WEEK IN REVIEW: 5/13 - 5/19

*The Gaslight Anthem announced their 4th album entitled Handwritten this week and I certainly hope it's better than the cover art. I guess the artsy thing to do in 2012 is to take 4 black and white photos of every member of your band and put them next to each other Beatles style on your front cover. Oh, and way to tell me every member of the band... thanks guys... you saved me the 5 second search on Wikipedia. The lead single is below and I have no opinion on it.



*Sad news, Handsome Furs have broken up. This is an odd situation to be sure because Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry are married. The band's facebook post on the matter reads: “With a heavy heart the time has come to let all of you know that Handsome Furs are no more”. Handsome Furs' first 2 albums stand out to me as some of the best of 2007 and 2009 respectively, and their whole shtick of electronic post punk remains one of the better ideas a band has put forward in the last decade... I'll miss them dearly.





*Childish Gambino has released a new track from his upcoming mixtape entitled "We Ain't Them". The most impressive part of this song for me is that it's incredibly catchy yet doesn't have a hook. It relies on an airy synths and piano for it's melody, which speaks to Donald's improvement as a producer. The song's lyrics read as a seemingly random collection of thoughts directly from Donald's brain as if he's recalling the things that keep him awake at night. He even goes as far to say "Back of my mind though, I hope the show gets cancelled // maybe then I can focus.". We all know by now that Community is not getting cancelled, but the fact that the show's hardships are dwelling on his consciousness enough to start showing up in his lyrics is really interesting.



*Fang Island have released the first taste of Major in the form of lead single "Asunder". It's a pretty typical song from them that combines their knack for cool melodies with guitar tones straight out of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. This is far and away my most anticipated album right now.

 Fang Island - Asunder by Sargent House

*Animal Collective announced their new album Centipede Hz, this is the part where you freak the fuck out.

read more "WEEK IN REVIEW: 5/13 - 5/19"

OPINION: I Like Childish Gambino

Donald Glover is a typically lauded guy. Often praised for his acting, stand-up, writing, or for his work with Derrick Comedy. His music career doesn't share the same distinction or praise. It seems to me that he's one of the most divisive artists in rap music today with virtually all either loathing or loving his music. Saying "Childish Gambino" to the wrong person can start a passionate debate on the merits of his music. I can't speak to why these people feel this way, but I think a lot of people have a hard time taking him seriously because of his day job. Actors turned rappers are typically given a hard road, but the hate towards Glover seems to go deeper than that. Something about the guy strikes people to the core of their being. I'm not here to tell you you're wrong, I just want to get my opinion down in a written format.

The thing that appeals to me most Gambino is how energetic he is, he sounds to me like he's having fun... and that's important. I need music to be fun sometimes, I can't listen to the soul-less depression of Joy Division every day and lead anything resembling a normal life. Perhaps my raw enjoyment of Glover's music can best be summed up with a line from "L.E.S." in which he raps: "She's got ironic tattoos on her back/ that ain't ironic bitch I love Rugrats". Surely annoying to some, but for someone who has an unhealthy obsession to pop culture his constant references are seen as a challenge. What "band with an animal name" is he talking about exactly? Maybe that's considered weird, but I sincerely do this. Note to self: spend less time on Rap Genius.

This is probably the shortest Opinion post in YPOIW history and I apologize for that, but what I won't apologize for is the opinion itself. Actually I think I will...  I'm so sorry if I offended your sensibilities with my shitty opinions. Haters gonna hate.

read more "OPINION: I Like Childish Gambino"

Random Fucking Thoughts #3

Welcome to my weekly feature here at YPOIW in which I give you a slice of what's on my mind. Sorry I took last week off in favor of writing about the Penn State Scandal, I felt it deserved it's own post. It was the only thing I felt was worth an entire post, at the time. 

Thought 1:

I love the Buffalo Sabres more than anything else in my life... but I fear they just might be a bunch of cowards. How did they not go after Milan Lucic after he ran Miller? It's one of the biggest disappointments I can remember. In hockey, more-so than any other sport, you have to show the competitor you have the strength and will to compete. The Boston Bruins tested their manhood, and they cowered like little babies. The next time this happens they need to punch the perpetrator in the fucking mouth instead of giving him a couple of pie-faces while he laughs at you.

Thought 2:

Pitchfork is free to cover whatever they want, but I feel like the shun against Childish Gambino is pretty ridiculous. He's popular enough to warrant at least a passing mention of his existence. They've covered almost every artist on Glassnote except for him. This kind of selective coverage with hip-hop artists is a problem. You're telling me that Childish Gambino's Camp wasn't one of the most 25 relevant albums of the week to your readers Pitchfork? If you plain don't like the guy's music then review it and pan it, but ignoring it is just bad journalism and there's no excuse for it. 

Thought 3:

I don't think I'm ready to throw Bernie Fine under the bus until there's more substantial evidence against him. As far as I can tell it's just the alleged victim's word against Fine's. There is nothing legal and credible like the Grand Jury Report in the Sandusky case. I will say that Syracuse has handled the situation a lot better than Penn State by coming out with a statement immediately and putting Fine on leave while they look into it. Even if these allegations prove true, I won't have the harsh words for Syracuse that I've had for Penn State. I don't believe there was any attempt to cover it up, which as far as sex scandals go... is a nice thing to have.

Thought 4:

My 0/10 ranking of Maladroit for the Ranking Weezer's Albums post might have been a little unfair. This is a painful admission, but I like "Slave", "Slob,  and "Dope Nose" to an extent. I think my biggest problem is with with how they compiled the album. Weezer shouldn't give a fuck what their fans think, they need to compile their albums themselves. Fan input is important, but at the end of the day it shouldn't be the ONLY thing. They paid the price for it because it resulted in a disjointed mess. The fact that the entirety of the album has production more fitting of a crossover nu-metal band doesn't help. The worst crime about that album has to be that the songs aren't about anything, which is a hard pill to swallow from a band that made Pinkerton. 

Thought 5:

I'm a frequent user of public transportation, and people that sit on the aisle are total assholes. Why prevent another person from sitting next to you? why do you care so much? Why should you get the god given right to take up more space than everybody else?

Also, there really needs to be a limit of how many kids you can bring on the bus for free. I don't think it's in the NFTA's best interest to allow a woman to pay 1 fare and bring her 9 children on the bus for free. No wonder they've got a 15 million dollar deficit, it's that fucking lady's fault.

read more "Random Fucking Thoughts #3"