#wouldve had me at the audience laughing for the third time

[sit-cons]

The Goes Wrong Show haunts me, because maybe this is a really dumb assumption but in universe, is the audience laughing? I need to know.

[steveharrington]

your dustin opinions are impeccable. also, would you mind elaborating on what your problems with the scoops troop plot? something about it has never sat completely right with me but i'm not sure how to put it into words

yeah for sure! to start out i’ll say that the scoops troop plotline was probably my favorite of the season, as in i had the most fun watching it. obv im biased because whichever group steve is in will probably be the most entertaining to me, i adore him, but it was also due largely to robin’s presence and the chemistry that i think joe maya gaten and priah all had as a group. that being said though i think the plotline was handled in a really weird, lowkey eerie way that all comes down to tone. 

stranger things started out as a drama. like, when it’s recognized in awards shows it’s in the drama category, which puts it up against shows like game of thrones, the handmaid’s tale, shows that tend to have really serious, oftentimes dark content. it fits because stranger things IS dark. it draws inspiration from classic horror movies, characters die, usually in pretty horrible ways, children are traumatized, etc. that’s not to say that there hasn’t ever been humor in the show before scoops troop, obviously there has been, but on the whole the show had a pretty dark premise and a lot of dramatic moments that are written 100% to be dramatic. there tended to be a really good balance of knowing when to keep the tone serious and when to lighten it up a bit. in season three, i personally felt like the duffers decided to try to make the show both a drama and a comedy in equal measure, and their way of doing that was to keep the dark content matter but to make the lighthearted tone more frequent, and that manifested mostly in the scoops troop. it’s made a little worse by the fact that steve, dustin, and erica are undoubtedly comic relief characters. steve’s entire character since season one has pretty much been delegated to being laughed at, dustin has always been the kid with the most jokes and the least emotional arcs, and erica was literally made a season regular based on the fact that people thought she was funny in season two. also, i think the duffers lowkey realized how ridiculous the russian plotline is so they figured adding humor and making the russian general so cartoonish would relieve some of the audiences disbelief that this would ever happen. the result you get is really fucking weird, though. 

right away it’s strange how casual they are about everything. i think the duffers were going for like “these clueless children were just having fun and they accidentally stumbled into a dark deadly secret” but it doesn’t really work when they see men with giant guns and think “okay anyways, how are we gonna get past them?” you can argue that steve and dustin have been desensitized, but robin and erica haven’t. once the elevator drops, they become reasonably freaked out and for the first time you get the since that they’re genuinely scared, but even then it’s treated as a joke. again, this isn’t the first instance of this happening in stranger things. steve has a meltdown every single season and it’s always been used for humor during a serious moment, but in seasons one and two it was just a momentary break from the intensity of whatever was happening. in season three, the jokes are consecutive. steve has his meltdown, then there’s a conversation about him liking robin, then there’s a piss joke (??) like there’s never a moment where they stop and really consider that like damn we’re trapped underground with no food or water and no hope at anyone figuring out where we are. that would all be okay if that was the extent of it, because characters on stranger things have had much worse fates than being slightly dehydrated, but then it takes a super sharp turn and becomes irredeemably dark. when i was watching the season for the first time i found it insanely jarring how fast it goes from steve being completely fine to steve being covered in blood. the duffers clearly want to keep up the routine of him getting beaten up, and they go a little harder on him every time, so this being the third time means he’s like pretty seriously injured. i would say the only scene the scoops troop gets that’s 100% serious is the one where they bring steve back to the room and robin is like “what did you do to him” and all that. that was good! that was realistic! but as soon as he’s awake again they switch back to banter and ahaha steve confuses his left and right bc he’s dumb. the thing that Really gets me is that the season 3 trailer used the shot of him getting jabbed with the needle in a very deliberate way to get people to theorize and be like “season 3 steve harrington DIES???” so like obviously they knew how dark it looked out of context. the thing is like......even WITH context it’s dark!! like the duffers were like “so at this point steve and robin, the oldest of whom just graduated high school like a month ago, are going to be tied up and drugged against their consent (after physical violence didn’t work) to get them to confess information that they literally don’t know. and it’s gonna be fuckin hilarious :) one of them is gonna almost get his fingernails removed by pliers haha” and it’s batshit crazy. 

the best way to really realize how insane it is is to rewatch the older seasons. i rewatched season one recently and when the scene where hopper is interrogated came on, i was like wait hold the fucking phone. he’s just getting tased. and it was treated SO SERIOUSLY in comparison to when steve who is at most 19 years old gets knocked unconscious during an interrogation and later says his ears are ringing and he cant breathe. the scene where nancy and jonathan are surrounded by all the lab employees at the park is super unsettling and eerie and you’re like oh shit these two teenagers just walked right into a government secret. when there are russians surrounding steve and robin with guns, they put in a joke about dustin quoting a movie at them. 

im not saying that this is Problematic or Immoral or anything like that. this isnt like a duffer brothers call out post. like i said, this was still my favorite storyline in the season. i actually think it’s weirdly fascinating. like you know when they take trailers for like, high school musical and just add scary sound effects and editing to make it look like a horror movie? it’s the same premise as the scoops troop. it’s a super dark premise but with jokes and writing that makes it seem like a fun goofy coming of age story. if the duffers were Intentionally trying to do a subversion where they’re like “look we tricked you into laughing while these children were traumatized and nearly killed” i think that wouldve been brilliant. i don’t really think that’s what they were going for, though. i think they accidentally put all their comic relief characters into one group and wanted as many laughs as they could get to break up the drama of the other groups. it just so happened that they also almost tore steve’s fingernails out with pliers :///

[hiraethstill]

THIS WEEK AND LAST WEEK ON DAIYA NO ACE (7/16 and 7/23)

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

7/16 LIVEBLOG:

IMMEDIATE assault by eijun's handsome face

and his DETERMINATION

every time the OP comes on im like where are the babies? THERE THEY ARE @ firsties

the way i GASPED

THIS IS HOW WE FELL IN LOVE WITH EIJUN I TELL YOU

haha poor audience member doesnt know sawamura is mostly good at swinging from the bunt stance

eijun... you have every right to be frustrated

ugh... the way he looks when he was a doormat to the ace... i feel this too much my chest hurts

"if i had pitched like furuya did today i wouldve been subbed out" TOO TRUE AND OUCH

HE HITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

THE BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGENDDD

AND JUST LOOK AT ASADA AND KUKI'S F A C E S

DOUBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

lmao did eijun learn to run bases from mochi? now i want this

uhhh the announcer was wrong? the STANDS were all cheering and happy, it was mostly the dugout that was surprised

bc this is level of trust he gets from first string sigh

sorry all my frustration is here

HAHA OKAY BUT why does this look gayalso sawamura's little "na!" with the pew pew is so cute wtf

his lil cheeky face in the corner im hashjdlkdgj

haruichi and toujou in that shot look like they'd been helping him practice batting and it paid off 

hslkhg eijun and his "hips!" i cant

KANEMARUUUUUUUUU

HELL YEAH TAKUMI NICE SHOULDER

nice eijun is safe

haha i never know who to root for bc i love all the bois

okay but

has anyone ever talked about how cool amahisa's eyes are???

i mean

look at this

so cool

yoooo wtf amahisa's voice in this part is really appealing??? damnn

so... kanemaru's a capable batter even if he's not top tier, why you gotta keep making him bunt

oh well, i like that face you're making kanemaru

noooooooooooo

it's okay kanemaru you did your best

cmon mochi bring him home!!!!!!!!!!

EIJUN ENOUGH WITH THE HIPS LMAO

yeah thats right mochi + other batters, give him the run support he deserves

AMAHISA THE DISASTER BI IM

"did he shave his eyebrows? he looks like a strong fighter" are you just checking him out

you'd want him to do those jump kicks amahisa

moon-face?????

omg i feel the tinglings... of a rarepair... amakura.....................

what was i saying about his EYES??

come the fuck ON dont leave eijun stranded on second!!!!!!

H

HHHHH

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

MY BOISSSSSSSSSSS

SHOW ME YOUR FACEEE

(and u rite yall amahisa is yabai)

THERE BE YOUR FACEEEE

IM SO EMOTIONAL

AND HIS VOICE

FUCKLE

AND HIMSTDVEEE

whoaaa that slowmo pitching sequence!

HARUCCHIII

oh hello eijun upping the tempo and looking great doing it

wow this super HD sparkle miyuki

EIJUN IS BEAUTIFULLLL and lowkey this looks like the OP

ASADA AND KUKI MY SONS I WOULD DIE FOR YOUUUUUUUUUUUU

BEING SO EXCITED ABOUT THE CUTTER KAI AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I ALSO LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

HLKDHFS AURA

okay sun we gettin a lil cap happy

another pretty eijun shottttt

WHOA 3D BALL

3D SLOWMO BALL

N* H* TT * R

i feel like i jinxed him sorry eijun

also i LOVE when the stands yell OSH OSH OSH back

wow toujou's voice was. so cute??

noriiiii i love you so much and thank you

furuya silently reflecting huh?

YO WTF IN THE MANGA NORI'S CAP COVERS FURUYA'S NUMBER WTF ANIMATORS ITS ICONIC

awww theyre all patting him i wanna pat eijun too

NORIIIIII YOU ARE SO PRECIOUS

kanemaru's eyes are gray??

kousei-san.......... mayhaps i have.......... Feelings about this

"gureato" man tahara is great

HLJSKDFHKGSFJGKFHDGLDF BLONDE AMAHISA

THIS IS JUST FUELING MY AMAKURA LMAOOO

WHY IS BLONDE HAIR IN MIDDLE SCHOOL A RUNNING JOKE IN ANIME

kuramochi, amahisa, hyuuga from knb, alla dem yankees

oh my god is that suddenly shaved head amahisa still in first year he's so smol

wow kousei is so eccentric haha i love it

YESSS BRINGING BACK MANAKA-BOY

omg yakushi cameo!!

wow this is so pleasant to look at and idk why??

his eyeeesss

and this too omgg

I SEE NISHINO

omgggg are they who i think they are

YES THEY AREANIMATORS REALLY BE FEEDING ME TODAY

sorry mimei that was too much tension in a single glance not to be homoerotic

go shirasu-senpai!

wellll shit, rip zono and rip seidou

142 pitches???????? are they throwing out amahisa's arm imma fight

YO OKAY BUT DOES THIS MEAN INAJITSU VS ICHIDAI

"that wouldnt be any fun" uh you do realize you're talking about a person's physical health right audience member???

the. ace. is. not. the. only. player.

its okay this is the peanut gallery they dont matter in the long run

omg are the first years wearing their school uniform slacks

AWWWW TAKU OFFERED TO CARRY SAWAMURA'S BAG

taku always worried about everyone and sawamura looking rather nice actually

HLJSKFDHGD AMAHISA'S FACE LIGHTING UP AT EIJUN

omg was that a little bow eijun made at amahisa before moving on?

"something i want to ask you" are you boutta ask him out amahisa

im sorry i love eyes too much

and also! eijun getting the recognition he deserves!! buuuut from another team rip

cmon eijun he's trying to be nice tbh

lmao koushuu and shirakawa should meet... resting bitch face club 

"i've never seen kousei-san take interest in another pitcher" THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS TO UNPACK IN THIS STATEMENT

LMAO HE DID HE DID ASK FOR HIS LINE

my sonsssss

yes asada and kuki, be free! go move around!

asdkfh i just squee every time taku

and these lines on koushuu look so nice??

intense son

scremmm

he's so happy and fired up to see koushuu fired up im

wholeass Sons™

lmao koushuu getting mad for sawamura

my inexperience... yes kataoka

teito and inajitsu coaches lmao

500K rivals to fwb to lovers

ive always thought kunitomo's neck crack is so funny

UHHHHH CARLOSHIRA REALLY TOYING WITH MY HEART HERE

THIS IS NOT OKAY

IM NOT OKAY

mochi looking mighty fine in this shot

aw... ejun sitting alone....

just wanna say oda and kuroki very lesbian in the ED

preview

ooh mei batting

sawamura and furuya watching so intently!!

INUI KENGOOOOOO

aw... eijun turning to harucchi for support

oh man third years...

SUMMARY (7/16):

eijun DOUBLES!! 

rip seidou tho 

amahisa's eyes??? pretty??? 

ATTACC BY INAJITSU CAMEO 

taku offering to carry eijun's bag + serious senpai face 

careful amahisa your gay is showing 

koushuu mad on eijun's behalf lmao

inajitsu vs teito next!

7/23 LIVEBLOG:

ah yes, that tension-filled mimei look

CAN THEY STOP TESTING ME WITH CARLOSHIRA SCREENS

ooh this parallel of mei and mukai #1s

why does mei look so young at bat lmao

rather nice shot of mukai tbh

omg that tiny background akamatsu is adorable

WOW i love this shot

hell yeah mei kicking ass and taking names

boi... what you doin

KANETOU RIGHTS

kuraharu rights too!!

wow mochi's voice, never over it

BOI ARE THEY JUST SHOWING SHIPS LOOK AT MINORI

lookit mochi bein a good senpai

ooh eijun finally said no huh

mochi and harucchi look so concerned tbh i am too

mm and miyuki and furuya too huh

WHAT IS THIS BLEP STAHP

oowada always cracks me up lmao

esp when mine is so grave next to her

oh so mukai likes gambling? im not surprised lmaooo

INUI-SANNN I LOVE YOUUU

THE BOIIII

HE

H E

H I M S T

omg the way tetsu says carlos sounds all proud and im soft

PRETTY BOIS DOIN J O B S

GETTIN THAT BREAD

omg two RBIs too good job shirakawa!!!

omg im so glad mei encouraged itsuki

have i ever mentioned

inui x mukai RIGHTS

ESP THIS SEQUENCE OF MUKAI (AND INUI) PRACTICING

BOIIII

that toujou face... some toujou and mukai art i saw comes to mind

DAMN THE IMAGE WHEN INUI HITS IM WOW

also is carlos actually wearing his compression undershirt holy wow

he didnt used to at least

ANYWAY INUI DINGERRRRRRRRRRRRRR

HELL YAHHH

omg was that a little tiger next to inui SO CUTE

oh my god "mei-san mei-san" too cute

LMAO TOO LONG

MEI I SWEAR

yoo mei you okay there

SLOW MO BALL

okay why does he look so good please

OKAY WHY DOES HE LOOK SO GOOD PLEASE

do you know how many times i had to rewind for this screenshot

shirakawa also looks good frustrated fuckle

mei stop shakin off signs dammit

ooh nice akamatsu shot

seidou shares one (1) brain cell in this screen

much too short a game damn...

ive heard we were robbed of itsuki's blush??? cause hello i need catcher catcher goodness with him and inui

omg... they're literal children

SSLKDFHLSKDHGSSTOPPPPPPPPP

IM WEAK OKAY

I KNOW IT

I ACCEPT IT

HOW DAREMSTDVE

AND HIS V O I C E

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFF

hahaha anyway im just laughing at carlos being a momentary harada

"mei-san" !!!

mei x mukai... so chaotic

wow amahisa looks so nice???

lmao they really didnt HAVE to put harucchi in the bg when miyuki's talking to furuya but they DID

miyuki... looking at mei too long not to be homo there

eijun :c

oh man

that really hurt

the face of a SON tho

"so you are human after all" so many things i want to say about this

sawamura... doesn't seem to hold a grudge against furuya at all and honestly wow...

tho its def not furuya's fault i think thats a mark of him being pretty mature!

anyway im glad furuya wants to watch the video too

also nabe!!!!! i wonder how close eijun and nabe are and how many times eijun has bothered him for the videos haha

ochiai, a backup catcher... interesting

"he must overcome this on his own" do you know how many problems there are with this statement

yeah it wasnt fair

"for better or for worse" are you kidding

oh furusawa lmaoo

and nabe just patient over there

oh hello masayui and kanetou

anime fist clench

koushuu!!!

oh man miyuki introspection......... i know where this is going.........

appreciating sawamura's hard work and optimism!!!!!

HE IS READY DAMMIT

how many more times does he have to prove it to you

loveLY but also reused?

WOW IM EMOTIONAL ALL THESE MEMORIES...

ALSO THIS IS PRETTY DAMN GAY...

and the shadow of miyuki in the background... WOW

three months............. until the third years retire...........................................

im not okA Y............................

all the things this smile hides

preview

BOI YOU ALREADY PITCH THAT WELL

wow too many sons

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

BABY TAKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

AND BABY KOUSHUU

END CARD WITH MANAGERS AAA CUTE

SUMMARY (7/26):

mei kicking ass and taking names 

mukai and his fooken BLEP 

PRETTY INAJITSU BOIS DOIN JOBS 

INUI DINGERRR 

inui/mukai rights 

mei + mukai actual CHILDREN 

carloshira stop attaccing sun challenge f a iled 

eijun @ harucchi :c 

three months... 

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK! 

[wintersoldeer]

ok yesterday i went to see endgame again (bc of course i did) and now i have few more Thoughts and Words to say (probably mostly for future me, who really likes reading past me's first (or second) impressions)  do i still need to warn about spoilers it's been like half a week already 

 Things i forgot from my last post/thoughts before seeing the movie the 2nd time: - i can't believe that hot tub time machine exists in the marvel cinematic universe. sorry but to me that's even better than the star wars prequels existing - i do love that we're once again reminded how insanely smart tony stark is - what even happened to sif tho?? 

 Thoughts after seeing the movie the 2nd: 

(0. mjölnirsteve. stevepeggydance. arrownecklace. still loved them more than anything else, still still can't not mention them) 

1. god spider-man in a fetal position in the battlefield is so heartbreaking. He's just a kid!!!!!!!!!he should not have to be there!!!! 

2. ok once again: clint should've died, goddamit. nothing would've changed in the story. Is it just that still, after all these years, no one really cares about hawkeye? I mean in the mcu he had no actual friends (besides natasha) among the avengers, did he now, and he had no "love interest" (or u know, no love interest who was an actual character with other character traits than 'wife'. whose reaction we as the audience would've cared about (or maybe when i say the audience, im talking just about me idk who knows..)) no one to look mournful after natasha came back alone or cry manly tears or throw some benches for him or whatever. 2b. What i am probably trying to say... i was robbed of live action hulkeye bffs 2c. i said it after aou, i say it now: once again the movie would've been so much better if clint and natasha just traded their storylines completely. or even partly. 

3. i'm not familiar with ronin from the comics, but i don't really get clint's motivation for becoming ronin in the movie?? "my family is gone, so now im going to kill... bad guys? whoever?....everyone?" sure...... and then it's just dropped 

4. i am now 100% sure that bucky knew what steve was planning to do in the end 

5. ok clint and wanda's conversation was like two words, so now i dont blame myself so much for thinking she was talking about pietro or even tony.... what did she even say, "i'm sure she knows we won. they both do"? I mean yeah it is about vision bc tony definitely knew they won and pietro... was on a vacation somewhere and didn't know there was something to be won....... idk why i need to explain this to myself so thoroughly..... 

6. the worst part is, i really really enjoy clint and natasha's conversation and fight and everything in vormir grrrrhg 

7. ggooddddd i hate marvel for making me kinda hate my favourite character for kinda causing my second favourite character's death.. or u know him surviving at her expence (also my third favourite character, nebula, probably /knew/ and i dont even know where to start with that... basically my fave character is unfairly dead bc of my two other fave characters i guess??¿?) 

8. i mean it makes sense outside of the movie, bc carol is so ridiculously op, but why didn't the avengers tell her about the timeheist plan? I mean i get that she was busy and all, but shouldn't she have at least known 

9. ok i was more okay with thor this time. there were still some scenes that made me go eehhhhh (like thor rubbing rocket with his belly why??¿?), but maybe without the audience laughing every time he shows up, i can learn to live with them 

10. i still don't like the professor hulk thing. i am definitely with valkyrie (really tho why doesn't she have an actual name..) here, he's better as either of the extremes. Goshdarn the first avengers hulk storyline was so good, i just keep thinking back to it. bruce has never been one of my faves but he's so good in the avengers. ghhh i love the avengers so much 

11. steve went to the past with mjölnir. i dont know what to say about that, but it sure is a thing that happened. did he just return it to past thor? did he keep it to himself? also why are people saying that steve just stood idly by a hydra infiltrated shield or as bucky was tortured as the winter soldier??? it's a different timeline, right guys?? who even knows what he did other than danced with peggy and had a life 

12. for all these years i have thought that in the avengers loki meant natasha was dreykov's (drakov's?) daughter, but.. apparently that's just someone else and part of her past crimes haha why didn't we get a black widow movie when we should have...like five years ago... 

13. as u may notice, i like lists. after rewatching aou on our marvel marathon, i made a list of things that bother me in that movie. i can finally cross this one off: 

14. i may bitch about little things and rage about natasha, but please know that i still really loved the movie (i wouldve loved it even more if clint died tho, i can't believe i'm saying that) and i think it was a beautiful ending for the saga

//things i once again thought but forgot, when i was writing this out: - “and to not die trying would be nice” would it? would it really?? i might’ve kinda snorted sadly at this point and i hope that wasn’t a spoiler for the people sitting around me

- bar the fact that i’m still kinda mad at the whole familydad!clint for being a thing, i find the opening scene with clint teaching lila archery hilarious since jrenner clearly wasn’t very good at it (i will never forget those two arm guards in avengers1) and (in my very not professional opinion) her stance was still kinda terrible also that scene made me think about kate bishop and mostly the fact that she exist (even if not in mcu), so i can’t be too upset

[allofbeercom]

Beach Slang: meet the punk rockers who are ready to ‘bleed for you’

Dont be fooled by the bowties: Phillys finest might just be the most raucous band of the moment if they can hold it together

If James Alex ever gave up the day job, you suspect he could make a decent living as a motivational life coach. Barely a minute of conversation with the Beach Slang singer and guitarist goes by without him offering up a quotable nugget of existential advice: A life without regrets is not a life well lived; Theres an infinite amount of reasons to be happy to exist; Never retire from being alive! Theyre the sort of aphorisms you might see pinned up on an office noticeboard accompanied by dodgy clipart. Alex, though, really means this stuff, and he delivers it with such wide-eyed enthusiasm that, after an hour in his company, youre ready to believe it too.

Sadly for the lifestyle guru industry, Alex has chosen to use his powers of persuasion in the pursuit of punk rock, something he believes in with evangelical ardour. Rocknroll to me is holy. I want to honour it properly, he proclaims. Beach Slang are certainly living up to that aim. On record the Philadelphia band are making some of the most giddy guitar music of the moment, accompanied by live shows that are rarely less than a riot.

Perhaps Alexs zeal for punk rock is down to being afforded a second chance at practising it. He spent his 20s in a sloppy three-chord punk band called Weston but then gave up on the idea of making music for a living, went to art school and found a job in graphic design. The bug never left him, though. He spent his free time working on new music, which hed perform at open mics. When he played his songs to drummer JP Flexner, he in turn recruited bassist Ed McNulty and guitarist Ruben Gallego, and Beach Slang was born.

What followed is indicative of the strange accelerated world of the post-internet music industry. Before theyd ever done any live shows Beach Slang recorded an EP, which received a favourable review on Pitchfork and garnered buzz on social media. By the time the band got around to playing their first gig people at the show were singing every word.

In truth, Beach Slang are the kind of band you want to belt out every word to, preferably while showering yourself with a keg of beer. Their songs conjure up the sort of bratty but romantic visions of the Replacements and, latterly, the Hold Steady and Fucked Up adolescent in their outlook, conjuring up the confusion and excitement of negotiating adult life for the first time. That these songs of teenage abandon are sung by Alex, a man in his 40s, make them more rather than less affecting.

When I write I imagine that Im scoring a John Hughes film, Alex says. When youre hitting those teen years, its the first time youre tasting freedom, finding your voice, shaking things up. That doesnt stop after youre a teenager, but the thrill of that first awakening is what I tap into.

Beach Slang perform live at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, December 2015. Photograph: Greg Pallante/PR

If the songs are stirring on record, live Beach Slang are something else. Alex likens the gigs to a huge drunk house party: crowd members are invited onstage to have a bash on bass, and in turn Alex spends much of the time splayed out on top of the audience. Stage curfews are ignored if not wilfully broken. At one recent gig the band played for 50 minutes and then returned for an encore. It went on for another hour and a half.

For Alex these sets of almost Springsteenian lengths are all about sending paying customers home happy. Its not a hostage situation, he laughs. But what we find is that people dont want to go home. Listen, I get the value for the money you work hard for. You go out and do the thing and you work hard and now youre spending that to come see me do the thing that I love? Im going to bleed for you.

In this Beach Slang take their cue from college rocks original hellraisers The Replacements, who wreaked their own booze-stained trail of havoc across the same venues 30 years before. To me they exemplify rock and roll, Alex explains. It felt a little dangerous, it could be a car crash or it could be brilliant, but it was never predictable.

Beach Slang perform at the Best Kept Secret Festival, Hilvarenbeek, June 2016. Photograph: Danny Payne/REX/Shutterstock

If Beach Slang have inherited the Replacements good points, theres a danger they may have also taken on some of the self-destructive spirit that resulted in that bands sorry demise. In April there were rumours that Beach Slang had split after a disastrous live show in Salt Lake City. Reports of the gig and the footage that emerged proved pretty damning. The bands usual exuberance is almost entirely lacking, with heads pointed at the floor. At the end of the set, as the rest of the band storm offstage, Alex tells the promoter to refund the audience. We were Beach Slang, he says ruefully.

Thankfully, reports of the bands demise were premature. Alex wrote a Facebook post a few days later stating that he was gigantically sorry for the performance, but denying the split rumours. If youre still in, we are, it ended. Looking back, he considers it the most cliched thing weve ever done, the result of frayed emotions at the end of a huge tour. We felt we were the Kinks for 40 minutes and we fought on stage. Since then, Flexner has left the band, but the rest of Beach Slang are powering on. Next month theyll release third album A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings, which Alex describes as more powerpoppy, with a Kerouac poet troubadour spirit. It will, of course, be followed by more of those house party gigs the band are known for.

Still, Alex sees the dangers of band life souring. Once it stops being fun, why are you doing it? That goes for anything I do in life. If for a season I really enjoy gardening, Im going to garden the hell out of that thing. But if next spring I go out there and its not doing it for me, Im going to stop gardening. Its the same thing as rocknroll.

For now though Alex is just happy to ride this out and see where it takes him. He switches back to motivational coach mode. I know the science is still out on this, but as far as we know we get one shot at this being alive thing. I just want to make sure that, whenever it is that my lungs start to collapse on me, I dont want to die saying I wish I wouldve… Man, I dont want to say that. Im doing what I can to not say that. If hes still in, we are.

A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings is out on 23 Sep; Beach Slang tour the UK from 22 Aug

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/beach-slang-meet-the-punk-rockers-who-are-ready-to-bleed-for-you/