Liner Notes (April 27th, 2025)

Thoughts on Mark Hoppus’s book, new Ataris, and a pop-punk rec. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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A Few Things

Mark Hoppus’s memoir was everything I had hoped it would be. Funny, enduring, at times dark and troubling, but authentically Mark. I loved every page. I could have read something twice as long. I will always want more. More stories about the actual recording process and what went into some of my favorite songs. More behind-the-scenes tales from the later albums. More about the process of reconnecting and making One More Time…, but for the space and periods covered: it was a joy to read. I’d obviously recommend it to any fan of the band, but I think even non-die-hards would find something compelling. And, it went to #1 on the New York Times list.
I’ve been trying to blog more and recently wrote up a couple posts about little tricks I use in Raycast on a daily basis.

Music Thoughts

The Ataris are gearing up for the release of their new album, and my expectations are sky-high. They have long been one of my all-time favorite bands, and having followed Kris on social media for many years, it’s been awesome to see just how jazzed he is about making music but also that it seems like he’s in genuinely a good place right now. I’ve long argued that Kris may be one of the most underrated songwriters of all time, and I truly mean that. His way of writing, tackling nostalgia and growing up and relationships and life’s ups and downs, is almost peerless in this genre. And I am bursting at the seams to hear all these songs come to life. The lead single is “Car Song,” and it’ll be out next Friday. It’s an entirely re-recorded version of the demo that’s been on Bandcamp for a while, and it sounds incredible. I played it multiple times back to back and let it wash over me. The production is warm and feels so tangible and real. Look, I’m all for glossy production. I have no problem with modern techniques at all. But there’s something so striking, and nostalgic in and of itself, to hear a song with this quality to it. It’s just a great song, executed well, and a very welcome return. My anticipation for the album is now officially off the charts. The just-released acoustic version of “In This Diary” is also a nice little treat.
I was checking out some new-ish pop-punk stuff this week and came upon this fun little gem by a band called Scooped Up! — the album is The Runs — and the band describes themselves as “DIY Pop-Punk” on Instagram. Perfect description. No notes. It’s an album that pulls me right back to my younger years and finding some band on Purevolume with a blistering fun style just rocking out and having fun doing it.
My Chemical Romance are releasing a new re-master of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in June. However, for some reason, the entire thing was up for about 24 hours on Apple Music a few weeks back. I am pretty sure I’ve written before in this newsletter about how I have a hard time with remasters with albums that feel attached to me like muscle memory. One of the only full remasters I’ve really liked and go back to instead of the original is the most recent Tell All Your Friends version. Because I think they actually fixed problems with the original while keeping the youthful feel to it, it sounds better. (Same for those remixed Relient K albums, now that I think about it.) Almost all the other ones sound so anachronistic. And it makes me wonder if, in 10 years, this pushed-up bass/drum style of mixing will also seem of a time, and we’ll look back at the original as what it was: perfect 2004 emo. Now, I’m not saying it sounds bad at all. It sounds good. It clean. Clear. Sounds more modern, for sure. The drums and bass hit louder and are full. There are things pulled into the mix I have never heard before in my hundreds of times listening to the original album. But I don’t know if I prefer it. Like a painting of a medieval knight wearing a wristwatch, something about it just makes my ears double-take.
Bad Suns announced their new album, and, in my early first impressions opinion, it’s their best since their debut. It sounds uninhibited. Free of trying to fit into a box of what I think the band thought they needed to sound like. Embracing a bigger, dreamier, pop-rock sound was absolutely the right way to go.
The Callous Daoboys rule. The new album smashes. It’s loud. It’s unique. It’s got all the weirdness and messiness you’d expect. The album cover rules. I will be in the minority here, but a half part of me wants to hear them lean even harder into their pure melodic side. I love the heaviness, but holy hell can they write a melody. And those little sparks throughout are where the album really goes to the next level for me. That final track is a lot.

The Stats: Over the past week, I listened to 28 different artists, 51 different albums, and 486 different tracks (580 scrobbles). Here is my Top 9 from last week, and you can follow me on Apple Music and/or Last.fm.

Entertainment Thoughts

We’re making our way through the first season of The Pitt and it has the obvious similarities to something like E.R., but I’ve been missing this kind of show. It’s fun. Engaging. Gory. But calls back to the days when Thursday night TV was something of appointment viewing. It’s pulpy in the right way. Not for the squeamish, but these shows will just always work on me.
Only three episodes in, and to its credit the third episode was by far the best yet, but Running Point is the exact opposite. It’s the worst part of that late-nineties network TV. Where The Pitt captures the fun and charm of the format, Running Point has felt hollow, underwritten, and bogged down by a voice-over and lazy plot. There’s a whole bunch of actors I really like in this so I’m willing to ride out the season, but it’s been rough.
Harley Quinn season five tried to shake up the series with a change in location to mixed results. A totally fine and passable season, but not in the same ballpark as the early season highs. Still a fun as hell late night, right before going to bed, show.
There’s not really anything I can write about Severance that hasn’t been said. Two seasons of television that are just about as good as you can hope for. Creative. Engaging. Fun. And above all you care for the characters, all of them in all their duality, at a core level.

Random and Personal Stuff

My running journey has continued. I’m feeling stronger. My “cardio fitness” in the Apple Health app is finally up into the “above average” range. Funny enough, that little line was what started me on this trek almost two months ago; seeing it say “below average” just made me sad. I’m feeling stronger in my runs. I’ve pushed my pace a few times for a couple of different weekends (mile and 5K) just to see where I’m at and have been relatively happy with the results. It’s meant I’ve had to try and block out a little more time each night for my workout, but I think it’s been worth it. And I’ve been actively looking forward to the weekend runs at the track with Hannah. Craig Manning (who, if you didn’t know, is an actual robot sent from the future to run races with us mere mortals) recommended Tracksmith shorts to me, and after two runs with them, I gotta say: super good rec. I had to get over my insecurity of showing off a little (uh, a lot?) thigh, but they are incredibly comfortable to run in. I also picked up a pair of Goodr sunglasses that I’m pleased with. And I can report that my regular daily face sunscreen has had no issues with the extra sweat.
I don’t variant collect records. Usually, I’m happy to have one copy of each record I want. However, I couldn’t say no to that purple edition of the +44 record. Just look at it! It’s gorgeous. Silly, I know. But I needed it.

Follow more of my writing, photos, and status updates on my blog at chr.us.

Ten Songs

Here are ten songs that I listened to and loved this week. Some may be new, some may be old, but they all found their way into my life during the past seven days.

The Ataris – In This Diary (Acoustic)
Lost Stars – Water
Scooped Up! – Best Days
The Band Camino – Infinity
Julien Baker & Torres – Tape Runs Out
Daybreaker – Where I’m Supposed to Be
Stay Out – High and Dry
Millington – Summer Disease
Bad Suns – Slow Karma
Great Good Fine Ok – Forget You

This playlist is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Community Watch

The trending and popular threads in our community this week include:

The most liked post in our forums last week was this one by marceting in the “Turnstile – Never Enough (June 6, 2025)” thread.

Previous editions of Liner Notes can be found here.

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