Reviews – News on Shuffle

Jukebox the Ghost – Cheers!

I have been a Jukebox the Ghost fan since I saw them OPEN for The Postelles (I think) at Knitting Factory’s Tap Room. They are one of the only bands I have been following for that long and have never missed a new album, each of which always seems to be almost speaking directly to me and where I am in my life at the time. I have watched them grow as musicians and people, and am so happy to see them grow and succeed.

One thing I have always loved about this band is that they make *albums*. Each song and the order they are placed seems purposeful. After 18 years it’s no surprise that this album seems to be about growth and change. Wasted hits particularly hard, especially the chorus:

 We were broke
 We were brave
 25 years in a hurricane 
 We were wild, we were wasted
 Up all night, we’d dream all day
 Almost let you slip away
 We were wild, we were wasted

It reminds me of the early days of my own relationship, broke and dreaming of the future. We’ve come so far and seen so much and made it to the other side.

Of course the songs are plenty catchy too, if you’re not looking for deeper themes. Ramona will probably be stuck in my head for weeks. And what Jukebox album would be complete without Tommy writing about the apocalypse? “Us Against the World” might be about the end times, but it also feels like it could be about the present day. It does it in a way that feels the listener with hope though, rather than fear.

One of my favorite things musically is a good transition, and this album delivers that too with “The Machine (Intro)” into “Everybody Panic”. I also love the mixed sense of comedy and urgency in the line “Everybody panic but one at a time”. This band has always had a way with words, and the new album is no exception.

We get more of the above with “Raise a Glass” into “How the World Began” as well as the fantastic line “Every heartbreak’s just another song in waiting”.

Our journey comes to an end with a “Cheers!” and what could be more fitting than that? “Here’s to more of the every day” and to more great music from this amazing trio. I’m glad this college kid a [redacted] number of years ago made many a terrible decision to write that paper later and go see a show. The only band that has meant as much to me as this one was World/Inferno, and that chapter of my life has sadly come to a close. But here’s to more sing-a-longs and music and facing whatever comes next. This album closes on a hopeful note, and so will I. Because without hope, what’s the point?

Doctor Strange: Musings of the Multiverse

This should go without saying, but this will have lots of spoilers for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. You have been warned!

I know a lot of people who have some opinions about the new Doctor Strange movie, but I am here to tell you I loved it. At first I was concerned about how short the runtime was, but they managed to pack a lot into those two hours. I think my only complaint is you kinda get thrown right into things, but it’s a very minor complaint that I’m not all that mad about. Otherwise it was a great story with a rollercoaster of emotions. I wish Wanda/Scarlet Witch wasn’t the main antagonist and/or that her story didn’t end the way it did, but we’ll get there.

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios’ DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

First of all, with how quickly and often Dr Strange was asked “are you happy?” I knew that was going to come into play at some point in the movie. For a second when he and the Christine from the other universe (sorry I cannot remember numbers other than we are confirmed 616) were talking about “I wish you could see where I’m from, it’s beautiful” that one of them would be going with the other, but Strange knows he has more work to do, and I think he’s become content with that by the end of the movie.

Now about that other universe Christine was from – I (and a good portion of the theater) cheered seeing the Illuminati slowly introduce themselves. In a few short moments we got to see Black Bolt, Captain Marvel, Captain Carter, Reed Richards, and Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Professor Charles Xavier with the classic 90s X-Men theme playing during his entrance. My nerd heart sings!

If that weren’t good enough, we also got to see Clea make an appearance during the after credits scene, teasing a visit to the Dark Dimension? I’m really looking forward to seeing where the universe takes Strange, especially if it lets him move on from Christine and we see him and Clea more.

Now let’s talk about Sam Raimi. He’s one of my favorite directors of all time. If you never saw Evil Dead, do yourself a favor and fix that right now.

Go on. I’ll wait.

Seriously though, there were quite a few moments where Raimi’s signature really shined through. The best examples are the cameos – Bruce Campbell as Pizza Poppa and The Classic (the Oldsmobile Delta that is in almost every movie of his). It’s become a game with me to spot the car as an easter egg. And of course it’s fun seeing Bruce Campbell pop up in random small roles. Almost like back in the old Marvels days where we’d wait to see where Stan Lee would appear.

Finally, let’s talk about the actual story. We got a look at how Wanda is coping after the events of WandaVision. (Spoiler: she’s doing poorly). I’m happy she’s got a moment of clarity and redemption, but I have mixed feelings about her final moments in the movie. It’s poetic to see the space we mistook for a tomb become her actual tomb, but I also would rather see her get to move on and be happy rather than sacrifice herself to protect the world from her potential for chaos and catastrophe. And yes, people have pointed out to me that we never saw a body so she might not be dead, but it felt like her story was concluding there.

Overall I continue to be excited about what the MCU potentially has coming up. My big question after the movie ended was the potential for a Young Avengers in our future. I originally figured Wanda’s kids would be involved. True, the multiverse versions of them exist, but how much are they going to be featured versus our universe? I guess that’s something else I’m curious about is how much we’ll be visiting other universes now that we confirmed their existence. That is one way we might see Wanda again. I think we’re definitely going to see more of America Chavez, and her power is teleporting amongst the universes. Whatever happens, I’m excited for the MCU to get weird and make some bold choices in the future.

What about you? What are you most excited about? Is it the Fantastic Four becoming part of our universe finally? Or maybe getting to finally add some mutants to the mix? Let me know in the comments below.

Backyard Superheroes – Never Give Up, Never Surrender

Editor’s note: This review should have gone up sooner but thanks to technical issues (and other life stuff) it has been held till now. Better late than never, am I right?

The following ares my stream of conscious thoughts (with mild edits) while listening to Backyard Superhores’ latest album, Never Give Up, Never Surrender. Now available on Spotify, iTunes, and Bandcamp (personally I like Bandcamp best for my music-buying needs).

This album doesn’t grab me up front in the same way their previous record did, but it definitely gets me immediately curious. “Where is this going?” I think as two songs later we jump into an upbeat, fast-paced jam that I am all in for. I don’t listen to music at home much, but when I do I’m looking for something I can workout to or that inspires me to get stuff done. While NGU doesn’t immediately start that way, it certainly gets there by track 3 and does a good job of bringing the energy up and down throughout the rest of the album in a way that feels right.

I think my favorite song on the album is “The Weekend”. Not only is it a really catchy ear worm of a tune, but I love the little bit of video game music at the end. The song after it, “Tangerine Drive” isn’t bad either. It’s got a short but sweet horn riff I enjoy that gets repeated a couple times. I also love the way it breaks down towards the end then picks back up again before closing and jumping into the next song. Then there’s “What if,” which asks “what if life were like the comics?” something I ask myself All. The. Time.

Another thing worth noting with NGU is how very ska the horns and rhythm are, but without hitting you over the head with it. I love how they find that balance of being THE MOST SKA but not at the same time. Some bands get classified as ska when they’re really just rock bands with horns. Backyard Superheroes are a ska band, and very much ok with that.

Overall I would say I prefer their previous album, Let’s Get Dangerous, but definitely enjoyed this one and can see myself getting more attached with repeated play-throughs. Listen for yourself, and see what you think. And while you’re at it, think about what your life would be like as a comic book, and leave a comment with what your super power would be. I definitely would want some telekinesis so I could move things from across the room that are too far away from me. Also, the possibility of being able to levitate myself is pretty cool.

Sleeping With Ghosts – The Hotel Avira Haunting #2

The following is a review of chapter 2 (!) of The Hotel Avira Haunting, which is available for public consumption as of today. You can find my review of chapter 1 here. I think I did a pretty good job of staying vague and spoiler-free, but if you’re worried just skip to the end where I say I love it and you should go throw these people your money for the awesome thing they created. And with that, gentle reader, let’s dive in…

First, a recap (spoilers for chapter 1): When last we left our hero, he was looking to debunk the infamous Hotel Avira only to find that the ghosts were very real and very active. Sebastian was warned not to interact with the spirits, but of course he didn’t listen. Now his spirit is trapped in the hotel circa 1970. And that’s where we pick up with…

Chapter 2: Claire

Sebastian handles being in ghost mode about as well as you expect a person who until today didn’t even believe in them. While floating around the hotel and adjusting to his current situation he finds Claire, but as a live person, not the ghost he meets in chapter 1. This leads to lots of stuff happening that I don’t want to spoil for you. The story is great though, as is the art. It ends on a nice, juicy cliffhanger, which we’ll pick up on in the third and final issue. I look forward to seeing where the story takes us as ghost Sebastian has some big stuff to deal with and not a lot of time to do the things that need doing.

That’s my short and sweet review of this beauty. I could squee about some of the details I breezed over, but I want to leave a few things for you to discover on your own. I’ll simply end this with some shout outs to

Damian Simankowicz – the creator and writer of this series;

Marcelo Salaza – the artist;

and Mike Stefan – colorist.

The story and art are both wonderful and make for an enjoyable reading experience. You can pick your copy up TODAY on Amazon. For other platforms, stay tuned for release dates on the Facebook page.

Sleeping With Ghosts – The Hotel Avira Haunting #1

The following is a review of the first chapter in a new series by Damian Simankowicz. Anyone who followed my writing over at Nerds in Babeland might recognize that name from the series of reviews I did for another project of his: Sage Escape. This one is quite different stylistically, but definitely worth a try if you like ghost stories. Now, without further ado, I present the first chapter of Sleeping Ghosts (albeit a little late).

PS- Normally I would give you a spoiler warning before continuing, but for once I did pretty good at not being too specific. Enjoy this rare treat! And now, on with the show…

Sleeping With Ghosts

The Hotel Avira Haunting #1

Chapter 1: Sebastian

The first impression with any comic is going to be the artwork, and this one does not disappoint. I was immediately impressed with the coloring on this one. Next impression is going to be whether the story catches you immediately. Right from the opening panels you immediately get that this is a supernatural themed story, which I am all about. My two favorite genres for comic books are superheroes and the supernatural. (Put them in a story together and you get Doctor Strange, one of my current favorite comics running now. Honestly, I could write a whole other article about the current story they have going, but that’s not what we’re here for now.)

Sorry for the tangent, folks. My brain doesn’t always like to focus (which is maybe why I’m writing this a good 3-4 months later than I should’ve). I am so very good at life… (but that’s a different article as well).

As I was saying, the story is a supernatural tale of a haunted hotel and the debunker who actually finds some ghosts. In fact, he finds more than he bargained for, and ends up in unexpected places because of it. I know the story has been out for awhile, but I still don’t want to give too much away. I definitely recommend you check this piece of the story out, if you haven’t already. My only warning is there is one scene that is on the mature side, which was fine for me but may not be right for younger readers.

You can find part one of The Hotel Avira Haunting online at ComiXology and on iBooks.

Creative team:

Damian Simankowicz – writer/creator
Marcelo Salaza – Art
Mike Stefan – colorist/ cover artist

Publisher: Primal Archetype

Presenting: Narc Twain

You may have heard me talk about a band called “Jukebox the Ghost” here a few times. They’re one of my favorite bands and some of my favorite people of the musical persuasion. One of their members, Tommy Siegal, has two other projects he’s involved with. One is “Drunken Sufis,” who are weird but fun. There’s not much else to say there; you just have to experience it for yourself. The other band he’s in (and what I’m here to talk to you about) is “Narc Twain.” When I talked to Tommy about Narc Twain, he seemed real excited about them. It’s a little something to direct his creative energy towards when what is coming out doesn’t fit the mold for JtG or Sufis. Hearing him talk about it got me excited for him, so of course I’m also excited I now get to review the album and share it with all of you.

If you like dystopian rock tunes, this self-titled album should make it to the top of your list. It has some of the more interesting lyrics I’ve heard in awhile (and this is coming from someone who practically breathes punk rock). It’s not just the lyrics though; the instrumentation also takes some fun leaps and turns at points in the music. I found myself sitting with anticipation at where the songs would go next. There’s only 6 songs to soak in so far, but that should be good for a short trip. While I liked the album as a whole, I think track 3 was my favorite. The chorus is super catchy. It’ll be a nice earworm to knock out the Gogol Bordello song that’s been stuck in my head for a week now.

If this short little album isn’t enough for your hungry ears and brains, then perhaps you want to see them live and in person! Well then you should join me tonight at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn for their show tonight. (While you’re there check out the pizzeria that’s across the street; it’s one of my favorites). Get there early though, because you don’t want to miss any of the show! Doors are at 7pm, and the show starts at 8pm. Knitting usually has good pre-show happy hour deals to enjoy as well, for those who care about such things. Eat, drink, and be merry, and rock your dystopian hearts out with Narc Twain.

Shayfer James EP Release @ Rockwood

Here’s photo post #2 of the day for you. It’s Shayfer James’ EP release on Stage 2 of Rockwood Music Hall, September 19th. He had a great turnout where everyone sang along to songs that had literally just been released. It was pretty amazing to witness. He’ll be playing Rockwood again Oct 13th if you want to witness the magic for yourself.

Nerd Night Out @ Bell House

First of all, I’m sorry this took so long to post. The show actually happened Sept 12th, but it’s been a crazy month and I haven’t had a chance to really think straight let alone make updates on this thing here. Fear not, however, for you are getting two photo posts today from shows I had the pleasure of attending over the course of the month. The first is Nerd Night Out, a music/comedy tour with Molly Lewis, Joseph Scrimshaw, and The Doubleclicks! It was a great night full of laughs and shenanigans. I hung out after the show to chat with Molly Lewis (which I posted a picture on Twitter with her), bought some merch, and even got a CD signed by The Doubleclicks. It was a great night and if you ever get a chance to see even one of these performers, I say do it!

Backyard Superheroes – Let’s Get Dangerous

Before I begin I want to give some back story on this one. The ska scene (like many other scenes in the world) is a small place. Pretty much everybody knows everybody else. Since I’m dating a ska musician, it means that at least half the ska reviews I do are people I’m friends with or are on friendly terms with. So yeah, I’m a little biased. I was specifically told to give constructive criticism on this one though, and that’s what I’m gonna try my best to do here.

First thought with the intro (other than how much I love when bands do intros) is how it gives the album a big feel, like the band is getting a big introduction before they go play the hugest stage ever. When you think about it, that’s what happens when you put your music out into the universe these days. You are essentially jumping on a stage that the whole world can see, especially with the Internet as your major distribution platform. It makes me happy that these guys might not be headlining a stadium, but it definitely sounds like they put everything into the music they’re delivering to your eardrums.

Second thought, as I continue listening, is how tight everything sounds. The horns are ON POINT and all the songs seem to flow into each other really well. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, folks: I love it when people make full albums and not just a bunch of songs that can be listened to on shuffle. I know that’s how a lot of people listen to music now, but I still like putting on an album and listening from start to finish. It makes me happy to see a band take the time to really think about song placement and how the album as a whole is going to flow.

I know a said I was going to try to give constructive criticism, but my only complaint is that the album is too short at 17 minutes long and flies by. I want more music! Still, this definitely got me pumped and made me want to go to one of their shows soon. If you feel the same way, you’re in luck! These guys are going on tour. You can find a complete list of tour dates on their Facebook page as well as ticket links to all the shows. And if you just want to listen to their music from the comfort of your own home (including this album) then Bandcamp is the place for you.

Baked Potatoes Review

What I’m about to review I’ve been meaning to post for awhile now but things got so busy and other things got written due to urgency of how soon they had to go up and before I knew it I was apologizing to a really cool band that I hadn’t gotten around to their tiny little 4-song EP. In general I haven’t posted anything in two months, and I’m super bummed about that fact. In addition to this post, I also am tempted to do a Flash season finale thing but I’m also still wrapping my brain around that one. Maybe next week I’ll do a “best of” for all the finales of the shows I’ve been following. In the meantime, here’s a little review of a band called “Baked Potatoes” that found me through a Facebook group I’m part of called “Touring Ska Bands”. It’s something a friend of mine started that has grown to become quite useful for help with booking tours and crowd-sourcing and such. Anyway, enough chatter, let’s review this bad boy.

Immediately upon starting my listen of this EP, titled “Waiting for the Weekend,” I was actually kind of glad I waited till now to listen to it. This is because the feel of the music makes me think of the beach and summer weekends in the sand, which is something we can look forward to now that summer is slowly starting to creep around the corner. There’s a very chill yet simultaneously upbeat vibe that is never better executed than with a solid reggae band. If only it were actually long enough to last for a longer portion of your beach trip, but I’m sure with enough support from viewers like you, we can get more tunes out of these guys to last through future summers and beyond. In the meantime you’ll just have to play these four songs on repeat, which I’m sure I will be doing over the course of the summer. And if my only complaint is that this EP left me wanting more, then I guess that’s a good problem to have.