#joanna gruesome

[tuuneoftheday]

Ex-Void - Swansea

[bandcampsnoop]

10/2/24.

A little over 3 years ago, I bought 4 singles from Prefect Records - GN, The Tubs, Mt. Misery and Ex-Vöid. At the same time I had posted about EggS.

Ex-Vöid (London, UK) has moved to German label Tapete Records for "In Love Again", but EggS remains on Prefect and are releasing their new album, "Crafted Achievement" in November.

"In Love Again" sounds a bit more produced, but still rocks and the vocal interplay immediately makes their sound recognizable. Apparently, they cover a Lucinda Williams song on the album.

Members of the band were previously in Joanna Gruesome. And one member is also a member of the aforementioned The Tubs.

[manysmallhands]

#40: Trust Fund/Joanna Gruesome - Split 12" EP

Released - Sep 22, 2014

Highest UK chart position - Did not chart

First heard - Forums, 2014

If I make a little tally chart of when I discovered all of these songs, 2014 accounts for a full 20% of them. The reason for this is not so mysterious: after over a decade of being able to do next to nothing, I found myself suddenly able to do slightly more than next to nothing and so the era of buying less than half a dozen CDs a year suddenly fell away. I looked around music blogs and forums, I found people with (what my girlfriend calls) “cousin eardrums” on the internet and I started to build a relationship with a world outside my head for the first time in years. This EP was at the centre of what I loved about DiY indie at that time, primarily because it was the first Trust Fund record that I heard and Trust Fund remain for me the best of those bands. My capacity to talk about them has already been tested to worrying levels (there’s a very long essay I wrote about them somewhere on the internet that was referred to as my dissertation by friends), but I appreciate that my audience here is more of the “who dat?” variety, so I shall try and keep this fairly brief.

Tho the 10s are largely regarded as a musical backwater for indie, I’m tempted to think of them as a Golden Age for DiY guitar pop. Being what it was, it broke little new ground, but there was a strong sense of character in the music that made its identity feel distinct to me - maybe that’s just the zeal of the newcomer, idk. Trust Fund themselves sound a lot like American slacker rock pushed thru a UK indiepop blender: you could hear the chunky Weezer style powerchords and the more angular Pavement-type elements, but within that, there’s also Ellis Jones’s faltering, high pitched whine of a voice singing about his two favourite subjects, awkward friendship and dishonesty. At one of these two poles is “No Pressure”, an alt country daze where Jones offers a girlfriend a safe space for some sort of emotional recovery. This leads to some of his best lines - “this is not your house and you do not cut the grass” in particular captures all the care and solicitousness of making sure someone feels welcome in a difficult situation - and the song itself becomes a sombre but comforting refuge from the worst that the world has to offer. At the other is the razor sharp power pop of Scared, an absolute rush of a song but one where pace and melody tend to mask the sheer desperation of Ellis’s vocal. Lead track Reading The Wrappers is great too - (ed. makes “wind it up” gestures) - yeah, alright… (for fucks sake - ed.)

The other side of this 12�� single is occupied by Joanna Gruesome, a better band than their name suggests but who are not on top form here: only the elegiac shimmer and melancholy of Coffee Implosion matches up to any of the Trust Fund tunes. That doesn’t really matter tho - four of these six songs are among the very best of their kind. While it’s a record that still stands on its merits, it’s become a time capsule for me too, a moment where I was excited by music for the first time in years and feeling like my life was, for once, heading somewhere other than indefinite illness. The illness thing didn’t pan out: I got worse again, improved more, had a breakdown somewhere in the middle and finally understood that being able to go for a walk and make my own dinner was about as good as it was likely to get. But the music is still important to me, both on this record and all the others that I discovered from 2013/14 onwards. I can’t say much has ever happened in my life - it’s largely been based around long periods of nothing at all - but this was a time when I again became a person that related to the outside world as something other than a sick body and those records were my conduit for that. Whatever it is that I’ve become now, it began with these songs.

[dustedmagazine]

The Tubs — Dead Meat (Trouble in Mind)

Dead Meat by The Tubs

The Tubs start in a scramble but end in haunting delicacy in this first full-length. Much has been made of lead singer Owen “O” Williams’ warbly Richard Thompson-ish voice. He vibrates with feeling, as he sings earnest but highly caffeinated folk melodies over the clash and clatter of agitated post-punk. Yet perhaps equally important is the fervor and romantic energy with which the band pushes him along. The Tubs are tight and aggressive and exciting; you’ll be hopping from one foot to another a little bit even in the dreamy, sensitive bits.

A little history if you haven’t been keeping up. The band, from London, is part of the Joanna Gruesome diaspora. Along with Ex-Vöid (whose Lan McArdle makes a cameo here), they are one of two bands demonstrably better and more interesting than their predecessor. They’ve had two EPs before this one. Chris Liberato enjoyed The Names in mid-2021, especially “Two Person Love,” of which he wrote: “[It’s] the best track of the bunch, though, with its classic sounding riff that swoops in and out allowing room for the chiming and chugging rhythm section to do the hard work.”

All that is prelude to one of 2023’s first certified bangers, and album that’s as touching as it is taut and which speaks to the heart as well as the adrenal gland. Dead Meat cruises ahead on the kinds of melodies you’ll end up singing along to. However badly you do it, it will feel pretty good

The title track has a snarl in its rant but a lilting, rising, falsetto chorus. “You can blame it all on me,” croons Williams and at least one of his bandmates in a voice like spider’s web. It floats to rest on a firestorm of clashing guitar/bass/drums. “Duped” scrambles rapid-fire between emphatic guitar chords, all scissor kicks and amp jumps, except for the yearning radiance of William’s sighing, “Why did I bother?” If “Pictures of Lily” is your favorite Who song, you will like this tune.

The last song, “Wretched Lie” is the clear highlight, an R.E.M.-ish jangle hopped up on cold brew, but the singing a tracery of longing, memory and regret. “You were always on my mind,” breathes the singer, with all the wistfulness of C86, while a racket explodes behind him. It’s like the scene in the action movie where the hero walks away from a firestorm, except it makes you want to fall in love again.  

Jennifer Kelly

[whatsjulietslastname]

artists and bands i actually think Chloe, Max and Rachel would listen to (because taylor swift is NOT the only singer to exist) :

Chloe

R.E.M.

Green Day

Daughter

Radiohead

The Runaways

Pixies

Joanna Gruesome

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

Weezer

Paramore

Max

girl in red

Hozier

Mitski

Birdy

The Paper Kites

Novo Amor

Bon Iver

Ben Howard

Lord Huron

Phoebe Bridgers

Rachel

Daughter

Kings of Leon

Cigarettes After Sex

The Neighborhood

Sonic Youth

Wolf Alice

Hozier

Lana Del Rey (disclaimer: i don’t support this woman and what she’s done but i do think her music suits Rachel’s vibe)

boygenius

Frank Ocean

[anxiousnerdwritings]

How would Gregor (the mountain) react to Joanna!lookalike passing? Again I would imagine not well.

He would become even more of a monster after the Reader’s death. Joanna!Lookalike was something completely and utterly special to him and now that she was gone, Gregor felt absolutely nothing even more than usual for anyone or anything in his wake. Similar to Cersei and Tywin, Gregor would put all his blame and rage towards Tyrion for taking away the only thing he could ever bring himself to have care for. As much as he would take great pleasure in visiting Tyrion in his cell and rip him apart piece by little piece and getting the dwarf’s punishment over with already, Gregor would refrain from doing so on Tywin’s orders, it takes everything in him to do so. But that wouldn’t keep Gregor from routinely standing outside Tyrion’s cell and just watching him. Staring him down, emitting the most intense and murderous aura from his unmoving stature as he does so.

Gregor had been the one who had carried Joanna!Lookalike’s body away after she died. Cersei had to be held back by her own father and various Kingsguards just so Gregor could get to his poor late princess. As much of a terrible monster Gregor already was, being left to witness the gruesome demise of the only thing he held dear to him and caring her lifeless body in his arms after not being able to protect her only fucked him up more. If it were anyone else he wouldn’t have batted an eye at it but Joanna!Lookalike!Reader wasn’t just anyone. When not behind closed doors, Gregor would be even more of a menace than normal. He would lash out without reason and at anyone who was within proximity of him. He didn’t care who or what crossed his path, either way it wouldn’t survive him one way or another. He would massacre and destroy just about anyone and anything. The only one’s somewhat safe from his wrath were Tywin, Cersei and the children. Even that wasn’t saying very much. On a few occasions, Gregor had been on the verge of disobeying or flat out not taking Tywin’s orders, even going as far as to not backdown when confronted about his insubordination. When he was carrying out orders, Gregor took them even further than he already use to.

When Tyrion demands a trial by combat, Gregor already knows he’s going to be the one to destroy whoever foolishly chooses to be the imp’s champion. He has every intention of ensuring Tyrion’s punishment for taking away his only precious thing in this world and he will happily cut down and tear through whoever he had to to see it happen. He knew nothing could ever bring his beloved princess back, he knew the only thing he ever cared about was gone forever but that self awareness did nothing to quell his deep seeded rage. He had absolutely nothing to lose or hold him back now and that was made everyone else’s problem more than ever.

[bitter69uk]

Recently watched: The Kiss (1988): many Generation X horror aficionados have fond memories of this one (apparently it was ubiquitous on cable TV for years), but believe it or not, somehow, The Kiss had eluded me until now. It was filmed in Montreal, Quebec (substituting for suburban Albany, New York) and as a Canadian myself, I detect an ineffable low-budget Canadian vibe (and some of the supporting actors have Canadian accents). Following the gruesome death of her sister in a freak accident, long-lost Aunt Felice (Polish actress and model Joanna Pacula) resurfaces to console her hunky widowed brother-in-law (Nicholas Kilbertus) and teenage niece (Meredith Salenger). Felice is inscrutable, feline, possesses the sultry looks of an haute couture fashion model (Pacula regularly graced Vogue magazine at the time) and is concealing a secret – she practices voodoo! (This chiefly involves a cursed talisman and lighting a LOT of candles and crouching in front of them). In no time, Felice is wreaking a path of bloody destruction. Most memorably: the grisly infamous “necklace-caught-in-shopping mall-escalator” sequence that I suspect psychologically scarred an entire generation. Anyway, The Kiss is objectively terrible and characterized by lame special effects and tepid performances (the exception: Mimi Kuzyk as the wacky neighbour seems to be in an entirely different film from everyone else) but packs a pulpy low-brow appeal. I remember when Pacula was hailed as “the next big thing from Europe” by Time magazine in 1983 alongside red-hot up-and-coming peers Isabella Rossellini and Nastassja Kinski. (The journalist raved about her “bat-wing eyebrows, Slavic cheekbones and a drop-dead look that can scald the screen”). Her international career began promisingly with Gorky Park (1983) but then descended to “erotic dramas”, straight to video action thrillers and – worst of all – Steven Seagal movies. It certainly wasn’t for lack of talent or beauty on Pacula’s part. Link.

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio on July 4, 2022; #314.

Widowspeak: “Wicked Game”

Linda Tullgren: “Bad At Parties”

Reptailiens: “Echo Park”

Heavenly Beat: “Faithless”

EZTV: “Daytime”

Beach Fossils: “Shallow”

Minks: “Araby”

Becca Mancari: “Tear Us Apart”

Craft Spells: “After The Moment” + “You Should Close The Door”

Medicine: “It’s All About You”

Mouth Congress: “Tactile”

Juan Wauters feat. Mac DeMarco: “Real”

Mac Demarco: “Me & Mine”

Look Blue Go Purple: “Circumspect Penelope” + “Safety In Crosswords”

Cleaners From Venus: “The Jangling Man”

Martin Newell: “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others”

Dinner: “Girl”

Anders Rhedin feat. Charlie Hilton: “Like You Said”

Charlie Hilton: “Something For Us All”

Locate S,1: “Even The Good Boys Are Bad”

Molly Burch feat. Wild Nothing: “Emotion”

Wild Nothing: “Foyer” + “Dizziness”

Dum Dum Girls: “Yours Alone” + “Hey Sis”

Axxa/Abraxas: “All That’s Passed”

Blank Dogs: “Slow Room”

Holograms: “Hidden Structures”

B Boys: “Can’t Stand It” + “I Want”

Joanna Gruesome: “Psykick Espionage”

Chastity: “Innocence”

Naomi Punk: “Carniceria”

DIIV: “The Spark” + “Sometime”

Mourn: “Gather, Really” + “This Feeling Is Disgusting”

Thee Oh Sees: “Voice In The Mirror”

Wax Chattels: “In My Mouth”

Perfect Pussy: “A Leash Called Love”

Girls At Dawn: “It’s Never Enough”

Shiny Two Shiny: “Boy From Ipanema”

Saada Bonaire: “Woman”

Soft Metals: “Psychic Driving”

Cosmetics: “Sleepwalking”

Soft Moon: “Deeper”

Led Er Est: “Plants”

Bonus Omega; label tribute. First of two broadcasts on the same day.

[auntiebiotic]

Sniffany and the Nits are deranged, honest and fast. Formed in London, UK and led by the talented artist Sister Sniffany ft. members of Joanna Gruesome, Ex-Void & The Tubs.

"In 'Chicken Liver' I'm deeply jealous and competitive, desperately trying to present myself as vulnerable, served up on a platter like a chicken dinner as if helplessness is all that counts in order to make myself seem appealing, hiding the wrathful, egg-smashing fury of envy and self loathing."

[femmeterypolka]

my ideal drag name is actually joanna gruesome if i were to make a character that was actually meant as a representation/inversion of myself but there's already a band that used that name first so

[rosiewitchescottage]

The Chosen S4 - Finale

Some theories based on what we've been given.

Spoilers aplenty, so continued below.

Joseph of Arimathea - Yusuf's been a front runner throughout. But I think we can be pretty much certain now.

Even were a new character to be introduced in S5, why else would so much have been invested in Yusuf?

We even have his father as a family friend of Lazarus, sitting Shiva with Martha and Mary when Jesus arrived. He witnessed Lazarus coming out from the tomb.

And he was there to see Little Sister Mary anoint Jesus with priceless oil.

Which provides a segue into

Judas and Shmuel - "I have a bad feeling about this."

I suspect that these two will be working rather closer than is healthy, somewhere between the supporters of Jesus and those plotting his death.

No. I don't think that either wants Jesus dead. But they're so caught up in their own idea of what should be happening.

Judas believes in Jesus' Messianic status. But he completely misunderstands what it means, and is increasingly frantic to see it go the way he thinks it ought to.

Shmuel wants to believe. He's spoken with Jesus, prayed with Jesus and knows that there's something extraordinary about him.

But he's so hung up on the Letter of The Law that he can't see any other way than strict, unerring adherence.

Like Judas and many others, he believes that Messiah will defeat Rome, so that Israel can lead the world to God.

Both so close yet so far.

My theory is that they will plot to get Jesus to The Sanhedrin to force his hand.

Shmuel has heard Caiaphas (?) and Co saying that they will have to get Rome to dispose of Jesus.

So Shmuel and Judas will get Jesus to The Sanhedrin, so he will have to go face to face with and directly oppose Rome.

We know how that's going to go. 😥😥😥😥😥😥😥😥

Joanna and Claudia - As Jesus rides towards Jerusalem on his colt, with the all important bridle in place, and The City is preparing to welcome him.

Joanna burns her final bridge, jumping from her husband's carriage to joyously join the crowds.

There's an unspoken understanding between herself and Claudia, that following Jesus will give them both the Faith that has the Jewish people making the arduous journey to Jerusalem to worship and celebrate.

Joanna has taken that first step, after all she was already distanced from her husband.

Claudia is another matter. I wonder if she will disguise herself to go and see Jesus enter the city?

She's already been dreaming of him, but she hasn't seen him in the flesh yet.

The fact that we learned of her dreams back in S3.

That makes me think that she might see that he is the man from her dreams, earlier than when he comes to trial before her husband.

If she sees him as soon as he is entering Jerusalem. Then we'll have the whole of Holy Week in S5 for the poor woman to wrestle with her knowledge.

She's heard Herod and her husband talking about Jesus. She knows that The Sanhedrin have him in their sights.

She has 'A Bad Feeling' about where it's all heading. And I wonder what it'll mean for her relationship with her husband?

The Centurion at The Cross - How they're keeping us guessing about this!

Will be be introduced to us at the start of S5?

With this rapturous procession about to enter The City. Pilate's troops will have to be on high alert for trouble.

And, of course there will be their centurions in charge of them.

I suspect we will be getting to know the soldiers who will be performing the gruesome work of The Passion. There's the flogging, crowning with thorns, driving Jesus along Via Dolorosa to The Crucifixion at Golgotha. 😥😥😥😥😥

(One hopes that they won't be the drunken,maniacally giggling cariacatures that we had in The Passion of The Christ. 🙄🙄🙄)

This said. I can still see possible ways for Atticus and Gaius to be at least involved.

Atticus has completely terrified Pilate by letting his cocky, self assured face drop, to show a man who's seen, with his own two eyes, things that he just can't explain away.

He's seen a Zealot have his sica thrown into the river, but kneel and pledge his service to the man who disarmed him.

A man whose crippled brother now walks and dances on his own two feet.

He's seen a man walking on the storm tossed Sea of Galilee.

And he's seen a man mourned as dead for four days, walk out of his tomb alive and well.

Atticus is frantic to find out what's happening, how, why and what it means for Rome.

Could he be there to hear Jesus speak words of forgiveness for the soldiers crucifying him, tell a guilty, repentant criminal that they will be together in Paradise, make sure his Eema will be protected, in the midst of his own agony?

Will this convince him that at least The Kingdom Jesus speaks of is not one Of This World?

Gaius is now being treated as a friend in Capernaum. All our Galilean Chums heading towards Jerusalem are asking if he and his family will be coming along too, seeing as most of Capernaum will be out of town.

Having his duties as Praetor, Gaius politely declines, but asks for his thanks to be passed onto Jesus and 'Shalom, Shalom' to Simon Peter and Matthew.

But what if he and his wife have a change of mind? Things are quiet and peaceful in town, Gaius can leave orders for what needs doing.

This is their perfect change to see this all so important city and The Temple.

Little do they know what they'd be present to witness.

[manysmallhands]

FearOfMu21c Index Page

It never occurred to me before I started that it might be handy to have a place where you could access all the #FearOfMu21c pieces individually. But given how confusing it's been in terms of bringing back posts from last year (which ofc are now incorrectly labelled), i thought it would be a good idea to have everything in one post, where anyone interested can find whatever they might want to look at. So:

Introductory notes

Day one: Lana Del Rey - Mariners Apartment Complex

Day two: MGMT - Flash Delirium

Day three: The Killers - When You Were Young

Day four: Tullycraft - Lost In Light Rotation

Day five: Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (11 pts)

Day six: Deerhunter - Memory Boy

Day seven: Trust Fund/Joanna Gruesome - Split 12" EP

Day eight: Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now

Day nine: The Soundcarriers - Boiling Point

Day ten: Magdalena Bay - Chaeri (11 pts)

Day eleven: Grouper - Holding

Day twelve: Little Mix - Black Magic

Day thirteen: The Mountain Goats - This Year (from Dilaudid EP)

Day fourteen: Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta (11 pts)

Day fifteen: The Strokes - Juicebox

Day sixteen: Estelle ft Kanye West - American Boy

Day seventeen: The Juan Maclean - A Simple Design

Day eighteen: The Ophelias - Lunar Rover

Day nineteen: Solange - Cranes In the Sky

Day twenty: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

Day twenty one: Rina Sawayama - Catch Me In the Air

Day twenty two: Electrelane - To The East

Day twenty three: Self Esteem - You Forever

Day twenty four: Warpaint - Undertow

Day twenty five: Mercury Girls - Ariana

Day twenty six: Sleater-Kinney - You're No Rock n Roll Fun

Day twenty seven: Shunkan - Our Names

Day twenty eight: Amerie - 1 Thing

Day twenty nine: Julia Holter - Feel You (11 pts)

Day thirty: The Go! Team - Doing It Right

Day thirty one: Kero Kero Bonito - Time Today

Day thirty two : Mattiel - Keep The Change

Day thirty three: Fred Thomas - Voiceover

Day thirty four: Cate Le Bon - Puts Me To Work

Day thirty five: Scott Walker - Epizootics!

Day thirty six: U.S. Girls - 4 American Dollars

Day thirty seven: Florence + The Machine - Dog Days Are Over

Day thirty eight: The Orielles - Come Down On Jupiter

Day thirty nine: Jeanines - Things Change EP

Day forty: Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel

Day forty one: The Hidden Cameras - The Day I Left Home

Day forty two: The Clientele - On A Summer Trail

Day forty three: St Vincent - Digital Witness

Day forty four: Faith Healer - Again

Day forty five: Grimes - REALiTi

Day forty six: Juniore - Difficile

Day forty seven: Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think

Day forty eight: Olivia Rodrigo - Vampire

Day forty nine: Muna - I Know A Place (12 points)

Day fifty: Weyes Blood - It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody

[docrotten]

THE DUNWICH HORROR (1970) – Episode 191 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

“The Old Ones are not truly dead. They only sleep. It is a dreamless oblivion, stretching on and on towards vast eternity!” Eternal, dreamless oblivion? That’s a hard pass. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they enroll at Miskatonic University to study The Dunwich Horror (1970).

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 191 – The Dunwich Horror (1970)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Wilbur Whateley travels to Miskatonic University to borrow the legendary Necronomicon. But, little does anyone know, Whateley isn’t quite human.

  Director: Daniel Haller

Writers: Curtis Hanson, Henry Rosenbaum, Ronald Silkosky; H.P. Lovecraft (based on the story by)

Music by: Les Baxter

Title Design by: Sandy Dvore

Poster Art by: Reynold Brown

Selected Cast:

Sandra Dee as Nancy Wagner

Dean Stockwell as Wilbur Whateley

Ed Begley as Dr. Henry Armitage

Lloyd Bochner as Dr. Cory

Sam Jaffe as Old Whateley

Joanne Moore Jordan as Lavinia Whateley (as Joanna Moore Jordan)

Donna Baccala as Elizabeth Hamilton

Talia Shire as Nurse Cora (credited as Talia Coppola)

Michael Fox as Dr. Raskin

Jason Wingreen as Sheriff Harrison

Barboura Morris as Mrs. Cole

Beach Dickerson as Mr. Cole

Michael Haynes as Guard

Toby Russ as Librarian

Jack Pierce as Reeger

Set your H.P. Lovecraft expectations aside and you just might enjoy The Dunwich Horror. The film features a great cast, including Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, Ed Begley, Lloyd Bochner, Sam Jaffe, and Talia Shire. While the results may not be 100% successful, the cinematography looks spectacular, the often cliché visual effects are used creatively, and the direction is spot on. Could a 1970 film adapt Lovecraft more faithfully at that time? It’s hard to say. Lovecraft is a tricky beast to translate cinematically. Regardless, the poster from Reynold Brown is phenomenal. Check out what the Grue-Crew has to say. Enjoy!

At the time of this writing, The Dunwich Horror is available to stream free with ads from PlutoTV and PPV from Amazon and Apple TV.  The film is also available as a Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the Grue-Crew change it up for their next episode with a bit of a treat, welcoming director John D. Hancock to discuss his first feature film, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971), and of course other aspects of his career. This will be fun!

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com. 

Check out this episode!

[notenoughbookshelvess]

Series: The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Catching Fire: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mockingjay: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Favourite character: Joanna Mason

This book series holds a very special place in my heart. It was one of the first more adult books I read as a teen and I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed re-reading more than the first time. The amount of in-depth social commentary is astounding. Collins touches on the glorification of violence, capitalism as well as trauma and healing.

The first book I would say is my least favourite, only because a lot of my favourite characters aren’t introduced until the second or third book. Personally I really enjoy the style of writing and the characters have a lot of hidden depth that slowly gets explored through the course of the book. The way the psychological torture that the tributes endure by the Capitol is horrific and this is one of the key messages of the book and the dangers of turning violence into a spectacle.

Catching Fire and Mockingjay are definitely my favourites. I love how twisted and complicated the plot becomes and this reaches a whole new level in these two books. The amount of emotion Suzanne Collins can make me feel always catches me off guard which is one of the reasons I love her writing so much. The language she uses paints the gruesome picture so elegantly and every single death has a meaning.

[daggerzine]

The Tubs- Dead Meat (Trouble in Mind Records)

I really liked that Tubs EP from a few years ago so this full length was highly anticipated by me. And the band totally delivers.

If you don't know, this is two of the folks from the much-missed Joanna Gruesome (Owen Williams on vocals and George Nicholls on guitar). The songs jangle but not really in any straight-ahead kinda way, they take interesting detours throughout and the band has a real jittery, nervous energy. Williams has a deep vocal croon and seems to be singing about every lost love he's ever had (I'm talking from elementary school on up through college). He keeps these words of longing in a creased/stained notebook for no one to see until he delivers.

"Illusion pt II " is a great opener, a pure rush, as is the nimbler, bouncier "Two Person Love." Later on "I Don't Know How It Works" is midway between a sea shanty and an Irish folk song (and I love those backing vocals by another JG member, Lan Mcardle) and the title track is another gem, smooth but slightly rough . Also don't miss another classic, one called "Duped," with Williams pouring his heart out, singing "Why did I bother?!" and "I can't take it anymore," and "Round the Bend" is another race-to-the-finish monster that clears everything in its path.

With this band I'm reminded a little bit of Spook School, another great indie pop band who liked to add a bit of salt to the proceedings which made things infinitely more interesting.

Dead Meat is everything I hope it'd be and more. Three cheers for The Tubs!

www.troubleinmindrecords.com 

www.thetubs.bandcamp.com 

[iceblnkluck]

im late for ask but 💖🔎👶

thank you <3

💖a guilty pleasure song:

some of the the smiths and morissey's best regrettably. but as the bad gays podcast put so well without diminishing the fact that steven patrick is a little bitch when you hear things like

I thought, "Oh God, my chance has come at last"/But then a strange fear gripped me/And I just couldn't ask

and I am the son/And the heir/Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar

and Close your eyes, And think of someone, You physically admire, /And let me kiss you, Let me kiss you

and I would go out tonight/But I haven't got a stitch to wear/This man said, "It's gruesome/That someone so handsome should care"

and so on and so forth as a closeted 16 year old it makes you feel shrimp emotions of unmeasurable magnitudes and rearranges neurochemical pathways in your brain forever. just a fact of life

🔎 a song you can't stop analyzing:

only skin by joanna newsom. something new every time! it's dense and complicated on purpose but it makes it even better as opposed to some other complicated pretentious music

👶 the first song you remember enjoying:

coffee & tv by blur or clint eastwood by gorillaz or pas de deux from the nutcracker by tchaikovsky. one of these is not like the others >:)

also i don't remember this but my parents told me the only songs that worked as lullabies on me as an infant were by nick cave and tom waits and that's insane of them. the root of all of my issues perhaps