Like this:

I’m changing this feature back to an every few weeks sort of thing. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the idea of having a blog feature where I keep a music journal, because I think that gives the whole thing a nice little personal touch. In between my snarky satires and other reviews and creative writing ramblings, it’s fun for me to just rant about all the music I’ve listened to lately as if people cared. Pretending people care is all part of the fun of running a blog! The reason why I’m considering making it every other week, and paused it over the summer in general, is just that since I don’t always have two other posts ready to go every week, it gets really boring when every other blog post is a Currently Listening music journal.

Less Than Jake – Greetings From

I absolutely love Less Than Jake, but mostly just their older stuff. It was interesting to see them try to get back on the ska bandwagon with GNV FLA after the power-pop of In With The Out Crowd, with mixed results. The new EP (sort of, I only just realized it came out a few months ago) hits the marks a little more closely than GNV FLA did, but nothing feels like Losing Streak or Hello, Rockview. What it does feel like, however, is promising. “Goodbye, Mr. Personality” and “Oldest Trick In The Book” are interesting because they sound like mildly forced efforts at getting back to their ska roots, but clearly stand out on their own. They’ve got more of an Anthem or B Is For B-Sides vibe to them, which isn’t bad at all. Chris does way more singing than Roger on this EP, but the horns show up all the way through, which is exciting enough. Basically, the EP is a really nice surprise from a band that still so earnestly loves its fans and wants to do more for them.

Best Tracks: Goodbye Mr. Personality, Oldest Trick in the Book

Check It Out If You: like that sort of post-sellout but now trying desperately to get back to its roots sort of ska music

Evil Eddie – De-Sex Your Ex

I absolutely loved the Australian rock/hip-hop/ska/whatever band Butterfingers, which went on hiatus years ago and now appears to be broken up or on super hiatus or something. On the plus side, frontman Evil Eddie has finally started a solo career, and it’s pretty identical to how Butterfingers sounded (not surprisingly), so YAY more music in that vein! We only have a four song EP and two singles at the moment, with the promise of a full album coming soon. If this is any indication of what a whole album will sound like… again, it’s pretty much Butterfingers, but it sounds more like their first album Breakfast at Fatboys than their second album The Deeper You Dig. It’s not that Fatboys was a bad album, but it had a lot of filler and was absolutely inferior to The Deeper You Dig in every single way. “De-Sex Your Ex” is sort of a poor man’s “Yo Mama”, and showcases Eddie’s crass and often unsettling sense of humor. It’s a decent enough song with catchy music and shockingly crude lyrics, but I’ve heard him do both better before. “In It For The Money” is fair, and “Unsustainable Orbit” is a decent enough bit of sampling and electronics. The blistering anti-war song “Fuck a War” is probably the most promising song here, interestingly enough more in a Rage Against the Machine vein than Butterfingers. Of course, Butterfingers was an incredibly musically diverse band, so trying to determine where Eddie’s going as a solo act based on four songs is difficult, but I imagine the best is yet to come.

Best Tracks: Fuck a War, De-Sex Your Ex

Check It Out If You: liked Butterfingers, like crude humor, at least aren’t put off by crude humor

Radiohead – OK Computer

A pig in a cage on antibiotics.

Best Tracks: Paranoid Android, Lucky, Karma Police, Let Down

Check It Out If You: don’t understand the human condition, want to know what perfect music sounds like

Lupe Fiasco – Lasers

I remember once saying that I preferred Lasers to Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Well, that’s more than a little embarrassing. It’s a damn good album though, but Fantasy has grown on me way more than Lasers has. I still think “Words I Never Said” is one of the most badass songs of the year. It’s another one of those albums that’s mostly a lot of fun to listen to, but I tend to forget to give it as much attention as it deserves.

Best Tracks: Words I Never Said, Till I Get There, State Run Radio, Beautiful Lasers (2Ways)

Check It Out If You: want an easy introduction to hip-hop

Nirvana – In Utero

It’s easy to say that Nevermind is the better album because it has the hits and, generally, is a stronger album. In Utero, however, is a far more interesting choice. It’s got more filler, certainly, and the standout tracks aren’t as good as the standout tracks on Nevermind, but the overall package is more than the sum of its parts. This is genuinely angry noise; an entire album of self-hatred. This is more challenging material, and doesn’t get boring in the same way Nevermind has an unfortunate tendency due to its ease to pick up. Kind of like Favourite Worst Nightmare to Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, to be the only person in the world to draw a parallel between the Arctic Monkeys and Nirvana.

Best Tracks: Serve the Servants, Heart-Shaped Box, All Apologies, Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle

Check It Out If You: like the sounds of self-deprecation

Talking Heads – Fear of Music

SAME AS IT EVER WAS SAME AS IT no wait wrong one ah this is awesome too.

Best Tracks: Heaven, Memories Can’t Wait, Mind, Cities, Life During Wartime

Check It Out If You: forget that Talking Heads were awesome before Remain in Light too

The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck

This week on “I listen to The Mountain Goats way too much”, I listen to more perfect music by John Darnielle. Good job, John.

Best Tracks: Damn These Vampires, High Hawk Season, Estate Sale Sign

Check It Out If You: enjoy crying

Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

I know absolutely nothing about dubstep except that it makes for an easy punchline (“What’s the opposite of the blues?” “Dubstep!”) and that I enjoy it, but I’m not sure why. Also, I don’t understand any of the dubstep/post-dubstep/brostep argument. All I know is that I want to get into dubstep, but I really have no idea what I’m doing. Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites starts out favorably, but gets surprisingly boring as it goes on.

Best Tracks: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Rock N Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain)

Check It Out If You: want an easy introduction to dubstep, are curious what the most awkward thing to listen to while in a library is

The Blanks – Worth the Weight

Horrible pun aside, I actually like this considerably more than their first album Riding the Wave, most likely because they actually made an album this time. I’ve seen these guys live twice now, once just recently, and I was thrilled that they had a new album out. Even more thrilled to see their absolutely perfect covers of Hey Ya! and Over the Rainbow in it. There’s still quite a lot of filler, especially for an eleven track album, and they play to their strengths as a cover band even more here than previously, with only one original song (with a full band for some reason). But if you can find this album (it’s not online yet, they’re only selling it on tour at the moment), DEFINITELY PICK IT UP.

Best Tracks: Hey Ya!, Over the Rainbow, Teenagers Forget Streisand Because The Only Girl Is Cooler Than Dynamite

Check It Out If You: liked Scrubs, like a capella, like silly a capella mashups of Top 40, like ukuleles