enjoyment through consumption

clerks dir. kevin smith

really, really enjoyed this. there's a certain earnest-ness to amateur film that's notably absent from larger productions. oh, sure, mainstream movies can be authentic to themselves, but they always lack something. it's like the studio polish buffs away the fingerprints left by creators who pour their hearts in, you know? but this was way nice. you could really dig into the characters, feel the world the way they felt it. the acting was... not great, for obvious reasons. but it was pretty surprisingly good given who the actors were, you know? like even the worst of them tried damn hard. it was nice.

it wasn't, like, a Movie with a Message or anything, but i did like what it had to say about hope, and effort, and the importance of just waking up and trying again tomorrow, but not letting yourself live the same day over and over again.

it's easy to let something like this - something that has a very distinct Place and Time of itself - become nostalgia bait. it's easy to tell yourself that it's exceptional, and that whatever storm brewed up the circumstance behind it cannot be repeated because insert-reason-why-modernity-sucks here. but i think it's important to realize that people have always been making weird, earnest art with their friends. it's not impossible to replicate, even though it is (because it is exceptional, in a lot of ways) - you just have to be willing to dig.

SET TO STUN and the desperado undead - set to stun

we've got her now boys, there's nowhere left to run / what you call necromancing i call retribution

i hate how much i loved this. i'm already a hopeless edgelord. c'mon. this is like, embarassing.

but it's so good. it's SO good. i cannot explain how much i loved this. and now i need to listen to the rest of their albums, because i enjoyed this so gosh darn much. goddammit.

let's start degeneracy - microwave

i could really give a fuck about anything / i'm just blowing raspberries and circling the drain

what is it with all of these emo/pop punk bands from the early 2010s who decided to take a distinctly jazzy direction with their latest albums. like it'd be one thing if it was just one of them, but it's. so many. and so specific.

anyway, the album is fine. i think turnover's attempt at the same thing had more to say. it's not bad, but it lacked the energy of their previous records and felt pretty dull, nothing stood out immediately.

laundromat - pickle darling

who pushed daisies into the middle of you?

not bad, honestly. i think it'll need another listen, because it didn't make a big impact on me but i think it could be good.

new day rising - hüsker dü

there's a girl who lives on heaven hill / i go up to her cabin still / she keeps a lantern lit for me / and a bottle up on her mantelpiece

what a fun little album. hd is one of the og punk bands, which makes it almost funny how... not punk they sound, to a modern ear? not discounting them or saying anything negative about them here - just that like, things have changed so much that some songs sound almost easy listening levels of chill despite being on a punk album. it's cool! i think it's important to go back and re-establish what certain genres sounded like historically, to get a better understanding of where we are in music today.

but anyway, i did enjoy this. i sometimes forget how fun punk music can be, even when it Has Something To Say. and i like that this record goes back and forth with that - sometimes it's making a point, sometimes it's just making sounds. i think i'll be listening to more hd for sure.

tell me i'm worthless - alison rumfitt

holy shit. holy goddamn mother of fuck, this was so good. i pulled it up to read while i ate dinner and then just... didn't do anything else until i finished it. this was a fantastic read, it was horrifying and beautiful and harrowing and i wish i could recommend it but i can't but you should read it anyway (if you can). it was like poetry, if poetry hated you and was mad at you for enjoying it. i'm definitely re-reading this one. i felt so inspired to work on my own project after finishing it, too. like, this is the kind of story i want to tell. i can't think of a higher compliment than that.

all tomorrows - c. m. koseman

all tomorrows is a piece of spec fic and it's pretty awesome, illustrated and all. it's written from the perspective of a human archeaologist (v proud of me for spelling that right, wow) - not that the archaeologist is human, but that they are studying humanity from billions of years into the future. how far removed from what we perceive as human can we say that something like humanity still remains? according to this book, pretty fucking far. even through countless millenia of evolution, both natural and forced, there's some spark that remains for us to recognize ourselves.

it's both tragic and hopeful.

i really enjoyed it. i don't think it's gonna be in any of my top ten lists or anything, it isn't gonna stick with me like that, but it was an enjoyable read and the art was fantastic. i like the questions it asks, and i like the answers it gives. i'd be willing to buy a print copy.

the last remaining light - far caspian

holding on to something that never comes, beating out the wall

my first full album listen of 2025, and it's only reinforcing my belief that music will always find you at the time it's meant to. i've had this in my to-listen list for the better part of a year now but finally decided to spin it today, and i'm absolutely delighted.

it's hopeful, it's melancholic, it's shoegaze with a mild to moderate amount of the accompanying pretension. it sounds green, and lively, and perfectly dreamy.

highly recommend this record. what a great start to a great year. :)

i want you to know that there is always hope - i was a cub scout

is there anything else left to go wrong?

me and my 1000 homies still throw it back to our smallest adventures.

but honestly, this is up there as one of my favorite albums of all time. william bowerman (later of brontide) is my favorite drummer, just an absolute and hugely underappreciated powerhouse. i think he shines best on their 7" single teenage skin, but since they only ever released the one album, i'm a bit limited on what i can spotlight.

i gotta say, owning iwytkttiah and the teenage skin/pink squares split is probably the most painfully indie i'll ever be in my adult life. worth it, though.

i want you to know that there is always hope is introspective, navel-gazing 2000s synth-pop of the highest order. it's exactly what you'd expect for the time, comforting in that it meets expectations - but while the lyricism and vocals don't stand out, the musicianship definitely will.

hope this clears things up - moosecreek park

collide with the stars, i'll crash my car

another 2023 release, with most of the same merits as always cloudy - enough talent to stand out (note favorite tracks ok dylan and dash o'fish) but doesn't necessarily break the mold of another midwest revival. still absolutely worth a listen, and maybe another when you're done with that one.

always cloudy - saturdays at your place

i don't wanna go home yet

released in 2023, always cloudy is saturdays at your place's sophmore effort - a peppy, upbeat take on midwest emo's recent resurgence.

while tarot cards is the band's biggest hit, eat me alive stands out as en energetic release to end the album.