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Liner Notes (March 6th, 2021)

Posted by Jason Tate
Palm Springs

This week’s newsletter has thoughts on the new releases from Electric Century and The Spill Canvas and my usual commentary about movies and other entertainment I consumed over the past week. And, of course, there’s a playlist of ten songs I liked this week, 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.

Two Things

  • I’m not a big “pen nerd” like some on the internet, but I do like myself a good pen. One of my favorites is the Tactile Turn bolt action. They just released a new slimmer model that looks pretty damn nice. It’s an exceptionally well-made pen that becomes a very nice fidget device in hand.
  • I did not think that an article about the revival of the American chestnut would be the best thing I read this week, but I was utterly enthralled by this piece.

Sponsor

Post/War battle growing pains and the isolation of youth in their debut LP, Violet Light and a Hum, which is now streaming on all platforms. Violet Light and a Hum is an album that catalogs early adulthood’s experiences, the loss of love, lack of security, and the value of having people in your life. It’s inspired by the sad and aggressive music they were exposed to as teenagers, and the sound is a blend of indie alt-rock and the greatest hits of the Hot Topic t-shirt era. With heavy hitting nostalgia and catharsis, Post/War makes a grand entrance screaming their poignant refrain: you are nothing without the people you love.

RIYL: Citizen, Teenage Wrist, Thrice

In Case You Missed It

Music Thoughts

  • My birthday came early! Thanks for the wonderful present Foxing. This band continues their trend of being one of the best and most interesting acts in music right now.
  • Yesterday saw the full release of one of my favorite albums of the year, so far, Dog Years by The Night Game. It’s the embodiment of the kind of music I’m most into these days as it scratches that specific “taste” itch in my brain perfectly. Fun, introspective, engaging, and some of the absolute best production I’ve ever heard; just impeccable stuff. It’s the album I’d most turn to right now if someone asked for a recommendation of something new to listen to and they hadn’t been following new music for a while. And with the replayability already high, I think this has to be the leader in the clubhouse for my album of the year.
  • And, an album in a very similar vein from Electric Century also came out yesterday. This is the brainchild of Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance, but it has a similar synth sound with a little Bon Jovi, Flock of Seagulls, and maybe some Tom Petty throw-in for good measure. It’s quite good. There’s something about the songwriting here that really screams New Jersey to me, and I think it’s the storytelling aspect of so many of the tunes. I see it most in songs like “Adeline “and “Oh Mary.” I foresee this being in heavy rotation throughout the spring and summer.
  • Question: Will Jason like a song from No Rome, Charli XCX, and The 1975? Answer: No fucking shit.
  • The Spill Canvas released their first new music in a very long time on Friday. I will always have a special place in my heart for this band and some fond memories. I was almost nervous to listen. Just in one of those, “Is this going to hold up at all?” kind of feelings. While there are some cheesy lyrics, as a whole, it’s an extremely solid Spill Canvas album. The songwriting talent has always been there, and it shines in songs like “Darkside” and “Akathisia.” I’m glad Nick’s still writing music and
  • I only had time to listen to the new Zara Larsson album once so far, but it was grabbing me far more than her last. I’ll have to give this another listen soon.
  • I’ve never been the biggest Tigers Jaw fan, but I always check out their albums because of the buzz around the website. I haven’t listened to their latest yet, but I plan to check that out later today.

Entertainment Thoughts

  • We waited until it was close to finishing to begin Wandavision, and have cranked through the first six already. I’m enjoying it but not loving it. It’s an interesting concept, entertaining, and I’m curious to see where it goes, but mostly I’m watching to see what kind of quality we can expect for the other upcoming Marvel shows. I was worried they’d feel too “network-y” or like Agents of SHIELD, which did nothing for me. Thankfully, that has not been the case so far. So, I’m now very much looking forward to the others.
  • The first season of The Bureau was good, and we’ll definitely come back to see season two after watching some of the other stuff on our list.
  • Moxie on Netflix was a perfectly passable, fun Friday evening movie.
  • I am not quite sure how I feel about Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. On one hand, it might be the dumbest movie I have ever seen. On the other, I haven’t laughed as hard as I did during the “Edgar’s Prayer” song in a long time. I’ve gone back to watch that scene multiple times now. I’ve even read the oral history of that scene. What a bizarre ass movie.
  • I was in a Superman mood last weekend, so I read the entire first Bendis run of Superman. It was pretty good overall. I wouldn’t call it amazing, but I was into it enough and will probably read more.
  • About 80% of the way through Dune now.

Random and Personal Stuff

  • Ugh. After running some errands, it’s time to sit down and prepare for tax season. Easily one of my least favorite things to do every single year, and I have an accountant to try and make it as painless as possible. I still dread it.

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 Night Game – Hurts So Good
  2. Electric Century – Til We’re Gone
  3. No Rome – Spinning
  4. The Spill Canvas – Darkside
  5. Zara Larsson – WOW
  6. Great Good Fine Ok – Could Be Us
  7. Zoe Zobrist – Fade Away
  8. Death Cab for Cutie – Flirted With You all My Life
  9. Sydney Sprague – You Have to Stop
  10. The Night Game – Dancing in Heaven

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 AlwaysEvolving21 in the “Q&A and Chat With Jason Tate” thread.

Previous editions of Liner Notes can be found here.

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