#the first thing I thought was punk rock anti establishment

[weishenbwi]

It's not. GDragon has a strong connection to the number 8, given that he was born in August (the 8th month), on the 18th, in the year 1988. He even planned a comeback exactly 88 months later. In many Asian cultures, 8 is considered a lucky number, and his birthday—18/8/88—is especially lucky. His song POWER was released at 18:00 with a total of 8 tracks. Maybe he’ll even incorporate the infinity symbol into it or (perhaps chains if we're lucky).

He seems really into symbolism as well since he was born during a Year of the Dragon and scheduled his CB during another Year of the Dragon (2024). If he had waited, it would be Year of the Snake (2025).

The punk hairstyle is deeply tied to the countercultural roots of punk music, which emerged as a rebellious response to mainstream, corporate-controlled music. Punk bands rejected commercialization, embracing raw, unpolished sounds and fiercely independent production through homemade ethics and underground labels. Lyrically, punk is often anti-establishment, anti-authoritarian, and critical of capitalism and government structures. Its hairstyles are symbols of defiance, individuality, and a rejection of societal norms. This seems to be featured on the poster.

As for the font, I'll let a history teacher cover that one.

Übermensch and Nietzsche: The concept of the Übermensch originates from Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883–1885). It represents an idealized, self-overcoming individual who transcends imposed morality and limitations. The Übermensch is often misunderstood as an authoritarian or supremacist figure (which is almost hilarious because that's currently happening to GD), but Nietzsche’s idea was more about personal transformation and self-mastery rather than domination over others.

The creation of these new values cannot be motivated by the same instincts that gave birth to those tables of values. Instead, they must be motivated by a love of this world and of life.

The Übermensch idea persists in discussions on self-actualization, power, and breaking free from societal constraints. This could tie into Coup d’État’s theme of self-transformation and reinvention.

(As an aside, Nietzsche held disdain for nationalism and anti-Semitism. His work was later misinterpreted and appropriated posthumously, but it also influenced anarchist thought which later influenced subgenres of punk music and culture.)

From the poster, Übermensch and Coup d’État share thematic and visual parallels. Coup d’État also used the colors red, black, and white (symbolic of upheaval, destruction, and rebirth) and was a highly symbolic song reflecting GDs personal and artistic rebellion, a radical overthrow of the self. It represented breaking free from industry constraints, personal struggles, and societal expectations—much like the Übermensch, who creates their own values rather than being bound by the past. I'm curious if this will tie in.

TL;DR: [If the poster is anything to go by] G-Dragon's Übermensch has nothing to do with Nazis—it’s likely about self-transformation, breaking free from limitations, and artistic reinvention, perhaps much like Coup d’État. Nietzsche’s concept was about personal mastery, not supremacy.

𝐆-𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑 【Übermensch】

[jadeoru]

YESSS WE NEED A SMUDGED LIPSTICK YN STYLE GUIDE

OKAYOKAY HERE IT IS!!!

YN STYLE GUIDE! ☆

SHIRTS:

☆ shirts like these are a staple in her wardrobe! she loves to wear them for concerts, but sometimes she'll wear them casually to get like groceries or something just for fun! loves thrifting and literally almost cries every time she finds a shirt like these and it doesn't fit her. most of the time she just cuts/alters it to make it fit though! diy queen!

☆ big fan of tank tops! she likes to show off her biceps tbh. usually paired with a short skirt or short shorts!

☆ no matter what the occasion is she will more than likely show up with an inappropriate graphic shirt. its like her trademark. LOVES to wear ones like the first image because 1: she likes to spread her thoughts and opinions/very openly shits on the government/politics in general, and 2: she likes to piss people off. she has a very punk mindset and is very anti-establishment; she usually prints the graphic on plain shirts and makes them herself. ☆ usually wears them insanely oversized, paired with shorts, and usually wears brightly coloured/patterned tights. ultimately she loves causing chaos and is very opinionated!

☆ sometimes she doesnt even bother wearing a shirt and wears nipple pasties. she wears them because she likes it, but people assume its a political thing and it usually causes a stir. she doesnt give a fuck. firm believer of letting her boobs breathe!! very inspired by victoria de angelis.

☆ obsessed with leather! always gets them vintage because she prefers the more worn in/old look they have! LOVES to customise them with pins and patches too. she will wear them no matter how hot the weather is.

PANTS/SKIRTS:

☆ as i said earlier, she LOVES leather. it makes her feel so cunty and gives her a major confidence boost. doesn't normally wear pants like these outside of concerts, almost only rocks these onstage. they almost always end up ripping at the end of a gig , in her defense she loves dancing.

☆ firm believer that there's no such thing a skirt thats too short! will alter skirts and make them shorter. she loves upcycling clothes + most of her wardrobe is clothes that she's customised/altered herself by sewing or stitching random things onto them, cutting them, dying them, etc. loves grabbing a handful of random materials and adding them to a skirt. loves it when clothes are chaotic so she adds as much as possible to them. will only wear simple skirts when everything else in her outfit is too complicated.

☆ loves plaid. everything plaid. will find a way to add plaid to almost all of her clothes. wants her coffin to be plaid when she dies.

☆ tripp pants make up like 50% of her wardrobe. wears them when she's going out shopping or something as like a casual fit. never really wears them onstage. pretty much the same with her crust pants! except she actually wears them for concerts

SHOES:

☆ almost only wears platform shoes. she loves being taller than men and intimidating them. usually wears boots, but she loves a good chunky sneaker every now and then.

im probably gonna make a part two with accessories and stuff lmao be prepared

[motheatenscarf]

Ass is parked at the first trial of Shadowbringers while I wait for a friend to catch up, which means its time to digest more thoughts!

Man, I am really liking this expansion so far.

I've talked about how much I'm digging the angelic eldritch horror shit, as well as obvious improvements to camera movement and visual storytelling, plus all the designs I'm digging, as well as music, but a thing I'm realizing now...

So, the sort of... genre/theme of each expansion is very different, and that's been really fun. Music for ARR is fine and fun, but mostly kinda forgettable except a few bosses, just sounds like game music to me. Stormblood naturally had a very eastern/adventure flair to it, I think my favorite being the Shinryu boss music which straight up felt like it was some Akira Ikufube kaiju movie shit, it was SO FUN. My favorite's been Heavensward for its big and bombastic religious dread with heavy pipe organ theming.

(Side not, but my favorite thing that I've ever noticed in this game was that all of the Allagan themes and each area's music of any Garlean Castrum is all very electronic. So when it came to Azys La, the Allagan facility invaded by Garleans in the Heavensward expansion, they gave it a heavy electric organ theme! I love letting things have their own musical identity like that and then combining and building off of them to musically convey an idea. I'm utterly useless at recognizing or appreciating music in any kind of trained way, so if even I notice things like that, that shows they put thought into it.)

My friend was telling me that for the most part, it's been Nobuo Uematsu who's been writing the main theme of each expansion, but as of Shadowbringers, he let someone else finally take over due to health reasons. Which is good, I love Uematsu as much as anyone else, he's incredible, but god, let the man retire. Gotta pass the torch at some point.

So, I will say, Shadowbringers has had a noticably distinct sound to it compared to the other expansions. It's a lot more... god, I'm bad at music words. Modern? Very rock/punk heavy, which I'm digging on its own merit, but also because it feels like it's trying to be a little rebellious, a little anti-establishment, which fits for the theme of becoming the "Warrior of Darkness." And considering that we're literally on another world, something this different compared to any other overworld music in the game is very fitting, actually. I'm really digging this.

[ivoryminitower]

Echoes of Home: 86 - Tsu'na ("honest work")

Echoes of Home: FFXIV AU OC – WoLs on Earth

"Cage the Elephant": "american rock band; genres: alternative rock, indie rock, psychedelic rock, garage rock, punk blues"

"Green Day": "american rock band; genres: punk rock; pop punk; skate punk; alternative rock; power pop"

"punk rock": "a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often shouted political, anti-establishment lyrics."

My qualifying leve was successful.  We returned to Sam and got the reward.  The next leve was not available right away, though; Mr. Davidson had not yet told Sam he wanted the work done. Sam told us he would call us when the leve was available.  This is more convenient than having to go to the levemete each time, as in Eorzea, though less convenient since completing the leve here did not teleport us back to the levemete.

We had thought that if Mr. Davidson approved the job we would complete it after our diner work, but we did not get a call before bedtime.  When we still did not get a call in the morning, we found other things to do.  Husband went to gather fire shards; I could have gone with him, but instead I took the bus to Tulsa.

I do not know what draws me back to the game.  Perhaps I am driven to look for differences between my Eorzea and the game's Eorzea.  Perhaps I miss my Eorzea…it has not been long since we came to this world, but Husband believes we may not see my home again.  Or perhaps it is as Husband says, that the game can show us how our skills can work in this world.

Rika was waiting for me when I logged in.  She did not jump for joy, as she did when I named her; she simply stood there in the void.  I wondered what she did when I was not logged in, whether she was bored, or had adventures I did not know about.  Husband would probably say that she was not real and did not do anything without me.  But watching her standing there, blinking, breathing, looking at me, it is hard to think of her that way.

Rika does not know how to do things.  I remember Husband stating in Eorzea his impatience about needing to learn things he already knew; that impatience is now mine with Rika.  She did not know how to go to an inn room until she went outside, gained several levels as a gladiator, and did several quests.  I knew she should have been able to simply talk to the innkeeper, but she could not do that.

I watched the talk on the Novice channel.  Much of it was irrelevant or irreverent, but some was questions that were clearly from people who had not played very long, and who had not lived in Eorzea.  People would ask when they could get mounts, or when they could fly, or when they could reach the "PVP area".  The answer was frequently that they needed to "follow the MSQ", or Main Story Questline.  Which Rika had yet to do.

She did not know about retainers, the assistants we had in Eorzea who sold, held and gathered things for us.  I could not simply have her hire retainers from the retainer vocate; she first needed to do a quest to learn what retainers were.  Once that was done, she could hire retainers, though the hiring was very similar to creating a new character.

She could look at the market board, and see what was for sale.  While I looked at the listings I noted the names of the sellers and how silly most of them were, even sillier than the names of other people in the game.  These would be created by other players, people putting up goods for sale, as Husband did in Eorzea.

Which made me think.  Husband and I seemed to be the only people in Eorzea he would call "players."  Yet there were goods in Eorzea that we could buy from the market board, and things we listed for sale did sometimes sell.  I do not remember any of the sellers' names in Eorzea.  Were they retainers?  And, if so, whose?  And who bought our goods?

This is something I should probably ask Husband about, to see if he has a theory.  After I tell him I have been playing the game.

So many things familiar yet new.  Meeting the Sultana.  Meeting Thancred.  Learning to mine.  Learning to weave.  It has been long enough that I do not now remember not knowing how to make hempen yarn, and here I was doing it for the first time with Rika.  I did not feel her fingers working as she spun, or her arms getting tired as she swung a pickaxe.  Or her pain as beastkin fought her.  

Husband would have experienced those things for the first time in Eorzea after having experienced it effortlessly in this game.  Perhaps he also experienced fear.  I am learning about him as much as about the game.

Husband called to say that Mr. Davidson had agreed to the job, so I met him at home to join him in a nap before a long night.  The diner work was ordinary, though Mr. Hartman did have words for Husband about the music that was playing when he returned to the diner on an errand.

"I told you not to play punk."

"Come on, it's just Cage the Elephant.  It's no more punk than Green Day."

"Green Day is punk."

"Green Day's not punk!"

Husband brought out his phone to check.  From the look on his face, and Mr. Hartman's, I suspected Green Day was, in fact, punk.

The children were entertained watching them going through Husband's music, trying different songs to see which they could agree about.  I do not know which songs were Cage the Elephant or Green Day.  Mr. Hartman seemed to approve of the ones with less shouting.

We flew out to the Davidson farm after locking up the diner for the night.  The moon was full enough that we could make out the land below and see slight movement.  This will not always be the case; I should talk with Husband about what he called "night-vision goggles".

Our plan had been to use our bows with Quick Nock, but when we arrived I wondered if this was the best approach.  "Must we use bows, Husband?"

"It's a battle leve, so it shouldn't matter as long as the targets get dead.  Why?"

"I wonder if pigs will escape should our arrows not hit them.  Perhaps we can use axes instead?"

"Hm.  Tank aggro to keep them coming toward us rather than running away?  Good idea, my love."

So as not to startle the pigs we approached quietly as Ninjas.  Then, on either side of the group, we switched to Warrior, readied our battleaxes and struck.  We hewed through all the pigs that were there, hardly giving them time to squeal.  When we were done, and we were certain there were no more targets, we stood in an empty clearing with pig meat and pig hide in our inventory.

It was not battle.  It was hardly effort.  I did not feel as if I had done anything more significant than vacuuming.  Hunting the cows was similar.  I missed hunting the ovim in Amh Araeng.  But this was honest labor which will earn us honest pay.

We stood in the clearing and held each other, as we often do after a task we have finished.  Our armor hampered intimacy, but I at least was not feeling a strong need for it.  We have sometimes felt passion after a fierce battle; we did not feel that then.  We were content to Return and walk home and lie quietly in each other's arms after a job done.

I am not saving the world.  I am not battling armies.  I am living a peaceful life with a man that I love, doing honest work and making things.

I look at this and think there should be something more to say.

[goneagainlol]

🄶🄴🄽🅂🄷🄸🄽 🅂🄷🄸🄿🅂 🄸 🅂🄷🄸🄿 🄰🅂 🅂🄴🄽🅃🄴🄽🄲🄴🅂

jeanlisa- mega flirt x oblivious workaholic, they act like a married couple 24/7 even if one of them doesn't realize it

zhongluc- dragon x phoenix, successful businessman x successful businessman, emotionless but tries to show emotion x emotional but tries to hide it, need i say more?

lumber- amber was in love at first sight, lumine thought she was annoying asf at first until she started to grow on her, slowburn at its finest

beigguang- smexy lawful queen x smexy rebellious pirate, they pretend to hate each other but (not-so)secretly think the other is the hottest thing since the big bang

eimiko- inazumas resident hot manipulative women, power couple / refined gays that have everyone licking their shoes

collber- best friends to lovers at its finest, i dont care if theyre gfs or platonic soulmates but they are literally the same person and therefore are perfect for eachother

kaebedo- another case of monstadt's signature flirt x oblivious workaholic, literal mlm jeanlisa with a drop of angst, couldnt be more perfect

chili- clingy flirt x emotionless blockhead, zhongli doesn't know what childe's doing half the time but is head over heals for him anyways

ganqing- rex lapis no. 1 fan x rex lapis anti, domestic enemies to lovers, probs one of the healthiest relationships in genshin if cooked right *chefs kiss*

monafischl- controversial, but if we established mona and fischl's ages then this has great potential, light hair goth witch x dark hair goth witch too and i believe that speaks for itself

xingyun- golden boys in love but they're too "he sees me only as his best friend><" to realize it, aka the epitome of slowburn childhood friends to lovers aka my downfall

kaether- kaeya's a flirt, aether doesnt take no shit, kaeya is in turn smitten. sprinkle in some angst in the form of miscommunication and youre set

kukitto- dumb-as-a-rock himbo bisexual x bamf bisexual who probably has a perfect sat score, shinobu is definitely done with the arataki gangs shit but itto is like a clingy-but-deadly newfoundland who thinks its the size of a chihuahua and shinobu is grudgingly infatuated

xiaother- love at first sight, "lovers oath" literally plays in the background of their first meeting. dump a bucket of angst in with xiao's hopeless devotion, while aether cant offer his whole heart bc his main goal is finding his sister. it doesnt get much gayer than this folks

zhongven- an old married couple, literally. the definition of "only you understand me" because they're the last gods still hanging around in teyvat (minus raiden but we dont talk about her) so it's a ship practically starved for an angsty reincarnation au

chaeya- they tried to out-flirt eachother and ended up falling for eachother in the process, plus the fact that childe is a harbinger adds some angsty spice

chiscara- "i hate you, do you hate me?" "no, i hate YOU, do you hate me?" and they were husbands

yelfei- "sorry about my gf over there she-" "WHATD YOU SAY PUNK?!" "nothing, dear^^" "oh ok pookie^^"

cynbedo- both crazy smart workaholics, they'd bond over sharing scientific theories and other scholarly things. plus the fact that lisa originally studied in sumeru and is friends with cyno, she could totally set them up

dehlou / nihya- hydro x pyro, gentle femme x bamf femme, not much source material for them yet but i dare you to tell me with a straight face they aren't already perfect for each other

shelan- if shenhe is chongyun's aunt, and yelan is xinqiu's aunt, then that means theyre gay for each other. do the math

[danwhobrowses]

The Sandman - Quickfire Thoughts

So after a series of sporadic binges between Netflix tussles I've finished The Sandman. Having gone into the adaptation of Gaiman's comic fairly blind I had barely any expectations, but here's what I thought of it

Spoilers for the show of course, you were warned

As much as I don't want to invoke the wrath of Gaiman - who also frequents the tumblr - negative points for not fitting Enter Sandman in the entire show.

A strange observation but, is it me but ever since Game of Thrones Charles Dance seems to only do small or low-screentime roles now; Godzilla King of the Monsters, Dracula Untold and now Sandman, he's great but because he's great it's curious that he doesn't do many long-term roles

Dream's casting was great, and props to Tom Sturridge for carrying an aura of menace and power in the first episode while butt naked

One of the very few things I knew of The Sandman comics was ol' toothy eyes, The Corinthian, and boy howdy was Boyd Holbrook fantastic, he's one of the five characters, including Sturridge as Dream, I feel dominates every scene they're in, he's a great charismatic but manipulative villain

The Gregory stuff made me sad, the show did have a fair amount of moments where it's meant to be sad and uncomfortable, but at the same time I don't want to be that sad or that uncomfortable

Liked the river scene, it's super artsy and dark. I wish we had more of that from this series, stuff like in this gif where Dream is as chilling as any nightmare he created, would've liked to see more of the Fates too

I do love some Jenna Coleman, been a fan all the way back since she debuted on Emmerdale, but, it didn't feel like her role in her episode was enough to necessitate the Constantine nod. Jenna could've been a regular sorcerer, or even an immortal Johanna. I dunno I think I just kinda hoped to see Matt Ryan reprise as John, especially since DC is killing the Arrowverse. Maybe DC didn't wanna play ball or Neil has S2 plans for her, but we needed more of Jenna to establish Johanna.

Speaking of potential Season 2, Hell. The Hell Episode was great, mainly because of standout no.3: Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer. Tom Ellis' Lucifer series wasn't something I quite got into, I heard rumblings of it ending dumbly, but Christie's Lucifer is amazingly sinister but in a quiet way, they know who they are so they don't need to threaten, but there is that twinge of sadness and longing that Dream exploits in their Oldest Game

Though 'anti-life' felt like a cheat, I did like the Oldest Game. The wink nudge of Lucifer picking a direwolf but then, by my interpretation, Morpheus choosing hope to corner Lucifer into submitting rather than become something that would diminish their own hope. Matthew the raven gets props as well for giving Morpheus the inspirational pep talk

24/7 was one of those cases where it was a great episode but one I was greatly uncomfortable with, sometimes my own fault like forgetting that Bette's son is in college. But this does explore why John Dee's views on a perfect world is twisted and the Ruby is not safe in his hands, I did feel especially bad for Bette

Oh, John Dee is no.4, David Thewlis man. As much as Dee was unnerving, apathetic, and calculating, Thewlis did a great job in showing the childlike innocence that had been contorted by his sheltered life and manipulation, there is poetic irony that he wants a world of honesty but consistently deceives himself.

Episode 6 was perhaps my favourite, among my comic knowledge was the presentation of Death in Gaiman's story as a joyful punk rock girl who is full of life, Kirby Howell-Baptiste did a great job. I did of course feel extra sad when she approached the cradle, instant thoughts of 'no, not the baby!' in my mind, I don't know enough of her character to wonder if she still feels burdened by the abruptness of some people dying but there can be time for that later

What made it my favourite though was the Hob storyline, it was just nice and wholesome really and it explored more of Morpheus' ever-shrinking distance from humanity

The Vortex storyline I wasn't as sold on as the 'Morpheus reclaims his powers' storyline, it was still good but it did sit in the real world more than the fantasy

I enjoyed the whole house of people and Lyta, and how they all supported Rose in her search for her brother, plus the connection with Unity to merge the storylines together

Probably what made me not so connected to the Vortex storyline in spite of it having the Corinthian be the main villain is the nature of the Vortex, we're told very little about its nature and the 'I don't know' answer does feel weak, she is powerful just because

Morpheus also seems to take two steps back on his character development too, to go from Death telling him that they are not better than humans, should learn to take people's help and him accepting that he and Hob are friends to 'I will use this Vortex, a threat to the dreaming and waking world entirely just to bait some rogue nightmares' and also dismiss Gault's suggestion that even nightmares can change and want did feel like he was undoing his own work

Didn't quite like the Rumpelstiltskin vibe he was giving out with saying he'd come for Lyta's baby too, there could've been at least a bit more compassion or explanation, instead it served as a 'misunderstanding' trope to distance Rose from Morpheus

The ending was solid, albeit one which could've used a bit more explanation. Desire was a character we saw so little of - much like Cain and Abel, whose dynamic reminded me of Hilda and Zelda in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - and even though we have them outright tell Despair that they are the mastermind of Morpheus' imprisonment and the Vortex arc, we don't actually see any of their actions, just an off-comment by Unity that clocks Morpheus in on the deception.

I feel like, while Gaiman may've intended to keep the audience out of loop, it may've served better to see Desire perform at least one action that guided the plot around, even if it was just to twirl a fake mustache, and explain how they intended to use the Vortex to be Morpheus' undoing, since there seems to be rules for not killing an endless' kin not established in the series (that I recall anyway) was the plan, but since I don't understand what that would lead to it's hard to understand the threat.

Overall I liked it, going in mainly blind I do have my questions but we had a great cast all doing really well, and I want to see more of it, so it laid some strong groundwork we can hopefully build towards.

[lofi-tophat]

Let’s talk about the 70s punk scene and HWS England

I sometimes feel that the fandom doesn’t give England’s love for punk/rock music much justice. Some authors usually write about this human AU in which Arthur wants to be a rockstar and some others plainly avoid the topic whatsoever. Which is a pity because I actually believe the whole character has a deep punk reference, specially regarding appearence (might expand on this in another post but basically, for me, England seems like some random bushy browed anime 70s punk guy who suddenly has to put on a suit and attend world meetings, which is both fascinating and hilarious).

So I thought maybe we could dive a bit into very general punk history and then I’d like to share with you some hc regarding England’s involvement with punk culture in general (if you just want to read the hcs just scroll down to the last paragraph with the bullet ponts).

My experience in punk stuff is actually that I’m kind of a metalhead lol. Metalheads and punks had and probably still have a deeply-rooted rivalry. However, punk influenced metal a lot, and metal also influenced punk. So I stumbled upon many punk facts while browsing about my favorite metal bands. 

Take this as historical hetalia... but counterculture historical hetalia :D (which is something we need more in the fandom, btw, I know military history is cool but its also cool how humans expressed themselves through art, fashion and music when they felt the pressure of authority and the frustration of society).

Historical context

Let’s return a bit in time and remember the 60s. The 60s were this blessed time in which people tried to defeat the establishment with peace and love. The hippie movement is from this decade and it influenced a lot on how people thought and behaved. In terms of counterculture, I must say this is a fascinating time in history (I recently discovered psychodelic science and its so incredible what was being talked back then).

Anyways, although a lot of young people were into this discourse of love and peace, some weren’t really that happy about it. In Europe, the post-war situation was sad and a lot of young people either were jobless or had the shittiest jobs you could imagine. Politics were also depressing. This was the origin not only for punk but also for other genres of heavy music, such as metal: People who didn’t want to be all happy and peaceful and had the need to express their frustration and anger, shouting about how society was fucked up. They needed an outlet.

Origins of punk

The origins of punk music are actually not quite clear. In fact, the US and the UK both claim that punk music was born in their country. Funnily enough, my country also claims to be the origin of punk (I’ll leave this mini-doc for you. Sadly, I don’t think this is a correct claim, mainly because their music was in spanish and I doubt that major punk bands took them as reference. Its a cool band tho).

I have to side with americans on this: The arguments for the american origins of punk are quite solid. The Ramones were the first actual punk band out there. They were active since 1974. Their music had all the elements of punk and, chronologically, they were the first ones performing this type of sound.

However, they didn’t have the aesthetic. That actually was a british invention. American punk had still leather jackets, jeans and sneakers. British punk? Well, remember all those ripped pants and shirts you commonly associate with punk? Yes, those were the Sex Pistols all along. They were the ones introducing the attitude and the style. The Pistols had some insane performances and a huge shock-value that can’t be found in early american punk. So you can safely say that your image of what a punk is is based mainly on the Pistols (also, for singing anti-authoritarian lyrics, they actually were managed by some dude who had a fashion shop. So yeah...).

Punk attitude or philosophy or whatever

The reason why I addressed the rockstar thing at the start of the post is because I find it curious. Punk is characterized by the whole Do It Yourself attitude and breaking with the establishment. Anarchism in punk is scandalizing people since there is no authority whatsoever. There wasn’t really any deep philosophy behind all of this, nor any political movement. Punk has nothing to do with a formal anarchist philosophy (which actually exists and has nothing to do with disorder). However, punk is characterized by the anti-establihsment lyrics. Remember, this is all about scandalizing people (which sometimes took great lengths). Presentations from british punk bands were also quite wild those days. They involved a lot of insults, spitting and, of course, pogo.

So, it is obvious that there is this deep concern about turning into a sellout, a pretty common fear in any underground scene. Authenticity was encouraged. Aspiring rockstars really didn’t have much mercy in the community so to speak, at least in this specific period. 

I would also like to add how punk had other aspects beside the music. For example, fanzines were pretty popular in the punk scene in the 70s and a great way to engage with what was going on with bands and music. I remember also this interview of this band in which they remembered how a very high guy decided to recite his poem while the band was playing. So, yeah, literature, illustration, fashion and other stuff were involved in the punk scene too.

British punk was also characterized by a very nihilistic attitude and a total disregard for previous influences. 1977, a song by The Clash, stated:

No Elvis, Beatles, or the Rolling Stones!

Now, for the important stuff: The music. Punk music is all about being simple. Punk musicians aren’t really known for their virtuosity in their instruments, something that actually inspired musicians from a lot of heavy bands later. In fact, the famous Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols never could learn how to play the bass. So the band disconnected his instrument from the amplifier and he only had to pretend to play. The guy actually tried to learn how to play bass but music wasn’t exactly his talent. He had tons of punk attitude though, and that was the reason why his band didn’t kick him out. 

Vocals are usually shouted, the rythm is fast and the riffs are quite simple. In fact, there is this famous publication on a 1976 british fanzine that stated:

This is a chord

This is another

This is a third

Now form a band

HWS England and the 70s punk scene and onwards 

Thanks to his immortality, it is obvious that England had to experience the 70s in all their glory (what a lucky bastard). Was he there? Hell yes. As I explained before in some of my hc posts, nations represent the population more than their Government, so I really believe that England felt the frustration from that post-wwii decade and he probably also felt pissed about this. Working for the Government must have felt really frustrating during those years. 

In the past, he probably would have tried to take his ship and sail the seas or whatever, but that was not possible in the modern era. I guess that’s how he discovered punk. 

Now, rock existed in England before punk. I mean, the Beatles, duh. So Arthur wouldn’t have been completely ignorant about rock music in general. Contrary to popular belief I don’t imagine him being that much of a beatlemaniac though. Sure he likes them, but the music didn’t resonated with him as much. But boy, that first time he heard the Pink Fairies in 1971 (Yes, this was an actual band, a proto-punk band)? Yeah, he could relate more to that.

More detailed stuff here:

Pubs were crucial for the development of punk music. They were these spaces in which bands could play, a venue to discover new music. Yes, Arthur must have been a regular in a lot of these pubs.

Fanzines probably fascinated Arthur as an outlet for his own writings and silly drawings. He probably created a cringey pseudonym and collaborated with a lot of them. 

Its canon that England likes to critic american movies, and, taking from there, I think he’s the type of guy that has an opinion for everything. So I can imagine him also writing about what bands he enjoyed and what bands sucked.

Yeah, I can also see him being drunk and just reciting a poem while some rock band played behind.

With some ability, and a lil bit of tricks, Arthur could escape normal Government activities and perform with punk bands at nights. People were so into the music that he had no problem passing by.

Some cover art in CDs show Enlgland with a guitar and a bass (yes, not many people remember the bass cover art). So he probably plays both guitar and bass. He also probably plays the drums. Of course, he’s no virtuoso and he only knows the most basic stuff in those three instruments. I can see him being into songwriting tho.

Music equipment:

Guitar: Definetely a Telecaster

Bass: Fender P-bass and I can also see him having a Rickenbacker 4001

All these instruments are full with stickers. Punk instruments look really cool btw. (I wish my bass could look like those I see in certain punk bands)

England’s probably the kind of guy that doesn’t cut his strings at the head of his guitar.

He can actually play guitar/bass and sing at the same time.

England plays bass with a pick (what an asshole, we bassists know picks are not allowed)

Contrary to popular belief, I can see England appreciating good rock music from other countries and supporting them. He probably insists that punk music was born in the UK though.

1977: The Queen was going to celebrate her silver jubilee. And England had no problem with this. He really had none... but he HAD to be in that boat trip with the Sex Pistols. There’s no way he was going to miss that. He later had to explain his abscence that day to his Government officials (Btw, my hc for England’s relationship with his monarchy is “It’s complicated”. I can explain this later. Just remember that he was really pissed those days)

I can see Arthur in general being really involved with the scene. A lot of the stuff they were making actually matches with his canon interests and even personality. So he probably enjoyed those days and felt quite at home. I can even say that, for a long time, he hadn’t felt that kind of connection with his own people.

Although I can see England being attracted by the nihilism in the scene, I think his romanticism protects him from embracing it fully.

England had to live a double-life during this era. Not that it was new for him.

Arthur was pierced several times by some random, drunk teenagers. He doesn’t remember who tho. He was also drunk. Obviously his piercings close really fast, unless he has a permanent jewel in there.

I can actually see England expanding his music taste. Although punk is in his heart, it wouldn’t be strange for me that he’s overall a rock nerd and enjoys other genres, specially those with fast drum beats and heavy riffs. So I can see him having some metal favorites too, having a certain taste for prog rock and even digging into hardcore.

I’m still unsure if England would have been a massive Pistols fan as fanfics usually portray him. I mean, maybe? I would say he is definetely into acts such as the Pink Fairies (I mean, c’mon, its perfect). The Clash and the Damned probably also have a place in his heart.

After the punk scene dried out (the 80s weren’t that great for punk music although it was the birth of even heavier forms of music based on punk), England also was eager about the new genres flourishing during these times based on punk. Acts like folk punk might have had an appeal for him. He’s also fond of the punk-ish bands from the 90s like Green Day.

“Punk will never die!” shouted England while stage diving in some random small concert. He likes to support new bands these days.

The most fascinating thing, maybe in a more poetic sense, is that England’s immortality probably also helps him to keep up a punk spirit as much as his nationhood allows him, instead of aging poorly and angry like a lot of punk musicians... I mean, he aged poorly, but for other reasons lmao.

[deepdonutkid]

Peaky Blinders- modern Headcanons

First things first… these head canons are actually not real head canons in the common sense. A fellow writer friend and I work on story about the Shelby Family living in the 21. Century. The Story is called ‘We know this to be true’, but it’s unpublished, as this is a thing between said friend and me, but because we are both Peaky Blinders fans we talk a lot about the series and the characters. Due to this, we had lot ideas about how the family will act and behave in the modern times. Well, it would make no sense to upload the story itself, because it’s written like a roleplay and not like a fanfiction. So I’ll just list this kinda head canons and upload them, because my friend and I noticed that there is a lack of vanilla and non-sexual head canons. But I should mention… this is the first thing I write in English. It’s not my native language, which makes it a little difficult. I always feared not writing in German, my native language, because I didn’t thought my English was good enough for this, even though I never had problems with speaking English or getting good grades. This is still a little challenge for me, so I’ll start with something easy… like just general thoughts about the characters in the modern setting, so I don’t have to explain them later.

General assumptions

Freddie and Ada married, but he didn’t die… Of course… in the 21. Century, he would get sick and die due to that. (Well, we talked about that before Covid-19… so maybe that still be a thing, but just for now, we’ll stick with modern medicine or agree, that Freddie and Ada would be in self-quarantine together)  

Freddie wouldn’t be a unionist, as this position is not, what it used to be. Instead we thought that he’ll be a left hacktivist, fighting with Computer, Programs and Codes against the establishment and big transnational companies. And Ada would probably join him, because in the series she does the same. (After Freddie died in the first episode of season 2, she still was a communist for a period of time, so this is likely.)

They are still very left and anti-fascist. I would even say they are vegan, as people nowadays don’t rely on eating meat any more.

They already had Carl and they’re getting two daughters, Rosa- after Rosa Luxemburg- and Clara- after Clara Zetkin

-.-.-.-

Arthur has an expansive hobby… repairing old-timers.

He is not very good with mobile devices or IT itself, but he tries.

The three brothers, Danny, Jimmy Jesus, and probably also Freddie all went to war, but of course not the First World War, but somewhere in the middle-east.

-.-.-.-

After the deployment Tommy was wrecked. The medical after care for soldiers didn’t help him at all, but now he has medication for PTSD. He refused to take them on a regular basis instead he works his ass of. So somethings are still the same! But that’s the reasons the Shelby LLC actually had success and they are kinda rich now.

He still has a thing for horses and riding, but he works too much to actually do it. But he owns a few horses and stuff like that. And he is still a heavy smoker. After his second child he finally decides to quit, but it doesn’t last long.

He would still name his first son, Charlie, but not because of the stupid Chaplin thing with Grace. Tommy had a sentimental moment, where he decided to name his son after his uncle, who was more like a father to him than his father.

-.-.-.-.-

The Shelby LLC has an office in London and John runs it. He also works a lot for the family, but lives in London now. His apartment is pretty nice and hella expensive. It’s a penthouse suite with a beautiful view of the city, but he lives alone. Yeah, we thought the getting married at such a young age and having lots of children thing was a little out of date, but he’ll get married someday and then he’ll have just as much kids as canon. It’s unthinkable that John doesn’t get to be a father, but same goes with the other brothers.

Like all the Shelbys he is tattooed, but he hast a full sleeve. John only trusts one tattoo artist in Birmingham. And he’s also interested in music, post-punk, alternative, punk and rock, but he wouldn’t even dance, if you force him to. He literally can’t dance! And he hates techno so much; he thinks it’s just strange noises.  BUT… he has a huge vinyl and record collection! He stole the first CDs as a child, because he didn’t had the money.

-.-.-.-

Finn goes to a private school and is quite popular. He also has every common app. Snapchat, Insta, TikTok… like everything you can think of. Due to his style he has become an influencer.

One time he filmed how Michael dyed Adas hair pink. She wanted to do something crazy and he likes to record everything for his fans.

-.-.-.-.-

Michael found Polly, after he was 18. Then he searched for his mother. She was so happy, when he came back to her.

After his law school, he wants to work the Shelby LLC. Polly is against that, but the discussion is still on the table. Tommy supports that though, because they may need a lawyer.

-.-.-.-

This was it for now. Stay tuned! Every now and then I’ll update this and make head canons about any kind of topic. I already planned social media usage, music, food, clothes, hobbies, drug usage and others.

[alysemeadfad]

𝕽𝖊𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖔𝖓

Most would say its easy for a teenager to rebel at any point in time, but I find it hard to rebel in any way, most teens get tattoos, piercings, cut and dye their hair to rebel against their parents, but growing up with a mom who is tattooed, hair in fun dyed styles and piercings, I’m really just following in her footsteps she practically encourages. 

The only thing I rebel against is tidying my room and making cups of tea, cant really say I could start a world changing rebellion on that.

Rebellions i find important

1903–18 — Women’s Suffrage Movement The foundation of the Women’s Social and Political Union by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903 began a more militant phase of the call for votes for women, which had been growing through the end of the 19th century. The Suffragettes used militant tactics like vandalism, arson, bombing and hunger strikes, with one member committing public suicide by throwing herself under the King’s horse at a race in 1913. The movement was wound up when some women were enfranchised in the 1918 Representation of the People Act, before all women over 21 were given the vote in 1928.

Suffragette Vera Wentworth in 1909, and the dress by Vaquera that it inspired

Stonewall riots 28 Jun 1969 – 3 Jul 1969 The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

It is said that Marsha P. Johnson was the one who started the rebellion. Supposedly, throughout the bustle of the raid, Marsha threw a shot glass into a mirror and shouted, ” I got my civil rights!”.  With this inspiration and resistance against the police, other patrons began to follow.

Present day- Me Too movement.The Me Too movement, with variations of related local or international names, is a social movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment towards women, where people publicize allegations of sex crimes.

The Punk Rebellion

the punk involved no protests or riots, it impacted people, fashion, music, society and everything to be honest.

The punk subculture advocates a do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic. During the subculture's infancy members were almost all from a lower economic class, and had become tired of the affluence that was associated with popular rock music at the time. Punks would publish their own music or sign with small independent labels, in hopes to combat what they saw as a money hungry music industry. The DIY ethic is still popular with punks.ideology's of punks

Ideology

Punk political ideologies are mostly concerned with individual freedom and anti-establishment views. Common punk viewpoints include individual liberty, anti-authoritarianism, a DIY ethic, non-conformity, anti-collectivism, anti-corporatism, anti-government, direct action and not "selling out".

Some groups and individuals that self-identify as being a part of punk subculture hold right-wing views. The belief that such views are opposed to the original ethos of the punk subculture, and its history, has led to internal conflicts and an active push against such views being considered part of punk subculture at all. Two examples of this are an incident during the 2016 American Music Awards, where the band Green Day chanted anti-conservative, anti-racist, and anti-fascist messages, and an incident at a show by the Dropkick Murphys, when bassist and singer Ken Casey, tackled an individual for giving a nazi-style salute and later stated that nazis are not welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show. Band member Tim Brennan later reaffirmed this sentiment. The song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" by hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys has come to be considered an anti-nazi anthem.

VIV WESTWOOD

Rejecting the hippie ethos that was fashionable towards the end of the 1960s, Westwood and McLaren created clothes that referenced youth culture's recent past, selling rock'n'roll fashion in a shop unit at 430 King's Road in Chelsea. In 1974, the shop took on its most notorious identity: SEX, with Westwood and McLaren designing fetish wear that they sold to prostitutes, those with 'underground' sexual tastes, and young proto-punks brave enough to take a seriously edgy look out onto the street. The pair enjoyed shocking people, designing garments and shoes that referenced 'deviant' sexual practices, including rubber dresses and stilettos bristling with spikes.

How punk influenced me, because it influenced the world

My take on rebellion

Westwood inspired tights.

after watching a documentary on vivien westwood and the birth of the punk revolution i created some westwood inspired tights as a little spontaneous brainstorm, did not develop any further on the tights.

i used a pair of brand new white tights and put holes all in them, this is non conformist as if a regular pair of tights had a hole you would bin them as they were no good any more, but purposely putting holes in is quite rebellious in that aspect, i used sharpies to draw triggering symbols and words such as a swastikka and ‘punk fag’ .

crayon drawings

i used crayons to create these images as i thought it was a more rebellious medium and its created for kids so that is non conforming and it gives a rough diy finish look making it look slightly unfinished

i created a lesbian nun, this was a spur of the mind thought whats socially good and respected? a nun? whats the opposite of what a nun preaches, homo behavior. 

here i did a little barbie series drawing from observational on one and on another from mind and another from an image which i created by burning a barbie ehich is quite a rebellious act in a way. 

Collages

i decided to do some collages as its a way of just slapping ideas out in a visual format, my first one was using a fashion magazine and i realized this was the way to go so i printed some punk imagery and even used my own crayon drawings to create more collages.

photo shop

i wanted to mess with these collages more on a digital format so i put them in to photo shop to play with them and generate more ideas this was giving me a poster vibe which reminded me of punk posters.

 Final ideas

i used images from the new york trip to create a vision on photo shop, using a light of the american flag,sign posts, bins with posters on them.a clip art image of a chain and lock,street art and stickers i saw on poles in the street which is another form or street art which is quite rebellious as its not socially acceptable to vandalize and graffiti on public areas.

i took a few elements from the last board and included them in this vision board, i really wanted the main focus to be on the pipe that says “the rich killed nyc” i feel like it has a deep meaning behind it and it is quite rebellious as it reminded me of the punk rebellion in the uk as it was mostly lower class working people who used art, music and fashion to rebel against society and social constructs and actively non conform to the “rules” in a way. i also used a sticker that says jesus loves you and i crossed it out and wrote hate you over the loves you part as that is fitting to my rebellious visions.

in this board i again used “ the rich killed nyc” pipe as that’s my main surrounding element, i uses another pole with stickers on though you cant really tell what the stickers are, it just fits the aesthetic. i used a statue of liberty as she is known as a symbol of freedom, and along side it i used a photo of a photograph i saw in the modern art museum where this person had dyke tattooed on their neck which is a derogatory word to gay women, and that’s quite rebellious to take a bad word and own it by tattooing it on your body .

in this board i moved away from “the rich killed nyc” pipe as i felt i needed to come away from that one element for one board and to broaden my ideas. in this one i used a sky line image i took when on the ferry to liberty island, i changed the colour to black and white as the original colours of the image are quite blue and orangy, i used a sign post that says one way as it for some reason reminded me of like “one way to hell” or something and that there feels like there is no choice or individuality in the phrase “one way” . i used text over the sky line that says “the rotten apple” as new york city is known as the big apple and i thought, when i was there it did not remind me of a big fresh beautiful apple as the homeless people on the streets and the graffiti that has no artistic intent, so it was more of a rotten apple in a way. i used an image of the american flag i took on liberty island as i used an image of an american flag light, so i thought i could link back to that idea and use an actual flag, as its to represent freedom. i also used a art piece from the modern art gallery which was just a male mannequin wearing a bra which does not fit the social constrict of what men should wear there for its quite rebellious and opposite to the one way system. 

in my final board i included the american flag, a chain over it completely doing the opposite of what the flag means which is freedom, i used the bun that says don’t be afraid of anyone with an edited red paint drip on it which kind of looks like blood, i used text that says “ the rich killed nyc” as i loved that phrase bit i over used the pole in the other boards and i liked that my main message is that the rich killed nyc, i used an image of my dr martens that i took while my feet were up against a pole as i sat on a tube, showing anti social behavior basically which is stereo typically rebellious,and also dr martens were quite fashionable in the uk punk rebellion so i’m hinting to my idea that was inspired by the uk punk rebellion, and finally i have a set of traffic lights which are about order and control, the light is also on red which signifies danger, and the word stop which fits to my idea.

[hollenius]

Talking Heads: Are These Guys Trying To Give Rock A Bad Name?

Having fun trawling the internet for more old interviews and things with different bands & musicians. Here’s a Talking Heads one from 1977.

Talking Heads: Are These Guys Trying To Give Rock A Bad Name?

Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 25 June 1977

TALKING HEADS: it's a term they use up in the high-rise skyscrapers that house all the cogs in the corporate machinery cranking out network television for the American people.

The big-wigs in the boardroom – the William Holdens and Robert Duvalls of Network land – have a name for the lowest common-denominator programme non-personalities – the newscaster, weather-reporters, and other old warhorses who sit head and shoulders directly on camera mouthing out their obligatory tasks. These are the "talking heads" of American TV land; utterly boring, but necessary.

Talking heads with greying hair, dabs of make-up and dandruff removed from the shoulders of their suit-jackets, they sit austerely informing the public of the nation's daily occurences – the rapes and murders, the military campaigns abroad, the latest government manouevres. No opinions, no subjective slant to their reports – they simply precis it down, feed it out to those millions of tubes and when it's over they go away, back to the bar or to the suburban home, wife and kids.

David Byrne, guitarist and singer for the Talking Heads, an American rock group, has a song that he wrote and performs entitled 'Don't Worry About The Government'. It usually gets played early on in the set, with no prefacing explanation – just Byrne's reedy high-pitched voice almost stammering "This next song is called..."

And every time he introduced it to an audience in England, certain factions would snigger or boo or howl derisively because Talking Heads after all are a NEW WAVE group and if you are a New Wave group you must write direct anti-status quo, sloganeering songs of dissent. Just like The Clash or Chelsea or...

But Byrne's song isn't like that at all.

It's about an ordinary man who owns an apartment in some American suburb and who lives a quiet, fairly inconsequential existence, going to work in the morning and returning in the evening, who gains pleasure from life simply through drinking wine with friends or reading a book. There is no hint of moral castigation, no hint of cynicism, Byrne just places himself in his character's psyche and explains himself through his song.

It's a rare talent this, something much closer to the art of the very best short-story writers, a talent that only Ray Davies and Randy Newman before him, out of all the thousands of post-war song-writers, have bothered to identify with and explore perceptively.

"I just thought," said Byrne, "that lyrics could be used to strip down conversations, just normal day-to-day converstions and dialogues, and strip away all the phoney embellishments and posturing right down to essentials so that they would actually say something directly, without having to throw in all the 'Oh yeah, baby' or 'Hey, bitch I'm coming to get ya right now' or...

"Pa-a-arty," chips in Jerry Harrison, the Talking Heads' keyboard player.

Everybody laughs.

NOT AN easy band to write about, these Talking Heads. They mystify arid confuse simply because they so patently lack any dint of the arch brand of mystique that forms a patented cloak for the rock star enigma. Four intelligent, straightforward individuals, the very straightforward nature of their music and their image is somehow unique to the genre they have chosen to work within.

Not that the press haven't attempted time and time again to write about them, almost always in flattering terms.

They emerged as a live attraction in the hot summer of 1975 when Manhattan's CBGB's had suddenly been designated the centre-point of all new-wave rock activity, and were immediately slotted in with the likes of Television, Patti Smith, The Ramones, and Heartbreakers as the pace-setters right there at the vanguard of this brave new scene. Convenient tags like 'punk' and 'art-rock' found themselves strange bed-fellows in numerous articles consummated by the inevitable bandying of the term 'minimalism'.

New York rock critics, having witnessed the ugly death of the New York Dolls brand of gashed-up rock, latched on fast to this new austerely dressed-down form of the music, and the Talking Heads, suddenly caught in the swell, found themselves holding down the cover of the prestigious Village Voice with a photograph taken at only their third gig. Inside was a rave-review of said show with an extensive article.

Since then, coverage has been as extensive as it has been perplexingly unforthcoming in regard to mere bottom line info on what the band were actually all about.

What was disclosed was that the band was a trio then, led by the angular, neurotic-looking Byrne who carried all guitar, vocal and composing chores, while the bass-player was a slight blonde-haired girl called Tina Weymouth whose basic feminist features were undermined by a slightly asexual manner. Drummer Chris Frantz was baby-faced and pleasantly effeminate.

Their music, though, seemed incapable of being pigeon-holed and continually presented reviewers with a daunting problem.

Having witnessed the band on four separate occasions over this last highly successful European tour, it became at once apparent that the care of Talking Heads' repertoire – principally Byrne's songs – is not something that casual acquaintance can unveil. At first, they intrigue as much as they bemuse, but the deeper you dig the more you uncover. Like Television, Talking Heads must be divorced from pigeon-holed surroundings because there is nothing currently existing in the rock context that they can be favourably compared to.

Byrne's melodies are so insidious that they often totally by-pass the conventional quarters that rock music usually attempts to stimulate, instead going deeper, often lodging themselves in your subconscious. One song, after I'd witnessed the band only once at the Rock Garden, somehow kept manifesting itself in my dreams – this strange, utterly disarming descending chord motif would haunt me until I'd wake up desperately trying to recall it. It was only later that I even got to learn the song's title, 'The Book I Read'.

THIS IS how the band's music works – in a way that transcends conventional avenues of 'rock criticism' where parallels to established musical forms become redundant and trite. When one has finally achieved some intimacy and contact with the repertoire, the music alone is overwhelming at times. One song – Byrne's 'I'm Not In Love' – twists and turns, its twined guitar rhythms chattering and spitting like snap-dragons with sudden unsettling changes, its chorus brash and pointedly announced – before it charges off, climaxing in a devastating one chord richochet of sound. Each song takes on a personality of its own as one becomes more and more acquainted – the jagged paranoid thrashings of 'What Is It?' full of technical malevolence, the richly textured abrasive changes of 'No Compassion', that utterly disarming motif to 'The Book I Read'.

Similarly the lyrics make themselves apparent in this same insidious fashion, via sudden dazzling couplets or single lines that grab you as Byrne's introvert-gone-psychotic delivery tortuously builds up and up, eyes reeling like wild horses in a flood, his pitching often totally awry but his sheer intensity galvanising because this man is truly grabbing hold of his songs, each and every utterance, like a drowning man grabbing straws.

Byrne's performance is, in fact, full of the tortured passion and gut-commitment that many of us were hoping for and found so disappointingly lacking in Tom Verlaine's recent shows in Britain. Like Verlaine, Byrne is totally the master of his chosen medium, yet there is an edge to Byrne that is so much more human.

Where Verlaine is oh-so calculatingly distant, Byrne's thrashing desperate need to communicate his songs grants his music a whole other dimension of sheer humanity and warmth a million light years removed from the cold arch-romanticism of Television's guiding light.

OFF-STAGE, sitting with his cohorts in Talking Heads, Byrne exudes all the cooped-up mannerisms of a caged bird. He seems to be suffering from some arch nervous defect that would need a constant ingestion of valium to assuage. Twitching almost, he sits hunched up in a chair, ungainly like a parody of look-alike Tony Perkins. When he talks, his voice is weak and reedy and often his attempts to explain certain facets of his songs – particularly his lyrics – lead him into weird tangential awkward ramblings that cause other members of the band, Tina Weymouth in particular, to open displays of ridicule which make him even more edgy. He looks embarrassed and bows his head slightly.

Observing him, I can't help feeling concerned for his obvious discomfort, as if any form of socializing causes the man to undergo real psychic pain. He later admits to the gross discomfort of what is really just a fairly casual conversation, and claims that performing affords him infinite more relaxation.

"I can express parts of my personality on stage that I would never dare do in any other context."

Byrne's past remains obscured by the haziness of his own recollections. He talks about working in art galleries in the past, though he didn't in fact paint, while he claims his previous vocation while in college was to write up detailed questionnaires, until song-writing became an infinitely more agreeable pastime.

In contrast, the other three members of Talking Heads carry themselves in this social set-up with an ease and general open-ness.

Tina Weymouth appears fairly disinterested at first, more concerned with scanning the pages of the latest Oui, but is suddenly forthcoming when a question is either directed her way or else grabs her attention. Chris Frantz seems perfectly in sync with the whole interview routine, lavishing over most of his answers with great and entertainingly 'camp' detail.

And then there is Jerry Harrison, the newest member in the group, a veteran of only six months or less, but who has already obviously orientated himself into the consortium with great alacrity. Harrison is the most locquacious of the band and, with Frantz, the most forthcoming. His history as a musician is already full of worthy fodder for discourse, since he started his career as an integral founding force with Jonathon Richman in the Modern Lovers, about whom his reminiscences are nothing if not extremely witty.

"Well, you probably know that we started the Modern Lovers as a real cause – y'know, we were anti-drugs for a start, due to the fact that at that time in the States all the kids were just oohing themselves on quaaludes. So we'd go onstage and start our sets with this number called 'I'm Straight' which would immediately cause all the audience to start throwing things – oh, rotten fruit, bottles, cans, anything – at us."

The Lovers' history was short due firstly to their corporate snooty attitude to playing clubs of the ilk of Max's Kansas City – "We didn't want to be associated with the N.Y. Dolls or this or that...so we never played anywhere" – plus the traumas that followed the band being signed by John Cale to Warner Bros, who after financing an album (produced by Cale – it was finally released last year by Beserkley) decided to drop the band, leaving them penniless in Los Angeles.

Even when the album was being made, Harrison claims there were problems.

"Well this was around the time when Jonathan was starting to want to write and sing only happy songs (laughs). So there'd be continual arguments between Cale and him over how we should sing certain numbers. Cale would be saying 'Now, Jonathon, I want you to sing this in a mean way. And Jonathon would just look at him, y'know – 'Mean? I won't sing mean! I don't feel mean!"

"And he (Richman) kept going through changes of direction. Like one time he'd be totally into the Velvet Underground and early Stooges, and then he was suddenly enamoured with Van Morrison's Astral Weeks and he'd want to alter his whole style. Also he's a total astrology freak. You know that song, 'Astral Plane'? Well he was always having these visions – or so he said – and writing songs about them. Things like....oh God (he starts laughing again) 'I saw you by, the waterway, the waterway, the waterway' – just on and on. We'd have to tell him to forget it."

After the Modern Lovers broke up, Richman briefly went onstage backed only by a bunch of kids beating rolled-up newspapers in time to his songs, before disappearing altogether for a long spell to (according to John Cale) lock himself in his bedroom.

When Harrison is asked whether he feels more comfortable being in Talking Heads than Richman's motley crew he simply sighs, "Infinitely."

MUCH OF the conversation is taken up with the subject of the British New Wave and how the remarkably civilised T. Heads have found themselves having to cope with the more agressive elements at their concerts, particularly as they've been supporting the head-banger's friend, The Ramones.

Seems the atmosphere has never actually soured and that circumstances have been pretty agreeable all the way along.

From the other new wave bands of this country, T. Heads claim not to have incurred any particular animosity.

"Only Rat Scabies has caused a scene," claims Weymouth. "He appeared backstage at the Greyhound in Croydon and tried to get one of us to fight him. When we showed ourselves to be totally disinterested in that course of action, he contented himself with spitting on the floor and walking out. I felt rather sorry for him."

Meanwhile back in New York, the band have yet to break out of the New York club circuit set-up they've been working in for at least the last two years.

A record deal with Sire (whose head, Seymour Stein, is the only executive to have fully committed himself to the New Wave, having also inked The Ramones, Richard Hell, and now, apparently, The Dead Boys, – a Cleveland pastiche of England's punk excesses) has produced the single 'Love Goes To Building On Fire', an addictive though comparatively slight song from the band's repertoire.

A Talking Heads album however is scheduled for September release produced by Tony Bongiovi and with five backing tracks already in the can. Ten tracks are scheduled – all Byrne originals including 'Pyschokiller', 'The Book I Read', 'No Compassion', 'Happy Day', and 'I'm Not In Love', the only unfortunate matter being the probable exclusion of the band's brilliantly terse rendering of Al Green's 'Take Me To The River'.

The band are still a guaranteed sell-out at C.B.G.B.'s on any given night, a not inconsiderable feat as many other similarly prestigious local bands are unable apparently to do the same – and on their own minor league waterfront they've gauged a strong cult audience.

But then there is something extremely addictive about this band's music – potent enough to make Byrne an object of paranoid fear in the eyes of Tom Verlaine (who according to Weymouth is very nervous of Byrne's status on the New York scene – as perverted a compliment as anything that can be divined from Verlaine's psyche one supposes). Meanwhile Byrne is also considered the most singularly brilliant new songwriter currently in the States by John Cale, and even Lou Reed has lent a sizeable quota of suspiciously paternal advice.

Weymouth: "Yeah, I'd say he was actually genuinely trying to help us. I wouldn't say he was trying to rip us off, for example."

Byrne: "That's not true."

Weymouth: "How can you say that, David? I mean..."

Byrne: "Because he told me he ripped some of my ideas off. Not that I'm angry or anything."

How did the...uh gentleman go about this paternal business then?

"God...he'd invite us round to his apartment and insult us for a solid hour, particularly me. He'd always insult the clothes I was wearing, or my shoes. Then after that, he'd start to be more reasonable and actually have an agreeable conversation with us."

Byrne goes silent for a minute and then, for the first time, he seems calm and relaxed.

"Do you want to know...I'll tell you how much we've come on in the last two years, the real symbol of progress in Talking Heads, Now I can go round to Lou Reed's apartment and I can be rude to him!"

[doomedandstoned]

Chattanooga’s Dope Skum Drop Gritty First Spin

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Stompin' southern stoner riffs and great big beats collide with punkish vocals in 'Tanasi' (2021). It's the debut EP from Chattanooga's DOPE SKUM. These guys know it's about to get hot as we transition from winter to spring and on into summer, too. Oh those muggy days in Tennessee! What I miss most about spending time in the Deep South are the cicada at sunset, the smell of honeysuckle during evening strolls, and those damned thunderstorms -- the kind that loom large and loud and'll put the fear of Zeus right in ya.

So new that they're not yet in the oft-referenced Encyclopaedia Metallum, Dope Skum attracted my attention earlier this month when we met on Instagram -- a platform I avoided for years, but have finally come to embrace, if for no better reason than these kinds of spontaneous encounters. They're another child born of the Great Lockdown, a two-piecer with Cody Landress-Gibson on guitar and voice and James Silber on drums. Like many of the duos we've visited recently in this humble rag, Dope Skum bring impressive heft that could easily fool the common bystander into believing they're dang near twice the size.

Cody Landress-Gibson of Dope Skum

Drawn together by their affinity for punk rock and the heaviest of metal, Dope Skum have a distinctive, if eccentric sound that kinda reminds me of Portland's LáGoon, at least in the crooning department. If you look at the history of sludge metal, bands of this kind typically start out as lo-fi punk or thrash and just get slower, meaner, deeper, and heavier over time (I'm thinking of an outfit just one state over, NC's Buzzov*en).

Dope Skum describe their sound as "nastier than an old timer's moonshine mash," which made me wince. Standing on a "rock-solid foundation of sludgy stoner metal with a notable punky inflection" the band is influenced by the likes of Weedeater, Iron Monkey, Eyehategod, and Toke. This is rude, crude, raucous terrain we're entering, people. And I'm sure the guys are just itching like an ankle full of chiggers to take the act to the stage, if they haven't gotten busted for an illegal house show by now.

James Silber of Dope Skum

'Tanasi' (2021) is their 5-track debut, and while trying to look up the meaning of the word -- temporarily mistaking it for the Japanese "Tansai" (which I thought might be a reference to some to some "lightly colored" strain of weed) -- it finally hit me that Tanasi might be referring how folks generations deep in Chattanooga pronounce Tennessee, with characteristic Southern drawl. As if the state-shaped logo on the album cover wasn't clue enough. Truth be told, Tanasi is actually the Native American/Cherokee word that Tennessee is derived from.

Dope Skum are only happy to let the unique character of their surroundings and its fascinating, tangled history leak into the songcraft too, which the guys quip, "recalls simplistic fiddle tunes of yore." They go on describe their first opus to us:

Exuding a gritty DIY ethos and an anti-establishment attitude, 'Tanasi' is deliberately rough around the edges, and doesn’t play by any particular set of rules. There is no ulterior motive, no grand artistic vision. Dope Skum simply play engaging music that appeals to their interests and their roots.

I can definitely get behind that. If you like riffs that can really rumble, honest lyrics delivered with vocals that sting like an onary hornet's nest, and rhythms that swing wide and heavy with stomping Southern swagger, you'll be saying Tanasi in no time! "We wanted to try and create something that was southern, punky, and sludgy," the band concludes. "I think we accomplished that."

Look for the EP to drop this weekend in digital format. I'm sure if you guys dig it, 'twill find its way to a suitable label for a physical release in the near future. I'm currently stuck on a loop between "Anxiety" and "Chickamauga" as my tracks of choice. Doomed & Stoned is pleased to give you a first listen to Dope Skum's Tanasi and let you find a few favs of your own.

Give ear...

Tanasi EP by Dope Skum

Dope Skum Take Us On Tour Of 'Tanasi'

How did Dope Skum become a thing and what tools did you use to create 'Tanasi' (2021)?

Dope Skum started in late-2020 with myself, Cody Landress-Gibson, on guitar and James Silber on drums. Our gear really isn't anything to write home about. On the EP, I played a Harley Benton DC Junior with a single P90 pickup running through a Rat ProCo, Orange Fur Coat Fuzz, and EarthQuaker Devices Ghost Echo at times into a Marshall MG50CFX. James plays a Yamaha drum set with PA Meinl Classics cymbals. It's pretty "working class" gear, nothing too fancy.

What's the story behind the new record?

James and I started jamming and both had a pretty solid idea of the sound we were going for. We wanted something in the same vein as Weedeater, but maintain the ability to throw in elements of different influences we have. I had already written some riffs, and we threw them together to what became the EP. We recorded, mixed, and mastered everything ourselves at my house/garage in Chattanooga.

We'd love a guided tour through the new EP. Can you give us insight into the themes explored in these five monster tracks?

Feast of Snakes: The title was inspired by a Harry Crews novel, but the song doesn't pull from the novel at all. It's essentially an anti-authoritarian song. Politicians, kings, people in power tend to be snakes in the grass. There are also some religious metaphors used, as well, throughout the song.

Anxiety: The idea behind this one lyrically and musically was to try and put that emotion/feeling into a musical context. It's why the lyrics don't start until the second time into the verse riff. You're waiting, and you know you need to act, but something is just holding you back -- you just feel kind of stuck.

Chickamauga: This one is all instrumental. I had written the main riff that is throughout the song one night and brought it to James at a practice. We really didn't know where to go with it, so for the EP we recorded it live and just let whatever came up get included on the EP. I named it "Chickamauga" after the second bloodiest battle in the Civil War that took place just south of Chattanooga. With the build-up in the song, it's kind of like a soldier waiting for the battle to take place, then the chaos, then silence either from surviving the melee or dying. It's probably one of the tracks that will stick out the most because it doesn't really fit the "genre."

The Levee: I wrote this song with the thought of losing someone you love, the death of a close partner or family member. That one person you feel like you can't live without. I also love the riffs in this song. They groove well and the ending riff is super fun to play.

Mountain Cur: The final track on the EP is essentially about a lone wolf or stray dog that roams the mountains and hills. The intention was to use it as a metaphor for loneliness. This dog is all alone and has no one. He's committing these acts of violence as cry out for help and companionship. Don't know if it comes across this way, but that was the intention! Also, at the beginning is audio from a scene in Lawless (2012), which is a film about the Bondurant brothers who were outlaws moonshiners in rural Virginia in the '20s during Prohibition.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[dubsdigs]

Joe Strummer (1952-2002)

On his birthday and in the age of pressure on the common man increasing by what seems to be the second, I think of one of my antifascist heroes, Joe Strummer. There are so many things to say about the Clash that I’ve said 1 million times over, but one sentiment always bears repeating—Joe Strummer was an important anti-establishment figure in popular culture of modern history. As a Marxist, Strummer struck a chord in a young generation of the possibility of a world free of imperialist capitalist governments and monarchies. The Clash’s captivating discography never fails to give you the feeling of riding around in the car with your friends, ready to terrorize the establishment and fight the system. Strummer’s musical talents with his time in the Clash cultivated music that spoke to a generation of restlessness; the youth and proletariat fed up with the ever-increasing world conflict and wealth disparity through blatant call outs of the oppressors of the ruling class. He gave a big Fuck You to Generals, Politicians, Bomb Droppers, Tyrants, Pigs—the whole lot. Rising in the punk music scene alongside acts like the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks, Strummer’s lyrical lectures of the plight of the working class were not rare for their content, but for his delivery. Compelling lyrical content weaved into captivating, genre blending music that you can’t help but feel throughout your entire body, Strummer’s messages of change were poetically jarring and came from a voice that didn’t care what you thought it sounded like, but you’d be damned if you didn’t listen. 

In the Clash’s self-titled debut album The Clash, released in 1977, track “Career Opportunities,” is Strummer’s own anthem for the working class and the struggles of entering the unrewarding cycle of capitalism. Lamenting that “Every job they offer you is to keep you out the dock,” Strummer resents capitalist governments for seeing its citizens as merely a means to capital by only offering jobs that perpetuate the existence of capitalism. Strummer’s voice pouring through your headphones paired with the bouncing, head bobbing hi-hat driven rhythm and jam-like feeling of the track “Clampdown” from the legendary 1979 album London Calling, ignites you to “Kick over the wall, cause government's to fall / How can you refuse it? / Let fury have the hour, anger can be power / D'you know that you can use it?” From the Clash’s 1980 masterpiece Sandinista!, the hypnotic groove of opening track “The Magnificent Seven” serves the dim tale of the average worker and the 7 hour workday of the capitalist cycle perfectly to your ears and memory with his poignant lyrical flow through lines like, “You can't be true, you can't be false / You'll be given the same reward,” regarding the fate of dissenters and those looking for a different way of life rid of the chains of imperialist capitalism like Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi. Sandinista!, a title homage to the Sandinista National Liberation Front, the now democratic socialist party in Nicaragua who led the resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930’s, holds songs that share themes against imperialism and against war that was ravaging the planet at the time. Opening with a US Marines’ chant, track “The Call Up,” presents Strummer rejecting the notion of answering the call to war and giving one’s own life for the sake of an imperialist monarch as he chillingly reminds us, “For he who will die / Is he who will kill.” The following track, “Washington Bullets,” details the horrors of United States’ intervention in South America and the victims of the imperialist tentacles the United States spreads throughout the world with its smuggling of weapons to facilitate cocaine trade leading to increased violence in communities, where, “The killing clowns, the blood money men / Are shooting those Washington bullets again.” Strummer antagonizes the atrocities of all imperialist interests worldwide, including the Soviet Union’s impact in Afghanistan that left thousands of Afghan rebels and Russian troops dead, carrying his view that every imperialist is to blame for the tragedies of interests in capital around the world in the curt and clear lyrical phrase, “An' if you can find a Afghan rebel / That the Moscow bullets missed / Ask him what he thinks of voting communist.” Strummer brought stories to the mainstream of injustices occurring throughout the world in a time where entire information wasn’t as readily available through the propaganda ridden Western countries.

From the classic 1982 album Combat Rock, Strummer gives a searing performance over an invigorating cacophony of perfectly blended distorted guitars, and the kind of driving punk drum beat that makes you want to break something, in opening track battle cry, “Know Your Rights.” The track is a best representation of Strummer speaking directly to his audience as a voice of social justice in his explanation of the three freedoms given to the poor and disenfranchised, and his questioning of those rights’ validity in actual life. Strummer mocks the contradiction of the power the police hold to unjustly murder civilians without consequence while murder is a serious offense if commit by anyone else. Sarcastically bringing to light the invasive verification process of applying for government assistance and the stereotypes of recipients of these systems that supposedly serve the people, Strummer jokes that the recipient should be so lucky as to receive the right to eat, while hinting that really they would be better off had they simply not needed the help in the first place. Ending with our third right, Strummer shouts out that although we have the clearest right of all, to speak freely, we would be foolish to think that we actually do have the right to test the government under their rule. That if you speak against the those who hold the power, the hand of the state will strike down.

The reason I chose to end with this song and dissect it the furthest (I’ll include a track list of my favorite antifascist Strummer songs below) is not only because of its straightforward simplicity, but as I was listening to my Combat Rock record again this morning it hit me that it has been 40 years since this song came out, unlike how I had ever considered before. 40 years to me is a stretch of time I have yet to experience, 40 years ago I wasn’t even a distant thought to either of my parents. And yet, as Strummer encourages me through my speakers, I can feel the same venom coursing through my veins in my opposition to the rise of fascism in my own country as if I’m listening to this same album in a different living room in 1980. It rocked me to connect so deeply to a different time in history through lyrics and music, as if I had been transported through time. Therein, to me, lies the power of Joe Strummer’s lyrical talent. His messages still ring true today and his legacy lives on in fueling the fire beneath a young generation aching for change. RIP 

Know Your Rights

Straight to Hell

Ghetto Defendant

The Magnificent Seven

The Call Up

Washington Bullets

Police On My Back 

Clampdown

The Guns of Brixton

Complete Control

I’m So Bored with the USA

Tommy Gun

Career Opportunities

White Riot

[girl-in-the-library]

My official review of Green Day’s “Father of All Motherf*ckers” after I’ve spent the last week listening to it.

the InMy initial impressions of the album after listening to it one time last Friday can be found here and here is my long post on the day the first song dropped in September.

New discussion under the cut.

This is what I wrote to my friends after hearing the album once or twice: Overall, I like the sound of the album. I enjoyed listening to it, and some of the songs have good lyrics. Other songs aren't all that inspired, but I don't think any of them are particularly bad. The album is mostly just that...it's fine. It sounds like Green Day, it's enjoyable, but overall it's forgettable. There are no stand out songs except the titular single that was played on the radio, and having heard that before made it so it didn't stand out as much on the album. I'd probably give the album itself a 7/10 rating. 

New Impressions: I like the album a lot more the more and more I listen to it. I think I would still give the overall album rating a 7/10 - because even as I personally like it more and more, I do still think, for the most part, the songs album as an album is forgettable and there are no truly standout songs in the way that something jumps out at you and wows you. Upon actually listening, however, I think there are two standout songs, which I personally really enjoy. Those are “Stab you in the heart,” and “Take the money and crawl.” 

“Father of all...” is fine. I didn’t like it at first because it didn’t sound enough like Green Day, but now I recognize it as a pretty standard song. Same thing with “Oh yeah!” Pretty much it’s just like...yeah, I like the radio singles. I’m glad to hear Green Day on the radio. But I’m not screaming with joy.

“I was a teenage teenager” is the most disappointing song on the album, in my opinion. I really liked the title, and I was looking forward to the song. I was hoping it would be something like a mocking look back at all the bullshit teens do from an adult perspective. But the lyrics are absolutely uninspired drek that sounds just like a song a teenager would write. And maybe it’s a commentary like I was looking for just by being that, but it falls flat as it comes across as sincere.

“Graffitia” sounds like it came right off of American Idiot, but in a good way. “Sugar Youth” sounds like it cam right off of American Idiot, but in a bad way.

I can’t remember anything about “Fire Ready Aim,” “Meet me on the roof,” or “Junkies on a high,” as I’m writing this. That’s probably not a good sign.

All in all, I really do enjoy the album, but it is WAY TOO FUCKING SHORT. It’s 26 minutes long. Unless they’re releasing a recut with more songs, I'm disappointed...and I’d be really disappointed if they’d do that...that video game DLC thing except in music form, even if I’d be thrilled with more content. But I’m getting over the disappointment of the length the more I listen to and enjoy the music itself.

WHAT I AM NOT GETTING OVER:

THE PROBLEMS I HAVE ARE WITH THE MARKETING AND THE DISCUSSION BY GREEN DAY SURROUNDING THE ALBUM. BJA keeps making comments about "the state of music today" and how they're bringing back real rock. He tweeted an absolutely awful ad (the tweet has since been deleted) which said "No swedish composers. No Trap Beats. No..." blahblahblah I don't remember but it was really bad. Not only is the idea behind "no trap beats" racist, going against Green Day's previous attempts at being anti-racist (whether they succeeded is another question) I would argue that even up through RevRad they were truly a "punk" band insofar as they at least attempted to walk the walk regarding anti-establishment and equitable ideals, even if to some extent they also are the (music) establishment. But with this there is literally nothing I can say to BJA other than "OK, Boomer." And I fucking hate it! Green Day is my favorite band and I am so disappointed in the context of this album. I don't know what this means for the future of the band and it almost reminds me of the episode BJA had at the 2012 iHeart Radio music festival. That's what this feels like to me, I guess, a rage-powered, privileged tantrum thrown by an old man who is trying to be cool but isn't. And I'm so, so disappointed by that. It makes me feel empty inside.

I am upset and disappointed by what’s going on in the background. It sucks when your heroes let you down. Though I did just learn that they are donating the sales from the single “Oh Yeah!” to the International Justice Mission and the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network...at least according to wikipedia...which makes me feel a bit more like my band is in there somewhere.

Green Day doesn’t owe me anything. I know that. I’m just a singular fan. And I’ve been a fan for so long that it seems like it’s become a part of my identity. I had to find a new favorite book after 5 years of it being Ender’s Game (from 2004-2009) because I refused to support OSC even in thought after finding out what an awful bigot he was. Green Day hasn’t really done anything like that, except for some ignorant comments that do seem more, well, ignorant than malicious. But if I continue to be disappointed...who will my favorite band be? It’s been 16 years. Green Day has been my favorite band more than half my life...so it /hurts/ to be so disappointed in them. 

I wasn’t even disappointed when I thought they had sort of written their last good album and were done when “Uno,” “Dos,” and “Tre” were so bad. I was sad, then, that I thought they were done, but I was like, “Thanks for all the music, I will always appreciate it.” I can still say that now, but it will be tainted by my personal disappointment, even if I am still musically pleased.

“Father of All Motherf*ckers” is a good album. It’s short, there’s nothing super stand-out about it, but it’s solid, and it’s fun. Green Day continues to be a good band. But that doesn’t stop me from being disappointed.

TL;DR: Album? Solid! 7/10 Drama? Bad! Disappointing! If you can 100% separate the art from the artist, and you like the band, you’ll love the album. If you are looking for something new in the genre to listen to, it’s definitely got some songs you’ll like and some you may think are “eh” or bad, regardless of if you like Green Day or not, but it’s worth a listen. And if you’re disappointed in the actions of BJA in particular...well, try not to let it taint a perfectly good album. I’ll try too.

But I’m still super hype for the concert

[streetsofsecrets-a]

Anonymous said    :   So the kids grew up pretty wealthy and privileged and all that. Did any of them have a punk phase?

      As you know, I am a black person. I am also black person who likes rock. And being a black person who likes rock is ultimately being unusual ( even though black people were the originators of this genre blahblahblahblah this isn’t acknowledged by the public enough  🗣)  so you gotta understand me when I say: “The Scozzari having a punk phase is white.” Sure, they’re mixed. Involved with their Italian heritage, but first and foremost the Scozzari children identify as black.      Rather than punk, Cassandra and Louis were both into hip hop to different extents. It shaped Cassandra in her formative years which trickled down to Louis when he was no more than five. Y’know, it’s one of those things where since his cool big sister likes it HE likes it and by the time he’s going to public school, all the black and brown boys are fans of rap so, he just doesn’t like it because of her.       It’s important to understand that rap has not always been popular or acceptable like it is now. It started off as a youthful thing ( specifically in New York ) where Latino and Black kids could express themselves. Punk can have political, anti-establishment lyrics, but so does Rap ( I.E. Fuck the Police / Fight The Power ).  The fashion that comes with these genres is held with contempt by the previous, older generation. However, one has a more dominantly white audience - the other has a black / latinx audience.      Delores couldn’t stand rap in the 80s. She felt the act of sampling was stealing and perverting the classic, respectable songs she grew up with. Also, the attire is horrendous - and still is, in her eyes. Sal thought it was making his daughter radical, but he eventually chilled out. So!

    TLDR; being black kids from New York the cool, trendy, anti-establishment music Cassandra gravitated to was Rap and not Punk. However it’s also not just a phase, Louis and Cassandra would both agree it’s culture.   

[radreactions]

Companions Getting Caught Writing Fanfics

Written by a guy who can dance better than Star Lord himself, @saintlyguy!

Ada: Accidentally playing one of Ada’s personal holotape journals led to quite the discovery; Ada likes stories. A particular favorite seems to be Frankenstein’s Monster, as evident in her own self insert. Wait, what?

“Forlorn after the death of their lover, the estranged Mr/Mrs. Freeze of the abandoned Vault 111 creates an automaton to care for them and maybe even grow to love.”

ADA WHAT?!

Cait: She’s scrappy and hasn’t exactly had a taste of the good life (albeit the nuclear apocalypse makes that nearly impossible). But that’s probably why she has a soft spot for that radio play on WRVR that came on about that street girl who gets taken in by some gentleman to be educated into some Fair Lady. Cait would often be seen singing and dancing all night about how the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain; singing as if she were the punk taken in by Professor Sole-

“CLOSE THE DOOR! KNOCK NEXT TIME! Did you see anything?”

No Cait. The Sole Survivor definitely didn’t see you singing and dancing then shoving your fan script into your mouth to dispose of the evidence.

Codsworth: He can’t exactly write, but Codsworth can be found daydreaming his fantasy of being a titular sitcom butler. Because he already is living out his dream of serving his Sole Survivor! Accompanying them out in the wastes and tidying them as well as their house is perfect for a bot such as himself. Although he will put those Old World sitcom jokes to use.

“Hey Codsworth, could you make me a sandwich?”

The butler places his master’s head between two slices of bread.

“There, I’ve made you a sandwich.”

Curie: How in the world does a scientist develop a taste for sci-fi? Hanging around MacCready and Kent. If you go through Curie’s notes, you’ll see doodles and short stories of her and her Sole Survivor in many situations where motley romances could blossom. Like there’s one where she’s a hologram assistant to vigilante Sole in the year 2099. Hell there’s even one where she’s a doctor who develops feelings for a cyborg ninja.

Danse: A man who’s situated to the influence of knighthood and chivalry, you would guess right that you’d find some fantasy AUs in his room. One where he’s a paladin (of course); in fact one of five who must venture into the Castle of Lions to find the Legendary Defender. There’s even one where he’s a Templar who falls for runaway mage Sole, the very target he was sent to capture.

Deacon: Ok who gave Deacon those old sitcom holotapes? It’s bad enough that him being a pathological liar makes hime good at telling stories, but it’s worse when he puts his friends in them:

(SING ALONG)

“Here’s the story, of a single parent. who was gearing up to form some sort of crew.”

“There’s an android detective.”

“A robot butler.”

“Even a ghoulish mayor.”

“It’s the story, of a secret agent. One of the greatest to ever walk the wastes.”

“And a reporter.”

“An android doctor.”

“Ad Victorium!”

“So then one day all these people were assembled. To find the child who was stolen from the vault. And this crew was labeled The Companions. That’s how we all became the Fallout Bunch!”

Dogmeat: He can’t write, not that he needs to! His dreams are reality because he has YOU!

Gage: Pirates?! Oh come on! Is it cuz of the eyepatch? Or was it those stories Longfellow told? Well... I guess the idea of being the scourge of the seas does has it’s appeal. For the bootlicker Gage is, it wasn’t surprising that in most of his poorly written stories he was the Sole Survivor’s first mate. What was surprising and even off putting was that one fic where he was the prisoner of a siren and was made to... do things for his freedom.

Hancock: The mayor had always wanted to be in a rock band (he probably is one in another life), to the point of playing air guitar and even writing stories. Whenever Sole tries to see what he’s writing, Hancock lights it on fire and throws it. That’s because Sole was always in his rockstar fantasies; whether as his number one fan or manager. Sole got a peek at his stories when they found Hancock asleep in the middle of writing! And would you look at that, he even started writing a song.

Longfellow: A rugged man in a place like Far Harbor wouldn’t know where to find someone after Hannah. However stories of survivalists and men of the land making city girls swoon did have some appeal to him. His favorite being about a reporter falling for a guy who can commune with animals and survived a crocodile attack. He has written a story or two for fun; often there’s a damsel in distress who needs rescuing from the mediocrity of urban life.

Maxson: “What the hell is this?!” Sole thought to themself as they read Maxson’s fantasy of recruiting girls with cat ears into the Brotherhood, all of which have feelings for their Elder.

“Y’know. Like nya?”

................................

“Arthur. I don’t want your garbage.”

Nick: While Nick wasn’t a detective, he was an adventurer! At least on paper he was. He still had a fedora, but instead of a nightstick, Tomb Raider Nick had a whip! He’d go to exotic places and uncover the secrets of lost civilizations. Often he’d run into the mysterious stranger Sole who’s often after the same treasure as he is. Sometimes he wins, sometimes they win, and sometimes they both win...in bed.

“Nick, what are you typing?”

CTRL Z!

MacCready: You couldn’t have survived Little Lamplight without having some fun. Mac’s escape was comic books and writing his own stories, some of which insert him into The Unstoppables. Mac’s longest fanfic is where he is admitted into UA High School, Unstoppables Academy. There he trains to become ALL MAC, the symbol of peace!

“It’s fine now. Why? BECAUSE I’M HERE!”

The most recent chapter shows All Mac recruiting the anti-hero, Survivor on a mission and on a date.

Piper: She’s a reporter on and off the record. Someone as articulate in writing as Piper uses it as a past time as well. She writes bedtime stories for Nat as well as scribe her daydreams. Lately she’s been writing about a Boston Bugle reporter attempting to get an exclusive with the city’s super powered defender clad in a blue jumpsuit and red cape. Coincidentally this started a bit after she started traveling with the Sole Survivor.

Preston: He’s got a thing for diners. Yes diners. He’s seen many old ads that show the vibrant environment, delicious non irradiated food, and pretty waitresses. You can sometimes see him hanging in the old diners after establishing a perimeters to have a lunch and do paperwork. Wait, paperwork? What the hell is he writing?

“The strapping general sat down awaiting for his favorite waiter/waitress to take his order.

‘Want something sweet?’ They ask.

He responds ‘How about you?’”

Yep. Nope. It’s paperwork, definitely nothing else.

Strong: Sometimes Strong can be found using raider and glowing one blood to draw on the concrete in Sanctuary.

“Hey Strong, what are you drawing?”

“Us.”

On the pavement, there are two super mutants. One of them is drawn with synth coolant to have blue.

“Strong wishes you were super mutant. Humans are losers.”

Gee thanks Strong.

“Strong is loser too.”

“But together, we take back what we lose!”

Huh, that was actually sweet.

X6-88: This guy knows nothing outside of recapturing synths. Although in the Institute he has seen many old films that the scientists enjoy during their downtime. His favorite being the one where the singer and her bodyguard fall in love. He especially liked the song in that movie. When he was asked to write something for a maintenance test, X6 wrote a story of the bodyguard named X who’s hired to protect Boston’s favorite singer. And from that story, the Institute programmed a synth to sing. Although no one knows what happened to her. When charged with guarding the director’s parent, X6 was asked what he could do. Besides shooting.

“I can write.”

What have you written.

X6 pulled out a binder labeled Work in Progress.

It’s as heavy as a dumbbell.

[muschiosa2]

Experimental choreographer Anna Halprin singlehandedly transformed the language of dance, shocking the status quo with radical new forms of self-expression.

Text by Caroline Ryder

After WWII, legendary dancer and choreographer Anna Halprin decided that everyone is a dancer (even if they got no rhythm), and that every movement is a dance (even the act of putting one’s socks on). With that in mind, she founded what we now call “postmodern dance” – an art movement whose egalitarian, anti-authoritarian ideology had more in common with future phenomena such as punk rock, street art and flash mobs than with the ballet or modern dance of her time. Unlike her predecessors, Anna Halprin had a warts’n’all approach to dance. She and her dancers were sometimes naked during performances, and they refused to be corralled onto a stage, performing their dances in the streets, in nature, among audiences, or wherever they felt like it. When invited to dance at a lunch for important art patrons, they made a stage in the middle of the room, sat at a table, and forced the audience to watch them eat lunch. Sometimes they gave audience members a “score”, instructing them to get up and join the dance. This approach was seen as inclusive or insulting, depending on your viewpoint. She really infuriated those who believed that dance was purely aesthetic – something pretty, polite and non-confrontational. Not that she cared what they thought. “I never make my choices on the basis of whether people are going to like it,” she says, speaking from her home in the coastal forests of Marin, northern California. “I have to make my choices based on whether it is good art.” By constantly challenging authority and shunning homogeneity, Halprin and her peers helped lay the groundwork for the hippie counter culture, as well as for punks, culture jammers, hipster aerobicisers and iconoclasts the world over (if Banksy had been a dancer, he’d probably have danced with Anna Halprin. And did we mention her daughter was married to Dennis Hopper?). Today, she’s still dancing (still sometimes naked), still pissing some people off, and still inspiring most of the rest. In fact, Anna Halprin is, without doubt, one of the most badass 90-year-olds you’ll ever meet.  Born Anna Schuman on July 13, 1920 in Winnetka, Illinois, Halprin started going to ballet classes at the age of four. When the other kids laughed at her euphoric, energetic style of dancing, Anna’s mother took her out of that class, and enrolled her in a modern dance class, where she studied the techniques of modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan. It was a much better fit for Halprin’s freeform tendencies. “We had lots of fun skipping and hopping and waving balloons and moving scarves through space. I liked it very much, and people didn’t laugh at me,” she says. In high school, she was introduced to the techniques of second-generation modern dance goddesses, Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. By this point, Halprin was already sure she had found her life’s path. Aged 18, she was invited to move to New York City and join Doris Humphrey’s dance company – a huge honour, but her parents said no – they wanted her to go to college first. She hoped to get into Bennington College, a women’s college in Vermont, but the school had already met their Jewish quota, so she was rejected. “In all the private schools in those days they had restrictions on Jews,” she explains. “If the Jewish quota was filled and you were Jewish, you didn’t get in.” She was depressed about not getting into Bennington, but what felt like failure turned out to be a blessing.  The rest of the world woke up to her revolutionary approach in 1965, when she and her students (including both her daughters Daria and Rana) performed Halprin’s “Parades And Changes”, one of the most controversial dances ever seen, at the time. It’s a sweet, innocent dance, in which the dancers happen to become entirely nude. “I chose the task of dressing and undressing as my inspiration,” she explains. I thought that this would be very beautiful, because you could see the body as it undressed in many different forms, and it would have a sculptural feeling.” Her studio in Marin, where she still works today, had an outdoor theatre, a wooden deck built by her husband. “Out there, we were very close to the feeling of nature. It is nestled in a wooded area, and it is very private. It didn’t feel coquettish or seductive to be nude in that environment.” On stage in New York City theatreland however, the nudity was shocking. As they danced, Halprin heard members of the audience whispering “Oh no, they’re not really going to undress…are they?” But they did. In the corner of her eye, Halprin noticed a couple of cops lurking backstage. “I figured, ‘This is New York, maybe it’s a custom,’” she says. The next day, Halprin received a summons for arrest for indecent exposure. She left New York and didn’t go back for ten years. She and her students became outcasts of sorts, shunned by the modern dance circuit. But once again, just like the time she was laughed out of ballet school, or turned down by a college for being Jewish, being rejected by the establishment was a blessing in disguise for Halprin. No longer able to perform or tour heavily, she and her dancers had the space and time in which to fully explore, experiment with and evolve the artform they had created – postmodern dance – as well as the healing and therapeutic capabilities of dance. In 1978, Halprin and her daughter Daria, a psychologist and former actress, would found the Tamalpa Institute, teaching “personal, interpersonal and social transformation, teaching new models for health, psychology, art and communication”. If it all sounds very tripped out California, well, maybe that’s because it is. Had Daria not had such an unconventional California upbringing, perhaps she would not have been so well suited to co-found the ultra-progressive Tamalpa Institute with her mother. And perhaps she would not have been so well suited to play the lead female role in Antonioni’s cult classic Zabriskie Point – a 1970 art film that captured the essence of the psychedelic counterculture, featuring music by Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones. Daria was perfect in the role of a young California hippie chick tripping out in the desert – she had been tripping out all her life, playing and dancing with the most talented avant-garde artists of the time on her mom’s wooden deck, leading a childhood so bohemian, so unconventional, some kids weren’t allowed to come and play at their house… the Halprins were that far out. Daria was married to Dennis Hopper from 1972 to 1976, and had one daughter with him, Ruthana. That’s a long time ago now. Today at their Tamalpa Institute, Daria and her mother work with terminally ill HIV/Aids and cancer patients, as well as students of movement. Halprin has borne witness to the healing power of dance many times. One man, after a two-month workshop with Halprin, drew a selfportrait that showed fire coming out of the side of his head. Six months later he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. “I did a similar thing, made a portrait, and that’s how I discovered I had cancer,” says Halprin, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1972. “Your body is your instrument for expression, but your body can also lead you to information that can otherwise be hidden.” She has written a book about how to heal through dance, and made several videos. Maybe to some people, cancer isn’t something to dance about. But to Halprin, dancing is the only response to the realities of life. And perhaps its no coincidence that she looks about 30 years younger than her age, and is still as provocative and focused as she was in her youth. You can spend an hour or so of your life getting to know Anna by watching the documentary Breath Made Visible, made by one of her former students, Ruedi Gerber. It’s a touching film, especially when you realise that so much of Halprin’s life has been a love story, with Lawrence. The affection between them is palpable, and enough to bring tears to anyone’s eyes. When Lawrence became sick (he eventually passed away in October 2010), she created the dance “Intensive Care” – a haunting, nightmarish exploration of death and dying that evokes Japanese butoh horror dances in a hospital ward. “That was the most recent thing I did that people started walking out on,” she says. Still, you get the sense that shocking people is the furthest thing from Halprin’s mind when she’s creating a dance. Understanding the images in her head, as inspired by the emotional events of her life, and translating those into movement – that is her life’s work, and will continue to be. Whether it’s shocking or not is irrelevant to her. And even though she may be 90, don’t ever expect Anna Halprin to stop dancing. “Looking young, feeling young, I don’t know if it is in my DNA or it is the demon dancer in me that makes it so, but I feel I am working on dances all the time. I can’t stop. I don’t feel that my age is going to stop me from dancing. I just dance differently. I don’t dance now the way I dance when I was in my 20s or 40s. I dance the way I do when I am 90. And those dances are just as important.”