Thoughts on all Things Awesome

The Red Sox just got their face handed to them on a platter by the Yankees. Death from Above 1979 broke up. It’s almost…football time. The new Daughters album is badass. Snakes on a Plane may be the best achievement in mankind’s history. Did I mention it’s almost football time?

Boston Massacre 06
In probably the most important series of the season for both the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Yankees flexed their muscle by sweeping the 5 game set. The first three games were blowouts (NY averaged 13 runs per game) and only the 3rd being remotely close. Captain Clutch Derek Jeter broke the hearts of Sox fans everywhere with a bloop hit to tie the fourth game; a game the Yankees would win 8-5. Figuring four out of five was good enough the Yankees sent out the B squad. No Damon, no Giambi, Jeter DH’ed, and the Red Sox only managed 1 run and lost 2-1.

Trailing 7 games in the AL East and 4 in the wild card, is the season over for the Red Sox? Absolutely not. Was this an important and subsequently heartbreaking defeat? Most definitely. The reality is there is still a month and change left in the season. Four more games with the Yanks, and three with the White Sox. A good showing in this west coast road trip can have them right back in the thick of things. Boston’s fate is in their hands.

RIP DFA
One of my favorite bands, Death from Above 1979, broke up last week. You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine was one of my all time favorite albums and seeing the band live was a great experience. I have never had to deal with a band I was a huge fan of break up. It is a strange feeling. At first I was really bummed out, no more music from a band I thought was very unique and talented. Only one full length to listen to. But then certain things were brought to my attention. The remix album Romance Bloody Romance was terrible, far worse than your crappy remix cd. What if the follow up to You’re a Woman was bad? There a numerous examples where a band peaks early, releases many more sub par albums, and just sticks around too long via the support of die hard fans. This can’t happen with DFA. Maybe it’s good they broke up, You’re a Woman will endure. Plus I can say I saw this really kickass band once.

Are you ready...?
Baseball may be Americas past time, but for my money, football is king. Even pointless, stupid preseason games have me giddy. The fantasy football league is assembling. I may even buy the new Madden game for the first time ever. The bottom line is football is the most entertaining sport in America. Best on TV, best fantasy sport, and best to gamble on (so I hear…)

Hell Songs
In happier music news the Providence band Daughters have finally released their new album Hell Songs. I have seen this band live three or four times, listened to the old album Canada Songs to death over the past two plus years, and have waited at least a few months since the announcement of Hell Songs for it’s release. Daughters are famous (not really famous but) for having songs that are very spastic, short, and furious. Someone once described them to me as “people masturbating on their instruments set to screaming”. I can get behind that. Needless to say I was pumped for the new cd. Second albums are always tough for bands. Do you go “ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and stick with what made the first cd good, risking people saying your sound is stagnant or boring? Or do you go crazy and make a whole new sound, risking alienating fans? Most second albums fall somewhere in between. I would say Daughters went with option number B. Hell Songs sound is much more focused and sustained, with songs pushing a whole 3-4 minutes. The heavily distorted guitar is still there as well as droning bass. Vocally the band seems to have gone in a whole new direction. The notorious unintelligible screaming is nowhere to be found. Instead there is a quasi-Elvis/Danzig quality to the vocals. A sort of southern drawl that one part singing, one part spoken word. Die hard grindcore fans who loved Canada Songs may not enjoy Hell Songs as it is quite different sounding. Fans of the band will find a lot of things to love in this album. It is great to see a band change sounds and keep core fans happy. A very solid follow up that can still kick some ass.

SoaP, the new spelling of God
Hype is an amazing thing. So is a hilarious title. Snake on a Plane is probably the most hyped movie I can think of since Star Wars, tons of fan sites, a star (Sam Jackson, the man) who is laughing about it as much as we are, a ridiculously insane “plot”, and terrible CG effects. This is a B+ movie that I am still shocked made it to major theatres. This is a joke right? Kind of, that’s what makes it great. I was very against any form of cheering/screaming/clapping during movies, until Snakes. When Sammy L belts out the famous fan-suggested line: “I am sick and tired of these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane” if you don’t clap, cheer and laugh, congratulations, you have no soul. Rocky Horror was well before my time, but I can easily see this being the midnight movie my generation goes to see ready to throw things at the screen and chant every one-liner. If you haven’t seen it, do everything in your power, including quit your job and family, to go see it.