Some short ones
Chelsea Wolfe announced her newest album last week, Birth Of Violence. Based on the first single (and the press release), it sounds like it’s going to be back to her more folk side, like The Grime and the Glow but with higher production values, or maybe like her label-mate Emma Ruth Rundle’s first album or two (these days Rundle has left the doom/metal influences mostly by the wayside). And she announced a tour with Ioanna Gika opening, so yes, that playlist I made linking the two was prophetic.
Demi Adejuyigbe announced this week that he’s leaving Punch Up the Jam in September:
That was vague enough as to be slightly distressing, but then the next day this profile was published on The Ringer, which gave the reason for this: he’s taking some time off to write a screenplay. So that’s actually pretty nice!
I don’t normally like to share around these sort of meme/music videos, even when I find them amusing, because they mostly seem good enough for a chuckle and putting out of your mind almost immediately after. (It’s also a little depressing in a few different ways to think about people that have to dedicate their hustle to the whims of YouTube’s audience and algorithm, but this doesn’t seem like the venue to litigate all of that.) But dang it, I like “The Impression That I Get”, and any genre mashup that fits in convincing “Midwestern Emo” and “Powerviolence” sections is speaking to me a bit more directly than the average one:
Also, despite having grown up listening to this song and been in a ska band that covered it, it wasn’t until watching this video that I realized the right way to parse these lyrics is probably “I’ve never had to — knock on wood — but I know someone who has…”. I somehow had in my mind that knocking on wood was standing in metaphorically for whatever the actually tough experience was, rather than just being what it normally is, a superstitious little aside.
Oh and with the 4th of July coming up, as ever, here is the perfect song for it:
It sounds like explosions, jet engines, race cars, and cheerleaders. If that doesn’t sum up the 4th for you, I don’t know what to tell you.