Touched by the Spirit! Touched by the Flame!: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ “Wild God” Brings Me Back to the Joy of Discovering the Band
Music

Touched by the Spirit! Touched by the Flame!: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ “Wild God” Brings Me Back to the Joy of Discovering the Band

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ new album Wild God opens like a kick to the head. Not exactly like Nick’s pointy-toed Chelsea boot punt to an audience member’s face as captured in The Birthday Party’s 1982 live performance of “Release the Bats” but not as far from it as one might expect for a … Continue reading

Nobody Likes a Bossy Bottom, Unless It’s ME: Geneva Jacuzzi’s “Triple Fire”
Music

Nobody Likes a Bossy Bottom, Unless It’s ME: Geneva Jacuzzi’s “Triple Fire”

“Don’t wanna be a bossy bottom!” This line from the song “Bow Tie Eater” made me cackle during my first listen to Geneva Jacuzzi’s new album Triple Fire, released by Dais Records. It wasn’t just the reference to a power-tripping sub or the welcome shock of needy “Give me love” desire and in-heat grooves after … Continue reading

Chrystabell and David Lynch’s “Cellophane Memories” Is a Punishing Album but a Genius Work of Art
Music

Chrystabell and David Lynch’s “Cellophane Memories” Is a Punishing Album but a Genius Work of Art

Chrystabell and David Lynch’s new album Cellophane Memories may be one of the worst albums I’ve ever heard—or the best. Either way, as a work of art, I’m certain it’s some sort of genius. I make the distinction here between an album and art because Cellophane Memories, released last week by Sacred Bones Records, is … Continue reading

Man, Am I the Greatest: Billie Eilish’s “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” Is a Perfect Pop Album
Music

Man, Am I the Greatest: Billie Eilish’s “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” Is a Perfect Pop Album

What is the last really good song about eating box? No, not Harry Styles’s “Watermelon Sugar,” the earworm bane of every easy listening-scored shopping experience. For me, I have to reach way back to those sleazy 1990s for some cunnilingus classics: Madonna’s “Where Life Begins” and Lil’ Kim’s “Not Tonight.” Yet, while Kim’s insistent chorus, … Continue reading

Kim Gordon’s “The Collective” Is Breathing Down My Neck (And I Like It)
Music

Kim Gordon’s “The Collective” Is Breathing Down My Neck (And I Like It)

I’ve only visited Los Angeles once despite frequently returning to its sprawling noir imagery in some of my most beloved films and music. Yet, none of these—not even our Lady of Southern California, Lana Del Rey, or the master of its surreal seedy underbelly, David Lynch—has ever truly articulated my experience of contemporary Los Angeles. … Continue reading

I Like the Christian Life: Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter Gave Me Jesus
Music

I Like the Christian Life: Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter Gave Me Jesus

At the end of January, I found salvation. In a stuffy concert venue basement. From an Internet-ordained reverend. But those details don’t make my newfound (ok, and temporary) deliverance by Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter, formerly known as Lingua Ignota, any less meaningful. It was specifically her rendition of the hymn “Give Me Jesus” that did … Continue reading