Three books, two records, a 'stack, a pod, and Thrill Jockey's catalog in 1994

July's highest recommendations

Aug 02, 2024

Hello in humidity,

We let the gardeners go. I’ve got the time to do it now, so I’ve been pulling weeds. It’s a losing battle, but I’ve turned it into a personal metaphor (I’ll spare you).

I’ve removed the dead bushes from alongside the driveway. This is a bummer, as they were a mature hedge and cockblock to the neighbor’s view of our lives, but an early freeze fucked them up in 2022. The gardeners said we should give them two seasons, two chances to return. There are surviving bushes, half-live limbs, and hearty new starts coming up, but most was near petrified, so I coated myself in bug spray and went at it for two days. I’ve got cuts and scrapes up and down my arms and legs and two audiobooks checked off the list: one Sheila Heti, one Flaubert.

July faves below.

🖤AV

🎶 Antenna, self-titled EP

Heads up: another new Tim “Shogun” Wall band. Shogun holds two stone-cold classics under his belt with his old outfit, Royal Headache, and he’s in two new bands. I mentioned a Finnogun’s Wake song in a best shit list several months ago, but I’m giddy about this new thing. No disrespect to Finnogun’s Wake; I like it, but with Antenna, no second dude is singing half the tunes.

My guy’s got Australian Bob Pollard vibes. It’s in the melodies and abandon. Shogun’s output doesn’t compete in terms of raw numbers (the internet says Pollard has over 3000 songs now), but I sense shared DNA with GBV. Plus, Shogun’s only 42. There’s time to get those numbers up. Here’s hoping Antenna survives for a full-length LP.

📚 Three novels: Fuccboi, No Longer Human, and Body High

I’ve been reading like an idiot, probably too much, forgetting lots, probably procrastinating or covering anxiety, but here are three novels I expect to stay with me. I promise I’m reading non-dark, weird, gross, and fucked-up books, too.

FUCCBOI by Sean Thor Conroe: I missed the original dust-up when this came out, and I finished the book just before Conroe’s much-delayed rebuttal to Sam Pink’s take-down from several years ago. I’m all caught up now. I read the takes, listened to some podcasts, and texted with some nerds. I’ve now read two Sam Pink books, too. It’s been a fun wormhole to crawl around the last few weeks. I’m certainly not into the “simply not good writing” dig on Fuccboi. I loved the writing, was moved many times, and often surprised. I gave a shit, the whole way through.

BODY HIGH by Jon Lindsey

I hate the cover art like 50% of you do, but push past it. Man oh man, what an awful, gross, and captivating family tree. The book is not at all what I feared, which was literary shock-jock tricks. Nope! There are deep characters and real plot within. Confident and cool wordsmithing. This book rips.

NO LONGER HUMAN by Osamu Dazai: So bleak. Very popular. Because I’m an Auster Bitch, if your novel concerns lost/found notebooks, I’m paying attention. I often see this book referenced in relation to its popularity with young people. I’d like to discuss it with some medium-aged people.

🎤 Children of Dave from This American Life

My antenna is up for Ex-Evangelical stuff by Kids of the Late 20th Century, and that stuff is having a moment. What a difference some books, podcasts, meme accounts, and Donald Trump's late-life can make.

Mal sent me this one via text and asked twice in 24 hours if I'd listened, so I knew it was serious. She gave no context, and I've probably given too much already, but it's not your usual trauma story, and it's not haha silly, nor is it haha smarty pants.

There's a hypothesis in Boen Wang's piece, which he proves wrong, which reminds me of an experience of my own when I began connecting with old friends as research for my Christian Rock novel asking, "Wow aren't you so fuckin' angry about those times?" and most of their answers being, "Not really, dude."

✂️ Thrill Jockey catalog insert, 1994

I was charmed to rediscover this half-sheet of paper inside The Sea and Cake's debut LP. It’s the entire Thrill Jockey catalog up to that point, THRILL 001 - THRILL 023. You can see it was made on a typewriter, I bet it was photocopied at Kinko's, and almost certainly stuffed into the record sleeve by label owner Bettina Richards. I like to think she came up with the descriptions while she typed the first draft.

THRILL 001 HP ZINKER “Perseverance lp/cd
“Austrian Prog Rock revisionists”
THRILL 010 FREAKWATER “Feels Like The Third Time” cd
“Knocking on the Carter family coffin these Louisville sirens make us weep with joy.”
THRILL 015 GAUNT “Sub Story” 12” ep/cdep
“9 songs of love and hate and hate and hate from columbus boys who really care really”
Thrill 022 FREAKWATER lp/cd
“they are recording it now so hold your horses....”

🎶 SML Small Medium Large LP

Kris Chen posted a pic of SML's Small Medium Large, telling all his friends: You should get this. The cover art is striking, the band name & record title bewitching, but I didn't know it was jazz.

It's hard to be from Indiana and into jazz. In my early 20s, I wanted to make t-shirts that said FUCK JAZZ. I'm not proud of this, but I used to be. Since then I've tried classics, the obvious stuff, and some fringe LPs. I read most of Miles' bonkers autobiography, but it didn't drive me to put on his records. I wouldn't say fuck jazz anymore, but I'm still not making time for it.

I pressed play on SML with a morning joint, size L, on the front porch. Then I listened again, sent it to some friends, and mail-ordered the LP. Dude, I fuckin' love jazz, dude.