What’s THAT Supposed to Mean?: Metric, “Gimme Sympathy”
"In a different era, Metric would be huge. It’s easy to imagine them as a staple of early-90s alternative radio, occupying a space somewhere between Juliana Hatfield’s straight-forward lyrics and Belly’s flights of fancy."
"Is anyone really libertarian besides college sophomores looking for rationalizations of being selfish punks? We just had an election featuring the two least popular major-party candidates in recent memory, and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson drove off a cliff."
What’s THAT Supposed to Mean?: Stevie Wonder, “Higher Ground”
Lovers keep on lovin’. Believers keep on believin’. Sleepers just stop sleepin’. Cause it won’t be too long. What’s THAT supposed to mean? Aside from...
Popdose Alt-Christmas Film Festival: Actually a Good Love Story (or Eight)
"The same country that taught us all to persevere when its soldiers are being sent to die in miserable World War I trenches or its cities are being randomly bombed in World War II can show that same remarkable national spirit over trivial things like Boxing Day soccer games and talk shows that adeptly mix the urbane and inane."
"So the question we have to ask here: Is this sort of faith harmless? Even helpful? If, as Crash Davis said, we’re winning because we’re getting laid or not getting laid or buying some sort of trinket from a TBN preacher, then is that victory worthwhile?"
WTSTM: The Sounds, Bill Bruford and creativity’s curse
"To be creative is to open a door for rejection. Failure. Criticism. Maybe all at the same time. Little wonder so many creative people are either self-medicated or psych-medicated."
"It’s primal-scream therapy. That’s rock and roll. Through alienation and celebration, rock and roll lets us know we’re not alone. It sympathetically voices our frustrations. It amplifies our joy. And it’s a legitimate art form."
What’s THAT Supposed to Mean?: Live, “Lakini’s Juice”
"So Live pulled off a neat trick here, combining spirituality and sex like some sort of alt-rock answer to Prince and doing it with as much power as you can find in an old-school rock quartet with a sturdy but agile rhythm section, an inventive guitarist, and a singer who wasn’t lacking for confidence as he sang about Plato’s cave (maybe), Hinduism (surely), washing someone’s feet with toilet water (most definitely), and a vital organ. (No, not that vital organ.)"
That College Football Playoff Solved Everything, Right?
Is college football a championship sport or a technocracy with cheerleaders? In the first year of a four-team playoff that alleges to give every deserving...
"The collective response from the active and predominantly male MMA online communities, already prone to drooling over Rousey, was something along the lines of “garrrhjbbbyaaaaaaah.”"
We pop-culture watchers have an annoying habit of letting ourselves believe women have it better in the entertainment biz than they actually do. Lilith Fair?...