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Month: August 2018
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The Gaslight Anthem Respond to Reports of Sexual Assault at Their Shows

Jason Tate

The Gaslight Anthem posted the following on Twitter:

We’ve been angered and saddened to hear reports of sexual assault and harassment in the audience at our shows. From the very beginning of this band, we have strived to create a positive and safe environment for our fans and this kind of abhorrent behavior can not and will not be tolerated at our shows. It’s clear that this disturbing trend is on the rise in our industry, and that ignoring or dismissing the problem sends a very clear message to perpetrators that they can get away with their behavior. As a result, we want to help to shine a light on the issue and ask our fans to do the same.

We’ve reached out to the authorities and the venues that were involved in these incidents.

There are a number of amazing organizations raising awareness and providing education around this problem, including Safe Gigs For Women.

If you see something please say something, get involved, and help however you can. We want everyone looking out for each other.

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Review: Alkaline Trio – Is This Thing Cursed?

Alkaline Trio - Is This Thing Cursed?
Jason Tate

This first impression was originally posted as a live blog for supporters in our forums on August 29th, 2018. I’ve decided to make it free to all users of the website. First impressions are meant to be quick, fun, initial impressions on an album or release as I listen to it for the first time. It’s a running commentary written while listening to an album — not a review. More like a diary of thoughts. This post has been lightly edited for structure and flow.

I figured with the album coming out on Friday this was really the last time I had to try and get some early thoughts down on this album for everyone before you’ll be able to hear it. Hell, there’s always the chance this leaks while I’m typing this up. Then everyone can join in with me.

At a high-level, this album works for me more than any of their albums have since Crimson. I’ve liked the stuff that followed, but it never really captured that same magic as their earlier work. I would find myself listening to them for a few weeks (with the exception of This Addiction, which never really grabbed me), but after that, when I wanted an Alkaline Trio fix, I’d go back to Crimson or something before it. That’s just how it played out for me. I can’t predict with certainty that this is going to be an album I come back to in the future, but there’s something about it that hits me just right and gives me that feeling. There’s an energy here, a feeling of immediacy that they touched on with My Shame is True, but one that feels much more rolled into a “classic” Alkaline Trio-sounding album. This urgency to the songs is really resonating with me at the moment.

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GoRuck to Raise Prices in September

Money
Jason Tate

GoRuck, who make the best backpack you can buy (the GR1), are increasing prices in September. If you are on the fence about picking one up, I wouldn’t wait:

So instead of surprising our community, and that means you, about a price increase on all pieces of GORUCK gear and apparel, we wanted to give you fair warning. So here it is: September 1 at midnight, prices across the board on GORUCK built Rucksacks and Apparel are going up, on average 20-30%. This will be GR1‘s first ever price increase.

Here They Come Again

Louis CK
Jason Tate

Anna Merlan, writing at Jezebel:

What gets lost in this particular equation is the part where someone makes amends. Nobody is required to lay out a road map for CK and Lauer and others like them to follow to gain forgiveness. Their spots onstage and on TV aren’t guaranteed, and if they remain professionally disgraced for a period of time that they—or their famous friends—find uncomfortable, that’s not the same thing as a “life sentence.”

But these comebacks are also predicated on the idea that redemption is directly equal to being allowed back in the public eye, being allowed to continue to reap money and power and influence in the field that gave you enough clout to feel comfortable harassing or assaulting women in the first place.

None of these men—that we know about—have talked publicly about undergoing counseling, made large donations to RAINN, done anything to understand the power dynamics they were part of. But there’s clearly an eagerness to let some of them back in anyway, after making the barest effort possible. The question is who benefits from that attitude, and who, once again, is harmed.

I thought this piece made a really compelling argument about the questions around what happens next for those accused of sexual misconduct.

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