BACKTALK ~ Letters to the Editor

From: Sai, (somewhere in Canada)

steve? this is the new york times®. we’re begging you to join our team.

kidding, it’s just me. i’m sure that email will come soon.

huge fan of your site/twitter, man. look forward to reading your newsletters and seeing those inferior opinions in your replies whenever i’m online. as a fellow canadian, you’re someone i’m proud of. bandcamp should offer you a partnership deal or something before i send them a strongly worded email.

anyway, i’m just sending this because i’ve always wanted to get in touch with you and let you know you’re appreciated. music being a unifier or something like that. huge congratulations on the news of your marriage, dude! you’re making me feel hella young. i’m seriously very thrilled for you, and i hope all goes well and that it lasts long.

i figure i should try to plug something here, lest this be boring fanmail where i’m just being nice. so: if you haven’t listened to the god derek ted‘s album “better spirit” yet, GET ON THAT SHIT!!! my man just signed to pure noise records, furthering the folk agenda and bringing prosperity back to valencia street. “slow down” by him (not on the album) is unbelievable. there may not be a more platinum “record label” than $R&$ – don’t @ me. if you want some more gold from that, floral prince (aka field medic) has a secret mixtape that’s up there with his album from earlier this year. freak folk forever baby

stay feckin,
sai
________
Sai,

I’m trying this new thing where I’m a total asshole to everyone so I can get ahead in life. You’re my first victim, so feck yew!

Yeee! Just kidding man! Thanks so much for this lovely and well written letter. Seriously, I thought I was NY Times material but have you read your own writing? You don’t even use capital letters. That takes ballz. Trust me, I’m a highly professional and expert writer myself, so I know what I’m talking about.

I would caution you about reaching out to bandcamp on my behalf. I think they hate me. I’ve been mildly irritating them with emails and comments for a while now, and if I were them, I’d be getting pretty sick of it.

Hey, thanks so much for all the positive feedback and for the congratulations on my wedding. You know marriage is pretty weird if you think about it: Humans have all these ridiculous rituals and most of them are idiotic, but I figure you need a partner in life and you might aswell celebrate that with the people you love. I could do without all the attention though, so I’m glad it’s over.

Thanks for the recommendations too. Field Medic I’ve heard of, but this Derek Ted guy is new to me. Since folk went pop a few years back it’s been hard to find folk that doesn’t suck, but I’m digging both of these. Hopefully there’s more of this stuff on the horizon and less HO HEY. What a stupid fecking song. Jeezis Christ.

Keep on fighting the good fight,
S.D.

Doesn’t English (#027) – Dongker

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Sadly, this album was just barely nudged out of the top 5 for July. The Russians win again, but Indonesia is putting up a fight. Just listen to this thing. It’s infectious. Seriously you should take some antibiotics after listening. Maybe rub yourself down with hydrogen peroxide. Make sure you get it in all the holes and cracks. If my translations are correct (and they often aren’t) there is a lyric on here that says “Cobain is a god, to hell with god” wow! I’m not exactly sure the context on that, but either way, in the spirit of punk rock, I have to respect the boldness of such a statement. The album art is very Double-Nickels-On-The-Dime-like but the similarities to the Minutemen more or less end there, incase you were wondering. Oh you weren’t wondering? Ok well calm down.

Top 5 Albums/EP’s That DON’T Suck [JULY 2019]

Sans Lorenzo – Lombard
(Midwest Emo) X (Northwest Indie Rock) ÷ (Post Punk) minus (Lorenzo) = A fecking dope-ass band. I can only imagine what they must sound like WITH Lorenzo! You know what this sounds like? Don’t answer that, it’s a rhetorical question. It sounds like raw potential. Not that they haven’t already achieved absolute awesomeness, but because if/when these guys put out another album, it’s going to completely blow my damn face off. There is a sad urgency to this that can only be fostered by the corn mazes of the midwest. Couple that with a totally new take on post-punk-emo and, I’m telling you, you’ve got something very special. I am totally stoked on this band right now and I don’t just throw around the word stoked indiscriminately you guys. Please Midwest Jesus! Send us more!   Listen on Bandcamp

Feed The Pet – Alitas     [Buy it on Amazon!]
STOKED! This reminds me of something and I can’t remember what it was but goddamn I must have loved it. How could I not remember something that would have been so rad? I listen to entirely too much music. That’s my problem, but I can’t stop. I’m in too deep. Speaking of deep, these songs are like the fucking Atlantic ocean in that regard. You know what, with writing like this I’m surprised the New York Times isn’t knocking at my door. It’s just a matter of time I figure. Or should I say times? Get it times? If this was a real life conversation I’d just be staring at you with a vacant look in my eyes right now. Anyway, obviously this band jumps. Get outa here and go listen to it ya little rascal. Actually wait. Don’t go yet. Read the rest of this first ya little rascal.   Listen on Bandcamp or Spotify

Someday Best – Deep Rest     [Buy it on Amazon!]
Remember that Braid song that said “slow as Rapid City”? That’s what always comes to mind when I think about Rapid City. What a great lyric too. This band doesn’t necessarily reflect the ironic slowness of their home town though. They’re slow at times but overall rather jumpy, and I imagine they’re literally pounding life into the kids of Rapid City, one frazzled indie punk jam at a time. Another thing I always think of when I hear about that city is how the Bouncing Souls had their alternator die somewhere between there and Mankato Minnesota, or so the story goes in that one song, whatever it’s called. Also, Rapid City is a cool-name for a city. It just sounds badass right? RIGHT? Thought so. There’s a song on here called Girls Of Summer. Don’t worry, it’s not what you think. Or is it? No, it’s not. Right? Wrong. Maybe. No.   Listen on Bandcamp

Result Of Choice – Place Of My Dreams     [Buy it on Amazon!]
I hope you don’t need to sit down for a while cuz you’re about to get your butt slapped off dood. If you turn this up loud enough a circle pit will form no matter where you are, so use caution. For example, I would not start blasting this at your local lawn bowling club unless you wanna find out what it’s like to get an elbow to the chin from a senior citizen. When it comes to hardcore, I’m not really about that crossover metalic shit. I like the classic sound, so this is really hitting the spot for me. It’s not the hardest of core but it slaps all the same. Protect your posterior.   Listen on Bandcamp or Spotify

Сияние – Желания     [Buy it on Amazon!]
Surprise surprise, it’s another Russian band. How do you say ‘The Doesn’t Suck’ in Russian? I’m thinking of making a few changes around here. I need to be drinking more vodka too. You know, for research. I think this is the second band from Yakutsk I’ve featured on the blog which comes as no shock because I know there is a fierce underground punk scene happening there, and it is in fact considered the coldest major city on earth. It all makes perfect sense. Cold + angry kids = angrier kids = punk rock. It’s simple arithmetics. This is some foggy shoegaze punk too and I love that trend, especially when it’s executed in this way exactly.   Listen on Bandcamp or Spotify

ENDNOTES: My apologies to all the bands featured in this months top 5. Usually my writing is absolutely immaculate, Shakespearean even, but I kind of half-assed it this month. I’ve got a lot on my mind ok. I’m getting married like next weekend and it’s freaking me the feck out. I’m having a lot of weird wedding dreams. I’m finding it hard to focus on much of anything, but I still feel inspired enough by these albums to throw this top 5 together, so I hope everyone finds something they like. Umm there is a cellist named Gordon Withers putting out an all cello all Jawbreaker covers album on August 6th, so work that into your life somehow. I’m hoping I can work it in to my wedding ceremony. Yo! Check out the SCRAP HEAP for a crap-load more great releases from this month. Keep listening to weird bands and supporting them however possible. Keep telling your friends this is your favourite new music resource, and most importantly: keep on fighting the good fight. Oh! & follow me on twitter to have lots of fun conversations with me an a bunch of other music nerds. @SteveDoesnt