#who reminds me of a like… punk chrissy

[ghost-proofbaby]

i’ve found an eddie munson coded tik toker and me thinks i will gatekeep him

[voidpacifist]

steddie headcanons that are keeping me awake at midnight

steve and eddie never formally met until after chrissy died. they really only knew each other through a culmination of rumors and gossip, so both of them felt like colossal idiots when they got to know one another and just realized, oh, this is actually a really cool guy who i wanna get to know better once all of this is over

which means, of course, that eddie lives after the bat attack. he has to deal with new and unknown prospects like chronic pain and literal battle flashbacks but hey! he has his friend steve harrington who can relate on both fronts

it's how the two of them start hanging out more – both of them wanna make sure the other is being safe and doing self care and shit

eddie's love language isn't just gift giving – its handmade gifts. lots of sewing or homemade enamel pins. he of course makes a bunch for the whole party after vecnas defeat to commemorate in their own special, sacred way that they did it. they won. but he also makes a bunch more for just steve, and steve doest realize how special it is until robin is over one day and is just like

"you have a whole crate of eddies weird patches and pins and shit."

"yeah, so what?"

"steve...literally nobody else has as much as you do."

which then leads to steve exercising his own personal love language on eddie, which to me is quality time. steves an event kind of guy, and even when he pretends it annoys him, he drives eddie everywhere. new appointment for some medication for the nerves in his legs and left arm? no biggie. a cool movie just came out? name the date and time. this band you really love is coming to a town nearby? cool, let's hop to it

it's almost scary how at the drop of a hat, he's at eddies beck and call. it gets to a point where eddie has to remind steve that he has a life outside of driving eddie and the kids to places. he also really just doesn't want his boyfr best friend burnt out

eddies not a terrible cook by a long shot, he's just never had a big kitchen to work with before, so when he sees steves kitchen? he's all hands on deck trying to make the best fucking food he can think of

i adore the headcanon that steve is italian and an incredible chef as much as the next steve truther. but i also love the headcanon that eddie has mexican roots. put that together with him being good at cooking? oooh baby, is steve in for a treat

neither he nor steve are bilingual, but they'd both like to learn the languages of their respective heritages. if/when steves hearing starts going caput, they also start taking asl classes together (I imagine robin and nancy tag along with them to said classes. it's like they're all in school together again minus the drama and ridiculous social expectations)

eddie taking the time to learn more about basketball and hair and "jock" things because he sees how invested steve is in them >>

also steve venturing into new music and style horizons because he loves how confident he feels when he doesn't give a fuck about looking "normal," and eddie melting into a puddle because punk steve is so. fucking. hot. >>

steve putting stickers on eddies mobility aids if he uses any post vecna. also eddie doing the same to steve's hearing aids/glasses case, etc.

decorations during holidays being just simple ribbons and tinsel since the christmas lights are just...nope. eddie and steve buy a huge wreath for steves front door

steve and nancy teaching eddie some self defense with a baseball bat

eddie and nancy teaching steve how to do eyeliner

movie nights galore, and once a month going to see a new musical in indianapolis or chicago or whichever other big city is close enough to them to access without incurring time off of work or a massive dent in their budgets

going to see hawkins high performances too, because mike wheeler became a fucking theater kid

everyone knows theyre dating before they do, or nobody knows and neither do they. there is nothing smooth about how they finally formally label it, they both just kinda realize it one day

it's during truth or dare and everyone's zooted out of their minds and eddie and steve are dared to play seven minutes in heaven. nancy dares them. because if anyone's gonna pick up on it first, it's nancy

steve is actually the one to convince eddie that they need a cat, especially since steve found the little fucker in a ditch off the road sick and malnourished. guess what eddie names it

(it's not a hard guess. the cats name is ozzy)

cat dads. and then fish dads, because eddie is too high maintenance himself to take care of an animal that needs much more than feeding and occasional supervision, so he finds a fish at the pet store and scares the shit out of steve with it when he gets home from a family video shift

one movie steve and eddie both equally adore besides rocky horror is the addams family. eddies gomez to steves morticia

(this is all I can think of for now)

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"MAY 1976 AND MOST OF US HAD GIVEN UP ON POP MUSIC..."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on handbills advertising the SEX PISTOLS May, 1976 Tuesday night residency at London’s legendary 100 Club.

Resolution at 1058x1500 & 1411x1989.

BONUS: The poster, designed by Helen Wellington-Lloyd (aka Helen of Troy, who originated the first SEX PISTOLS “blackmail” typography for flyers and gig posters) features Ray Stevenson’s photograph of Johnny Rotten performing at the 100 Club in March of the same year.

OVERVIEW: "May 1976 and most of us have given up on pop music.

The seventies had been great. Glam rock for us teens had ruled the roost but even that had seemed to have disappeared. This was the first time that pop culture had seemed retro and to be going backwards.

The charts had been full of Beatles singles- rereleased in snazzy new picture sleeves and even if they were great it felt like the past was already catching up with us. Pop was stating to eat itself.

Every generation needs its own soundtrack. Still does.

The sixties could have been Victorian times for a 15 year old in 1976 and we were wondering what our soundtrack was. Even gangling, goofy nerds like us needed some music of our own.

That Tuesday night the Sex Pistols started their 4 week residency at the legendary 100 Club. Booked to appear by promoter Ron Watts who had already had the band play at High Wycombe the band now six months into their ‘career’ were already the fully finished article

The late Nils Stevenson was by now working with the band and had already seen them play a few months before.

‘One day Malcolm suggested I come and see the band he was managing, the Sex Pistols. I went down with him, Vivienne, Chrissie Hynde and Jordan, in Viv’s puke-green Mini. I was hooked. They reminded me of Iggy and the Stooges. There were no more than 100 people there. They were all there for Eddie and the Hot Rods bar the Sex shop crew: five of us and Steve Severin and whoever he was with. All together, ten people to see the Pistols. I saw them play once, and by the next gig I was working for them. I closed down my stall on the Kings Road, and the following week we were working from Malcolm and Vivienne’s flat designing posters, until he had a ruck with Vivienne and moved in with Helen Wellington-Lloyd who became our secretary/co-designer. It all happened really fast.""

-- JOHN ROBB'S "Punk Rock: An Oral History" (2012) book

"When we first saw them there was no one there at all, about 30 to 40 people. That was for the main band, Eddie and the Hot Rods. The Pistols were the support band. We went by while the PA was getting smashed up, that was what drew us in. We were in the West End looking for gigs to go to. We walked up Wardour Street and we heard a big kerfuffle going. We thought, “What’s going on in there?” We went in. The Sex Pistols had already done a few numbers, so we saw the tail end of it. It looked like they were getting thrown out of the place! We were desperate to find out when they were playing next. We kept going to gigs finding out when the next one was.

After the Pistols at the Marquee, we went to every gig in London. It was very rough-sounding, nothing like what they turned out to be. They made a lot of errors. They did all the Sixties numbers. That’s what got Rob Simmons into them. What I liked about them was that they looked nothing like the Sixties. I wasn’t into that Sixties thing so much. I liked the sound of it but I didn’t want it to be a band doing just Sixties stuff. They had a NEW YORK DOLLS-type of sound. They were the only group that was anything like that at the time."

-- VIC GODARD (English singer-songwriter, formerly of SUBWAY SECT)

Sources: https://recordmecca.com/item-archives/sex-pistols-100-club-large-concert-handbill-1976 and https://louderthanwar.com/punks-40th-may-11th-1976-sex-pistols-start-residency-100-club.

[tenaciouspostfun]

--wang chung in concert

 Last night at the Morristown Performing Arts Center, we were treated to three great 80's New Wave bands: Naked Eyes, The Motels and Wang Chung. Each band (with the exception of Wang Chung) played for about 45 minutes. It would mostly be Wang Chungs night, however. The English band who in my opinion had one of the best albums ever with "Points on A Curve" opened with "Wait". This lyric and melodic song has been playing on the airwaves from the early 80's and it is one of Wang Chungs signature songs.

 Over the band's somewhat short career, it is most recognized with its writing for the movie "To Live and Die In L.A. The band last night played an instrumental orchestration of "To Live" before playing the actual song.

 While billed as a new wave band, the versatile band has a hard rock side to it, and at times, a punk side to its repertoire. The band can be poppish as well as incorporating dance rock.

 Out of North London, its original founders, Nick Feldman, Jack Hues and Darren Costin formed a group that had a different sound. Feldman on bass is almost like a rhythm bass guitarist; far different than most bass players. This gives the band more depth in its dance numbers. It also provides a very up beat form to the bands talents. From "Dance Hall Days" to "Rent Free", the band was never pinned down to one sound that signifies most bands. When you listen to a song like "Let's Go", you're almost reminded of a Jimmy Buffet tune; in "Everybody Wang Chung" you have a very commercial, playful song that is the band's most recognized song. In playing a Clash song, you are made aware that this band can get as hardcore as any of the 80's new wave bands that were around during that era.

 With three bands on the billing, Wang Chung kept the evening short, but very tight. Playing a lot of commercial songs, but not all, they smattered the evening with less known songs as well.

      The Motels were the second band of the evening with seven songs. This new wave band from Berkeley, California has a very talented lead singer in Martha Davis. Starting in 1975, the band has had many musicians come and go, but the lead singer is widely recognized as a true vocialist. At times she has that folksy, wide ranging voice of Natalie Merchant, at other times, reminiscent of Chrissy Hines. Cool and resonant, Davis owns the stage when she sings. She is also a good guitarist of note.  The Motels were upbeat (anathema to Naked Eyes), their songs, while sometimes sad and pensive, have deep meaning. "Take the L" is just that kind of song. The Motels are not without tongue and cheek songs, however, "So L.A." is a tribute to the "totally" expression that was so commonly used in L.A. in the 80's, right along with the big hair.

 The Motels range is amazing, from their commercial songs: "Only The Lonely" and "Suddenly Last Summer" are feeders into deft songs like "Danger" the very staccato, "Total Control".

   Naked Eyes opened a bit flat. The first song "In The Name of Love" had no feel to it. In the second number, the band picked up to a macabre sounding "Voices in My Head". "Piccadilly" is a tribute to the section in London where they're from. This is a folksie, new wave song that is catchy as well as fun. The band would end with "Promises, Promises", and "Always There To Remind Me".

 All three bands had a different sound but all were very good last evening.

 



[bigdumbbambieyes]

I feel like Eddie’s go-to nickname for Chrissy is simply ‘Chris’, but he says it with so much love and adoration that is makes her melt. She’d be so used to hearing sickeningly sweet names like ‘angel’ or ‘honey’ from Jason - names that she couldn’t really accept because she never felt like they accurately described her - so to hear a simplified version of her name all the time makes her think that Eddie saw and accepted her as she was and never wanted her to be anything else.

And in return she would call Eddie a silly pet name that she ‘made up’. They jokingly call each other ‘punk’ or ‘brat’ with affection throughout their relationship, especially when they’d tease each other, but no traditional pet names ever left her lips. At first she wanted to call him ‘pumpkin’ since it reminds her of Halloween (and Halloween reminds her of him), but she knows that he’s a cynic so she combined ‘punk’ and ‘pumpkin’ to make Punkin.

And Eddie loves it. Almost to the point where if she calls him by his actual name, he pretends to not know who she’s talking to. ‘Who’s Eddie? I’m Punkin. You got me confused with somebody else.’

[coderedblood]

I am a huge fan of Animal Crossing and so today I’m going to do a list of my Top 10 Favorite Villagers! Let’s go!

1. Olivia

A lady who dines fine and throws down in bars, Olivia is my all time favorite AC villager! She was the very first villager I met in my very first playthrough of ACNL and I was instantly in love with her. Her personality, her look, her player interactions all stole my heart! Since then, I’ve been searching for her in New Horizons so we can once again live together. I imagine she sounds just like Beyoncé.

2. Ribbot

I absolutely adore this himbo. The embodiment of ‘pure of heart, dumb of ass’. Brags about his muscles all the time even though he’s a short froggy robot and technically doesn’t have any. (The muscle is his heart. Even though that’s a not a muscle, that’s an organ. He again doesn’t know the difference.)

3. Bella

Bella is an absolute win in my book for looking like Avril Lavigne if she were turned into a mouse, named Bella, and wanted to be a pop star instead of a pop punk star. I love her forever, and when I saw her all by herself on that island I visited in NH, I wasted no time in convincing her to come live with me again!

4. Stitches

Stitches is the reason I wish there was a “Hug” Reaction. LOOK AT HIM! HE IS A LIVING TEDDY BEAR! HIS HOUSE IS A BIG PLAYROOM WITH LOTS OF TOYS AND A LULLABY PLAYING! He’s just like the player’s baby brother. I wanna protect him and feed him candy all the time.

5. Merengue

Let me begin by saying I ADORE this strawberry rhino. She’s as sweet as her name and her appearance says she is. BUT I WILL NEVER FORGET HOW WHEN I PUT DOWN NL FOR A MONTH AND HER ASS MOVED OUT. SHE LEFT ME! Now I look for my sweet girl in NH for a sweeter reunion 🥲

6. Bitty

Bitty is one of the BEST GIRLS, OKAY? She’s fancy as hell, dignified and she sounds just like Hetty from the American version of Ghosts. (Or I imagine she does.) She is pink, the color of love because I love her. She’s also special to me because (this is retold from my mom) I was sleepwalking a few weeks ago, and when my mom found me and took me back to bed, I happily announced to her “I have a hippo!” Bitty was the hippo in question, she’d just moved it. (Pretty sure she’s my mom’s favorite villager.)

7. Muffy

One of my favorite goths in media. Not only does she curse you with her goth girl magic (trust me I’m a goth myself) but she will teach you throw hands. In other words, she doesn’t fucking play. Her makeup is also on point and I also wish in NH she’d teach you how to do it like hers!

8. Rasher

He was the very first grumpy villager I’d ever met. At first I thought ��what a dick, why’d he move here if he hates everyone?” Then I realized, “Oh, you’re a softie. You just have a rough exterior! You’re sweet like candy coated bacon!” (Yes, that was on purpose.) His appearance is sick, and the ‘grumpy’ voice perfectly matches it!

9. Eugene

Eugene reminds me of those movie rocker bad boy who isn’t bad just likes leather jackets and loud guitars love interests. He’s a sweetheart when he isn’t talking about himself (which is half his dialogue but it’s hilarious) and I love how the smug types are so warm towards you when you become friends. I’m all for flirty dialogue and Eugene has the LOOK and FEEL of it. Plus I adore koalas, especially ones with metal guitars and in leather jackets.

10. Tiffany

Tiffany is a fucking baddie. Look at her! She’s got a punk rock look and she takes shit from no one. Redd actively avoids her (and Olivia and Muffy too) because she threatened a ‘reversal of the fox and the rabbit’ if he tricked one of her friends again. He’s too scared to figure out what that means. I’M too scared to figure out what that means. Tiffany gives you style tips and has you over for drinks at her house while you discuss the social impact of punk music. Makeup also on point.

Honorable mentions: Cherry, Bianca, Coco, Pierre, Julian, Phoebe, Drago, Roscoe, Chrissy, Marina and Lucky

[jennathearcher]

For Eddie/Nyx/Chrissy how about 2, 22, 44 and 51 please?

2. What would they do if the other woke in a manic state after a nightmare?

Oh you KNOW each of these three are no strangers to nightmares, especially now. I love the image of the three of them all cosleeping together in this big cuddle pile, and no matter WHO it is who wakes up, the other two are there to comfort them? Reassuring them of what’s real, that they’re there with them and they’re s a f e. And they usually end up all lying there together talking it out and distracting the upset party until they all fall asleep again :3 

22. What reminds each of their partner?

God this is such a sweet concept; obviously they associate each of their favorite songs with each other :P And each of their respective aesthetics; punk rock with Eddie, gothic and witchy with Nyx, and the soft pastels with Chrissy (because I feel like she DOES genuinely like traditionally feminine things, she just wants to be able to enjoy them on HER OWN TERMS). Plus as an extension of this I can see the three of them all having little matching 86 tattoos 8D

44. Who would dance in the kitchen making dinner?

Honestly I feel like they ALL would, but Chrissy is usually the one to start it :P And she’s so cute and her energy is so infectious that the other two can’t help but get into it with her :3

51. What’s a non verbal way they say I love you?

Hugging each other from behind :P No matter who it is with whom, it works between all three of them 8D 

Thank you again SO much, Laura, especially for encouraging me to talk about my OC/canon ships <3 

[lenaandcalliope]

Sunbeams Are Never Made Like Me - Chapter 1

Summary: Chrissy Andersen (original character) just moved to the Outer Banks from Alaska to live with her uncle. It doesn’t take long though for her to catch the eye of the notorious JJ Maybank with her badass ‘girl going somewhere attitude’ and love for the ocean and 90′s grunge and feminist punk. (Basically just a whole lotta angst and S L O W  B U R N.)

Author’s Note: Ignore the terrible grammar and numerous comma splices. I don’t know how I’ve done two years of college either, trust me. Also I realize that this chapter is pretty heavy for a first chapter but I just wanted to put a lot of the OC’s past out there to begin with, chapter 2 will be a lot more mellow I promise. Plus I think we’ll see some JJ next chapter!!!

Warning: mentions of alcoholism/addiction (entire series)

Word Count: ≈4000

Tagging: @strkydrw, @jiaraendgame, @maybanktho, @ptersparkers, @jjmxybank, @citrus135, @outerbankslut, @sarahcxmeron, @jjtheangel

(I’m just gonna tag everyone who liked/reblogged my initial post because I’m lowkey an attention whore, but don’t worry I won’t tag you in the next part unless you want me to!)

Chapter 1 - Leaving Alaska

Chrissy Andersen had never seen the Atlantic Ocean before, hell, she’d never been anywhere further east than Idaho and yet here she was in North Carolina. Nearly everything she’d ever owned was piled around her at the Chapel Hill ferry terminal, ready to be moved to a place she had only seen once in a postcard. Standing on the sidewalk that overlooked the harbor, all Chrissy could say was that she was less than impressed so far by the East Coast and its ocean. The water lapped too slowly along the shore for her liking, the waves breaking on the rocks below and pushing up against the boats tied to the dock murky and weak. It was nothing in comparison to the Pacific she was used to back in Alaska- powerful and cold. 

“But this is still ocean” she tried to remind herself,  “it can still feel like home as long as the ocean is here”. 

Glancing at the water again, it was hard to imagine there could be much of anything alive down there. Chrissy scanned the rocks lining the bulkhead, looking for crabs, starfish, anything really but the murk seemed devoid of life. She wrinkled her nose at it, maybe it wouldn’t feel like home after all. It was hard to imagine anyone could stake their life on shrimp in a place with waters like this, let alone her own uncle. Her uncle who had seen 8 inch dungies on the regular and lost copious amounts of tackle fighting salmon back home in Seattle. But if he placed his livelihood in Atlantic shrimp for nearly a decade then so could she, but it wasn’t like she had a lot of choice. She would be living under his roof for the foreseeable future

In Chrissy’s life, there was little about where she came from that she was proud of but she was proud to be able to call herself a tough west coast girl. Particularly proud in fact to say she knew the evergreen forests and jagged coastline of the Pacific Northwest like the back of her own two hands. She was more comfortable amongst the cedars and the white caps back home than anywhere else. There was just something magical about the gloom and depth of the land in that part of the world. And while she had little to compare it to, in her mind it was the most beautiful too. She would miss Alaska’s rough clear waters and mossy rocks but the move out to North Carolina would be good. A fresh start. A chance to take control of her own life for once.

Getting on the plane to fly to the Carolina coast had been harder than Chrissy had imagined. Leaving Alaska she knew was the best decision she could make for herself but that didn’t make leaving any easier. Watching the dark inlets and glassy waters of Anchorage disappear outside the tiny round airplane window as they rose had been heartbreaking. She didn’t know if her heart could handle any of these new cracks, but she had forced herself to watch the land fade away beneath her anyways. It was the last bit of Alaska she would have for who knew how long. Part of her found it almost funny how much Alaska had managed to take a grip on her heart considering she’d spent less than half her life there. The majority had been spent in Seattle until her mom’s death and her dad’s subsequent relocation to Anchorage under the guise of a better paying fishing rig job. Alaska, in most ways Chrissy discovered, wasn't too different from her home state of Washington yet the cold winters and the bright nights had been difficult to get accustomed to at first. Shortly after the move though, her father slumped back into his usual hole and turned to drinking like he always had. Despite that, their first couple years in Alaska had been alright, he worked, she started a new school, and they lived paycheck to paycheck like they always had. When he lost the job on the crab boat though, he fell quicker than before into his ever deepening hole, too fast for Chrissy to try to pull him back up again. From then on he was in and out of work no matter what she did to help. It hadn’t taken too long for Chrissy to grow up after that, learning to slyly pay bills the moment his pay check came in and pick up extra shifts at the diner she worked at to supplement what he burned drinking.

She remembered the immense loneliness that weighed on her every day after he lost that crabbing job as she looked out over the harbor to the distant barrier islands that would soon be her home. How her father had all but abandoned her from that day forward, how she had woken up every morning at 4 am to try to convince him to get up for work, or how she had to squeeze in a few hours at the diner before school just to make ends meet. Most nights from there forward she had gone to bed wishing to be back in their Seattle apartment, listening to her mom sing along to Joan Jett and Green River in the kitchen. Would this move be like that too? Chrissy didn’t know if she could handle those emotions all over again, even if she was tougher and more clever now than she had been back then. All she could do for now was hope that this move to the Outer Banks would turn out better than Alaska. 

After three years of working herself to the bone for him she deserved a chance to at least try and fight for her own life. There wasn’t enough of her dad left to pull together anymore and her mom obviously wasn’t around to open his eyes to the world like she always had before. As much as Chrissy wanted to be there for him and help him get back on his feet, she couldn’t do it anymore. It had taken her a long time to realize it but there was no way to do that without sacrificing herself and her own happiness. It took everything in her to call it quits on him, it was the hardest thing she’d ever done. Chrissy thought about all this as the silty ocean churned out in the harbor. Had it really only been three years that she had been living like that? It felt like an eternity. She could remember the moment she had first stepped foot into the diner asking for a job, any job. That 14 year old Chrissy standing there was a different person, so far removed from who she was now, that it felt like she was watching someone else reenact those memories as they played out in her head rather than just remembering them.

A breeze blew in off the water, brushing the edges of the crumpled dollar bills in her fist back against her hand. She’d never put them back in her wallet after the taxi driver had handed her the change nearly twenty minutes ago when he’d dumped her on the Chapel Hill dock and disappeared back off toward the airport. Time moved like molasses here she thought, maybe it was the muggy air or the slowness of the people milling around the ferry terminal. Either way time seemed to have slowed considerably since she left Alaska. Her oversized suitcase and duffle bag were stacked next to her as she leaned on the pipe railing that ran parallel to the water. She wrapped her leg casually around the duffle in some false sense of protection, as if it would keep someone from slipping off with it. Not that any of the uptight rich folks waiting for the ferry would want anything she had. They were all too busy corralling their numerous shopping bags and commenting on the historical architecture to notice some out of place Alaskan girl with shifty eyes. It was strange for her to have everything she owned tucked away into these bags. It made her life feel small and insignificant, as if she were to lose her bags she herself would disappear into thin air. Never to have made it out to North Carolina, never to have left Alaska, never to have existed in the first place.

Chrissy checked her watch as she tucked the bills into her wallet. She needed to buy a ferry ticket at some point for the 3:15 sailing, but after the long flight she wasn’t in too big of a rush to wade through the crowds of stuffy people. Stepping back from the railing, Chrissy glanced over towards the ferry dock, more people had begun to mill around the pier waiting for its arrival. Collecting her bags she made her way over toward the little booth selling tickets. Behind the counter an older woman with graying hair and a bitter look on her face was replacing the tape in her register.

“Hi, excuse me, I need to buy a walk-on ticket for the 3:15 trip,” Chrissy asked, trying her best to not make the woman any more upset. 

“A walk-on? Honey all there is, is damn walk on. This is Outer Banks not New York City,” the woman said, her eyes pointed.

“Oh sorry, I just... uh… am used cargo ferries…like in… in Alaska” Chrissy trailed off, quickly handing her the cash for the ticket. 

“Boards on that dock, you can sit over there if you got baggage to load” the woman pointed vaguely in the direction of the water

So much for southern hospitality, Chrissy noted as she made her way over towards the benches where the woman had gestured. 

When the ferry arrived Chrissy realized just why the woman had thought her so crazy for mentioning walk-on tickets. The boat had only three decks in total complete with ornate green trim and railings. She could practically see Antebellum era southern belles in flamboyant dresses and oversized hats promenading across its top deck. In comparison to the large industrial ferries she was used to back home this one was comical. Was this really how people got around here? Guess it pays to live in a land of white sand beaches and summer homes. You can have all the cutesy historical ferries you want, no matter how impractical.

When the boat loaded Chrissy made her way to the upper deck, enjoying the open air seating and the view back at the mainland as they left the pier. The warm Carolina air felt nice blowing through her hair, she couldn’t remember the last time she felt this kind of calm, this lack of responsibility and stress. Glancing back toward Chapel Hill, it dawned on her exactly how big of a moment this would be in her life, how everything was going to be so different from here on out. No more long nights at the diner, no more Alaskan winters, no more filling in for her father’s missed shifts on the crabbing boat.

As the green and white ferry continued to plow through the Atlantic current, she watched the people around her. Some were clearly the rich families she had seen on the dock back from shopping trips on the mainland, others were like her - working class, poor folks. They sat by themselves few and far between, spaced away from the starched pastel families. She watched one pair; a mother and her adult daughter, obviously back from housekeeping work on the mainland, laugh loudly amongst themselves. Compared to the rich folks that talked over each other in demanding tones, these two appeared as if they were in a bubble, too preoccupied with making the other smile to notice the dirty looks they got from the passing families. It was peculiar Chrissy thought how wealth seemed to push up against the working class everywhere-demanding more and more space no matter how little they deserved it. It didn’t matter if you were in rural Alaska or a beachy southern paradise, it was always there Chrissy realized.

The mainland became a fuzzier and fuzzier blur of gray and white as it disappeared off the back of the boat. Her uncle had told her over the phone when she called him from the airport that he would meet her at the dock when she got in. She didn’t know how much longer it would be until they got there but she couldn’t wait to see him. Chrissy hadn’t seen her Uncle Chip since her mom’s death, and even though they rarely got a chance to talk since then he was still one of her favorite people in the whole world. Before he had moved to the Outer Banks in pursuit of some girl (who was long gone by now) he had lived only a few blocks away from them in Seattle. 

Her mom and him had gone to grunge and punk shows every weekend when she was little, back when the music scene was still strong in Washington. They loved music more than anything, and they could spend hours geeking out over zines and the tiny underground shows they’d caught the night before. The mornings after concerts she would always wake up to her Uncle Chip making pancakes and coffee in the kitchen. He liked to crash on their couch those nights despite the fact that it was only a couple minute walk to his own place. He would play Candy Land with her no matter how many times they had played before and he could make her laugh like no one else could. In fact he was probably more like a dad to her than her own dad was.

When she had first called him up months ago to ask if she could come stay with him in Outer Banks for a while he had simply laughed, ‘why would you even think for a minute that I would ever say no, Chris. You know I love you, of course.’ 

In that moment his words had made her want to cry, but she had held her tears back and told him she’d let him know when she would be able to get away. She remembered cradling her phone in her hand thinking she should have asked earlier, got out earlier, lived her own life earlier,  it's not like Chip hadn’t always been there, only a call away. Chrissy hoped he would recognize her now that she was grown up, not only was she taller but her hair darker and shorter than it had been when she last saw him. 

The speaker on the ferry crackled to life, announcing that they would be docking shortly and to please prepare to disembark. She wandered back inside the boat and down to the lower level to claim her bags. She watched the land approach through the dirty ferry windows, the trees on the shore filled with spanish moss and the dock crowded with tugboats getting ready to leave for the mainland. At least the tugboats and their worn out looking crew members were the same everywhere she thought- at least that was something familiar.

Stepping off the boat onto dry land, she scanned the groups of people waiting in the parking lot for her uncle. She spotted him almost immediately across the lot leaning against the side of an old two toned red and white F-250. He looked the same to her, his hair maybe a bit grayer, his skin a bit browner, but the same really. She waved wildly at him, dragging her heavy bags behind her.

“Chrissy” he yelled, running towards her. “Look at you… all grown up, god you’re makin’ me feel ancient” he laughed. 

He pulled her into a hug, forcing her to drop her bags to the ground. He smelled the same too, like salt and the warmth that can only come from spending hours working under the sky. 

“It’s so good to see you, I’ve missed you,” her voice muffling into his faded t-shirt.

“I’m glad you’re here,” his voice suddenly becoming more serious. He held her back by the shoulders. “My god you look like your mother, you’re tall like her. You got that whole ‘girl goin’ somewhere’ look in your eyes too like she always had. Tell me about your flight, how was the ferry ride? Did you like Chapel Hill?”

He didn’t wait for her to answer, picking up the bags she had abandoned on the ground by their feet and hauling them back towards his truck. He looked at her over his shoulder, a bit of sadness hanging behind the happy glint in his eyes.

“I hate to tell ya but I got to say I can see some of your dad in ya too, you got those green eyes of his for sure,” he adds, slamming the tailgate shut.

“Yeah” Chrissy gave him a small smile; climbing into the passenger side of the Ford, beginning to tell him all about her travels.

Chip turned the ignition in the truck as he watched over his shoulder at the lot filled with families piling into their cars. An old Soundgarden song coming over the radio as he waited for a particularly shrill mother in a hideous yellow dress try to load her numerous kids into a shiny BMW.

“Hey listen to that,” he said, reaching over to turn up the volume. “This god awful station is actually playing some good shit for once. I mean its ‘Black Hole Sun’ but still, I gotta take what I can get around here.” He laughed loudly.

She had missed this, the religious devotion to rock bands, the never ending critique of mainstream radio disc jockeys. As annoying as it was at times it felt like home to her. Her mom had been exactly like this.

“If you hate this station so much then, why don’t you play  your own goddamn tapes,” she yelled over the song. The music was loud- like real loud-like rattling the nickels in the cup holder loud.

“Uh-uh, you don’t get to banter with me little lady, not when you just got here- not when I haven’t seen you in nearly a decade. Plus, don’t you know I’m practically king around here, and you never argue with the king,” he joked, turning out of the parking lot.

“Is that so?”

A middle aged couple in matching lilac button ups shot glares their way as the truck's tires hit the pavement, the sound of Chris Cornell’s voice booming out the speakers and open windows.

“What with them?” Chrissy asked, glaring back as she cranked the window down further.

“Ah, that’s just the Figure Eight crowd- a little taste of the local rich people for ya. Who apparently also have no taste”

“So… same shit, different state?”

“Yep, although these folks might be worse, at least the assholes back in Seattle have the decency not to dress like 80’s golfers all the time” he laughs at his own joke.

Chrissy felt herself relaxing into the door, chin coming to rest in the crook of her elbow that she had propped up on the window. She watched the trees go by as the truck slowed into the downtown area. A silence falling between them as he let her get her first glimpse of the island. The radio continued to blare as the song came to an end and the intro to Hotel California began. She heard Chip grumble to himself from the opposite side of the truck about having to put up with the Eagles, but she knew how much he secretly liked the Eagles more than he would care to admit. The town was small, just a few strips of buildings, a pharmacy, a grocery, a post office, nothing too fancy. Her uncle pointed out a fish market at the edge of town that he sold shrimp and crabs to and the house he rented a room out of when he first moved here a decade or so ago. The town was quaint, if not a little overly cutesy and touristy she thought.

Leaving town and winding down the main road on the island, Chrissy could smell the ocean in the air even though they had moved away from the beach. The trees here were nothing like back home but they were magical in their own way despite their small size. The moss that clung to their branches and hung down in the breeze reminded her of the rainforests on the Washington coast that were almost more moss and lichen than anything else. She mentioned this to Chip, the early afternoon sun combing through her wind blown hair.

“It’s like Washington, all this moss. But at the same time not at all,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess it sorta is, isn’t it” he chuckled. “I guess I’ve forgotten just how much moss there is back home”

Chrissy wondered what her life on this island would be like, if she’d ever get used to these trees, who she would become, or just how long she would end up staying out here. It seemed nice, Outer Banks, certainly better than Alaska, but she’d been on the island less than twenty minutes and her mind was already drifting back to the Pacific Northwest.

“Welcome to The Cut,” her uncle said suddenly, waving his arm out the window at the passing houses each complete with their own dilapidated boat left high and dry in front yards or driveways.

“The what?”

“The Cut, the poor people’s part of the island, the working class, the good ol’ folks, the blue collars, our people, Chris.”

“Oh- nice,” she raised her eyebrows at him, honestly a bit unimpressed.

They drove a few more minutes before Chip turned off onto a dirt road and slowed to a stop in front of a small white house.  The yard was unkempt, piles of shrimping nets, loose buoys and crawdad traps strewn across it; the grass and weeds threatening to swallow the house whole any second now. The outside of the house itself though was tidy, the windows clean, the trim freshly painted, the stairs to the side door swept. That about summed up her uncle she thought to herself, meticulously neat in some areas and completely unattentive in others. Chip pushed the truck into park and she slid out of the cab ready to grab her bags.

“Hey, hey wait up, I got a little surprise for ya before we head in. The bags aren’t gonna run off anywhere in the meantime,” he said, steering her away from the bed of the truck.

“What, what, what you'd do?” She resisted his pushing, trying to turn around to look at her uncle. 

He had a wide mischievous grin plastered to his face. Chrissy squinted her eyes at him, trying not to smile. She was so happy to be here with him. Chip pulled her around to the side of the house where the grass was thin and more trampled down.

“Close your eyes. Close your eyes”

“Ok,” Chrissy said, covering her eyes with her hands.

“Alright, wait just a second,” she could hear him pulling a tarp off something.

“Open your eyes.”

Chrissy pulled back her hands, her eyes adjusting to the bright summer sun. In front of her was a rusted up hunk of a car. She could tell at one point it had been a soft frosted green but now it was scratched up and sanded in random phases of repair.

“A Chevelle? You got me a Chevelle, a Chevelle SS? Seriously?”

“Yeah, yeah” he said excitedly, grinning at her with his big smile. 

“I can’t believe you did this… seriously…” Chrissy adds but he cut her off before she could finish.

“I know it looks like shit now, the body’s a mess and all, it’s this fuckin’ salt air I swear to god” he says waving his arm around at the car. “But we’ll fix it up, get a nice new paint job and all, whatever color you want.”

“It’s great, Chip, really, rust and all. I don’t care. I love it”

“Yeah? I’m glad you like it, you can drive stick right?” his voice suddenly panicked.

“Ah-huh, of course”

“Good, great. She runs beautifully, just purrs for ya. I rebuilt the whole thing, engine and all, so you shouldn’t have any problem.”

“You didn’t have to do this really.”

“I wanted to, plus you’re my favorite niece anyways. Shhh- don’t tell anyone,” he laughed, holding his finger up to his lips.

“I’m your only niece” Chrissy deadpanned, her green eyes sparkling back at him.

“Plus I’ve had the body and a lot of the parts sitting around the shop for ages, you just gave me an excuse to finally cross it off my never ending to do list.” He smiled at her as he dug in his pocket for the key. 

“And this would be for you,” he added, dangling the keys in the air. He tossed them to her. The chevelle’s keys hooked on a tiny blue and yellow surfboard keychain with OBX engraved in the front.

“Thank you, really. Thank you.” she said, leaning into him and throwing her arm around his back.

Living here was already turning out better than she had imagined, but then again it wasn’t too hard to beat Alaska for her.

“You bet. So you gonna take ‘er for a spin or what?”

                                     ------------------------------------------------

Relevant Visuals:

OBX Ferry Boat GIF (credit @poguesofobx)

Restored Frost Green ‘69 Chevelle (for those of you who are like me and are not car people) or Dusty/Rusty Fixer Upper ‘69 Chevelle

[thestupidhelmet]

Twitter recently talked about how Melissa was supposed to be a reoccurring girlfriend for Hyde according to her actress but faced racism and was unpopular with the cast and reduced to a one off. Aside from the racism in that decision, do you think based off that one episode that she would have been a decent reoccurring love interest? He never had one before Jackie so it would have been a major change - so do you, and how do you think it would have changed things for Jackie/Hyde if it would?

I heard that Melissa was supposed to be Hyde’s girlfriend during season 4, too, and that “Hyde Gets the Girl” (4x04) was produced during season 3 -- along with a few other early season 4 episodes -- but always intended to be aired during season 4. Unfortunately, I don’t have any primary sources for that information.

I think Melissa had a lot of potential as a character, but she’s used a device to give Hyde’s characterization an overhaul. This is also done via Jackie in “Prom Night” (1x19), but where that episode rewrites Hyde’s core for the better (i.e. from self-serving to self-sacrificing), “Hyde Gets the Girl” transforms Hyde into a socially inept boor – one who doesn’t even know to ask the girl he’s interested in if she wants a drink without being prompted

HYDE: So I'm gonna go grab a beer. MELISSA: Thanks. Get one for yourself, too. HYDE: No. I … can I get you a beer? MELISSA: There you go. Thanks. HYDE: Right.

This is their first interaction we see on-screen after their initial introduction. This characterization of Hyde contradicts what we’ve seen of him previously. In “Kelso’s Serenade” (2x21), for example, Hyde is shown bringing Jackie a Coke from the kitchen after their platonic “date”. She’s in the basement, and he brings the Coke downstairs to her. Granted, Jackie could’ve asked for it off-screen, but far more likely – considering the context of the rest of his treatment of her in the episode – he offered to bring her one without needing to be prompted.

Moreover, in “Jackie Bags Hyde” (3x08), Hyde self-corrects after he acts like an ass toward Jackie during their date, both reassuring her verbally that he wants to be on the date and offering her his soda to make up for his behavior.

Hyde’s OOC behavior aside, Melissa’s direct but mildly humorous reeducation of Hyde in his treatment of a potential girlfriend characterizes her as someone who respects herself and won’t accept disrespect from others. Combined with her first scene in the show, where she demonstrates a sarcastic sense of humor and a sense of fun, she could’ve been a great match for an in-character Hyde.

Unfortunately, Hyde and Melissa’s next interaction goes as follows:

HYDE: So, you havin' fun? MELISSA: That reminds me. I have to go.

Melissa’s response indicates that her time talking with Hyde was unsatisfactory to her. But we don’t know why because we’re not shown their conversation. He could’ve been as awkward with her as he’d been during their introduction (i.e. “I like air. How about you?”), expressed a philosophy of life or ideas she doesn’t agree with, didn’t speak at all, or inadvertently insulted her. Again, we don’t know, and that lack of knowledge makes Melissa’s curt response to him come across as disrespectful. She doesn’t tell him directly that she’s not having fun or why. She expects him to read the subtext of her response, which is clear: no, she isn’t having fun.

To be fair, though, she might have suffered too many fools while dating. She might have no patience for Hyde’s conversation – or lack thereof – whatever it was. She might have felt disrespected by him during the conversation. She certainly seemed to feel disrespected by his (OOC) ineptitude about asking if she wants a drink, so if his conversation continued in that vein, then her desire to extricate herself from an uncomfortable situation – as efficiently as possible -- is absolutely understandable and justifiable.

Again, the issue here is that we’re missing the connecting dots to understand why she responds to his question the way she does.

Right after her announcement that she has to go, the following exchange takes place:

HYDE: Uh, Melissa, um … I was wonderin' if maybe you wanted to do somethin' sometime. MELISSA: Sorry. I did something last night, and I already made plans for sometime.

I believe the writers’ intention here in Melissa’s response is to highlight Hyde’s continuing ineptitude at dating. But combined with her previous two reactions to him, she’s coming across as someone who, at best, misinterprets discomfort as disrespect and, at worst, lacks empathy.

Hyde is clearly feeling awkward and overwhelmed by how attracted he is to her. We see that from his initial reaction to her when Donna introduces them. But Melissa replies as if Hyde is being rude when he says, “I was wonderin' if maybe you wanted to do somethin' sometime.” This goes back to what we don’t see of their previous conversation. Perhaps he did insult her, intentionally or not. Or was so wholly awkward that he barely strung two coherent sentences together. If it’s the former, however, then I don’t believe she’d agree to go on a date with him at all.

More likely, she’s again trying educate him on how to interact properly with a romantic interest. And also to be fair to her, she’s not responsible for his feelings of awkwardness.  

HYDE: No. Wait, wait. Uh, let me try that again. Um, look. If you're not doing anything Friday night, I'd like to take you out to, uh … to-to dinner and a movie. Pizza? The mall? Bowling?

MELISSA: I'd love to. Call me.

This exchange partially answers the question set up by their previous exchanges – but it comes too late in the episode. Melissa expects Hyde to be specific, to give her specifics, and not be awkward with her. As written in this episode, she has no patience for the vagueness Hyde’s feelings of vulnerability creates in his communication. Her treatment of him comes across as patronizingly maternalistic. Essentially, he’s written as an immature little boy who needs to be schooled by his more mature (potential) romantic partner.    

HYDE: Call you? That's a little unorthodox. … [Upon seeing Melissa’s mildly disapproving expression.] I'll call you.

Hyde’s lines here reaffirm the boorish part of his new characterization. If, indeed, he exhibited this quality during their conversation at the party, her curtness toward him makes sense. What doesn’t make sense, though, is her even considering going on a date with someone like that. She should have – and would have – said, “I’m out,” and been done with him.

Because we didn’t get more episodes between them and more character development for her, we can’t fully interpret or understand the reasons behind Melissa’s reactions toward him. We have only the context of what happens in “Hyde Gets the Girl” to interpret her responses, and that episode skips a vital point of interaction between them.

Definitively saying she lacks empathy for Hyde is both unfair and isn’t supported by the facts. The possibility she lacks empathy does exist, however, as does the possibility she’s taking pity on his ineptitude by giving him cues if -- interpreted correctly by him -- will allow him to self-correct. She calls out his behavior in an effective but a hybrid assertive / passive-aggressive way. But in the long run, if she continued to try to “train him” using that method, her treatment of him could become toxic and abusive.

Another note about Hyde’s characterization in this episode conflicting with previous characterization of him. In “Eric Gets Suspended” (2x09), Hyde is shown conversing easily with his date (i.e. Patty). He isn’t inept, awkward, or boorish. One can reasonably say the difference here is that he’s not overwhelmed by his attraction toward Patty whereas he is by his attraction toward Melissa.

In “Punk Chick” (1x22), however, Hyde falls hard and fast for Chrissy. He declares he loves her during their first meeting, and he’s able to talk to her without being inept, awkward, or boorish.

I can’t say I like the direction Hyde’s character would have taken if his dynamic with Melissa had remained the same as it is in “Hyde Gets the Girl”. He and Melissa are not written as equals in that episode. She is clearly written as his superior – in her maturity level, her treatment of him, and in his ineptitude, awkwardness, and boorishness. Her having to school him continuously on proper boyfriend behavior wouldn’t be fair to her.

Further, him being cowed by the “tough love” method of her schooling wouldn’t be fair to him, someone who was abused and neglected by a mother who withheld her love and berated him for never being good enough. As set up in “Hyde Gets the Girl,” Melissa and Hyde’s relationship would be unhealthy for both of them.

Jackie and Hyde, on the other hand, are equals in their romantic relationship. They challenge each other to grow and change, both having to learn how to be in a healthy relationship. They teach each other how to think beyond their limited worldviews and how to show the other respect when the other fails at it. Not to say they don’t have their issues (often from inconsistent writing), but they’re shown to have a healing effect on each other. They both have flaws that are acknowledged (when bad writing doesn’t creep in). And, most importantly, they get the benefit of three seasons’ worth of episodes to explore their romantic relationship – the good and the bad.

Melissa and Hyde get one.

So I can’t say how Melissa and Hyde’s relationship might have affected or changed Hyde’s relationship with Jackie. It all depends on how Melissa and Hyde’s relationship would’ve been written.

[rose-wine-selfships]

Thank you @nadineselfships for nominating me in this tag game! 🙏💕

nickname: I’m commonly nicknamed Chrissy. But people sometimes call me sweetie, sweetheart, and at times pussycat.

zodiac: I’M A LEO BBY! YASSS QUEEN! BOW DOWN TO ME! ���️ 👑 💅💄👄

height: 5′ 2″, I’m a sassy shrimp with a height complex. 🤣🤣🤣

last thing i googled: “10 Things You’ll Relate to If You’re an ENFJ”. Basically, I’m an MBTI nerd and I highly identify as an ENFJ!

song stuck in my head: I Feel It Coming-The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk. It’s SUCH a good song!!! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh it reminds me of me and my main F/O, Atsushi Nakajima! We both have been through past traumas but we overcome them to fall in love together!!! 💖💖💖

number of followers: Last time I checked it was around 180 followers, something close to 200 so far (I think?).

average amount of sleep: Honestly, it’s either little to no hours or too many hours at this point. It fluctuates and ughhhh I HATE IT!!! It interrupts me from getting full beauty sleep!!!

lucky number: NUMBER 9! My birthdays on the 9th of August so I consider it lucky!!!

dream job: Either being a freelance artist, famous musician/youtuber, or a world traveler and food connoisseur.

currently wearing: My quarantine outfit! Which consists of a cute, pink,” I 💖 Marilyn Monroe” sleepshirt, and pink and green Christmas holiday pajamas that are warm to the touch! Comfort and cuteness are the key to me! 😉😘

favourite song: Just The Two Of Us by Grover Washington Jr. & Bill Withers, and Kiss From A Rose by Seal. Both are such romantic songs and it gets me all fuzzy inside. 🥰🥰🥰

favourite instrument: SAXOPHONE! SAXOPHONE! SAXOPHONE! I CANNOT stress this enough! It just OOZES sensuality and sexual feelings, and it gets me flustered in no time. I don’t care what you look like, just start playing saxophone around me and I’ll become putty in your hands! Lol. 🎷😍💓

aesthetic: Tired Mom Friend (that bears too much burden/trauma on her shoulders) and wants the world for her loved ones, or Traumatized cinnamon roll that desperately needs a hug.

favourite author: I surprisingly like the real life Atsushi Nakajima so far! He’s very intellectual, philosophical, and forward progressive as an author. It was rare to find those kinds of authors back then so I appreciate him more because of it. He’s so cool! 🤩🤩🤩

favourite animal noise: A kitty purring loudly while I pet it. Hearing a cats purr calms me in no time, and I miss that sound tbh. 😔

tagging: I tag @nougatships @nohr-and-thirst @kittyandco @silentlyfangirlingselfshipper @snowlilys-wife @ghostsships @ghosts-in-stock @hizentadahiro @lildreamysoul @lutece-mess @mythuna @queerdistortion @quesselfships @riessene @truedespair @uchihafambam @wearileigh @zoliis-selfship-stuff @zero-arcana and anyone else who wants to do this!!! 🌹🍷✨

[bthenoise]

These Are Mayday Parade’s Top 12 Favorite Releases of 2020 So Far

As we all anxiously await Mayday Parade dropping their new three-track EP Out Of Here later this week, we here at The Noise thought it’d be fun to give our readers a little something to help pass the time.

So, in anticipation of their soon-to-be, fan-favorite release, the members of Mayday Parade have each picked a couple of their own favorite things from 2020 to help spread a little positivity in these gloomy times.  

To check out who which members of the band picked Machine Gun Kelly’s epic pop-punk LP Tickets To My Downfall, Creeper’s infectious single “Cyanide” or possibly one of the best video games of the year The Last Of Us Part 2, be sure to look below. Afterward, make sure to pre-order Out Of Here before it hits stores this Friday.

DEREK SANDERS

The Last Of Us Part 2

My favorite video game of 2020, my opinion is that it’s one of the greatest video games ever made. It’s the perfect follow up to a phenomenal first game - a true masterpiece in storytelling. There are things that I felt playing this game that no other game has made me feel.  The Killers - Imploding the Mirage 

It’s a lot to ask of a band that’s been around for 19 years to continue to put out top-notch music. The Killers do just that with this album. It’s big, grand, and just as marvelous as anything else the band has done before.

BROOKS BETTS

The Midnight - Monsters

One of my favorite bands The Midnight released a new record called Monsters. Amazing spin on the 80s pop genre. I never liked 80s pop but the vibes that this record puts out are great. Makes a guy like myself wonder if I missed something in those classic tracks from the neon spandex era.

Machine Gun Kelly - Tickets To My Downfall

So much respect to this guy for putting out a rock record. I know there will be a lot of fans split on either side of this fence but these songs are super catchy and for those die hard pop-punk fans you gotta see this as a win-win for the genre.

JEREMY LENZO

All Time Low - “Monsters” 

This song has such a catchy chorus and I really love how the beat pulls you along through the song. I don't really have anything else to say, it's just a good song.

Billy Strings - “Watch It Fall” 

This song resonates so much with what's going on in the world right now and the music really helps carry the message. Billy Strings has really set himself apart from his contemporaries with his latest release.

Nick Lutsko - “Chrissy Teigen Unfollowed Me On Twitter” 

Even though this is a joke song, I still find myself going back to it just because of how catchy it is. You won't find this on Spotify but a quick YouTube search will get you there.

Creeper - “Cyanide” 

Love the vibe of this song. The newest album is very eclectic musically, which I personally love seeing from artists, and really shows the musicianship of the band.

JAKE BUNDRICK

Machine Gun Kelly - Tickets to My Downfall

I love that MGK went outside of his own box and created a pop-punk record that is really special. Brings me back to when I was a teenager cutting my parents grass listening to music like this and wishing I was in a band.

FIFA 21

I’ve been a massive fan for a very long time. My wife will even tell you that I play every single night, so to say I am excited about this release is an understatement. The realism and playability gets better every year and I am always finding new music through the game as well.

ALEX GARCIA

PUP - “Rot”

I love this band. They are always releasing music with such cool guitar parts and such interesting lyrics. They always have a good blend of chaotic energy and catchy melodies. This song is a great example of this, as well as having some awesome riffs.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - “A Dream Is All I Need To Get By” 

Noel Gallagher has always been a huge inspiration for me. I’ve enjoyed his stuff after Oasis and this is just a continuation of that. One thing I love about this song is how much it reminds me of late 80’s and early 90’s British rock, pretty much what influenced Oasis. It has such a great vibe and is super catchy.

[wish4youff]

05 ~ Nonetheless,

Chrissie

“I finally got you the paperwork for Raphael Lewis and Valentine Williams. Surprisingly both of them have been coming every day and most importantly staying the entire day,” The words came with the offer of two different manila folders. “You need anything else?” Looking from Chelsea Hopkins to the folders again, I shook my head in a denying response. Right now, I had five kids in my possession; surprisingly only two of them were giving me such a headache that I needed to reach out on school officials. Chelsea was the sectary at Columbia Secondary School. While she didn’t work with Valentine at Richmond Hill, but she had good enough connections to help a needy case worker. Since I could never get through. “No, I believe this is enough. I’m working on trying different tactics for them. I need something to keep them interested, you know?” “Yeah. I hate to say it, but maybe a different school will help. They’re both talented, I love that Ralph can paint and Valentine has an amazing skill and love for piano playing.” I knew Chelsea was right, but neither of them say it’s the school. ‘Just distractions around school, distractions that every school has…’ “Thanks, Chels. I’m going to look over this and I’ll call you if I need anything else.” “Alright, take care of yourself, Chrissie. Get you some vacation time, girly.”

Nothing escaped me but a laugh of audacity, the thought of leaving these kids for a week or even weeks at a time is absurd. Even Chelsea, someone I know on a rare occasion could see the exhaustion. Only making me proud of the fact I wasn’t bothering a man to love or look at me in this mess of a life. Yet, I could never turn my back on them and so exhaustion came with the playing field. I know the feeling of having nobody and wanting an authority figure. It’s surprising how much it’s wanted when it’s missing.

That’s freakishly comical in more than one way. Taking my time, I checked through the attendance sheets; making it a priority to check every class. Raphael tends to skip throughout the day, while Valentine will leave school early to take on shifts at her job. While I respect the work ethic and determination in the young girl’s heart, she must be carefully and mindful.   The time flew as I sat there, putting in notes on my computer as I tried to get my things together, still attempting to reading over minor details. The clock was reading nine, fifteen when I finally walked out and to my car. By good fortune, during this time the traffic isn’t as heavy as five through seven o'clock traffic. Pulling off onto the road, as usual, the music from my phone filled the ride as I headed home.

“Hold on!” Drying my hands of dish soap; I hurried to the front door of my apartment. It had to be after eleven at night and someone was pounding at my door. It couldn’t be Olivia, at least I hope not. She and I were meeting for lunch tomorrow and then planned an overdue nail appointment tomorrow night with her favorite nail tech Gloria. Plus, I was taking her shopping for her in-laws visit the day after. My sister had no need to be visiting.

I may not have much experience with mothers-in-law, well I have none, but I have good taste and a positive attitude.

“Who is it?” Turning the locks on the door, I swung it open. Coming face to face with the last person I expected.

“Why are you here?”

“I gotta talk to you about something.” I shook my head at Michael’s words.

“Ain’t nobody outside, Mike, what’s good?”

“Don’t play, you know I’m not about to stand in the middle of the hallway and have a conversation with you. Let me in, man.” In only a true Mike Shaw fashion, he pushed himself past me and into the kitchen I had just spent an hour cleaning after a late dinner.

Once the door was locked, I followed his trail. Finding him in the refrigerator grabbing an individual bottle of fruit punch and a container of day-old homemade lasagna.

Or what I would’ve called my lunch for tomorrow.

“You came to eat or talk?”

“Both. Shit you got food, why not eat while I’m here?”

Popping off the lid, he slid the plate in the microwave while I took a seat at the counter, watching him.

Mike and I have been close since Harvard. He too was a Miami soul along with Kingston. Since graduation, we have drifted due to his scheduling and me trying to take care of my sister at the time and getting my first “real” job. Yet; he has been in New York since me and a few other college friends returned home. His main reason was because of the opportunity he saw with working on Jay Z’s, at the time, new record label - Roc Nation. Fortunately, Omar Grant saw something in Mike’s ability to find new talents, giving him the second authority figure in Roc Nation’s A&R department.

Nevertheless, I don’t see much of Mike. Not until something goes wrong. The last three times he’s been caught in some scandal of lies with females, actually the very last time he was here dealing with the fact he could possibly be fathering a child with a female whose name or face he couldn’t even remember.

He’s funny and charming, and as much as he reminds me why I’m still standing by him even with how much has changed, I can’t afford, emotionally, to continue to take on his issues.

“Mike?”

“I’ll get to it, just let me eat something real quick.”

Four minutes went by before he opens his mouth and I know because I watch the count on the microwave tick on until the twelve o'clock hour and some.

“Ibrahim is getting married.” He finally says.

For a second I almost missed it. Not because I didn’t understand what he said, but because I almost through he wasn’t speaking to me - considering the fact I didn’t care. Ibrahim? I haven’t spoken with him since college. He’s…….FBI too. There’s not much to say to his kind.

“And?” I asked, wondering where the issues lay with him or better me.

“And that means King is coming into town.”

“Kingston is always in New York, at least from what I believe. He’s……..well you know.”

“FBI?”

He’s more than that poor Michael, but I understand.

“Yeah,” Frowning, I looked at him. “That’s why you came over here? To tell me Ib was getting married?”

“Hell no, I came to eat with all honesty,” He said holding up the plate, as if I couldn’t already see that. “And……..give you this,” Reaching in his back pocket, he pulled out wrinkled up golden envelope with the names ‘Chrissie and Olivia’ written on the front.

“It’s an invite to his wedding and reception. He didn’t know if you’ll accept it from him. Y'all haven’t talk in forever, but I don’t remember much of a problem between y'all. But you know.” Shrugging his shoulders as if I was supposed to fill in the blanks.

“Who’s all coming?”

“You and your sister, me, maybe King, Damon, and that’s all I know for now.”

“Are you in it or just attending?”

“Attending, with you,” Laughing, he shook his head at the inside joke. “You know Ib got like five brothers by himself. He don’t need no more groomsmen.”

Chuckling, I had to agree with him on that. There had to be at least four or maybe five Aubry brothers, including one who was named Bas that attended MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge a year after we’ve started. And one younger sister, who I believe was named Jesse. She was only twelve the last I had seen or heard about her.

“Look, I know it’s been a minute since you’ve been around all them, but I figured it was worth the chance. You have friends, I don’t why you revolve yourself around work twenty-four seven. Spend some time doing something relaxing,” Michael said with another mouthful of my potential lunch.

“Just look at it as our very own version of Best Man and you could even be……….Mia.”

“Oh, no. Hell no. She ended up dying, my guy.” I replied, frowning at the fact he gave her. I much rather be Jordan or even Robyn.

“No she did not. Mia was the one with the football player, Lance.”

“Yes, she died in the last movie, Best Man Holiday, Mike. ”

“Oh shit, I never watched that. Thanks for ruining it, Chris.”

“You brought it up!”

“Anyways,” Tossing the plate in the sink, he untwisted the bottle’s top. “You’re going, Liv going and we are having a good time. I just wanted to deliver this to you myself so you couldn’t punk out. Or lie and say you never got the invite.”

“So that’s it?”

“I guess, since you don’t have any more food,” Turning he picked up his phone and then an unopened box of fruit snacks caught his attention. “Well never mind. I’m going to watch a movie instead.”

“I got to work in the morning, Michael.”  

“I’ll be alright. You won’t be bothering me.”

King

“I need a week vacation.”   Releasing the typed request form onto Stephen’s desk, he looked up at me, taking in my words. For the past few days we’ve kept our distance, obviously the run in at my mother’s gravesite left us both feeling uneasy around one another. Maybe he overheard me, maybe he didn’t. Regardless I was competent with the temporary gap. Perhaps it gave us both time to think and focus on something else of substance. “For what?” “Because I do. Just for starters.” “……Right.” And just like that he went back to reading his newspaper. It had been his early morning pattern along with a cup of coffee since I was old enough to structure a memory of him. What wasn’t a part of his routine was him agreeing so willingly to my commands or requests. “Cool, I’ll take it in a couple weeks. I’ll let you know a week in advance before it happens as a reminder. What’s for today though?” Stephen picked up a folder, the word ‘confidential’ stamped across the front. Choosing a staple remover from his possession, I opened the ends, reading over the text of the official papers while walking to my office two doors down on the top floor of the Bureau headquarters in D.C. I had been here for the past four days, wishing at times for the comforts of my own home and bed, the silence of the small city and neighborhood where my only issues was my own kind kicking my door from neighbor speculation. My townhouse here was amazing, Stephen threw one of the best interior designers stationed around District of Colombia, Jonathan Adler, in my hands, yet told me to back away and 'allow the man to work.’ While the house looked great; it wasn’t all my style either. I speculate its “home” regardless. Inside my office I closed and locked the door behind me, my mind processing the information I was reading over. Apparently, an ex-agent was meeting up with Russians, there was no telling of who he was talking to exactly or talking about, but still there was meetings being held. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, but with our new President, he’s so paranoid of the smallest what-ifs the man would kill his own family over speculation. I didn’t know if I had much room, I never killed anyone of my family, but I’ve pushed them away enough to break their hearts. Still he’s Trump. I rather Bush.   Something moved and my head snapped up, locking eyes with a smirking Yasmin. The tip of my favorite pen being toyed with in her mouth. It’s been some time since I last seen her, still I wasn’t so restful with her presence here. “What?” I asked. Closing the document in my hand, holding it tightly. She stood, coming towards me, her eyes and body having that seductive vibe feeding towards me. I’ve known Yasmin since I was accredited. She was at the party Director Thomas Griffin, at the time acting attorney at the headquarters, threw for me as the up and coming government assassin. The celebration did last for an hour and not to long afterwards, she was on her knees in front me in the privacy of the bathroom stall. As wrong as I knew it was, she was gifted and I took the chance to unwrap her talents. Now I regret it, only because she’s too clingy. Clinginess gets you either hurt or killed around me. And I’ve only let one stranger come in my life and learn my secrets while staying alive.

“I thought if you had a moment, we could……….you know.” It wasn’t a question, she knew, I knew exactly what she was hinting at. “No, I got to work. Get out.” “Why you play hard to get, now? We’ve already been down this road.” Going around her, I took a seat at my desk, putting the portfolio underneath the Mac Pro occupying my desk. “Why you not playing hard to get?” I shot back, able to give her my attention for a while and when I say a while I mean a few seconds. “We’re grown, we want what we want. Why should either of us be playing around? You help me, I’ll help you.” “You know if we ever get caught, you’re fired.” “You used to be more………….unrestrained. More willing to take challenges and have fun,” Her long red finger nail trailing down my button-down shirt to the top of my belt. I hate it. “More excited. I’ve bored you.” True. “I’m busy.” “You didn’t go get in a relationship behind my back did you, Vitale?” “No, Yasmin. I’m just not with it,” Motioning to the door, I showed my true intentions. “See yourself out please.” Opening the computer, I hoped to show myself doing something; busy enough to brush her off. One day I’ll regret this, but today wasn’t that day.  I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

[xpwewarchive]

XPWEW Friday Night Pyro (1-3-2020)

XPWEW Friday Night Pyro

January 3rd, 2020

Houston, Texas in The Fertitta Center

*Show intro*

Golden Bryce enters the ring to a pretty good pop, he’s popular here as the New International Champion (instant replay shows how he defeated Slayer for it last week at the 2019 Xtremey Awards edition of Pyro)

Golden Bryce enters the ring with microphone in hand and hyped up the Houston crowd to his dismay he is interrupted by The XPWEW World Champ Champagne Clausen who enters wearing Louis Vuitton red bottom shoes and a canary suit, looks pretty G I’ll admit it.

-Champagne says Golden Bryce is just like Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans, *crowd boos* Unproven and Overrated. *crowd boos*

And as a man from upstate New York, myself I am very excited to see my Buffalo Bills beat you guys tomorrow ha ha ha *crowd boos* BILLS MAFIA!

Golden Bryce smiles and nods “Champagne if I’m the Houston Texans then maybe you are the Buffalo Bills, maybe that’s applicable because just like Bill Mafia I think you’d look a hell of a lot better going through a table *crowd cheers*

Champagne “HA HA HA! Yeah Houston laugh it up, yeah look at you Bryce so pathetic, clinging on with sports jokes, timely references to draw the ire of this crowd here. Truth is nobody likes you and everyone here is tired of you and I know we haven’t been properly introduced but I’ll do that now. I’m Champagne Clausen. I’m YOUR world champion. I’m (SHUT UP!) I’m Houston’s world champion and I am not scared of your challenge. As a matter of fact I endorse it. I’ve beaten Masato Tanaka twice on pay-per-view! Okay I beat the lovable moron Freight Train last week, I even did something you didn’t Bryce (heh) I actually beat Jake Awesome. (Crowd ooos)

Bryce: “So what’s the deal are we doing a Tables match?” (Crowd pops)

Champagne “On God. On Bills Mafia as my witness...You’re damn right” (Champagne cheers his world title with Bryce’s I-N title around his waist) *walks away*

-Ethan Bedlam already in the ring, loosening up and hyping himself up

Garrett Thompson enters

M1: (((Squash Match)))

Garrett Thompson defeats Ethan Bedlam

After the match: All Man comes out with All Woman and goes to speak towards GT but Scott Steiner jerks the mic right out of his hand *Big Pop*

Scott Steiner: “Houston! We have a problem that crumpet and tea drinking big bastard wants a piece of the biggest arms in the world! Ha I’ll break your back you goof!

((Garrett yelling obscenities))

Steiner continued: “All my freaks here wanna see the Big Bad Booty Daddy put a beatdown on some punk that’s why you better find a partner or else get slumped by me and the All man, or just fold like a b**ch (crowd pops)

GG enters and starts punching All Man and Scott Steiner and GT runs up to the ramp and we have an impromptu 2 on 2 right now

M2: Tag Team Match

GT & GG defeat Scott Steiner & All Man w/ All Woman

The match ends when GT hits Steiner with the elbow smash to which GG hits his finisher “The Plunge” off the top rope for the 1-2-3 - All Woman was just a little too slow to break up the count and the tag division might just have a new team in GT & GG (Quite odd bedfellows)

Backstage: James Westerbeck is here for an interview with John Oliver and John just says he’s happy to be here on Friday Night Pyro and since doing his segment on professional wrestling on his show “Last Week Tonight” a few months ago he’s become obsessed with the culture and it’s just a thank you fest until women’s Champ Amy Lee enters with Brian Lee behind her (silent). Amy says she doesn’t like when people who aren’t wrestlers get involved in her business. Oliver makes a quick wit joke “I don’t like when people who aren’t talented at communication get involved in the act” *crowd oohs*

Amy: “Are you calling me stupid? I could break your little ass in half boy”

Lola Starr enters “John, I love your show I watch it every week. I respect your open minded opinions”!

Amy towards Lola: “What the hell do you think your doing freak!”

Lola Starr: “I’m stepping up and ive been here for months and I’ve yet to be given opportunity, being showcased. It’s like I got signed because of the headline. Yes. I’m trans and yes I identify as a woman and yes I am going to challenge you for that title. Tonight.

Amy (looks at Brian Lee)....You got it, let’s see what you goin. (Amy looks at John Oliver and gives him a huge dramatic pull in sloppy kiss).....

Leonard, Dragon and Ms. Ryu enter

Joe Gacy, Brodie Croyle & Kiera Hogan enter

M3: Non Title Match

Leonard McGraw & Dragon Kid (c) vs The Plagueground w/ Kiera Hogan

(((ENDS IN NO CONTEST)))

Match abruptly ends when 3M Ultra comes out and attacks Croyle and Gacy for revenge on them injuring his partner M3 Quintillo last week, He beats them both down with his XTREMEY award and at the climax breaks it over Kiera Hogan’s skull (rough spot)

3M Ultra angrily grabs the mic and says last week my partner was decimated for absolutely no reason by these a**h****s and then the damn company that I bust my ass for gave me that trophy! Really? “The WOAT award” Is this a joke? Get that camera up close I will be taking seriously

Leonard McGraw stances up “Son, do you wanna be taking seriously?”

3M Ultra “Hell Yes!”((Leonard McGraw decks him with a buckshot clothesline) crowd pops huge

McGraw: “I don’t give a damn if it’s Plagueground, The Larva, GT, GG, All Man, All Woman, Kiera Hogan, Hulk Hogan I’m fixin’ to whoop some ass and I’ll do it on anybody who wants smoke. And I got two words for every son of a bitch in the back F*** You

(((McGraw does the hook’em horns and the Houston crowd pops huge)))

Backstage: Doxy Deity is talking sweet and cute-like with Jordan Oliver until Ruckus, Siaka & Chrissy Rivera Walk up

Ruckus “I ain’t tryna buss on ya but bitches really just waste your time pimp”

Doxy “who the f*** you calling a bitch, m*****f*****?”

Ruckus: Hoe don’t give me no nut roll

Jordan: Ruckus bro don’t man it ain’t necessary for all this beef right now

Ruckus: Nigga I’m trying to win titles ok and if we gonna be a team I need to make sure you got Noooooooo distractions and Dox, I, I, I, I respect you, you know what I’m saying but my boy here is young, he dumb and he over this (crowd laughs). Listen pimp I don’t care what y’all do, I might even get Chrissy to watch, shit but I wanna win gold and if you ain’t trying to do that, Then I might have to dip and go solo and get mines cause best believe Ima get mines.....

Rosemary walks by McGraw and Dragon Kid quickly and comes to the aid of Kiera Hogan her just got blasted in the head by 3M Ultra with his “WOAT” Xtremey Award..

Slayer enters

Dramatic pause between entrances because the crowd knows this is CJ’s final match

))((Chris Johnson Career Retrospective Video Plays))((

Chris Johnson enters the ring; one final time to his old theme song “Stay Fly by Three 6ix Mafia”

Chris Johnson’s wife Erin Brown aka Misty Mundae is in the front row of the ramp way and he kisses her forehead during his entrance

Retirement Match

M4: Slayer w/ Rosemary & Kiera Hogan defeats Chris Johnson

After the match and the loss the crowd pops for Chris Johnson

((THANK YOU CJ *clap clap clap clap*))

Chris Johnson grabs the mic: No complaints about the match, No complaints about this crowd, No complaints, No excuses. Wherever we were, Whatever I did. I always left my blood and sweat on this canvas and I’m not gone, I’ll be around but this is my final night as an in-ring competitior and...

***lights go purple***

LOTUS enters

((Lotus walks into the ring and Chris Johnson looks around, perplexed and confused.))

((Lotus kicks Chris Johnson square in the groin))

{{Crowd oddly pops for it though, Houston is weird}}

LOTUS unmasks

Nick Simmonds on commentary : “ Katie, that’s. Wait that’s..that’s Slayer’s daughter Hazel! What the world!

Kaitlyn Khaos on commentary: “Nick, Hazel has a very very odd past with Chris Johnson”

Lotus looks at a downed Chris Johnson “Do you remember me!!!! The anguish and abuse you put me thorough!!! You tried to take me away from my family. You son of a bitch I’ve waited a long time to do this!!!”

((Slayer beaten up and Rosemary looking on from the corner of the ring))

LOTUS goes outside and grabs a steel chair and beats Chris Johnson with the steel chair over and over again repeatedly until eventually even Slayer and Rosemary try to get her to stop and LOTUS looks at Slayer and Rosemary then just whams Chris Johnson with the chair really hard one more time. *Crowd stunned*

Chris Johnson is lifeless in the ring

LOTUS exits slowly by herself and then walks by Erin Brown (the wife of Chris Johnson). Drags her over the guardrail and starts pulling her hair and kicking her until Arena security gets involved and pulls LOTUS away kicking and screaming.

Advertisement: Golden Bryce and Dr. Disrespect “What is Twitch” commercial #2

HBO’s Last Week Tonight set up is put together pretty accurately in the ring

John Oliver enters

In ring segment: Welcome to Last Pyro, Tonight with John Oliver. Please welcome tonight’s guest the xpwew world champion Champagne Clausen

Oliver makes jokes at Champagne’s expense

Compares the vegetation of his father to the Brexit events

Regina Clausen is really the Ivanka Trump of XPWEW, because she’s talentless, has done nothing to earn her position, Only in said position because her father gave it to her and at times it looked like he wanted to have sex with her (crowd groans)

John Oliver runs down the numbers between Champagne’s 22-0 streak vs Jacques 89-0 streak.

John Oliver shows much sympathy for how the story of Freight Train has been one of hope and disaster

After sitting there for the most part taking in all of these insults Champagne sits up in his chair and Says

Champagne: “John I like you. I even like your show well I guess used to. I always start John Stewart did it better (crowd groans). John you come out here and mock my father, my sister. I don’t even care. They didn’t win this title for me. I wasn’t handed anything lest I remind you I worked very hard for the past 5 years to get to this level, to this stage. Hell, to even be in a monstrosity of a segment with someone like you John. And my answer is I don’t care. None of your jokes phase me. My dad is a vegetable. Yea. I drove my sister off the stage inside of a Pope mobile. I did that. John I’m not like a politician who will look you in the face and lie. I did these things. I’m glad my dad is in a coma. I’m happy my sister is damn near handicapped somewhere. And I’m freakin’ ecstatic that Freight Train’s Cinderella story last week came to a screeching hault.

John Oliver (was that pun intended?)

Golden Bryce enters

(Stage hands clear the Last Week Tonight set quickly but leave John Oliver’s table in the ring, this table match is gonna start

World Champ vs International Champ

Tables Match

M5: Champagne Clausen defeats Golden Bryce

(((John Oliver got mildly involved in the match but he didn’t take a bump, just ran away)))

The match ends when both men our on the top rope and Bryce was sizing up Champagne for the Super-Plex off the top rope and Champagne had the resilience to reverse it, slide down Bryce’s back and hoist him backward for the Electric Chair drop through the table and your winner Champagne Clausen!!!!

Champagne Clausen rolls out of the ring with ease and pushes over the John Oliver “Last Week Tonight” screen monitor then holds him world title up walking up the ramp as the show ends...

[soundsandnoises]

Good Charlotte with nothing,nowhere, Milk Teeth and Against The Current in O2 Brixton Academy, London (03/12/2017)

GOOD CHARLOTTE

Good Charlotte is one of the bands that helped me through tough times and for that I will be forever grateful, that I could put the record on, take it with my in my disc-man [yep, you read that right] and listen to it on and on again. Those songs were my escape and even though my music taste changed and I don’t reach for GC’s albums often enough it seems that these lyrics are etched in my heart for eternity, cause I was able to scream all those precious, encouraging, sad, funny words right back during their show in Brixton Academy.

Many could think that GC mellowed with age, but they’ve only matured and deliver the most passionate and powerful performance filled with speeches soaked with gratitude, encouragement and... hope. And one of those speeches cut deep through me and opened, or rather re-opened a wound. It’s been a long, long time since I got so emotional during a gig and even if I did I was tough enough to hold back tears. But not that Sunday. Benji’s words about being in a bad place or knowing someone in a bad place and a reminder that things get better before ‘Hold On’ got me good and I found myself sobbing [don’t mistake it with self pity though, it was rather cathartic]. 

Funny how this band made me all nostalgic yet reminded me the freshness of being excited by seeing favourite musicians live, that tingling sensation in your stomach, shaky knees, the radiance showering your body when you see them enter the stage, your heart melting a little when you see Joel pushing speakers towards the end of stage and standing closer to the fans than the original set up would allow) . Starting from seeing Billy passing by the queue [and not being recognized by anyone at the very front of the queue] to the footage from concert in Brixton Academy in 2003, shown before only raised the anticipation. 

All scattered puzzles were completed with band’s performance. Hearing the songs that haven’t made to the setlist for some time, like ‘Emotionless’ and mad version of ‘The River’ with guest appearance of Architects’ Sam Carter - one special moment was chasing another. Even though the vibe was killed by a brawl/ a guy causing some trouble in the crowd it was quickly restored by the eager audience chanting ‘Good Charlotte’ and it went smoothly from there. 

Not even an early curfew stopped Maryland rockers’ the celebration and hungry fans were fed with all the finest moments. The hits like ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’, ‘The Anthem’ or ‘The Young and the Hopeless’ were resonating through Academy’s walls with great strength reminding everyone what pop punk is about. But new songs, from band’s latest LP ‘Youth Authority’ were carried on beautifully [and GC boys appreciated it a lot]. Acoustic ‘Emotionless’ was so intimate, so heartfelt, goosebumps vibe guaranteed.

And they left the stage with a promise of coming back in 2018. It couldn’t end up better.

Setlist:

The Anthem

The Story of My Old Man

My Bloody Valentine

Girls & Boys

Riot Girl

Life Changes

The Motivation Proclamation

Hold On

The Chronicles of Life and Death

Predictable

Makeshift Love

Keep Your Hands Off My Girl

War

Little Things

The Young and the Hopeless

Emotionless

Good Morning Revival [intro]

Misery

The River [feat. Architects’ Sam Carter]

 Dance Floor Anthem

I Just Wanna Live

Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

SUPPORT ACTS

NOTHING,NOWHERE

Mysterious figure hiding underneath the hood and a cap. A little bit of rock, a little bit of rap put together in strange but pleasant fusion. Maybe slightly too tame at times, but nothing,nowhere made a good opener. Nothing,nowhere is a musical project of Joe Mulherin who combines bits and pieces of emo and rap, inspired by the likes of Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit.

MILK TEETH

This band is making waves on new rock scene and with grace, swagger and 90′s wind on their sails are going steady and fast on their world conquest. With their energetic punk rock laced with pop and humour they warmed up Brixton Academy quite well. And not only that; showing their subtle side they’ve made the venue flicker with lights. They definitely know how to rock the crowd.

AGAINST THE CURRENT

This band was for me the biggest surprise of the evening. I didn’t know what to expect and frankly I wasn’t really excited. But Against The Current performance was really good, with loads of energy, unleashed in a form of fireball - Chrissy Constanza. Man, that girl’s got power in her pipes. Their songs are a neat mix of pop, rock and punk and can be a delicate veil falling on you or a kick in the teeth. Good and positive vibe was coming from them throughout their show. They’re working on new material - definitely worth keeping the tabs on.

[deathbyzamboni-us-blog]

Best Records of 2017 (so far)

After years of people BEGGING me, I have finally deiced to write about music, occasionally. This means I’ll be another asshole in a sea full of assholes who think that their opinions on music are worth reading. Seriously though, I have decided to keep a written record of what I listen to and what I think about it. I’ll be posting when times allows it and further entries will be shorter… or longer I don’t really know or care.

This post will be about the records that I have listened to in the year of our Lord 2017, that I think you should give a shot.1 Finally, I won’t be able to bring the same level of insight with these artists as with ones I have more familiarity with. Many of the artists on this list are new to me, which is exciting.

First some honorable mentions:

The Menzingers – After the Party

The chorus of the first song, “Tellin’ Lies” simply asks, “Where are we gonna go now that our twenties are over?” This theme of the rocker growing up that permeates the record and is channeled through Springsteen with a punk backing.

Suggested Tracks: “Tellin’ Lies” “Bad Catholics” “Your Wild Years”

White Reapers – The World’s Best American Band

 You already know whether or not you like this record, based on the title of the title alone. A collection of solid rock songs. My only problems are I wish the production was a little messier and the songs were faster.

Suggested Tracks: “The World’s Best American Band” “Judy French” “Another Day”

Cloud Nothings – Life Without Sound

Now this band I have some history with. This is the follow up to Here and Nowhere Else and this record has eased on the Dinosaur Jr. like punch of that record. Unfortunately, there isn’t a track here that reaches the heights “I’m Not Part of Me”.

This is a bad and good thing. It’s bad since none of the songs on Life Without Sound are as good as that one, but it’s good because “I’m Not Part of Me” was so good that it distracted away from the other songs on that record.

Ultimately Life Without Sound presents a collection of exceptional songs with some awesome hooks and it adds up to a more cohesive record.

Suggested Tracks: “Things Are Right With You” “Darkened Rings” “Modern Act”

5) Charly Bliss – Guppy

Talk about a ray of sunshine! This record feels like it was discovered in a 90’s record bin in between copies of The Breeder’s The Last Splash and all of Weezer’s early output.

Despite the fun that this record holds I feel that the biggest hurdle for most people to overcome is Eva Hendrick’s chipmunk like vocals. Yes, they’re abrasive but further listens prove that they are perfect for the cocktail of bubblegum alt. rock that is this record. Hendrick’s melodies are some of the most addicting sounds I have come across in a while. All the while having a hint of sexiness to go along the rocking feel of this record.

Suggested Tracks: “Percolator” “DQ” “Black Hole”

4) Hurray for The Riff Raff – The Messenger

Hurray for The Riff Raff is spearheaded by Alynda Segarra. From what I can gather this is a semi-autobiographical concept record. She switches the point of view in song to explore the lives people currently living in America.

To complement this theme is a variety of song types; “Living in the City” feel likes a great Pretenders song (her voice reminds me of Chrissie Hynde’s); “Rican Beach” has a Spanish beat to it; “Pa’lante” is a piano ballad that tries to encapsulate the desires of all American’s. (Well I just wanna prove my worth / On the planet Earth, and be, something / I just wanna fall in love/ Not fuck it up, and feel something.)

I have only listened to this record a couple times, but I find it reveals itself more on each listen.

Suggested Tracks: “Living in the City” “Hungry Ghost” “Pa’lante”

3) Diet Cig – Swear, I’m Good at This

Since The White Stripes, two piece bands have been more prevalent. Many of these groups try to hide the lack of instruments by filling the space of the sonic pallet on their recordings. Diet Cig embraces this lack of sound to create intimacy so when the noise does kick in the effect is more powerful. It’s classic quiet/loud/quiet dynamic I know, but that has missing in recent years.

Lead singer/guitarist Alex Luciano has no problem embracing the intimacy in her lyrics as well. Many of these songs come off as if she were whispering deep emotional secrets into your ear. For instance, the song starts off the album, “Sixteen” regales a tale of sleeping with a guy in her hometown who goes on tells everyone afterward. This leads to her moving to the city and most of the songs deal with being young and lonely when you move away from home.

The lyrics may not be complex and that’s a good thing. All you need to do is tell the truth when you have an electric guitar to help tell your story. Finally, many of the songs feel like well-produced versions of early Guided By Voices. There are big songs here despite their short length.

Suggested Tracks: “Leo” “Barf Day” “Blob Zombie”

2) Japandroids – Near to the Wild Heart of Life

It has been five years since these guys released the best rock record of the decade, Celebration Rock. The hype has built up from that time making the initial listens of Near to the Wild Heart of Life a little disappointing but further spins have proven that this record is a worthy follow up.

The narrative of Celebration Rock was a love letter to your 20’s that culminates with the happy ending of marrying the girl. The record was wild, balls out and romantic. Near to the Wild Heart of Life’s title track plays almost as a recap of the previous record which leads the narrative of figuring out where you’re going in your 30’s when you have gotten everything you wanted.

From the second track (“North East South West”) onward the tempo slows down (a bit) but still provides the fist-pumping choruses of the previous record. It’s clear that this is a transition record so not every song is a winner (“I’m Sorry (For Not Finding You Sooner)”.) There are successes with the sonic experiments (“Arc of Bar’s” synth are very welcome for its 7 minute long run time.) 

A lot of the lyrics may be silly but hopefully, we don’t have to wait another 5 years for a new record.

Suggested Tracks: “Near to the Wild Heart of Life” “North East South West” “Arc of Bar”

1) Kendrick Lamar – Damn

The title of this record and its cover encapsulates the feeling I have waking up every day in the year of 2017. In the true follow up to my favorite record of 2015, To Pimp a Butterfly. (He did release Untitled Unmastered last year but that was just a holdover of material from Butterfly.)

I know it’s cliché to put this record on my list, but the record is so good. Though it took me multiple listens to appreciate some of the songs in the first half of the record, but it is a complete album. From the intense and flow intricate opener “DNA” to the sublime ballad of “LOVE,” DAMN offers a wide range of feelings and emotions to engage with.

Kendrick is smart here, making only a few allusions to the current presidential administration. It defiantly comes up but this record reminds us that politics make up a fraction of our lives so, why dwell on things. No matter who you wanted to win, the personal problems you had before are very much still here and must be dealt with, as well.

Suggested Tracks: “DNA” “LUST” “LOVE”

1.     For future reference, If I have chosen to write about a record, you should listen to it. I’m not trying to do turkey shoots here. I am trying to make suggestions and come to writing about music in a positive light. If I do think the record sucks I will state it in the first sentence.