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 …
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…
So, as a starter, happy New Year! I’m glad to be back after a short break. So where are we now a few weeks into a new year? Well, shit is still bad. As you might note by the title to these episodes – we are still in a deadly pandemic. In Los Angeles, where I am located, things are really bad. There are more people dying here every day than at anytime in the past 11 months. While there is hope on the horizon we are experiencing the surge caused by a catastrophic failure of people to listen to the advice and act. Here we are at a point where community spread is so high that we just passed 1 million (1,000,000!) COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, and confirmed its first case of the new, more contagious coronavirus strain first reported in the United Kingdom. This week the county also reported 14,669 new cases of COVID-19 and 253 additional deaths, bringing the county’s totals to 1,003,923 cases and 13,741 fatalities. See it’s bad.
Then there is the insurrection in the nation’s capitol as the 4 years of chaos under the Trump regime well documented in these pages comes to an insane end. There is still a couple of days until Biden is sworn in but as we should all be aware – that is no guarantee that there will be a peaceful transition of power. Honestly, these past 4 years have been exhausting with this nut bag in control of the reins of democracy. I am hopeful that the tyranny of the minority will end and the rest of us can confront the real issues created and exposed during the past 4 years including the economic disaster caused by the failed response to COVID-19, the harsh reality that the U.S. has institutionalized racism and economic disparity, climate change, and the other social diseases that are symptoms of economic inequality in a very politically divided country. I fear that we are in store for a very rocky ride to get out of the place where we are trapped now. Well, there is always hope….
As you should know by now, the beginning of a new year is also a state of transition for Tales From The Drop Box. Episode 189 delicately balances the urge to present a flurry of new releases that always arrive at the beginning of a new year with those that were released at the end of the last one. Then, there is always the ones that I just didn’t get to play or missed along the way. So, this is really a long way of saying this is a mixed bag of tunes, but all in my mind really good. This I believe is the best way to start a new year – contemplating the last one but always moving forward. So, with that said have a happy and safe new year. We are still going to rock our asses off.
Here is what you’ll find in Episode 189 (2021-01):
Shitkid – “Downtown Apartment” (Crotchrock EP)
Ben Kweller – “Hold Me Down” (Circuit Boredom)
Babe Corner – “Killer” (Killer EP)
The Dirty Nil – “Ride Or Die” (Fuck Art)
Viagra Boys – “Ain’t Nice” (Welfare Jazz)
Some Stranger – “Meet In Secret” (Meet In Secret Speak In Code)
lié – “Drowning In Piss” (You Want It Real)
Osees – “Nervous Breakdown” (Live At Big Sur)
The Avalanches – “Gold Sky (feat. Kurt Vile)” (We Will Always Love You)
Slow Worries – “When We Go Out” (Careful Climb)
Foxy Shazam – “Burn” (Burn)
Descendents – “Hindsight 2020″ (Suffrage 7”)
Happy. – “April Is For Fools” (Imposter Syndrome)
The Stone Roses – “I Am The Resurrection” (The Stone Roses)
Gotts Street Park – “Favorite Kind Of Girl” (Volume Two EP)
Tales From The Drop Box Episode 189 (2021-01)
I’m about to have a nervous breakdown my head really hurts if I don’t find a way out of here …. Down, down, you bring me down I hear you knocking down my door and I can’t sleep at night …
A shift in emphasis for this podcast’s liner notes following the election of Joe Biden as President of the United States of America. The reign of terror we collectively have all suffered for the past 4 years will come to an end despite the continued nonsense from the loser. As it is obvious that we are truly a nation divided, there is nothing like a pandemic to bring people closer together, right? I am hopeful that Biden will get a chance to enact policies that will end the racial disparity pandemic. However, the immediate focus for all of us must be getting on the same page with regard to COVID-19. When I mean the same page, I mean follow the same understanding with regard to reducing the spread of the virus. That is, stay the F____ away from each other (and me) and wear a mask.
There is no scientific debate as to certain characteristics of the virus and reduction of transmission of the virus to each other. The virus is highly transmissible and its infectivity is viral load dependent (i.e. more virus you are exposed to the more likely you will get infected). The virus can be transmitted via aerosol. Consequently, the less time you spend in enclosed spaces, closer to one another, and without a barrier to prevent you from spewing droplets or reducing the amount of virus you receive from someone else’s viral spew – the better.
You can reduce the risk for you and everyone you encounter by following the basic rules for survival that we all know to be true. These rules might change over time but biology, like life, is full of change. So don’t freak the F___ out if these rules are altered as we learn more about a virus we had no experience with when we first encountered it 10 months ago. As we get more data, perform more analysis, we may reach different conclusions but this does not mean the “science” is incorrect. It means that we are making decisions in an every changing environment and that good science recognizes change and modifies conclusions while calculating probable outcomes to future events. This pandemic is all about probabilities. This one is proving true in those states that ignored the rules laid out above – if we as a nation continue to not follow the rules, then more people are probably going to die. I’d like to avoid that. Hopefully you would like to avoid more death as well, eh? We need to FOCUS!!!!!
As for music, even Tales From The Drop Box follows some rules. These are the track must be catchy, musically interesting, and, if I’ve selected properly, trigger some type of response in the listener. You can always tell me how I did. or not.
Here is what you will find in Tales From The Drop Box Episode 185 (2020-33):
Good Sad Happy Bad – “Star” (Shades)
The Bachelor Pad – “Girl Of Your Dreams” (All Hash And Cock)
I Love Your Lifestyle – “Inner Freakness” (No Driver)
Pup – “A.M. 180” (This Place Sucks Ass EP)
Salem – “Doomed (For Each Other)” (Salem EP)
Bad Books – “You Wouldn’t Have To Ask” (Bad Books (10th Anniversary Edition)
Magick Mountain – “Colossus” (Weird Feelings)
Foreign Air – “I Believe” (Good Morning Stranger)
Bahamas – “Own Alone” (Sad Hunk)
Saturday’s Heroes – “Seven Seas” (Turn Up The Music!)
Asylums – “Genetic Cabaret” (Genetic Cabaret)
Broadway Calls – “You Gotta Know” (Sad In The City)
The Vagina Lips – “Watered By Our Own Tears (feat. AnnaJo)” (Outsider Forever)
Circle Jerks – “World Up My Ass” (Group Sex (40th Anniversary Edition)
Deep Sea Diver featuring Sharon Van Etten – “Impossible Weight” (Impossible Weight)
Tales From The Drop Box Episode 185 (2020-33)
You’re more like the sun because you shine all alone you’re more like the sun whenever I need some . . . Don’t change your name keep it the same for fear I may lose you again I know you won’t . . .
