inexpensive and fun camping experience in Yosemite Valley. In terms of Yosemite Valley accommodations, it is the absolute bottom of the barrel. There’s a gypsy camp atmosphere to Camp 4, and much merriment and alcohol is consumed nightly. The unruliness of the typical inhabitant means that the Park Rangers here are more like the Keystone Cops than actual park rangers.

Check in

The Park Ranger: Next in line please.

Cheyenne: Hi, we’re checking for three nights.

The Park Ranger: Name on the reservation?

Cheyenne: Cheyenne.

The Park Ranger: Okay, I’ve got you in site 20 for three nights, leaving Friday morning before 11am. I just need the make, model and color of your vehicle.

Cheyenne: It’s a Ferrari California. Red.

The Park Ranger: Ma’am, look behind you. There’s a line of people waiting to check into their campsites. I don’t have time for jokes. Make, model and color of your vehicle please.

I smack the Ferrari key fob on the desk, the big black prancing horse over yellow enamel is clear as day.

Cheyenne: It’s a Ferrari California. It’s red. And if you call me ma’am again I’m going to cut your fucking …

Me: Whoa whoa whoa whoa. Just a slight misunderstanding here.

Cheyenne: Miss. I’m a miss! Call me miss, or else.

The ranger is completely flustered by his fuckup and is fumbling as he produces two yellow tags.

The Park Ranger: Leave this tag on your dash, and hang this tag on the outside of your tent where we can see it. Please don’t leave any food in your vehicle, bears are known to tear the doors off of cars if they smell food inside. Enjoy your stay. Next! NEXT!

Cheyenne is pissed off at the presumptuous ranger, but on the way back to the car she starts laughing at the idea of a bear ripping the door off of Henrik’s Ferrari.

Cheyenne: Can you imagine! Dude, Henrik would be SO PISSED! Hahahahaha.

Me: OMG, he would kill us. That car is supposed to be parked safely in the garage of his mega log cabin in Mammoth, not sitting in the parking lot of the dirtbaggers campground in Yosemite!

Cheyenne breaks into her best Fast Times at Ridgemont High impression. I reply with my best Jeff Spicolli impression.

Cheyenne: He’s gonna shit! He’s gonna kill us!

Me: What’s he gonna do, is he going to shit or is he going to kill us?

Cheyenne: First he’s gonna shit, then he’s gonna kill us!

We both are beside ourselves in laughter and it has diffused Cheyenne’s anger at the ranger.

Next we shuttle a few loads of gear to our campsite, get our cheapo tent setup and the mattress blown up, then start to put together charcuterie for dinner when we realize that we don’t have firewood, a wine bottle opener, or cups to drink from.

Shit!

Evening is coming soon, so we decide on a quick trip to the grocery store in Yosemite Village for the essentials. Our favorite park ranger is patrolling the parking lot as we’re departing and Cheyenne is keen to send a message. As soon as all four wheels of the Ferrari are on the main park road, Cheyenne looks at me and says …

“Light um up baby!”

[rupertgayesarchive]

do you have any music taste takes for smaller characters? meg, rowena, pamela, bobby?

I didn't think about that actually! I know rowena makes a passing remark in the show that she hasn't listened to anything more modern than symphonies from like. the 18th century. but I'd like to imagine she'd get a kick out of any overly raunchy song... anything from closer by nine inch nails to wap puts a smile on her face.

pamela had the look of being a rocker chick type bc that's what the default is for most of the female cast especially in the earlier seasons. like you can be a virgin-whore waif or a virgin-whore also waif but who listens to deep purple. but I think she'd like electro and psychedelic pop on top of what she may have listened to more when she was younger i.e. 90s indie and garage band type stuff. tame impala, passion pit, glass animals and such for a more modern touch.

i think bobby doesn't have very strong opinions on music! he puts on a classic rock station bc they're songs he knows, but maybe he'd be more partial to talk show type things to listen to when he drives or works on cars. him and dean listening to npr's car talk.......... when the podcast boom of the early 2010s hits and sam is on it like white on rice he drags bobby into some true crime shows hehe

meg 1.0 is too new to earth and has bigger fish to fry but later on she ends up gravitating towards the girlboss subgenre. she and cas can and will bond over beyonce. She is contractually obligated to be a megan thee stallion stan

i think music is interesting bc most people can listen to a pretty wide variety. even dean can admit to some taylor swift songs being catchy... hfym is all set pre-2010 and i feel like we only officially left the 90s on a cultural level circa 2006, so a lot of the fic i imagine people being more into genres that came out in that decade, like even though we have an idea of what dean listens to, the places they go to and people they meet are most likely listening to a mixture of late 90s alt rock and early 2000s pop and more experimental genres that aren't really around anymore. 2006 and beyond is a little trickier bc the popular music of that era is... something... and i can't quite imagine most of the characters enjoying, say, avril lavigne nearly as much (except for maybe cas)

[sparklygoblin]

Haikyuu battle of the bands!!! This is stupid but I'm a choir kid and I really love music so I had to imagine this one. I'm sorry this is really self indulgent but I dunno I hadn't seen it yet and I'm a sucker for mood music so yeah feel free to ignore this I get it.

TW: suicide, drugs and scary music ahead.

Tsukki, Yams, Hinata, and Kenma have a band that freaking destroys the indie grunge garage rock genre, they all grew up sad and messy. They sound a bit like mcafferty or the front bottoms and maybe cavetown when yams takes over more

Bottom-Mcafferty (yams and tsukki doing this one together is kind of so good)

Twins Size Matress-The Front Bottoms (I'm basic I know)

Lemon Boy-Cavetown (Ah if this ain't Yams about Tsukki)

Tsukki is a lead singer and nothing will change my mind, he can write and sing in that grunge way, it's hot. He's got a very cool detached vibe, and guys and girls alike are thirstin but none of them ever come to anything. He's got an eye for his little back up singer with the green hair

Yams is the back up singer, and also a base guitarist and he's kind of iconic, Tsukki has never needed anyone else, it's been him and Yams since they were kids, and it's been that way for a reason, Yams is almost a better lyricist than Tsukki

Hinata is their little guitarist and he's literally king of those jaw dropping garage rock guitar shreds at live shows and god he's really broken in this AU but he's still extremely sunny, he just has a lot of trauma in his past

Kenma hits the drums, and writes a lot of the lyrics, he can also sing very high harmonies, so he'll occasionally chip in on those

Bokuto, Iwaizumi, Kuroo, and Kyoutani have a freaking sick rock band, like I'm talking guitar shreds, eyeliner, screaming vocals ahhhhh I love it so much. They're literally adored and they fall just on the edge of hard but not too hard. They sound a bit like Breaking Benjamin, Foo Fighters, and a little bit of Three Days Grace

Diary of Jane-Breaking Benjamin

Best of You-Foo Fighters

World So Cold-Three Days Grace

Kuroo is the lead singer, very mid 2000s rock sound, raspy screaming, deep lyrics, sad eyes and beautiful hair. Drinks a lot, everyone loves him but him, wishes he were dead like a lot.

Bokuto plays guitar and just wants his friend to be okay , he seems very strong spirited and happy on stage but he has a habit of making a complete turn, and struggles with bipolar disorder on his own

Iwaizumi is a silent, brooding guitarist and probably lowkey the hottest member of the whole band, he shreds and him and bokuto shred back and forth at live shows its crazy

Kyoutani is a drummer with heavy dark make up and terrifying eyes, he's the classic vision of rock and roll and god help him he has so many parents who h a t e him.

Asahi, Daichi, and Kiyoko are amazing. They vibe with a more indie pop sound, with soft piano chords and deep female vocals, reminiscent of Florence+the Machine, Of Monsters and Men, Vancouver Sleep Clinic, and Bon Iver.

Over the Love-Florence and the Machine (Imagining kiyoko with a voice like this is such a trip)

Dirty Paws-Of Monters and Men

Lung- Vancouver Sleep Clinic ( the anxiety in this song gives me Asahi vibes)

Blood Bank-Bon Iver (daichiiiiii)

None of them have set places in this group, they're extremely mutable and that's what makes them so special everyone loves that the vibes stay the same even though the voices are constantly switching

Oikawa, Yahaba, Hanamaki, and Mattsukawa are reminiscent of Harry Styles, One Republic, and Coldplay. They write slow sad alternative pop music to cry to bc Oikawa is an aesthetically pleasing sad boy.

Girl Crush Cover-Harry Styles (Oiks being gay and sad in a floral suit KILLS ME)

All Fall Down-One Republic

Violet Hill-Coldplay

Oikawa has an incredible voice that he didn't come by naturally, and the fact that he had to practice makes him all the more likeable. His stage presence is nuts, and he cries like a lot.

Yahaba is an adorable little keyboard player with soft eyes and a really nice harmony with Oikawa

Hanamaki strums soft sad strings

Mattsukawa keeps a steady melancholic beat

Suga, Noya, Tanaka, and Ennoshita are modern rock in a nutshell, and god do they know how to make you angry and heartbroken all at once. They release music in the vein of Badflower, Boston Manor, and The Plot in You.

24-Badflower

Halo-Boston Manor

The Plot in You- Feel Nothing

Suga is the lead singer and his on stage emotion is crazy he's an emotional wreck, practically screaming S A V E M E, he's obviously on a lot of substances and victim of crippling low self worth. He cries on really bad nights, his voice is incredible but he's losing himself to the heartbreak. Suga writes almost all of the lyrics.

Noya and Tanaka party all the time to cover up the fact that the both of them feel alone in rooms full of people, to hide the fact that they need saving too. Tanaka is guitar, Noya is drums.

Ennoshita is a guitarist as well, and he's probably the only one keeping all of his bandmates from dying. The pressure is a lot for him.

Yachi is an unhinged curveball, you'd think she sings cute pop songs, but nah, that girl is straight up nuts. Screaming, vulgar, chaos is how you'd describe her music. She's been repressed her who look e life and it SHOWS.

I Hate My Mom-GRLwood

Mumble rap is a controversial genre to say the least, but I can't deny that I love it and could see a few of the more spooky or apathetic volleyball boys partaking, especially Tendo and surprisingly, Kunimi. They'd sound somewhat like Ghostemane, $uicidBoy$, and Sueco the Child.

Nihil- Ghostemane (tendo style)

Sold my soul to satan waiting in line at the mall- $uicideBoy$ (together)

Novacane:)-Sueco the Child(Kunimi vibes)

Tendo is scary af which really lends itself to the whole terrifying music style and stage presence he has. His music is dark seductive dissonance as is he.

Kunimi has suffered in a constant state of pure apathy and sorrow his whole life, this lends itself to the whole $uicide theme he's got going.

[undiscovered-horror-icon]

SlipKnot the Beginning

[All of this info was copied form the archive of this blog on Skyrock.com circa 2009-2010: User - maggot777 on SkyRock . com]

[I’m just sharing it and take no credit]

Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, the twenty-ninth of the fifty states of the USA. The city contains about 200,000 inhabitants for a little less than 200,000 km² and 500,000 reside in the suburbs. There is no Persian diversity in Des Moines, to speak in numbers 90% of people are white. The city is not known as a "dynamic" city, it is rather total boredom there! If we had to summarize what there is in Des Moines we would put: offices (especially insurance companies), factories, churches, a few shops and buildings ... ah I forgot the city hosts also the World Pork Expo. We understand why some say it's "the asshole of the United States"! "It's not just a big urban center, it's not a village either, it's just ... the area. There is absolutely nothing to do. The main activity for young people is 'is to find something to do. In Des Moines, everything is closed at 6 p.m. When you're not old enough, you can't go to a club; when you're old, you go. and you realize that it really sucks. And then it's a very conservative place, where people are not very inclined to encourage artists, whoever they are. " (James Root in Guitar Part, July 2001) "Des Moines is like a cemetery with buildings growing on it. It's a small place, with a majority of old people. It's the second highest concentration of old people in the country. Imagine what it is like. to be 15 years old in this puritanical and totalitarian environment. There is nothing else to do but to have rabies! " (Corey Taylor in Hit Parader, May 2000) However, it was during a concert in Des Moines that one of rock's greatest anecdotal moment happened. On that day of January 20, 1982, Ozzy Osbourne was playing in the city and tore off the head of the live bat! Indeed a spectator had thrown the animal, then unconscious, on the stage to provoke the singer who, thinking that it was one of his plastic bats, bit it deeply! Several rabies vaccines were injected into him. It was this event that traumatized young Joey Jordison, aged less than 7, for life. In high school he joined the Avanga group as a guitarist. But considering the terrible level of the drummer he had to place himself behind the drums. But quickly he is annoyed by the other members of the group, preferring to smoke weed and get drunk at various student parties. He then left the group and created Modifious. He recruits his neighbor Tim on vocals and Jay, Avanga's guitarist who has since become one of Joey's best friends. The trio that lacked a bass player found one in Ryan who had responded to the ad about the band. Modifious then makes Trash Metal, a style that fascinates Joey. Unfortunately some time after the formation of the group, Jay is killed one evening, in a car accident, after falling asleep at the wheel. Despite the drama, Modifious hires a new guitarist named Bruce. But the Bruce in question abandoned the group some time later and joined Atomic Opera. He is replaced by a certain Craig Jones, a friend of Ryan's. In 1992, Tim left the group, replaced by Josh Brainard on guitar and vocals. It is this formation which, in 1993, will record the first two demo cassettes of Modifious: Visceral and Mud Fuschia. By dint of playing intensively in Des Moines and its surroundings, the group began to have a good reputation. He even manages to get the first part of the group Type O Negative! Which will be their hour of glory. In 1994, the two demos are combined in a CD: Sprawl. Then the Trash Metal went out of fashion giving way to Death and Black. The group then changes style for a more radical music but that displeases Ryan who leaves the group. Following the departure of Ryan and the disaffection of the public Modifious split up in 1995. But Joey has already planned everything: he has two groups in parallel. He is the guitarist of Paul Gray, when he arrived in Des Moines in 1989, played in VeXX where he was bassist alongside guitarist-singer Josh Brainard and drummer Anders Colsefini. In 1991, VeXX changed its name (but not its line-up) and became Inveigh Catarsis until 1993. From this date the guitarist-singer Josh Brainard left the group to join Modifious. The group therefore split up, but Paul and Anders, who have become very friends, form a new group. They then formed Body Pit, a Death Metal combo composed of guitarist Mick Thompson, second guitarist DonnieSteele and Danny Spain on drums. Body Pit, starting to make itself known, even managed to compete with Modifious and Atomic Opera in the Des Moines Metal scene. Beside that, Paul finds his drummer friend Joey Jordison in the group Anal Of Blast that But let's take a step back. We are in 1992 and Paul is part of the Painface group. He plays alongside his friend Anders Colsefini on vocals, Patrick M. Neuwirth on guitar and drummer Shawn Crahan. The quartet plays dark and aggressive music and, rehearsing in Paul Gray's cellar, they manage to compose five pieces: "Slipknot", "Gently", "Idiot", "What's Wrong" and "Wise Up". They record his songs with the means at hand. These pieces gathered under the title of Basement Sessions, are in fact part of a rehearsal of the group. In 1993, Shawn Crahan joined another group: Heads on the Wall. This event will temporarily stop Painface's career. During its three years of existence, from 1993 to 1995, Heads on the Wall will perform four times in the first part of Modifious. The guitarist is a certain Kun Nong with whom he decides to set up another project called Meld. The group therefore brings together Shawn Crahan on drums, Kun Nong on guitar, Paul Gray on bass, Anders Colsefini as singer and Donnie Steele on guitar. Even though the band members start to compose a few songs, Shawn can't seem to get the band off the ground. But in 1995, while he was tinkering with Paul Gray in his garage, Shawn told him that he wanted to create THE band. Anders Colsefini as singer and Donnie Steele on guitar. Even though the band members start to compose a few songs, Shawn can't seem to get the band off the ground. But in 1995, while he was tinkering with Paul Gray in his garage, Shawn told him that he wanted to create THE band. Anders Colsefini as singer and Donnie Steele on guitar. Even though the band members start to compose a few songs, Shawn can't seem to get the band off the ground. But in 1995, while he was tinkering with Paul Gray in his garage, Shawn told him that he wanted to create THE band. Shawn and Paul recruit Anders on vocals, Donnie on guitar, and Kun on guitar to create The Pale Ones. The combo will repeat and compose, in the basement of Anders 'parents' house, as if their life depended on it. To perfect their technique, they go so far as to film their rehearsals on video! One day Shawn's mom looked at one of the tapes and said, "Anders, you look like a wolf ready to attack. Shawn you look like a gorilla. And the band in general makes me feel like I'm attending the party. what would overexcited cavemen give before going to slaughter a mammoth! " From that moment on, Shawn will be called Kong by his comrades as a nickname and in tribute to King Kong. But about two months after the formation of the group Kun Nong decides to leave the group and turns to more punk projects. Anders would later say: "Kun Nong is a phenomenal and exceptional guitarist, but certainly not a Metal guitarist." Meanwhile Paul tries to convince his friend Joey to join the group on one of his nightly visits to his workplace. Joey works at Sinclair's gas station. Paul suggests that she go see a rehearsal. He will miss two because of his job, but he will eventually come to Anders 'parents' basement to see the band play. It is low to the ceiling, narrow and covered with bits of carpet to absorb sound and avoid neighborhood problems. But unfortunately, the carpet from a pet store is impregnated with the smell of puppy urine that does not control their bladder! Despite the drawbacks, the little drummer was impressed by the three pieces performed: “Slipknot”, “Gently and“ Fur. ”Joey then said to himself that he absolutely must join this training. This is what he will do officially on September 15, 1995. The group, now composed of a drummer AND a percussionist, takes more power. Shawn then leaves his place of drummer to Joey and tinkers with a percussion kit thanks to his talents as a welder. During Joey's long working nights at Sincair's, Paul and Shawn visit him. They then talk about the future of the group. Shawn then declares that there should be a second percussionist to increase the aggressiveness of the combo. Anders then agrees to sing and do percussion. In the visual, like Joey, Shawn is a big fan of Kiss, it is also the first concert he saw during the Creatures Of The Night tour. Moreover one fine day, Shawn arrives at a masked rehearsal of a clown mask. A few day later, Joey did the same and arrived with a Kabuki mask, which is in traditional Japanese theater, on his face. He also has the good idea to add red and black paints to it for a more frightening aspect. Which is also in agreement with his two-tone hair of the same color. But the idea of ​​the masks at first was just a joke. Joey will say later: "We had trouble playing a song, we were so laughing!". To replace Kun Nong the group decides to recruit guitarist Josh Brainard to add a melodic touch to the sextet. The group now containing six musicians, composes in a very short time six new songs: "Killers Are Quiet", "Do Nothing / Bitchslap", "Confessions", "Some Feel", "Part of Me" and "Tattered And Torn" . After briefly changing their group name to Pyg System the sextet then adopts the name Slipknot ("flowing neud"). Joey is in charge of the group's logo. He first creates a beautiful tribal "S" then draws the logo of the typographical group SlipKnoT. The idea of ​​putting a capital "K" came from the fact that Joey, in these days, was a mega-fan of KoЯn. A few months later, Anders got the tribal "S" tattooed by a certain Greg "Cuddles" Welts who soon became the band's official tattoo artist. It must also be said that Greg, since 1995, is the drummer of Have Nots, a group of Hardcore Punk directed by David "DaVo" Wilkins, owner of the tattoo and piercing shop Axiom where Greg works, and in which Paul and Joey officiate. as ... guitarists! Des Moines being quite small, people quickly learn of the existence of the group without it being done in concert yet. In November 1995, the group decided to give a small concert in a local club named Crowbar (which would later be renamed The Love Shack) but under the name Meld, to keep the mystery on SlipKnoT (an idea of ​​Josh). This intimate concert was done under a greenish lighting, without a mask, but with make-up inspired by the group Kiss and fancy accessories, such as pipes crossing the various piercings of Paul's face and Anders' wolf skin. The group being convinced that their compositions were of quality, he decides to contact a professional recording studio to put the compositions on CD. They contacted THE Des Moines studio called SR Studio. It is directed by a certain Mike Lawyer who has produced artists such as Todd Rundgren, Tinny Tim or Michael Bolton. At the end of 1995, Anders and Paul meet the sound engineer of the studio: Sean McMahon. They manage to convince Sean to come see them rehearse. He then made the trip to the cellar of Anders' parents to see the sextet repeated. At the end of rehearsal, Sean remains speechless as he is so impressed by their music, he does not understand their approach or their lyrics. He then agrees to produce their first recording. Work then begins at SR Studio, where the band goes there as soon as possible to rehearse, play and record as much as possible for the album whose title they have already chosen: Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. To feel at home and make themselves comfortable, they decide to redecorate the studio in their own way: porn posters, particular lights, toys and objects testifying to the strange atmosphere that reigns there. The bizarre atmosphere moves to the parking lot where corpses drawn in chalk appear ... The tracks are recorded live with the three drummers at the same time. Shawn puts so much heart into the work that the (poor) wall next to his percussion is filled with holes made by his sticks and fists. For one track, Joey plays the drums completely naked! Throughout this recording period, Joey continues to work at Sinclair's gas station. He left rehearsals around 10 pm, picked up a CD player and a portable TV, and began his night shift. An hour or two later, Shawn usually joins him to talk about the future of the group until five in the morning. These "small working meetings" used to scare potential customers who went to seek their essence, But the finalization of the album, arrived at the mixing stage, may be longer than expected. Indeed, in February 1996, Donnie, the guitarist of the group, decided to leave the group because "the musical and spiritual orientation" did not suit him because he would in fact have had a mystical revelation and would therefore have seen God! The other members of the group, being tolerant, accepted his departure amicably. Joey then proposes to replace Donnie by Craig Jones, the last guitarist to date of Modifious. Craig then arrives in the middle of mixing the album. The atmosphere within the group is tense: the mix is ​​most chaotic! Each of the six band members give a different opinion of how one song should sound than another. Having a habit of remedying it with violence to sort out the various problems, Joey, Paul, Anders, Shawn and Josh often come to blows. In addition, in the end, the group is very disappointed with the mastering of the album and insists that Sean remake it himself. During the mixing, SlipKnoT discovers that in addition to being an excellent guitarist, Craig is a computer buff and handles samples wonderfully. However, before releasing a record, the sextet must prove itself on stage. It was finally on April 4, 1996 that SlipKnoT gave its first real concert in a Rock club in Des Moines called Safari. The rumor of the group having swelled, it is about 200 people who come to attend the concert, which is about the maximum of people that the club can contain. Taken by Joey in his own car, SlipKnoT is already dressed exceptionally. Shawn wears his Clown mask and Joey wears his kabuki mask; Paul has his piercings attached to each other again, Anders is covered in tribal paint, Josh is masked with an executioner's hood, and Craig wears a stocking on his face. While the group is piling up on the small stage, Joey starts repeating the same phrase, louder and louder and more and more mean: "I need a little Christmas in my drink!". Then the group starts with its eponymous hymn: "Slipknot". The group will then make its small effect although sharing the poster with another group endowed with a more important notoriety named Stone Sour and carried by their singer: a certain Corey Taylor. The Corey in question, being there during the band's performance, soon became a big fan of the band. The following month, SlipKnoT will be featured seven times as Safari's headliner. During their second concert at Safari; Paul chose to cover his face with a pig mask "because it was cheap", which earned him the nickname Porky. The machine being launched, at each concert the members disguised themselves in the most extravagant ways by associating the great guignolesque with the unhealthy. Indeed, at one performance, Shawn showed up wearing a Barney costume, a fat half-man, half-dinosaur figure appearing in an educational series for small children as the main hero. He would add later: "It was the hardest thing I have done in my whole life, but I managed to make Barney have it to be on crack!" The others will appear in turn dressed in the costume of a nun, a shepherdess, Santa Claus, in a worker's jumpsuit stained with paint or in a ball gown! The concerts are introduced by a sample, directed by Craig, of a mad laugh and a naive melody of an ice cream truck while Shawn uses a power saw to spark sparks above the impressed audience. Moreover, the idea of ​​samples to accentuate the creepy and unhealthy character went around the heads of all members. Thus, Craig gave up his position as second guitarist to concentrate on electronics. Paul then had the idea to call his friend Mick Thompson with whom he had already played in the group Body Pit with Anders. But after Mick's arrival on guitar, the group being now seven, Anders 'parents' cellar became too small and Craig was forced to put his equipment in the laundry room! But it would have taken a lot more to discourage SlipKnoT ... the idea of ​​samples to accentuate the creepy and unhealthy character circled all of the members. Thus, Craig gave up his position as second guitarist to concentrate on electronics. Paul then had the idea to call his friend Mick Thompson with whom he had already played in the group Body Pit with Anders. But after Mick's arrival on guitar, the group being now seven, Anders 'parents' cellar became too small and Craig was forced to put his equipment in the laundry room! But it would have taken a lot more to discourage SlipKnoT ... the idea of ​​samples to accentuate the creepy and unhealthy character circled all of the members. Thus, Craig gave up his position as second guitarist to concentrate on electronics. Paul then had the idea to call his friend Mick Thompson with whom he had already played in the group Body Pit with Anders. But after Mick's arrival on guitar, the group being now seven, Anders 'parents' cellar became too small and Craig was forced to put his equipment in the laundry room! But it would have taken a lot more to discourage SlipKnoT ... call his buddy Mick Thompson with whom he had already played in the group Body Pit with Anders. But after Mick's arrival on guitar, the group being now seven, Anders 'parents' cellar became too small and Craig was forced to put his equipment in the laundry room! But it would have taken a lot more to discourage SlipKnoT ... call his buddy Mick Thompson with whom he had already played in the group Body Pit with Anders. But after Mick's arrival on guitar, the group being now seven, Anders 'parents' cellar became too small and Craig was forced to put his equipment in the laundry room! But it would have taken a lot more to discourage SlipKnoT ... It was finally on October 31, 1996 that the group gave birth to its first record: Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. The album, printed in 1000 copies, will have cost a total of 15,000 dollars, between recording, mixing, mastering and pressing. A large part of the sum was paid by Shawn, which indebted him heavily. To celebrate the release of the CD, SlipKnoT organized a big party bringing together no less than 400 people obviously all masked! This Halloween party will mark, according to the group, a turning point in the history of Safari. It is indeed from this event that the Metal public began to frequent the club regularly. The picture of the album cover, with its glaucous atmosphere, in fact shows Joey masked and crouched in a metal cage bristling with spikes and including the mechanism of a large circular saw. This instrument of torture was obviously built by Mr. Crahan, like a work of art which he delicately titled Patiently Awaiting Jigsaw Flesh ("Flesh patiently waiting for the jigsaw"). The title of the album refers to the most basic cycle of life: to mate ("Mate"), to feed ("Feed"), to kill ("Kill") and to start again ("Repeat") this infinite cycle. . These nine tracks already carry the basics of today's SlipKnoT. In the notes of the libretto, the group dedicates the album to a certain Joey. He is not' This is of course not drummer Joey Jordison but Joey Plumley, Franck Plumley's brother being a close friend of the band. This Joey accidentally died while handling a gun while the band was recording the album. On the internal photo of the CD, we also see two people close to the group: Greg Welts and DaVo. Finally the booklet includes the name of Corn Wallace. It's actually the name Joey and Anders coined after the drummer drew a childish monster with huge claws and wacky hair. They then began to use this name to sign, one these drawings and the other these texts. while the band was recording the album. On the internal photo of the CD, we also see two people close to the band: Greg Welts and DaVo. Finally the booklet includes the name of Corn Wallace. This is actually the name Joey and Anders coined after the drummer drew a childish monster with huge claws and wacky hair. They then began to use this name to sign, one these drawings and the other these texts. while the band was recording the album. On the internal photo of the CD, we also see two people close to the group: Greg Welts and DaVo. Finally the booklet includes the name of Corn Wallace. It's actually the name Joey and Anders coined after the drummer drew a childish monster with huge claws and wacky hair. They then began to use this name to sign, one these drawings and the other these texts. Most copies of Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. are sent to fanzines and radio stations that can promote them. But it was on a local radio station in Iowa, KKDM 107.5, that a certain Sophia Jones received the CD and, although not an outstanding Metal specialist, particularly enjoyed the album. She then begins to make a rave review of the album, which then allows SlipKnoT to participate in the Battle of Bands, a competition organized every Wednesday by KKDM at the Safari, and which opposes groups of Des Moines to make themselves better known or at best get noticed by a label. In his first competition, SlipKnoT faces Stone Sour and wins which allows Corey Taylor to think he would really like to sing in this band! During his subsequent participations, SlipKnoT then begins to become a very busy occupation for each of the members of the group, including Joey and Paul who also have to perform within the Have Nots. Especially since Joey, who does not drink, does not support very well the alcoholism of his comrades including Paul! It is besides after a particularly catastrophic performance in October 1996 that Joey threatens to tackle the group to concentrate only on SlipKnoT. It is therefore from this moment that the members of the group will agree not to drink before a concert. Meanwhile, SlipKnoT is starting to gain momentum but no label wants them! It was then that the group asked Sophia Jones to become their manager. She hesitates but accepts because she feels a lot of talent in them. She even declared after a few months: "I see SlipKnoT doing Ozzfest, selling a million albums, making the cover of Rolling Stones and starting her own label."

[thatmiddle]

Top 10 Albums that Shaped my Existence

How do I put this lightly, I believe listening to music matters as much as breathing. I know that is hyperbolic, but I don’t care. It can fuel your soul in a similar way that air fuels your body to move. It brings to life moments, places, and people. That’s probably why if you listen closely music is everywhere. It’s in the steel drums at Union subway station or the clarinet player at Yonge and Dundas Square. It’s is found from a broken guitar with unclipped strings in Kensington Market to a radio blasting out of an open window. It’s heard from the lake on a cool breezy summer night. It’s made by the leaves in the trees and the creatures roaming its branches. Music is inescapable.

Music is also a lot cheaper than therapy and for most, it is incredibly accessible. In saying that I do not mean to conflate therapy to music, but I do think there is a healing power to songs. This form of artistic expression has been with me during my brightest minutes and my darkest hours. I have relied on it like Aladdin did his magic carpet; it lift me up and took me to places I never thought I’d ever go. All I have to do was turn it on, tune in and drop out, as some would say.

During this pandemic I have leaned heavily into music, it is the perfect socially distanced escape. During this time that I have also gone back to old albums and reflected on how they influenced me and shape who I am today.

In Rainbows - Radiohead

If I had owned this album in an analogue form I would have destroyed it by overplaying it in my Discman. Radiohead is a wonderful band that have made wonderful albums but for some reason, this is the particular one I return to. To me, In Rainbows is the music I heard when I realized that I wanted to take my life in a different more creative direction than that of my peers. In Rainbows is the album I heard on carpool rides to Shakespeare Camp as a young girl. In Rainbows is what played in my head the first time I walked into Kensington Market as a young naive suburban girl. The music is so diverse with its sound but creates a distinctly modern tone. I find the music runs like a stream and cascades into fountains of sound I never expected. All the songs are beautiful but my favourite from the album has always been House of Cards.

Brothers - The Black Keys

If In Rainbows was an early marker of my youth, Brothers by The Black Keys established my teenage self and heavily moulded how I carried myself into my early twenties. With the raunchy guitar, hard drums and vocals somewhere between garage rock and blues, this album stimulated every part of my life. It is one of those albums that upon listening to the first fifteen seconds of the opening track Everlasting Light, I am immediately taken back to driving around in Toronto suburbs and getting into trouble. This album started my ongoing obsession with The Black Keys. Fun fact I named my first Tumblr blog off of a misreading a song lyric in the track The Only One, which also happens to be one of my favourite tracks on the album. I’ve tried to see The Black Keys live twice and both times I was unable to attend the concert. One day I will see them.

Revolver - The Beatles

There are a lot of Beatles albums I love and I wouldn’t say this is my favourite of theirs, but it is I would argue its one of their more underrated albums. From what I have gathered about Beatles fans (having been one since I was six years old), this choice isn’t mutually exclusive. It does however seem that established fans love either Rubber Soul or Revolver. For me, I choose the latter. This album is very experimental for the band as they were still coming out of their admired boy band era. I came to this album as a young girl whenever I played with my toys in the living room of my childhood home. I always heard a Beatles album playing in the background and when Revolver came on I was elated. My toys went on new adventures, met new people and told new stories. The Beatles have always brought out the creativity in me and I’m very grateful for that. Check out the song I’m Only Sleeping, it’s so meditative and my most replayed track.

Man on the Moon: The End of Day - Kid Cudi

I wasn’t in a good place when I was fortunate enough to be introduced to this album as being a teenager can be an incredibly difficult experience. Yet upon hearing this album I was pleasantly surprised, I never expected to find that catharsis in a young American rapper named Kid Cudi. I always liked some rap and hip-hip songs (don’t ever get me started on the importance of Sean Paul), but foolishly enough I never gave a full album or artist the chance. Man on the Moon found me at the right moment. This album’s production is so complex and crosses genres in ways I never expected; it leaves me wanting more every time. Kid Cudi hip-hop is different, Kid Cudi hip-hop goes deep and feels it. While Day ‘N’ Nite is one of the most recognizable songs on the album don’t sleep on Heart of a Lion, it’s beautiful.

For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver

Like many teens in the mid-2000s, I made a Tumblr account. It was a great place filled with hormone-induced rage posts, images of skinny girls ripped from the website We Heart It, and boundless creativity. As a previous webpage creator hailing from the Geocities days, site creation was not new to me. I took up a URL and got to work. During this time I leaned deeper into the ‘indie girl’ aesthetic, which is where I found Bon Iver. Bon Iver’s music is soft and melodic and his guitar strums could whisk you away on a cloud. For Emma, Forever Ago was the soundtrack to the version of me who longed for combat boots, a-line skirts from American Apparel, and a cute hipster boyfriend to take me away from all my problems. I never got everything I wanted, but I was always able to sit in deep thought and listen to this album and for that, I’m incredibly grateful. The Wolves (Act I and II) is one of my favourite tracks off the album, I love the crescendo towards the end of the song it makes me want to release any bad feelings I have through some strong movement.

Is this it - The Strokes

I don’t remember when I first heard this album, I just know it was an unofficial anthem to my early twenties. Was it playing at that frat party? Or maybe it was at the live show in that bar one time. Is This It is the perfect album for starting out in a new place with dreams and about $20 to your name. This album is made for people entering young adulthood making mistakes and living for the moment. Garage rock is such an underrated genre, but perhaps that’s the suburban girl in me speaking. I want to dance every time I hear a track of this perfectly crafted experience. I hear those guitar riffs and I am taken back to running through Toronto at midnight with friends. Is This It is unapologetic and an outstanding debut album for The Strokes and cemented their status as indie rock legends, I don’t care what anyone says. There are a lot of amazing songs to recommend but I will try and spice things up. Last Nite and the title track Is This It are obvious choices but the bop you need to listen to is Someday.

Wish you were here - Pink Floyd

Everyone has to listen to Pink Floyd in university otherwise they never went…right? Pink Floyd always felt like a right of passage that I would eventually reach although I did cheat and wear a Dark Side of The Moon cropped t-shirt I got from HMV in high school just to seem cool. It wasn’t until first-year university I fell in love with the song Wish You Were Here. I’m sure I was just feeling nostalgic after moving out of my suburban bubble and into the big city for the first time. Nevertheless, after annoying my new roommates by listening to that song on repeat in my bedroom I decided to give the rest of the album a shot and immediately fell in l love. It is a short ride but an emotional journey. I thought I had felt everything I needed to feel at 21, then I heard Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts 1-5). If you were living under a rock and haven’t heard this album I recommend it. And do check out that track.

good kid m.A.A.d city - Kendrick Lamar

Swimming Pools was everywhere in 2012, it was synonymous with the nightlife which was surprising given its lyrics. Good kid MAAD city takes the ideas explored in Swimming Pools and expands them into a full universe. As soon as I turned on the first song I felt like I had been lifted from my cold Canadian home and into the chaotic Compton of Kendrick Lamar’s universe. This concept album has such depth I feel I learnt more than I would have ever expected. I love the way the album weaves recorded scenes with various characters and the music, it creates such a vivid picture as you listen through the whole piece. I felt deep sympathy towards the struggles told on the record in ways I never thought I would. Good kid m.A.A.d city is a great ride from start to finish without ever skipping a single track, but if you had to speed up to a gem I highly recommend the track Money Trees.

channel Orange - Frank Ocean

I was originally introduced to Frank Ocean through his work with Odd Future or as I proudly scribbled everywhere, OFWGKTA. Frank Ocean was always the quiet R&B guy from the group that I never thought I would have known much about but early 2013 rolled around all that changed. An old friend of mine had pointed me in the direction of new work by the musician and I ran towards the sound immediately. Frank’s voice is mesmerizing and he mixes sounds in ways I would never expect. His lyrics are dark and deep. This album got me through a lot of mixed emotions I started to experience as I worked my way through my undergrad. Frank understood what it meant to feel and I connected deeply with that. Pink Matter was the soundtrack to my life, I listened to it on repeat doing just about every task I could imagine.

House of Balloons - The Weeknd

I remember Toronto the year that The Weeknd released his first mixtapes. He was just an enigma floating through the city, no one could pin him down. I am one hundred percent one of the people who got their hands on the YouTube videos early and saved them immediately to my accounts. I wanted more and I didn’t know why. He captured a sound that still exists here today, it was dark and full of mystery. As soon as I got my hands on the first mixtape I popped that baby into my iPod and played it so much practically the full album made it to my ‘Top 25 Playlist’ on the device. I am obsessed with The Weeknd’s voice and as someone from Etobicoke, I am even more obsessed with the fact that he’s from Scarborough. He sounds like home to me and I will never be able to let that go. When I play this album (which is at least once every year I’ll have you know), I feel sure about who I am and where I come from. It’s not an explicit attitude to being from Toronto, but rather a feeling that you can carry throughout everything you do. The Weeknd carries that on a world stage and I am proud to say he is a Toronto native. Every song on the album is amazing and I say listen to them all, but do make sure you pay special attention to Loft Music. Nothing spells nightlife in Toronto more than at least one party in a condo or loft by Lake Ontario. I was actually asked to go to a late-night loft party by a random man at a Chinese restaurant one time so I can vouch for this happening in the city. Clearly, Abel knew what he was talking about.

Music is one of the most important things in my life. It is like a fuel I use to keep my motor moving. I find it anywhere and everywhere. I rely on it so much it has been the godsend I didn’t realize I needed during a pandemic. I think I am starting to understand why movies from the 1930s were so much about escapism; drifting off into another world during a difficult time can feel like magic.

What are 10 albums that shaped who you are? Let me know in the comments.

[indieboysarehot]

omg! do a part 2 of the 30 minute boyfriend fic please 🙏

omg........ive got ideas...

[brn1029]

Get those tin foil hats ready to go!

The 10 greatest conspiracy theories in rock

By Emma Johnston

In a world where fake news runs rampant, rock'n'roll is not immune to the lure of the conspiracy theory. These are 10 of the most ludicrous

Conspiracy theories, myths and legends have existed in rock’n’roll for as long as the music has existed, stretching all the way back to bluesman Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads in exchange for superhuman guitar skills, fame and fortune.

There are those who believe Elvis Presley and Jim Morrison live on, others who think the Illuminati control the world through symbolism in popular culture, and plenty of evangelical types with their own agendas trawling rock and metal songs for secret messages luring the innocent to the dark side.

Let us take a look, then, at rock’n’roll conspiracy theories ranging from the intriguing to the ludicrous, as we try to separate the truth from the codswallop.

Lemmy was in league with the Illuminati

Few men have ever been earthier than Lemmy, but one conspiracy theorist claims that the Motorhead legend didn’t really die in December 2015, instead “ascending into the heavenly realm” after making a “blood sacrifice pact” with the Illuminati.

A “watcher” of the mythical secret society some believe are running the world – despite evidence that is at best flimsy, at worst straight from The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown’s discarded notebooks – told the Daily Star: “Lemmy signed up for the ultimate pact – he signed his soul to the devil in order to achieve fame and fortune.”

While we can only imagine what the great man would have to say on the matter, there’s one word, in husky, JD-soaked tones, that we can just about make out coming across from the other side: “Bollocks.”

Paul McCartney died in 1966

As you might expect from the most famous band that has ever existed, there are enough crackpot theories about The Beatles to fill the Albert Hall. From John Lennon’s murder being ordered by the US government, who, led by Richard Nixon, suspected him of communism (the FBI actually did have a file on Lennon, but the story is spiced up by the man behind murderlennontruth.com, who apparently believes author Steven King was involved due to, uh, looking a bit like Mark Chapman) to Canadian prog outfit Klaatu being the Fab Four in disguise, there are plenty of tall tales more colourful than a Ringo B-side.

The most enduring, though, is the notion dreamt up by some US radio DJs that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. They came to this conclusion having studied the cover of Abbey Road – McCartney’s bare feet on the zebra crossing apparently symbolising death, while others found “evidence” in the album’s opaque lyrics. There were a lot of drugs in the 60s.

Gene Simmons has a cow’s tongue

It’s easy to see why all kinds of far-fetched stories sprung up when Kiss first took off in the 1970s. The fake-blood-spitting, the fire, the demon-superhero personas – middle America clutched its pearls and word spread that these otherworldly weirdos’ moniker stood for Knights In Satan’s Service. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.

It was Gene Simmons’ preposterous mouth that got the nation’s less voluminous tongues wagging though. So long and pointy is his appendage, and so often waggled at his audiences (whether they asked for it or not), that eventually the rumour spread around the world’s playgrounds was that he’d had a cow’s tongue grafted onto his own. The bovine baloney is, of course, bullshit, but Simmons has admitted it's one of his favourite Kiss urban myths.

Supertramp predicted 9/11

The Logical Song may be Supertramp’s calling card, but one man in the US stretches common sense to the limit having come to the conclusion that the artwork for their 1979 album Breakfast In America gave prior warning of the terrorist attacks on New York on September 11, 2001.

Look at the album cover – painted from the perspective of a window on a flight into the city – in a mirror, and the ‘u’ and ‘p’ band’s name appears to become a 911 floating above the twin towers, while a logo on the back features a plane flying towards the World Trade Center.

So far, so coincidental, but when our intrepid investigator falls down a rabbit hole of Masonic interference, strained Old Testament connections (“The Great Whore of Babylon – Super Tramp”), and the title Breakfast In America reflecting the fact that the planes crashed early in the morning, things get really tenuous.

It’s fair to say it’s unlikely a British prog-pop band had prior knowledge of the terrorist attacks 22 years before they happened. But maybe Al Qaida were really big fans.

Stevie Wonder can see

Stevie Wonder is a genius. That fact is not up for dispute. The soul/jazz/funk/rock/pop legend was born six weeks prematurely in 1950, and the oxygen used in the hospital incubator to stabilise him caused him to go blind shortly afterwards. But his love of front-row seats at basketball games, the evocative imagery in his songs, and the fact that he once effortlessly caught a falling mic stand knocked over by Paul McCartney (who, let us reiterate, did not die in 1966) has caused basement Jessica Fletchers to muse that he’s faking his blindness as part of the act.

Wonder himself, a known prankster, has great fun with his status as one of the world’s most famous vision-impaired musicians. In 1973, he told Rolling Stone: “I’ve flown a plane before. A Cessna or something, from Chicago to New York. Scared the hell out of everybody.”

Dave Grohl invented Andrew W.K.

When Andrew W.K. first broke through in the early 2000s, dressed in white and covered in blood, his mission was serious in its simplicity: the party is everything. He took his message of having a good time, all the time, to levels of political fervour. But rumours of his authenticity have been doing the rounds from the start.

Reviewing WK’s first UK show at The Garage in London, The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis wrote: “One music-biz conspiracy theory currently circulating suggests that Andrew W.K. is an elaborate hoax devised by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl.”

As time went on, the theory gained traction – Grohl was believed to be the mysterious Steev Mike credited on the debut album I Get Wet. And as W.K.’s style changed over subsequent records, and his own admission that there were legal arguments over who owns his name, whispers began that he wasn’t even a real person – he was a character, played by several different actors, an attempt to create the ultimate Frankenstein’s frontman.

"I'm not the same guy that you may have seen from the I Get Wet album," W.K. said in 2008. “I don't just mean that in a philosophical or conceptual way, it's not the same person at all. Do I look the same as that person?" The jury is out, but if this is a great white elephant concocted just for the sheer hell of it, we kind of want this one to be true.

Jimi Hendrix was murdered by his manager

An early victim of the 27 club, the death of Jimi Hendrix was depressingly cliched for a man so wildly creative: a bellyful of barbiturates led to him asphyxiating on his own vomit, according to the post-mortem. But in the years following the grim discovery at the Samarkand Hotel in London on 19 September 1970, a different theory was offered by the guitarist’s former roadie, James “Tappy” Wright.

In his book Rock Roadie, Wright claims Hendrix was murdered by his manager, Michael Jeffery, who he says force-fed his charge red wine and pills. The motive? He feared he was about to be fired and was keen to cash in on the star’s life insurance. One thing we do know for certain is Jeffery won’t be able to give his version of events, as he was killed in a plane crash over France in 1973.

The 50th anniversary of Hendrix's tragic passing was "celebrated" with the release of Hendrix and the Spook, a documentary that "explored" his death further and was described by The Guardian as "a cheaply made mix of interviews and dumbshow dramatic recreations by actors scuttling about flimsy sets in gloomy lighting." Sounds good.

Courtney killed Kurt

Courtney Love is no stranger to demonisation from Nirvana fans. When Hole’s second album, the searing, catchy, feminist, witty, aggressive, vulnerable and unflinchingly honest Live Through This was released, days after Kurt Cobain’s death, rumours almost immediately started up that Love’s late husband wrote the songs. That was insulting and sexist enough, but nowhere near as damaging as the conspiracy theory that Love hired a hitman to kill Cobain amid rumours they were about to divorce.

After Cobain’s first attempt to take his own life in Rome, the Nirvana frontman was eventually convinced to go to rehab following an intervention by his wife and friends. He ran away from the facility, and the private investigator hired by Love to find him, Tom Grant, eventually became the source of the idea that Love and the couple’s live-in nanny Michael Dewitt were responsible for Cobain’s death shortly afterwards.

His claims, made in the Soaked In Bleach documentary, include the notion that Cobain had too much heroin in his system to pull the trigger of the shotgun, and that he believed the suicide note was forged.

People close to Cobain (and the Seattle Police Department) have refuted the theory, including Nirvana manager Danny Goldberg: “It’s ridiculous. He killed himself. I saw him the week beforehand, he was depressed. He tried to kill himself six weeks earlier, he’d talked and written about suicide a lot, he was on drugs, he got a gun. Why do people speculate about it? The tragedy of the loss is so great people look for other explanations. I don’t think there’s any truth at all to it."

The CIA wrote The Scorpions’ biggest hit

Previously synonymous with leather, hard rock anthems and some very questionable album artwork, West Germany’s Scorpions scored big with Wind Of Change, a power ballad heralding the oncoming fall of the USSR, the end of the Cold War, and a new sense of hope in the Eastern Bloc.

In a podcast named after the 1990 song, though, Orwell Prize-winning US journalist Patrick Radden Keefe follows rumours from within the intelligence community that the song was actually written by the CIA, as propaganda to hasten the fall of the ailing Soviet Union via popular culture.

“Soviet officials had long been nervous over the free expression that rock stood for, and how it might affect the Soviet youth,” Keefe is quoted as saying. “The CIA saw rock music as a cultural weapon in the cold war. Wind of Change was released a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and became this anthem for the end of communism and reunification of Germany. It had this soft-power message that the intelligence service wanted to promote.”

It's a convincing theory, but one that is disputed by Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine: “I thought it was very amusing and I just cracked up laughing. It’s a very entertaining and really crazy story but like I said, it’s not true at all. Like you American guys would say, it’s fake news."

There are satanic messages in Stairway To Heaven

The great comedian Bill Hicks had something to say about people searching for evidence of devilry in rock’n’roll: “Remember this shit, if you play certain rock albums backwards there'd be satanic messages? Let me tell you something, if you're sitting round your house playing your albums backwards, you are Satan. You needn't look any further. And don't go ruining my stereo to prove a point either.”

The memo didn’t get through to televangelist and stylus ruiner Paul Crouch, who in 1982 attempted to scare the Christian right into believing Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven was stuffed with demonic meaning, and that played backwards it revealed the following message: “Here’s to my sweet Satan/The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan/He will give those with him 666/There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.”

Guitarist Jimmy Page, of course, is no stranger to the esoteric, making no secret of his interest in occultist Aleister Crowley and the attendant magick, and there were even rumours the band made a Faustian pact to achieve fame and fortune. But hiding messa

[albyfm]

˙✫*ﾟ YUNGBLUD  ,  DEMIBOY  ,  HE/THEY  :･ did  you  hear  alby miller  is  joining  the  cast  of  exposed  after  their habit of facilitating drugs at events, festivals & awards shows  was  revealed  ?  the  twenty-three  year  old  bass guitarist  with 500k followers is  trying  to  clear  their  name  .  they've  become  known  as  the  resident  juvenile  in  the  mansion  ,  and  it's  clear  that's  spot  on  because  they're  quite -  recalcitrant & -  stuck in their ways ,  but  also +  charismatic &  +  outspoken .  you  know  they're  heading  to  the  confession  booth  if  you  hear  lonely boy  by  the black keys  blasting  ,  most  likely  talking  about  how  they're  more  than disheveled outfits of black leather & denim, talking way too candidly to the press, smashed lenses of paparazzi cameras that got too close, an unmistakable mischievous grin & an inability to express real feelings.

hey !! finally getting around to posting this. you can call me aries, i’m 23 and in the bst ( uk ) timezone. my pronouns are she / her. i’m a little lost art school grad with a lot of student debt, a taste for red wine and an unhealthy obsession with arctic monkeys. not gonna lie, i whipped this kiddo up specifically for this rp so i’m still getting used to them, but hopefully with this intro you’ll get a feel for what they’re about. without further ado, here’s alby—

trigger warnings & disclaimer: mentions of hard drugs, alcohol, anger issues, destructive tendencies. my intention writing this intro was not to glamorize or romanticize these things in any way but if anything i have written comes across that way, please lmk!

smash that ♡ to plot or hit me up on discord @ chaotic aries#5793 !!

‘and this is how it starts...’ ( the basics )

name: alby fox miller age: twenty-three gender: non-binary ( demi-boy ) pronouns: he / him & they / them date of birth: may 24th 1997 zodiac: gemini sun, pisces moon, aries rising orientation: pansexual occupation: bassist for drive like i do career claim: ross macdonald ( the 1975 ) genre: alt-pop, pop-rock

‘it’s the way we are, we were smoking by eleven & knocking ‘round town...’ ( background )

you’re born in 1997, in the north west of england. wilmslow, to be exact. a quaint and affluent town, just south of manchester. the family you’re born into is a comfortable one. not quite living lavishly, but not at all struggling, either. your parents both work in business out in the city. you go to a good school. but... all is not how you exactly want it to be.

see, your parents are quite pushy. they expect you to live how they want, rather than how you do. at the all boy’s academy they enroll you in as a teenager, they expect you to pick what they deem as intellectual subjects, such as foreign languages, further mathematics and computer science. there’s a focus on you becoming someone that makes a lot of money, rather than someone who is happy.

but you’re... not the kind of person that can be molded so easily. you’re a fairly happy-go-lucky kid, but also a rebellious one. your parents’ strict ways of trying to force you down their chosen path, only encourages you more heavily to choose your own. 

at fourteen, you meet the guys. lennox, jovi & jasper. they’re some of the only kids at school who can be bothered to be around you, with your high energy and bolshy attitude. really, they’re the only people who embrace you for who you are. they encourage your weirdness and outspokenness. it’s not long before you find yourself wanting to do everything together. it’s not long before the four of you are inseparable.

from there, you fully detach from everything your parents want you to be. you embrace your individuality. you also find the courage and bravery to come out to your parents as non-binary at the age of sixteen. there’s not a single person’s opinion that you’re afraid of, or even care about. 

it’s not all rainbows & sunshine, though. you struggle somewhat with anger issues, and a bit of depression. you’re also practically addicted to getting into trouble: picking fights with bullies at school, selling weed & pills to your friends around town, underaged drinking... you get the gist. though you keep your fears internal, you sometimes worry you’ll get nowhere in life.

so of course, the second the boys are talking about starting a band, you’re all in. imagine if you made it big someday? wouldn’t that be sick? you’re immediately drawn to bass guitar, and use a month’s worth of saved up pocket money to pick one up from the big music store in the city. thankfully, you pick it up quite quickly, because before you can even realize it, things are getting so... real. by sixteen, you don’t feel you have the option to stick around at school for sixth form, because drive like i do is already playing local venues and working on its first album.

you’re just seventeen when the album is released. somehow, the climb to fame is faster than you could have ever imagined. it seems like yesterday you were still watching bass tutorials on youtube in your bedroom and practicing in your friend’s garage after school. first is some notoriety across the uk, but before you know it — boom! global stardom. the fame is a heavy weight for someone so young to carry... but fuck it, it’s gonna be fun, and you know it.

you’re twenty-three now, and days are gone of pipedreams formed in your parent’s shoebox room. you split your time between manchester, london, and LA — and that’s just during rare moments of downtime from your world tours. your band is 4 albums in, and whoever hasn’t heard of you might as well have been living under a rock. is it narcissistic to think like that? maybe, but you don’t care. this is rock n’ roll, baby. this is the life.

naturally, all eyes are mostly on your very outspoken frontman. he’s controversial, but the media can’t get enough of him. as for you? to them, you’re... the band’s problem child. while you argue that your behavior is no different than that of your friend, he’s got the lead singer charm. they don’t seem to like you as much. why? well...

‘drink, fall, spew...’ ( troublesome tendencies & exposed secret )

you never really coped as well as you acted like you did, did you? while you were grateful for the fame, everything was... a lot, and it was all at once. you didn’t even get the chance to process it. 

take four twenty-somethings and add constant prying journalists, paparazzi, and constantly full schedules into the mix. and why not pepper in some typical rockstar vices, too? alcohol, drugs, parties, throwaway sex. things are destined to get a little rocky. though you tried at first not to show it to your fans, your destructive behavior soon got the better of you, and you became known to drunkenly lash out at paps, smash cameras and storm out of interviews when the questions got too personal. 

this all came to a head when you were caught on camera several times distributing acid tabs, cocaine and mdma at events, music festivals & awards shows. the press gave the band a pretty bad time over this, and given the other members’ controversies and lennon’s similar link to drugs, it wasn’t a good look for any of you. 

it didn’t matter that you had a side to you that was good, pure. that you were always kind and loving and down-to-earth towards your fans and friends. you were a bad seed, and you wound up on exposed with the rest of your bandmates. hopefully you can prove there’s more to you than what the media shows...

‘oh & you say, i’m such a cliche...’ ( personality )

immm gonna rush thru this section & write less formally bc those other parts too me WAY too long

basically a literal toddler. loves a laugh, loves a good time, but get on his bad side and he WILL throw a tantrum

it’s mainly people like press & paps he lets his anger out on. the band’s fans and people he’s close with on a personal level know he’s a good person underneath it all

loves a bit of mischief / rebellion / drama

king of hiding insecurities....

literal softie.... like... who allowed this binch to be so soft. he’s so open about how much he loves his friends (particularly his bandmates) and will platonically kiss and hug and love people all the time, particularly on the show bc he’s trying to show the cameras his softer side dfjghdfdfg

so excitable like WHERE does this kid get all his energy...

( tw drugs ) will probably struggle a bit on the show without access to drugs, but ( tw addiction mention ) he has never really been addicted or dependent on them, just a frequent user.

outspoken as fuck, has no filter sometimes oops

very flamboyant, in line with the general aesthetic of his band but also on a personal level. sports a kind of soft gothic/punk/early 2000s emo look. always paints his nails and wears makeup etc

sleeps around a lot but has never really been able to find a lasting relationship, has just had a bunch of short-lived flings???? but lowkey develops crushes at the drop of a hat and would love to properly fall in love with someone who could be with him forever & accept him for all his flaws, but he highly doubts that will ever happen fgjdhsfg

‘why don’t you figure my heart out?...’ ( wanted connections )

exes on good terms

exes on bad terms ( maybe someone who actually really wanted to stay with him but couldnt deal with his bullshit and now resents him? )

 someone who loves the band’s music & inflates his ego ab it

 someone he hasn’t seen for years that he’s reunited on the show & maybe they’re revisiting old feelings for each other??? and he wants it to be DIFFERENT this time but also theres shit tons of fucking cameras and shit which... makes things difficult...

first friend he made in LA or in the states in general, someone who showed him the ropes

someone who hates him / hates the band like PLEASE

and also just a straight up enemy maybe?? someone who finds him annoying as fuck??

FRIENDS!!!

literally anything just hmu and lay an idea on me and theres 90% chance ill be down

[bigballsmcguinness]

Every Gorillaz member’s fav song from each phase (in my opinion)

PHASE ONE - Self-Titled, G-Sides, Laika Come Home

2D - Tommorow Comes Today, or the English version of Latin Simone Murdoc - Punk, or M1A1 Russ - Clint Eastwood or Rock the House Noodle - 19-2000

PHASE TWO - Demon Days, D-Sides

2D - Dirty Harry or El Manana Murdoc - Murdoc is God Russ - Feel Good Inc maybe? Noodle - DARE

PHASE THREE - Plastic Beach, The Fall

2D - Melancholy Hill from PB, and all of The Fall Murdoc - Probably all of Plastic Beach tbh Russ - Stylo, Superfast Jellyfish or Sweepstakes Noodle - Broken, To Binge or Empire Ants

PHASE FOUR - Humanz

2D - Sleeping Powder. From Humanz, either Andromeda or Busted and Blue Murdoc - DEFINITELY Charger Russ - Let Me Out, or Saturnz Barz Noodle - Momentz, Out of Body or Andromeda. Or Garage Palace.

PHASE FIVE - The Now Now

2D - The whole damn album Murdoc - He’d probably enjoy the more bassy tracks like Fire Flies and Kansas, though I imagine him insisting he’d have done better than Ace Russ - Fire Flies, apparently! Noodle - Maybe Souk Eye or Idaho? Ace - This video.

[cyarskaren52]

Every Rage Against The Machine album ranked from worst to best

When Rage Against The Machine's incendiary debut album was unleashed in the winter of 1992, it felt like an atomic bomb being set off at the heart of the metal scene. Matching the snarling bars of talented rapper Zack de la Rocha with the earth-shaking riffs and experimental eccentricities of guitarist Tom Morello, anchored by the powerhouse, groove-driven rhythm section of bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk, it was unlike anything else in alternative music at the time.

By the end of the decade and following three more studio albums, Rage Against The Machine's time as a creative output was already done, the band split up and with three quarters of its members soon to team up with Soundgarden's Chris Cornell under the banner of Audioslave. Nonetheless, in a recording career even shorter than The Beatles', Rage Against The Machine changed heavy music forever, and their influence is felt as keenly now as it was thirty years ago.

Here is the band's explosive back catalogue, ranked from worst to best.

Every Metallica album ranked from worst to best

Every Megadeth album ranked from worst to best

Every Korn album ranked from worst to best

Every Tool album ranked from worst to best

4. Rage Against The Machine – Renegades (2000)

Covers albums can be hit and miss affairs, but fair play to Rage Against The Machine, Renegades hits the target way more than it misses. The lead single was a fattened-up groove through Afrika Bambaataa’s classic Renegades Of Funk, but whether they’re going gangsta rap on Cypress Hill’s How I Could Just Kill A Man, hardcore punk on Minor Threat’s In My Eyes or garage rock on The Stooges Down On The Street, Rage prove they can adapt without losing any of their own identity. The true highlight though is their brilliant re-imagining of Bob Dylan’s counterculture war cry Maggie's Farm, which brings some musical muscle to fit those seething lyrics.

3. Rage Against The Machine – The Battle Of Los Angeles (1999)

Coming in 1999, three years after the release of Evil Empire, it was a new musical climate that RATM found themselves returning to. The blueprint of rap and hard rock that they had perfected had been co-opted by the hugely popular nu metal bands of the time, but Rage still stayed ahead of the game. The Battle Of Los Angeles is maybe not quite as consistent as the first couple of albums, but it remains a brilliantly powerful piece of work all the same, with the swirling march of Testify, the rhythmically dexterous Calm Like A Bomb and the bouncing, crushing Sleep Now In The Fire (complete with its iconic video where Rage shut down the Stock Exchange) all becoming definitive moments in the band's career.

2. Rage Against The Machine – Evil Empire (1996)

Seen as a bit of a dip at the time of release in 1996, it’s good to see that RATM’s sophomore album now gets the dues that it richly deserves. It’s really only due to the fact that it followed one of the greatest albums ever made that it has to take the silver medal here, and even then, it is only by the very smallest of margins. Evil Empire is a phenomenal record, spawning mega hits like Bulls On Parade and People Of The Sun, but it’s when you dig a little deeper that you can really get the genius of this record. Songs like the psychedelic punk of Revolver or the scattergun jazz of Down Rodeo are as good and as experimental as anything Rage have ever written. It might be number two here, but this is still a ten out of ten album.

1. Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine (1992)

One of the most revolutionary albums in the history of music, the 1992 debut album by Rage Against The Machine remains legitimately groundbreaking and utterly perfect. By the early 90s, rap and rock had started to become closely linked, but no one could have seen the amalgam of the two styles being so perfectly realised as it is here. It’s really no exaggeration to say that almost every track on Rage Against The Machine has gone on to become an anthem of the era which still stands up today; Know Your Enemy, Bullet In The Head, Freedom, Bombtrack and, of course, Killing In The Name, there are plenty of bands who have released greatest hits albums that couldn’t hold a candle to the track listing here. Morello’s unique guitar style, the perfectly synched, tightly wound rhythm section and De La Rocha’s furious and intelligent raps...you’d not change a single second of this record, an all-time great.

Since blagging his way onto the Hammer team a decade ago, Stephen has written countless features and reviews for the magazine, usually specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal, and still holds out the faint hope of one day getting his beloved U2 into the pages of the mag. He also regularly spouts his opinions on the Metal Hammer Podcast.

With contributions from

Merlin AldersladeExecutive Editor, Louder

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Jean Dawson’s ‘Pixel Bath’ Is a Masterclass on Staring Down Your Demons

Photo: Nico Hernandez

Pixel Bath has been a long time coming for Tijuana-born artist Jean Dawson, and it does not disappoint. The 13-track album is a self-contained world; reveling in its own sense of triumph, Pixel Bath is Dawson’s most adventurous endeavor yet.

Featuring a whole host of collaborators both old (Lecx Stacy, Hoskins) and new (A$AP Rocky, Jim-E Stack, Gabe Wax), Pixel Bath touches on themes of belonging, power, and death. Be it garage rock delivery over 2000’s alt-pop production (“Devilish”), synthwave homages (“Shiner”), or a brief foray into industrial rap (“06 Burst”), Dawson is relentless in tugging at the common threads between seemingly distinct genres, determined to see what happens when it all unravels.

Pixel Bath puts Dawson’s command over catchy melodies on full display, particularly on cuts like “Bruiseboy” and “Starface*.” “Bruiseboy,” which was released as a single back in February, is a manic journey through the twilight zone between imagination and reality. Over fleeting drums and fuzzy organs, Dawson sings, “You saw my dreams and you saw your face.”

The project’s crown jewel comes in the form of the A$AP Rocky-assisted “Triple Double.” The track is an exuberant celebration of Pixel Bath–Dawson’s own triple double performance. On “Triple Double,” Dawson dubs himself “black boy with the lil’ Kobe.” The A$AP Mob ringleader chimes in, “Bitch, I'm a G and I'm cute / Parlay with Jean in the coupe.” 

Not unlike the rest of Pixel Bath, album closer “Pyrotechnics” finds harmony in the cacophonous. The heavenly, atmospheric production and Dawson’s detached delivery lend a dreamlike quality to the track which is subsequently grounded by lyrics about armageddon and imagery of the sky catching fire.

The common link between each song is the unwavering resolve with which Dawson stares down his demons. The devil takes several forms throughout the project. On “Clear Bones,” it’s the Grim Reaper. On “Pegasus” and Bandcamp Day special release “Policia,” it’s the threat of state-sponsored violence. At times, it’s the naysayers, and at others, himself. 

Regardless, Dawson stands his ground in the face of the various bogeymen. The avant-popstar says it best on “Power Freaks:” “I know they don’t want smoke with me / Play dead, pussy boy, get ate.”

Listen to Pixel Bath below: