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Liner Notes (August 6th, 2022)

Posted by Jason Tate
Jukebox

This week’s newsletter looks at those Blink-182 rumors and what I’ve heard through the grapevine. Plus, some early impressions of the new albums from Armor for Sleep and The Early November, and some thoughts on other new music out this week I’ve been enjoying. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I liked, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

A Few Things

  • I know everyone has been on the edge of their seat, waiting to know the latest on the Studio Display chronicles. Well, after the ridiculousness of the entire ordeal, on Wednesday, I finally got the call that the monitor had been repaired. So, back down the Apple Store I went. I was offered a “we are sorry” from the very nice Apple employee, and then back home I went with the annoying heavy box. I am happy to say that the repair does seem to have completely fixed the issue. It is now dead quiet, no fan, no sound, and I was able to get everything in my office finally put back together. The first three days trying to work from the old machine, at Hannah’s desk on the other side of the office, was beyond annoying. Just being at a different height gave me shoulder pain after a day. Being 39 sucks. But, now that all of that is behind us, we’re going to focus on the good. And the good is that this computer and screen are incredible and exactly what I wanted. It’s oh so fast. I sometimes can’t believe how fast it is, and I’m delighted with it. The screen is fantastic and, again, exactly what I want in a monitor. Now that everything is finally settled, my plan is to do a much larger write-up about everything and take some photos and link to all the various products, but, in the meantime, here’s an Instagram Reel tour.
  • The somewhat interesting non-news this week were all the Blink-182 rumors that began spiraling at the start of the week and ended up growing so loud that Mark Hoppus had to step in to calm everyone down. I was following some of the Reddit, and my word did they get themselves worked into a frenzy. First, happy 30th birthday to Blink-182! Second, those Funkos are adorable and were an instant purchase for me. Third, we can’t read into social media postings for the status of a band, especially this one; it’s just not the way things work. But, I did decide to throw out some feelers to some of my old contacts in the industry to see what I could discover. What I found is nothing that surprising, but from little birdies I trust, I hear that as of right now, the band members themselves do not know exactly what the future holds. Some contacts on the touring side have heard of a tour for next year being floated and discussed in meetings, but no dates are currently in the system. And I’ve heard there was talk of it being an untitled record anniversary tour, and I’ve heard one name tossed around as a potential opener that I, personally, would be stoaked as hell on. And, lastly, I’ve heard no decision has been made on if it would be a three or four-piece. So, literally precisely what Mark said: as of right now, there’s no tour booked, and no news to report on. I have no say in the matter, obviously, but as a long-time fan, what I hope happens is that all four members stay in the band. I have really liked what Matt’s brought to the table, and I think having an extra guitarist on stage would help the band’s live show tremendously. I also think the four-piece allows for a better dynamic in the event that it doesn’t work out with Tom, again, and gives everyone more flexibility for the future. Again, just my opinion here!
  • Kris Roe posted all of the rare b-sides, and acoustic stuff back on The Ataris’ Bandcamp. I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to that for any fans that don’t something in their collection, and may want it. And, I’ll once again put out into the world that we need The Graveyard of the Atlantic, and I’ll personally offer to help get it released in any way I can!
  • And finally, if anyone noticed the website was down for a bit this morning, it was because, after six years, we eventually outgrew the server the forum is hosted on. It turns out after close to 5 million posts and who knows how many gigs of attachments, we needed some more space. So, I upgraded the forum server and doubled the ram and hard drive. This should give us some breathing room for quite a while, but it also means I doubled my server bill for that specific server. This means this is a great time to remind everyone about the supporter program on the website and how for as little as three bucks a month, you can help keep the website running (and get some awesome features like no ads, dark mode, and more). And, again, thank you to everyone that already is a member; it’s because of you that I can keep running the website, and writing this newsletter, and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.

Sponsor

I Have Four Names recently released their new album, Suspended Sentence. The album is available on all streaming platforms and there are all kinds of physical copies available for order as well. Looking for a song to check out? Start with “The Krystal Method” or “Silent Partners.”

You can also follow the band on Instagram and Bandcamp.

In Case You Missed It

Music Thoughts

  • Drew sat down with Ben from Armor for Sleep to talk about the band’s upcoming album, The Rain Museum, and it’s a really informative interview that I recommend for any fan of the band. I’ve spent the week listening to the new album, and my first impressions are actually pretty simple: it sounds like a follow-up to What To Do When You Are Dead. Eerily. Like it almost feels pulled from another era. The production is pristine; it sounds great. And the songs all feel pretty classic Armor for Sleep to me. Some good straightforward rock songs, a real nice ballad in “New Rainbows,” and the uncanny ability to make me feel like I’m sitting in my dorm listening to an advance CD on my Discman.
  • The other new album I heard this week that leans into the whole emo-nostalgia thing is the new one from The Early November. It’s called 20, and it’s made up of new and unreleased songs from the band’s entire history. All the songs are newly recorded, so they all feel of a whole. And it’s very well done as both a new album and as a look at the band’s entire history. It walks perfectly from where they started to where they are now, and I think fans are going to love it.
  • OK, onto new music released this week. First up: The Flatliners new album is a damn good punk record. Like punk music? Check this one out.
  • Goldfinger put out a new deluxe version of their last album. Adam sat down with Feldy to talk about it a little, and it’s interesting to hear him reflect. The new version of “99 Red Balloons” is cute. The new version of “In My Bedroom” didn’t work for me, but the new deluxe tracks have some nice little gems in there. And, I like that Mike’s allowed to sing even more on some of the songs. It’s always good to hear his voice, but I also think it works really well with these songs. “3 AM” almost feels like it could have been on Blink-182’s California.
  • Hot Milk dropped a new EP, and while the band name is still odd to me, I do think this band has something special brewing. Obvious pop-punk influences, nice dual vocals, catchy songs with a modern bent, and they keep impressing me. I could see this sitting in my summer rotation for the next few weeks.
  • Speaking of great summer albums: The Interrupters’ new one is full of really fun, ska-related tunes. I also really enjoyed this article talking about Aimee’s journey to finally releasing this album.
  • Lauv’s new one has a whole bunch of stuff on it I like. It’s a little more of a breezy pop album compared to his last, and it feels tighter and more concise. But, I don’t think it hits the heights of his previous, with a few melodies feeling lifted from Ed Sheeran tracks. But, all in all, something I’ll be playing a bunch while the weather is nice and sunny.
  • And if we were to look up “sunny music personified” in the dictionary, you’d find the new 1975 song “Happiness” sitting there smiling at you. Shocking no one: I like this, I really like this. It’s exactly the sound I think they do better than anyone else, and when they hit, damn, they just grab that part of my brain that only a few bands can.
  • Hmm, how are we feeling about the new Carly Rae Jepsen song? Do we like this? Are we sure? I keep waiting for something to connect with me in the same way EMOTION did, and this isn’t there for me. I’m not worried about this album in the way I’m worried about the new Panic! at the Disco album … but … I’m not pre-ordering this one until I hear it.
  • Quick little shout-out since we’re in the middle of summer now: if you haven’t listened to the latest one from The Faim, I think it’s worth your time and is the perfect little pop-rock album for the heat. The kind of non-offensive, anyone should be able to nod along with it, album.

The Stats: Over the past week, I listened to 21 different artists, 32 different albums, and 377 different tracks (438 scrobbles). My most played artist was blink-182, and my most played album ended up being the new one from Unwritten Law. Here is my Top 9 from last week, and you can follow me on Apple Music and/or Last.fm.

Entertainment Thoughts

  • Prey is the best Predator-related movie in, dare we say, 35 years? Perfect length, gets in and out, doesn’t try and do too much, but just a fun summer action movie. I had a great time. Can we have a new Aliens movie like this please?
  • Honor Society was sort of like a modern day Election, kinda cute, kinda funny, kinda just ok.
  • We are now on season three of our Dark rewatch. I seriously love this show and continue to be in awe that they pulled it off.
  • Secret best show on TV, Harley Quinn, is back! First episode picked up nicely and I’m excited for more.
  • Watching The Rehearsal has me sitting with my entire body clinched the whole time. Brilliantly cringy.

Random and Personal Stuff

  • John Gruber and Marco Arment mentioned Hop Water on an episode of The Talk Show podcast, and it seemed so weird I just had to try it. It’s sparkling water with hops added. It’s non-alcoholic, and it sort of tastes like an IPA, but it’s really its own thing. Kinda good? Kinda weird? Why do I buy everything my nerdy podcasts recommend?

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.

  1. The 1975 – Happiness
  2. The Flatliners – Performative Hours
  3. Hot Milk – The King and Queen of Gasoline
  4. The Early November – Make it Happen
  5. Armor for Sleep – Whatever Who Cares
  6. Lauv – Stranger
  7. The Interrupters – Let ‘Em Go
  8. Goldfinger – 3am
  9. NoSo – I’m Embarrassed I Still Think Of You
  10. Pool Kids – Talk Too Much

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 riotspray in the “The Rehearsal (HBO/ HBO Max)” thread.

Previous editions of Liner Notes can be found here.

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