Sons of Anarchy

As far as action dramas go on tv these days, you’d be hard pressed to find much better than Sons of Anarchy. The premise is simple: a motorcycle gang deals with conflicts within and without as they trade in firearms and otherwise try to eke out a living in the small California town they control. The backstory that fleshes out the series has been well thought out from the start. All the characters are believable and there are real consequences to their actions. Most tv shows try to string out plot elements across a season to get the most entertainment value out of them, and while Sons is not completely innocent of this artifact of the episodic format, it does well to move important events along. Each season has a clear theme and they all tie together.

The story of Sons of Anarchy is so strong because it doesn’t treat the audience as if they were dumb. Previous history is introduced as if it’s always been there and all the characters already know about it, leaving the viewer to catch up. The downtime and family problems are nowhere near as boring as The Sopranos (and every show that has copied them since). Even the gunfights are not excessive and are well placed over the episodes. This isn’t your average tough guy action story- it takes heavy inspiration from Hamlet. Sons of Anarchy is a compelling action crime drama with a great cast of characters- you’ll even like watching the ones you hate. It’s no wonder because the creator, Kurt Sutter, played a large part in the other great FX series The Shield.

One of the shining things that stands out about this series is the sheer style. This is a tv show about bikers and attitude and that permeates every facet of production. Entire sequences of scenes are often accompanied by rock tracks giving off a music video vibe. There are simply not very many series with a comparable feeling. And these days, if you can stand out, you’re doing something right.

So now here we are at the end of season 4, carrying a plotline that could have ended the entire series. Still the creators found a great way to cap the season and leave a lot of room for interesting developments in the episodes to come. Do yourself a favor and catch up on the past 4 years. Besides Game of Thrones, nothing else on tv respects its timeline as much, and you shouldn’t miss out.

Fig Newtons

Subject: Fig Newtons

Dear Nabisco,

I love your Fig Newtons and eat them almost every day. They are a great light and healthy snack.

I recently became alarmed at the possibility that these tasty cakes may be infested with fig wasps. What sort of quality assurance procedures ensure that wasps are not present in the figs used in your cookies?

Subject: Fig Newtons

From: "Kraft – Nabisco Email Team" <EmailTeam@Nabisco.com>

Thanks for visiting our web site.  We appreciate your interest in our Fig
Newtons.

We take special care to ensure our products are free of any foreign matter.
Figs are a natural fruit product of which seeds are an inherent part.  When
prepared into fig paste, the seeds are ground along with the fruit pulp.
You may be assured that these fruit seeds are completely wholesome.

Fig wasps do not lay eggs inside the fruit.  We only use reputable suppliers
for all of the wholesome ingredients used in Fig Newtons.  All raw materials
are inspected and must meet or exceed FDA guidelines.

We hope you continue to enjoy Fig Newton cookies. Please add our site,
http://www.kraftfoods.com/, to your bookmarks and visit us again soon!


~~TLXEA_8833222~~N
I love the internet.

The Goth Fallacy

I’m not going to rail against the old Goth movement but I will allow myself to pontificate a bit about one of its overriding fallacies. There’s nothing wrong with choosing to paint your nails black and adhere to a certain style. It is a bit annoying that every 13 year old girl needs to go through a Goth phase (if only because it hurts the credibility of the others) but there’s not much I have against it. One of the first clubs I went to was a Goth club and despite being ignorant of the requirements and wearing a white shirt I actually ended up having a whole lot of fun.

But at some point many Goth folks will tell you that they don’t conform to society and want to be unique and different. Let me just take this moment to say that’s all horseshit. Maybe not that you *want* to be unique, but what exactly is original and unexpected about these girls?

You want to dress differently? That’s cool. Just admit you’re a fan of a certain style and check the non-conformist diatribe at the door.

Geek

I’ve always hated seeing the word ‘geek’ used self referentially. This is a word that sits snugly in between dork and nerd- an insult that should be avoided. I remember wondering why anybody would want to willingly shop at Think Geek, essentially an online store that is poking fun at its customers, or work at The Geek Squad for that matter. Have they no self respect?

At some point I came to realize that the word geek is a lot like the word nigger. At least they share a troubled childhood. These are terms meant for a derogatory purpose but snatched away from the oppressors and worn like a badge. They are reclaimed insults that no longer mean quite the same thing.

Still, it’s not a term I would want applied to myself. Maybe it’s a generational thing.

Dynamite Steps – The Twilight Singers

When a singer doesn’t have a great voice it is often said that they have a lot of soul. We can look to Bob Dylan and Stephen Malkmus from Pavement as testaments to this. Greg Dulli, the lead singer of The Afghan Whigs and now The Twilight Singers, is another surefire addition to this truism. A cracking voice, a charming whininess, a slight tonal miss – these are all qualities that endear us to the ever personal heart of Twilight’s music. But in the case of Dynamite Steps I must concede that Dulli slacked a bit on his vocal duties.

On The Corner
On The Corner

Sure, the man smokes and drinks and is getting chubbier and older every day but he shouldn’t have to sound like it. Maybe he is too true to the moment to spend too many takes perfecting the raw output but his voice comes off a bit sloppy and it ends up being one of the weaker points of the album. That’s not to say the soul is gone. Part of Greg Dulli’s allure is that, although his voice isn’t the best musically, it serves to deliver meaningful lyrics with heavy emotion. The mix on this album at times makes it harder to understand the message. Perhaps a producer worked with what was given to him, but another theory is that it was finally time to emphasize the music.

Much like other Twilight albums, Dynamite Steps has variety over its length. I might even be inclined to say the sound has matured past the band’s earlier efforts. More rough and distorted when it wants to be yet more melodic and yearning tracks vie for attention. The drum beats are the result of years of experience and create a jerky sense of hopping back and forth. All the layers complement each other nicely and that’s what Dulli’s collaborations are about- getting veteran musicians together to make something greater than the sum.

I can’t say the second half of Dynamite Steps lives up to the energy of the first but this is a solid outing nevertheless. The Twilight Singers still have their mystical charm. And probably one of the best damn live shows out there.

Valleyheart – She Wants Revenge

I’ve talked about She Wants Revenge before, confident the group would be delivering the goods for a while. Even though Valleyheart is a departure from their usual body of work it does not let my expectations down. The sound is more upbeat in an 80s inspired way, sort of like a happy Depeche Mode. Justin Warfield is definitely going for more range to loosen up the duo’s style, and while some tracks are slightly unexpected upon first listen, this is an evolution that works.

Take The World
Take The World

The tracks are overall more dancey, almost a bit poppy. It may initially seem unfortunate to associate She Wants Revenge with ‘safe’ but a lot of acts flirt with the mainstream without damaging their integrity. It pains me to say it but these days pop is less about pandering and more about restyling anyway (think less Rebecca Black and more Linkin Park).

Perhaps it paints the wrong picture to be mentioning all this in the context of this album, which admittedly does end up being the worst of the lot merely due to the fact that the band’s previous work has been nearly flawless. But Valleyheart can stand alone as a great album and will certainly find itself the favorite among some fans. More range than the first album and more variety than the second- there’s a lot to like in this collection. The driving beats and monotonal riffs that define the band are back in full effect. A sense of cool oozes off the tracks and despite the pop tinges this is definitely not top 40 music. She Wants Revenge has cemented their niche perfectly and show no signs of slowing down any time soon.

The Great Escape Artist – Jane’s Addiction

Bucking my trend of reviewing albums much too long after they’re released, I am determined to get word out of the new Jane’s Addiction album quickly. This is mostly due to the large amount of harsh criticism The Great Escape Artist is getting. Some call it pandering, some call it unnecessary- whatever it is, it’s rubbing people the wrong way. Whereas their last album, Strays, attempted and succeeded at rehashing ‘that same old Jane’s sound’, this effort has different ambitions entirely.

Splash A Little Water On It
Splash A Little Water On It

After an 8 year hiatus The Great Escape Artist is yet another comeback album of sorts and this is most definitely a different Jane’s for a different age. A more electronic sound with a dash of Brit-Pop production sounds like an awful idea at face value but what ultimately matters is the talent and chemistry of old meeting new. This is a case that produces smooth and techie beats along with a softer vocal effort. Dave Navarro admits that his new guitar style is more melodic and simplistic. The end result is what the band wants, a listenable record with a lot of layers.

Irresistible Force (Met The Immovable Object)
Irresistible Force (Met The Immovable Object)

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Did Jane’s Addiction sell out by changing their style and going more modern? Is this unoriginal poppy pandering? A resounding No. An honest listen to Irresistible Force makes this quite clear. There is a lot of purpose and emotion in this song and if a brand new band came out today with this track I think it would get plenty of attention. I am not a single-driven fan, however, but I rest easy listening to the rest of the album. The songs are catchy, smooth, and Perry Farrel’s voice sounds well in place. True fans of this band should find enough familiar here to like.

Codes and Keys – Death Cab For Cutie

Death Cab is one of the few classic indie bands that has been around since the 90s and managed to not break up yet remain relevant. But that doesn’t mean everything is roses. Let’s face it- the last album, Narrow Stairs, was a borderline nightmare that I couldn’t make up my mind about. Old school Death Cab was nostalgic, unproduced small label fare, charming and catchy. After time the band matured into a vehicle for longing melancholy that elevated them to a timeless status. Then the last album spun the momentum completely around. What would be next?

Underneath The Sycamore
Underneath The Sycamore

Codes and Keys is very happy and upbeat, almost playful. This is more Postal Service and less 2nd generation Death Cab (you can tell I still miss the deep sadness of Transatlanticism and Plans). After two albums it is clear that we have entered a new generation of the group. Beats are lighter and faster and carry an electronic tinge, and Ben Gibbard’s voice is more filtered than ever before.

Quality and variety wise, Codes and Keys is overall better than Narrow Stairs, although ironically I feel it lacks the ‘killer tracks’ of Bixby Canyon Bridge and Grapevine Fires. This is ultimately a bigger crime. An array of technically orchestrated songs feels good as background music but it leaves the listener unfulfilled upon completion of the album. I had every intention of judging this the better of the two productions but after having trouble simply deciding which track to sample here, I realize just how forgettable Codes and Keys really is.

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. – M83

I mentioned liking the new M83 single before and finally got a chance to preview the new album. Unfortunately, I can’t get into this dreamy, wandering cacophony. A couple of the tracks may be tight but they are hard to find in the dreaded double album format. When you make the needle out of gold, all I’m gonna see is the haystack, and even if I manage to find it, it’s not gonna be worth the time. My amazon sample overview was enough to turn me off to this one.

The Office

I used to enjoy watching this series a lot. I always felt like the American version of The Office copied all the right things from the UK program- the uncomfortable awkwardness when the boss tells a joke, the sideways glances at the camera, the pop culture references. All too often remakes don’t treat the original source material properly but this was a conversion that was done right, thanks in no small part to the lead role played by Steve Carell.

Over time the show did start to wear thin, however. The same jokes were retold a few times too much. The sitcom wasn’t immune to falling back to the usual relationship tropes and gimmicks, even adding new characters for a love interest after the previous ones got married.

And that leads to one of the biggest problems of the show- after years on the air, most of the characters are still nothing more than caricatures without personal affectations. Great, Jim and Pam are a kind of cute, dorky, bland couple. Dwight does stupid things sometimes that can be funny. Outside of that most of the other characters on the show aren’t all that fleshed out.

But worse still, the entire cast is just in place to riff off Michael Scott, the quirky boss. Pam is too nice to talk back to him. Jim constantly shrugs at the camera as if he were in on the joke with the audience. Dwight desperately seeks his approval. Andy awkwardly attempts to gain respectability. The key here is that all of these characterizations work as interactions with the boss.

As soon as Steve Carell leaves the show and the supporting characters need to take center stage and stand on their own, the entire thing falls flat. Nothing Kevin does alone is funny. Oscar never had a purpose other than being the target of politically incorrect jokes and remarks made by Michael Scott. Even Jim and Dwight start to seem forgettable.

It’s an easy call to make. It doesn’t take a fortune teller. This one’s about as obvious as when Valerie left her 80s sitcom Valerie and the producers had to change the name to Valerie’s Family. I regret to say it but The Office has officially jumped the shark.