I fell in love with Celebration Rock, because I first heard it when I was a year out of college and was whimsical for the times I had no responsibilities and could drink with my friends all day. A thing I like to do with bands I like, is look them up on YouTube to see if I can find deep cuts or live performances and I found a live performance of "Fire's Highway," a song I loved because of the "A northern soul in southern lands/Will always find his way to southern hands" worked in inverse for my girlfriend and I. That live recording performed a crib death on my Japandroids hardcore fandom, without the benefits of drinks in my system or an audience's energy I was left with two Canadian bros struggling to keep it together. I still love Celebration Rock, because it fucking rocks from top to bottom, and I still love drinking, but the disillusionment is easy to understand.
Anyways, I'd highly recommend the band Martha, they slap and have emotional lyrics that are also smart.
And, if you are going to keep covering music, I am definitely going to keep coming back. This is a great piece. Didn't read your stuff at the Outline (only because I wasn't really familiar with that publication), but if David Roth co-signs for you, you're good in my book.
I am happy about both the return of your blog and to read about Japandroids in 2020. Getting drunk at their shows will always be a cherished memory for me even if they objectively kind of suck. RIP music Tumblr.
Japandroids in 2017 was the worst crowd I've ever been in. Nobody moved or sang along; all dudes with folded arms silently nodding along, maybe having this same realization en masse.
I've soured on them some since then but I still love Adrenaline Nightshift
So brutal. It's funny, every record they've made "sounds better" than the last — better production, cooler effects, etc. — but you're right, there's a "guys being dudes" purity to Post-Nothing versus the "guys being POETS" approach of the latter stuff. That said, I did listen to Celebration Rock a ton, but it was the first time that "... man, what" double take creeped in.
I fell in love with Celebration Rock, because I first heard it when I was a year out of college and was whimsical for the times I had no responsibilities and could drink with my friends all day. A thing I like to do with bands I like, is look them up on YouTube to see if I can find deep cuts or live performances and I found a live performance of "Fire's Highway," a song I loved because of the "A northern soul in southern lands/Will always find his way to southern hands" worked in inverse for my girlfriend and I. That live recording performed a crib death on my Japandroids hardcore fandom, without the benefits of drinks in my system or an audience's energy I was left with two Canadian bros struggling to keep it together. I still love Celebration Rock, because it fucking rocks from top to bottom, and I still love drinking, but the disillusionment is easy to understand.
Anyways, I'd highly recommend the band Martha, they slap and have emotional lyrics that are also smart.
Post-Nothing meant so much to me, I could never bring myself to admit having these same feelings.
And, if you are going to keep covering music, I am definitely going to keep coming back. This is a great piece. Didn't read your stuff at the Outline (only because I wasn't really familiar with that publication), but if David Roth co-signs for you, you're good in my book.
This is the first I've heard about the Outline. That website was so frigging good. Damn. My condolences.
And yes, Japandroids are the definition of a band that should come with a Best Before Date.
I am happy about both the return of your blog and to read about Japandroids in 2020. Getting drunk at their shows will always be a cherished memory for me even if they objectively kind of suck. RIP music Tumblr.
Japandroids in 2017 was the worst crowd I've ever been in. Nobody moved or sang along; all dudes with folded arms silently nodding along, maybe having this same realization en masse.
I've soured on them some since then but I still love Adrenaline Nightshift
Thanks for pointing out how genius that "These girls are all Bikini Kill/we need a ride to bikini island" is
So brutal. It's funny, every record they've made "sounds better" than the last — better production, cooler effects, etc. — but you're right, there's a "guys being dudes" purity to Post-Nothing versus the "guys being POETS" approach of the latter stuff. That said, I did listen to Celebration Rock a ton, but it was the first time that "... man, what" double take creeped in.