Liner Notes (November 20th, 2020)

Jason Tate Nov 20, 2020

I hope everyone had a good week this week. We’re back with another newsletter looking at music and entertainment I enjoyed this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed, 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.

This article is available exclusively to supporting members of our website. Join now for as little as $3 per month and get access to exclusive content and a variety of other great perks (like removing all ads and unlocking a dark mode theme). Plus, you'll be helping an independent publisher. Learn more here.

Become a Supporting Member

(Current members can log in here.)

Interview: Ryan Locke of Seaway

Adam Grundy Nov 18, 2020

This past week, I was able to chat with Ryan Locke (lead vocalist) of Seaway to discuss everything that went into writing and recording their fantastic fourth album, Big Vibe. Ryan describes the band’s live performances, the artistic comparisons others have made to the sound the band went for on the new record, as well as their core influences.

Jason Tate Nov 13, 2020

This week’s newsletter has early thoughts on the new Less Than Jake album, high praise for The Queen’s Gambit, and other reflections on music and entertainment I enjoyed this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved, 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.

Become a Supporting Member

(Current members can log in here.)

Who Will Meet Me At The Gates – “Wet Cement” (Song Premiere)

Adam Grundy Nov 13, 2020

Today I’m pleased to premiere the brand new single from Who Will Meet Me At The Gates, called “Wet Cement.” Who Will Meet Me at the Gates is the latest installment in the ever-expanding universe of The Inevitables. Initially conceived as a soundtrack album and comic book, The Inevitables is evolving into a multilayered, multimedia project that extends into toys, art, and branded collectibles. On October 16th, the first single “Good Grief” dropped from a new five-song acoustic EP, featuring a veritable punk rock supergroup featuring members of Pears, Less Than Jake, The Jeff Rosenstock Band, Big D and the Kids Table, and Westbound Train.

As with the rest of the Inevitables project, the group was not satisfied stopping with music. For the graphic side of the concept, they brought in Portland-based artist Tomo77 to lend a visual experience to the songs. The result is a 6-print series reflecting the impact of the pandemic amid a tumultuous and changing social and racial landscape. Rendered in isolation, Tomo77’s images explore themes of racism, police brutality and a society in the throes of political chaos and disease, entwined with symbolism reminiscent of the middle ages. The art will be made available in a limited run of numbered and embossed prints.

If you like what you hear, you can stream the album here.

Jason Tate Nov 6, 2020

This week’s newsletter is brought to you by coffee, coffee, more coffee, and the letter B. I share my first thoughts on the new EP from The Dangerous Summer, some thoughts on entertainment consumed last weekend, and a few thoughts on the election. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed last 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.

Become a Supporting Member

(Current members can log in here.)

Liner Notes (October 30th, 2020)

Jason Tate Oct 30, 2020

Usually I end up listening to a lot of Alkaline Trio, AFI, and My Chemical Romance leading up to Halloween. This year I forgot to do any of that and all of a sudden the month’s gone. Weird. Anyway, this week’s newsletter has thoughts on music and entertainment I enjoyed this week, my favorite candy, and a playlist of ten damn good songs. 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.

Become a Supporting Member

(Current members can log in here.)

Apolar. – “Stargazer” (Song Premiere)

Adam Grundy Oct 30, 2020

Today I’m pleased to share the single premiere from the Chicago-based, Rock/Post-metal duo named Apolar. called “Stargazer.” The track comes from their third EP, STS-51-I, that is a concept record based around NASA’s Challenger mission in 1986, where the shuttle exploded on its way into orbit. The song reminds me of bands such as Explosions in the Sky and Align In Time, and makes for a great listening experience. If you enjoy what you hear, you can pre-order the new EP on Bandcamp.

Jason Tate Oct 23, 2020

This week’s newsletter has early thoughts on Bruce Springsteen, Seaway, and various other things I listened to, watched, read, and consumed this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed, 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.

Become a Supporting Member

(Current members can log in here.)

Goings – “Trying Dying” (Video Premiere)

Zac Djamoos Oct 22, 2020

Goings have signed to the ever-underappreciated Know Hope Records ahead of the release of their new album, It’s For You. The band’s brand of indie-rock, which mixes the math energy of heavyweights like Dryjacket with the quirky pop of a band like Motion City Soundtrack, is sure to warm up your autumn. We’re excited to premiere the band’s latest single, “Trying Dying,” which is a delightful taste of what to expect from their debut LP.

Jason Tate Oct 16, 2020

The combination of falling temperatures and pumpkin themed desktop wallpaper is really giving me a Fall/Autumn vibe today. I’m sure there will be no ramifications of the past few months just kind of disappearing due to a pandemic and gross mismanagement by the government, right? Anyway, I’m in a weird mood and this week’s newsletter has thoughts on music, entertainment, and other things on my brain this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed 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.

Become a Supporting Member

(Current members can log in here.)

The Biggest Memories Are Always Chaos

Jason Tate Oct 14, 2020

First of all, thank you to everyone for the massive feedback from last week’s article about dealing with the collapsing ad market due to the pandemic. All of the kind words made a time of uncertainty a little more bearable, and it was the best week of membership signups we’ve had since the first week I launched the website. Everything is still very much up in the air, but the last week gave me a feeling of comfort I haven’t had in a few months, so thank you for that.

While I was putting together the “Back to” and “My Nostalgia” series, I tried to capture as many of the significant memories as I could about the years and, specifically, the music. However, as I finished, I realized something was missing. While I felt good about documenting the music and what was going on behind the scenes of running the website, I couldn’t pull in as many of the other random anecdotes or bigger things that were happening around the website and our community through those years. Various moments stand out to me, usually related to a dramatic event, that felt almost as memorable as the music itself. This week I’d like to reminisce about five of them. I don’t always remember the specifics of the years and timing, but I’ll try and pull in what I can track down.

Jason Tate Oct 9, 2020

Somehow we’re already in the second week of October.

This week’s newsletter looks at music, entertainment, and other things I found interesting this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

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

Become a Supporting Member

(Current members can log in here.)

The Inevitables – “The Weight of the Worry” (Song Premiere)

Adam Grundy Oct 8, 2020

Today I’m pleased to premiere the latest single from The Inevitables called “The Weight of the Worry.” For those unfamiliar with this ska/punk supergroup project, they are featuring current and former members of a bunch of incredible bands including Vinnie Fiorello (Less Than Jake), Obi Fernandez (Westbound Train), Matt Appleton (Reel Big Fish), Billy Kottage (the Interrupters), John DeDomenici (Jeff Rosenstock, Bomb The Music Industry!), Alex Stern and Jon Degen (Big D And The Kids Table) and Sean-Paul Pillsworth (Nightmares For A Week).

If you like what you hear as much as I do, you can pre-save the song here. Also, pre-orders are now live.

Jason Tate Oct 7, 2020

Years from now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to adequately explain to someone that didn’t live through 2020 precisely what it was like. It’s been a year unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime. Things I never thought I’d see are happening on such a regular basis that I feel myself fluctuating between numb anxiety and flashing white-hot anger. When the pandemic began in March, I reacted by tackling some projects I had on my list for a long time. I redesigned and rebuilt the entire main website and launched that in May; I then brought back hundreds of pieces of old AbsolutePunk content and got that part of the scene history back in our database. Over the past eighteen or so weeks, I’ve also been writing weekly articles that first re-ranked all of the “best of” lists from 2005 through 2015, and then deconstructed my entire musical journey starting in 1998 and tried to tell the story of how I fell in love with music and the history of beginning AbsolutePunk. These have been welcome distractions in these weird-ass times.

Usually, in August, I do some kind of “supporter pitch” on the website. I’ve done it the past three or four years to remind people about our membership program and talk about how it’s because of the supporting members that this website can exist. I try not to be too annoying about this because I’m not great at self-promotion, but if I don’t do it, I always feel like I’m not trying as hard as I could be. This year, with all of the racial injustice, pandemic, and so much more going on, I never could find the time that felt right to do it. After finishing my article project last week, I spent some time brainstorming what other kinds of articles I could write that I think would be fun to tackle, and I also did my annual deep dive on the state of the website and how I’m feeling about everything. The bottom line is the pandemic really fucked with my plans.

From the end of March through this month, on average, the website’s ad revenue was basically cut in half. We saw more traffic than usual, and virtually half the income from the ads. That’s not great. I don’t know if, or when, the ad revenue will return to something resembling what it looked like at the beginning of the year. So I realized before I can start thinking about my next article series, I have to write up some pitch about our membership program. So here I am.

Liner Notes (November 20th, 2020)

Interview: Ryan Locke of Seaway

Liner Notes (November 13th, 2020)

Who Will Meet Me At The Gates – “Wet Cement” (Song Premiere)

Liner Notes (November 6th, 2020)

Liner Notes (October 30th, 2020)

Apolar. – “Stargazer” (Song Premiere)

Liner Notes (October 23rd, 2020)

Goings – “Trying Dying” (Video Premiere)

Liner Notes (October 16th, 2020)

The Biggest Memories Are Always Chaos

Liner Notes (October 9th, 2020)

The Inevitables – “The Weight of the Worry” (Song Premiere)

A Message From Jason; Because He Has No Other Title Ideas