Liner Notes (October 1st, 2022)

This week’s newsletter has some thoughts on the music and entertainment I consumed over the past week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I think are worth your time, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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A Few Things

  • It’s the first newsletter of October. Boy, does it seem like this year has gone by fast? I could have sworn I was just using leaf and pumpkin header images for this thing, and now we’re right back at it.

Sponsor

Oliver Low from Milwaukee, WI has just released his brand new single “Fool’s Gold”, now streaming everywhere.

Produced by Alex Dezen (The Damnwells, Simple Plan, Justin Bieber), mastered by Whynot Jansveld (Andrew McMahon, Matt Nathanson, Butch Walker), the song has Jimmy Eat World/Goo Goo Dolls influences sonically, with some modern Taylor Swift influence lyrically and melodically, which builds with each chorus to a big release at the end.

In Case You Missed It

Music Thoughts

  • The big news of the week is the return of Paramore. They’re back with a new song, a new album announcement, a new video, and all the fixings. The music feels like an excellent progression from After Laughter: similar vibe, really nice groove, ridiculously catchy chorus. I’m very excited to see where the entire album goes from here.
  • Jimmy Eat World put out an acoustic version of “Something Loud,” which not only got a half dozen plays from me already but also sent me back on a Jimmy listening binge. Their other new single, “Place Your Debts,” was randomly put up for sale on a few websites a couple of weeks back. I heard they pulled back its release because “Something Loud” was doing well on radio, and they wanted to let it get some more traction before putting out a new one. You can still find the song on a few websites for three bucks if you’re willing. I do hope they officially release it soon because it’s perfect for fall. It’s that moody Jimmy, just exactly what this cooling weather needs. I’m trying not to be greedy, but I want a new album.
  • A lot of my week was spent listening to the new album from L.S. Dunes. This is the latest project fronted by Anthony Green, and the hype hit pretty massive levels after the release of the lead single “Permanent Rebellion.” I think that’s by far the high point of the album, but the full release has quite a few other gems on it as well. “Grey Veins” has a great chorus, and “Antibodies” is a nice little ripper. I think I was anticipating something with that aggressiveness of the lead single throughout, and it’s not that, but after adjusting expectations, I’m a fan.
  • Origami Angel surprise-released a fun little three-song EP. A little different than their last album, but still very much keeping their patented quirkiness intact.
  • The new Oakman EP reminds me a little of the best of Fickle Friends. Synthy-pop with a nice little bounce.
  • Erra’s latest album came out last year, and I somehow missed it. For me, the fall is when I find myself looking for more metalcore/hardcore releases to inject into my regular (and gym) playlist. I saw people recommending this in the forums and tossed it on. It scratches that itch! The clean vocals almost remind me of Cove-era Saosin in places.
  • This is also the time of year for Brian Fallon music. The Gaslight Anthem, The Horrible Crowes, and his solo albums all seem to go well with the changing color of the leaves. I think this is how others feel about P.S.L season. The Instagramers have their sweaters and pumpkins, and I have my changing musical tastes from the pop-punk of summer to the gruffness of rock and the twinkling of emo for fall.
  • And it should be a fun October! We have the big releases from Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, and The 1975. None of which I’ve heard yet. We’ve got the new Early November dropping, and if my birdies are to be believed, we’ve got that Blink-182 tour announcement finally coming as well. I’m hearing arenas—mid-October announcement. I’ve also heard they’ve been writing since early 2022, so I’d have to think new music could be coming leading up to next year’s shows.

The Stats: Over the past week, I listened to 41 different artists, 59 different albums, and 387 different tracks (427 scrobbles). My most listened to artist of the week was Paramore, and my most played album was the upcoming album from L.S. Dunes, Past Lives. Here is my Top 9 from last week, and you can follow me on Apple Music and/or Last.fm.

Entertainment Thoughts

  • Last night’s episode of The Rings of Power was probably the best one yet. Multiple jaw-dropping scenes; I continue to be in awe of this show.
  • And we finally got all caught up on Andor. Um, this might be the best Star Wars related content we’ve got in the Disney era. I wasn’t sure what to expect; however, after the third episode ended, I am at least convinced that this is very good. Great storytelling, interesting interconnected plots, and I can’t wait for more.

Random and Personal Stuff

  • Besides living life and spending too much money on vinyl records, I’ve been enjoying watching Aaron Judge chase the American League home run record. I’ve been following Judge’s entire career, and to see him rise to this level has been incredible. Yankees better pay that man and then make him captain, or I (and probably many others) will riot. Next up is one of my favorite and most stressful times of the year. Playoff baseball. My expectations are low, I think the Dodgers are by far the best team in baseball, and I think the Astros are the team to beat in the AL, but, there’s no question about it, I’m ready to be hurt again.

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. Paramore – This is Why
  2. Cold Years – She Sells Sanctuary
  3. Erra – Vanish Canvas
  4. Jimmy Eat World – Something Loud (Acoustic)
  5. Oakman – Night
  6. Origami Angel – Penn Hall
  7. Thrice – Betrayal is a Symptom
  8. American Football – Fade Into You
  9. Augustana – Hey Now
  10. Brian Fallon – Horses

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 unbornwhiskey in the “Paramore – This Is Why (February 10, 2023)” thread.

Previous editions of Liner Notes can be found here.

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