The Swiftening, Part 10: Midnights… 10 Multiple Songs With The Word “Midnight” But Not All

The Swiftening, Part 10: Midnights… 10 Multiple Songs With The Word “Midnight” But Not All

Before December of 2020, Jordan Holmes (comedian, author, podcaster) had never, intentionally, listened to a Taylor Swift song. Then began The Swiftening, where Jordan decided to review every Swift album in order. So far, he has covered Swift’s 2006 debut, 2008’s Fearless, 2010’s Speak Now, and 2012‘s Red, 2014’s 1989, 2017’s reputation, 2019’s Lover, and 2020’s folklore and evermore, which we encourage you to check out if you haven’t already.

Continue reading “The Swiftening, Part 10: Midnights… 10 Multiple Songs With The Word “Midnight” But Not All”

Sad Boy Album Chats 2: “The Hum Goes on Forever” by The Wonder Years

Sad Boy Album Chats 2: “The Hum Goes on Forever” by The Wonder Years

On a brisk autumn morning, a curious ray of morning sun gleams through the gap of smoke-stained plastic window blinds. Countless particles of dust dance through the beam above a desk adorned with half empty mugs of tea and a crumpled Del Taco bag from the night before. The golden streak of dawn presses on through a slight opening of a closet that does not close, layer upon layer of landlord white hamstringing the hinges. It shines on a dark, sherpa-lined jean jacket emblazoned with pop punk patches, a cartoonish skull enamel pin, and a worldly collection of coffee and beer stains that blend into the deep blue denim. One of these days, I should get that jacket dry cleaned, but that will have to wait, for it yearns to be donned once more; The Ides of October have come to pass and sad boy season is well underway.

Continue reading Sad Boy Album Chats 2: “The Hum Goes on Forever” by The Wonder Years

The Swiftening, Part 8: folklore (2020)… Swift Dunk Ernest

The Swiftening, Part 8: folklore (2020)… Swift Dunk Ernest

Before December of 2020, Jordan Holmes (comedian, author, podcaster) had never, intentionally, listened to a Taylor Swift song. Then began The Swiftening, where Jordan decided to review every Swift album in order. So far, he has covered Swift’s 2006 debut2008’s Fearless2010’s Speak Now, and 2012‘s Red2014’s 1989, 2017’s reputation, and last year’s Lover, which we encourage you to check out if you haven’t already.

Continue reading “The Swiftening, Part 8: folklore (2020)… Swift Dunk Ernest”

The Swiftening, Part 1: Taylor Swift (2006)

The Swiftening, Part 1: Taylor Swift (2006)

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Earlier this week, I reviewed the new album from Taylor Swift. My friend, the perfect and hilarious Jordan Holmes, responded as such:

From that tweet came great discussion. From that discussion came the idea for Jordan to review Swift’s entire discography. Here is part one, a look at the 2006 self-titled debut.)

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Lady Of The Woods: A review of Taylor Swift’s evermore

Lady Of The Woods: A review of Taylor Swift’s evermore

Guess who’s back? Back again? Taylor’s back! Tell a friend!

Let’s just get down to the nuts and bolts here and lay out everything you need to know: On Friday, Taylor Swift released evermore, her second album of 2020 and her third album in two years. According to Swift, she just enjoyed the process of working with her folklore collaborators Aaron Dessner (of indie-rock darlings The National), Jack Antonoff (longtime collaborator and Bleachers frontman), and Joe Alwyn (boyfriend who works under the pseudonym William Bowery) that the team just kept working and making music. The album, unsurprisingly, has dominated Spotify streams over the weekend while the Swift Boats (my personal name for her fans and I’m not going to stop calling them that) have lost their minds.

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Soundtrack To A Revolution: A Review of RTJ4

Soundtrack To A Revolution: A Review of RTJ4

The first rhyme comes out of Killer Mike like a war cry: “Back at it/Like a crack addict” and it’s followed by a series of repetitive percussion given to us by El-P. You can call it a beat, but I’m calling it war drums. It sends out a clear message: Run The Jewels have returned. And we couldn’t need them more.

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The Menzingers’ “Hello Exile”: An Ode to a Sad Boy Weekend

The Menzingers’ “Hello Exile”: An Ode to a Sad Boy Weekend

The first week of October is a very special time of year for guys like me. Our flannel button-ups shed their dust and see the light of day once more, kegs of the dark beers we yearned for through the hard seltzer summer are finally being tapped, and we all get real fucking stoked to bust out our crockpot soup recipes. Most significantly, though, the ol’ seasonal depression rears its ugly head: that’s right, baby, it’s sad boy season!

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