I’m still here! There is not a better way to start the week than with some new tunes. This episode of Tales From The Drop Box explores a very poppy side of the musical world. This week’s episode is really a trip through some neglected pop music that inhabits the multiverse and that is not on any popular radio in the U.S. (for the most part). Episode 195 explores that indie pop genre with some lyrically catchy and somewhat dark themes sprinkled throughout. It is interesting to hear music that is somewhat upbeat and then takes that dark sharp left into the uncomfortable. It’s not all dark as you’ll quickly discover, but then that is the joy of these podcasts – you’ll discover that we like to do it with the lights on!
Here is what you will find in Episode 195 (2021-07):
Nessa Barrett – “I Hope Ur Miserable Until Ur Dead” (Pretty Poison)
Sly Withers – “My Bullshit” (Gardens)
Islands – “(We Like To Do It) With The Lights on” (Islomania)
Latewaves – “Too Much” (Hell To Pay)
Juliana Hatfield – “Suck It Up” (Blood)
The Reds, Pinks, and Purples – “Living On Sunday” (Anxiety Art)
Captain Kaiser – “Moscow Mule (The Drover’s Inn)
Sydney Sprague – “Object Permanence” (Maybe I Will See You At The End Of The World)
Why Elephant – “A Pair” (Today EP)
Nasty Cherry – “All In My Head: (The Movie EP)
Longstocking – “Teenage Angst At 27” (Once Upon A Time Called Now)
Adult Books – “Holiday” (Grecian Urn)
The Beaches – “Blow Up” (Future Lovers)
The Stranglers – “5 Minutes” (No More Heroes)
Remember Sports – ” Like A Stone” (Like A Stone)
Tales From The Drop Box Episode 195 (2021-07)
When I think of you I, I get angry and I – I see couples in love, I hope they die I don’t really, I’m not that violent . . .I lost my love on the holiday my drugstore flowers bought with change the smell of wet leaves in the fireplace . . .
Well, I’m back again for another week of new-ish fine-ish music. Thanks for the positive comments. I missed you all as well. So, there should be some candy in this week’s episode of Tales From The Drop Box because for some unknown reason there are more pop sounds than usual. So, don’t be alarmed if there is not a plethora of heavy music or you missed your favorite punk rock track. We will get back there at some point but for now,
here is what you will find in Episode 194 (2021-06):
Faded Paper Figures – “She’s Walking Out” (Kairos)
Bull – “Green” (Discover Effortless Living)
Cloud Nothings – “Things I Fucking Like” (April 2021 EP)
Fightmilk – “Hey Annabelle!” (Contender)
Polish Club – “Stop For A Minute” (Now We’re Cookin’)
Acid Dad – “Good Time” (Take It From The Dead)
Ferraro – “Fools Paradise” (Sweet Fever EP)
The Jungle Giants – “Treat You Right” (Love Signs)
Nonagon – “Hack” (They Birds)
Free Throw – “Ocular Pat Down” (Piecing It Together)
Authority Zero – Seas And Serpents” (Ollie Ollie Oxen Free)
LionLion – “Language” (Perspective)
Demolition Doll Rods – “Believe” (Into The Brave)
Eddie And The Hot Rods – “Do Anything You Wanna Do” (Life On The Line)
Maggot Heart – “Lost Boys” (Mercy Machine)
Tales From The Drop Box Episode 194 (2021-06)
Meet me in the club tell me that’s what’s up baby hold on hold on, wait stop for a minute … Well, I’m a lover, girl, I want you to know well, I will treat you right I got your number, babe …
Another Super Bowl Sunday. I’m not sure I have any skin in the game, but I’ll watch because it is a short attention diversion as I am still trapped inside because I am still trying to avoid crowds and gatherings until such time as we ( the royal societal we) are able to resume some type of safe human interaction with strangers. Even when the pandemic is over, I am not sure how safe we will be with the number of certifiable nut jobs on the loose in this nation. The real time coverage of the ass wipes who attempted the January 6 insurrection in the service of Trump – a repository of all things evil, does not give me much confidence that people will suddenly wake up from this 4 year nightmare saying “what happened? Let’s all be good to one another, right? Why can’t we all just get along? Trump exposed and gave voice to the evil that lies in the heart of man. Combined with a Republican party corrupted to its amoral core willing to accept evil under the “big Republican tent”, I am not sure that we are not headed to a full reckoning involving violence. Well, so that I don’t sound paranoid, let’s hope that I am incorrect and that humanity will course correct and head towards self-actualized positivity as a society rejecting the temptation to divide through arbitrary classification. I would posit that all of divisions are a symptom of an unconscious desire to classify and is so doing the failures of our society are a symptom of the useless need to divide people into the us and them. That is, society has difficult when we try to categorize people in all shapes and manners – race, political affiliation, gender, nationality etc. The disease is classification, the symptoms are the isms.
I’ve been alive for all of the Super Bowl games although I don’t recall any of them until the mid 70’s. So, I believe I have enough experience to spot the ills that interfere with our ability to live together i.e. a part of the whole and yet still retaining individuality. Trumpism is a cult where the individual, the I, is subsumed into the whole – the mass of Trump followers and thereby losing their fucking minds. History will reflect that the power of the masses is so great that the individual mind is lost. This is not a new philosophical construct. It is a pattern oft repeated. So, stop being a fucking follower of evil and retain your individual ability to think for yourself. Now I’m going to step off the soap box….
I’ve tried to capture this week a group of more melodic pop inflected tunes while still throwing in the weird and off beat!
Here is what you will find in Tales From The Drop Box Episode 191:
Tired Lion – “Drama Club” (Breakfast For Pathetics)
Billy Harvey – ‘Bullseye” (Bullseye)
The Instatute – “I Know This Girl” (Instatute)
Casual Friday – “Be My Babe” (Stay)
Newton Faulkner – “The Sun Is Coming Up” (Chapter II – Better Way/Here Tonight/The Sun Is Coming Up)
The Yum Yums – “For Those About To Pop” (For Those About To Pop)
Martha & The Muffins – “Echo Beach (Rework by Bass)” (Echo Beach (40 Year Anniversary))
Georgia – “About Work On The Dancefloor (The Blessed Madonna Remix)” (Seeking Thrills (The Ultimate Thrills Edition))
Dick Move – “Femoids Attack” (Chop!)
Get Dead – “Nickel Plated” (Dancing With The Curse)
Beabadoobee – “Worth It” (Fake It Flowers)
The Sewer Rats – “My Sweet Chun-Li” (Magic Summer)
Kleenex Girl Wonder – “All You Need Is Your Feeling” (Let It Buffer (Forever))
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – “I’m Just Looking” (Searching for The Young Soul Rebel)
Yumi Zouma – “Lie Like You Want Me Back (Alternate Version) (Truth Or Consequences)
Tales From The Drop Box Episode 191 (2021-03)
Pull me apart pour me a drink I know that you lost your everything they figured us out . . . Your eyes are just like his but your face is a bit different you’re a bit more fucked but I guess that’s fine…
Sanity returns to government. Honestly, the bar is really low for competence in government and perhaps it is time for people to think about the creatures that they elect to make important decisions about the future. Just a thought that perhaps we need to think about how we educate our citizens moving forward. The issue is not the elected creature but rather that there are a significant number of these morally bankrupt and evil scum bags being elected and continuing to be the loudest voices in a democracy. It is truly shameful that we are at a point in our history where the symptoms of the disease afflicting our democracy throw up right wing racists and extremists supporting fanciful conspiracy theories all in the name of good government. We have time, as a nation, to alter our path forward, but if we do not take aggressive steps to root out and repel the corrupt and evil and reject ideologies of hate then we are going to be back to the last 4 years soon enough. So, with those positive thoughts, what about the music?
Tales From The Drop Box Episode 190 is still a transitional affair in terms of starting a new music year but still containing some awesome tracks from 2020 which turned out to be a very good year despite the real world issues. So, as we continue into 2020, I suspect that there is much good music to come but let’s not throw away 2020 because the music from last year I think will resonate for a while.
Here is what you’ll find in Episode 190 (2021-01)
Alaska Reid – “Warm” (Big Bunny EP)
Mary – “Growth” (Die Before Death)
Red Zebra – “Innocent People” (Songs & Stripes)
Miss Lava – “Red Atlantis” (Doom Machine)
The OBGMs – “Triggered” (The Ends)
Chubby And The Gang – “Blue Ain’t My Colour” (Speed Kills)
Soviet Blackout Frequency – “Scenes From A Murder” (The Port Hope Incident)
Oceanator – “A Crack In The World” (Things I Never Said)
Mourn – “Men” (Self-Worth)
Severin Bells – Boy Scout / Choirboy (A Brighter Side To The Unknown)
Blue October – “Oh My My” (This Is What I Live For)
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – “Fangs” (Blossom)
The Reds, Pinks & Purples – “Sex Lies & Therapy” (You Might Be Happy Someday)
Gene – “Wasteland” (The Albums)
SPC Echo – “Just Stop” (November EP)
Tales From The Drop Box Episode 190 (2021-02)
There’s a crack in the world and we’re all hanging on trying not to fall through the void . . You wear black hair, I have blue you look sadder than most girls do the way you walk around always watching the ground…
Positive news on the COVID-19 front lines with the emergency approval of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for distribution in the U.S. This is an important first step in ending the pandemic. Given the large number of people in the U.S., it is going to be quite some time before it gets to the average individual. A look at the CDC Advisory Committee’s plan for allocating initial supplies prioritizes 21 million health care workers and 3 million residents of long-term care facilities. After that it is likely to go to the 87 essential million workers not involved in front-line health care, then to the 100 million adults with certain high-risk medical conditions and the 50 million people who are 65 years old or older. I also anticipate that there will be line jumpers a plenty because nothing says American more than me first. After the shameful actions of the 106 republican members of Congress who signed off on frivolous Texas lawsuit challenging the actions of other states in conducting their elections because they did not like the outcome and after the lawsuit was rejected for lack of standing by the Supremes, it was not surprising that they subsequently tossed around the idea seceding from the U.S.. It’s not enough that these assholes are attacking the foundation of democracy i.e. the right to vote in free and fair elections but they are attacking the idea of a united states. So, in a country with a significant number of gutless and stupid leaders who are both morally and intellectually bankrupt, there are going to be continuing problems with vaccine distribution regardless of the good intentions of the person the large majority of the citizens elected to lead us out of the valley of death. At least this paragraph started positive. Here is hoping that sanity, cooperation, and science prevails over the cult of stupid.
I was missing live music this week and apparently a number of bands thought it was a good idea to release some pretty awesome live records this year, so I have cued up a number of tracks from those records. There are also some outstanding reissues from bands many of you who are under the age of 45 years old will have had little experience, so, they may sound like awesome new tracks, but trust me they are old, some real old. I have included tracks from The Gun Club, Gang of Four, Powderfinger and the House of Love, so how bad can that be? It’s not. It’s lovely really. So, like always, let’s enjoy the now and contemplate our navels for a few moments before rushing ahead into, what I hope is, a brighter, more positive new world. Oh, and this episode is a little bit longer. You are getting 25% more music for the regular price! Until next time, here is what you will find in Episode 188(2020-36) of Tales From The Drop Box:
Pale Honey – “Some Time, Alone” (Some Time, Alone)
Powderfinger – “Daybreak” (Unreleased 1998-2010)
Bearings – “Transient Colours” (Hello, It’s You)
The Lathums – “I Know That Much” (Fight on EP)
Heavy Lungs – “(A Bit Of A) Birthday” (Ultra Stereo)
Frankie And The The Witch Fingers – “Where’s Your Reality? (Levitation Sessions)
Arctic Monkeys – “Four Out Of Five” (Live At Royal Albert Hall)
Kelly Jones – “Dakota” (Don’t Let The Devil Take Another Day)
Cut Worms – “Castle In The Clouds” (Nobody Lives Here Anymore)
Gerry Cinnamon – “Where We’re Going” (The Bonny)
Fontaines D.C. – “A Lucid Dream” (A Night At Montrose Live)
The Gun Club – “A Devil In The Woods” (Miami)
Gang of Four – “Damaged Goods” (Gang Of Four 77-81)
The House Of Love – “Marble” (A Spy In The House Of Love)
Dream Wife – “Kids” (IRL Live In London)
Tales From The Drop Box Episode 188 (2020-36)
I designed the line that keeps you way down here I destroyed the void that echoes in your ear In a flash you were ashes in a cosmic ray . . . just how dark can an animal be? How dark can an animal be? Dark like darkness dark like a devil out in the woods now . . .
