SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Sister (1987).
It’s surprising how catchy Sister starts. “Schizophrenia” is wonderfully sing-songy. And “Catholic Block,” while noisy, is certainly single-worthy (and would likley be one if it were released today). Kim has two tracks, “Beauty Lies in the Eye” which is a spoken word piece ala “Shadow of a Doubt.” While “Pacific Coast Highway” is one of her scarier/noisier pieces.
Track #5, “Pipeline/Kill Time” is Lee’s first entry on the disc. It starts as an instrumental and continues into a raucous Lee track. “Kotton Krown” is a mellow mantra-like piece, while “White Cross” returns the band to its noisier roots. The disc ends with “Master-Dik.” It’s a noise fueled riotous song. It starts in something of a rap style (hard to call it actual rap). It features a Kiss sample (from “Strutter”) as well as some of the first references to Ciccone Youth.
Overall it’s a rocking, great album, and it contains everything from poppy singles to outright noise. It’s an excellent middle piece to the great triumvirate of EVOL, Sister and Daydream Nation.
[READ: July 20, 2009] Refresh, Refresh
Sarah received a copy of this book, and since it came from the very cool comics press First Second, I was very excited to read it.
I have to say right up front, the content of this book is just not my thing. It concerns teenaged boys whose fathers are in the Iraq war. Violence is all they know, and violence is what they do. I just don’t read this kind of book at all.
However, the story was very gripping. First, of course, because it could very well be real, but second because it is told so well.
The three boys of the story have started a fight club of sorts to toughen each other up. And despite the possibility of that being an overused premise, you can almost assume that the boys aren’t trying to copy the movie Fight Club. They are Oregon youths with virtually nothing to do. They’re not trying to be hip and cool like Brad Pitt, they’re just bored. And they’re angry.
And while their mothers try (and often fail) to hold their houses together, the boys go into the backyard and beat each other up. For fun. (A sock full of quarters comes into play at one point). One of the boys teaches his younger brother about violence (by putting a spider into his ant farm). Everything to them is being a better soldier, tougher and tougher still. Whether it’s hunting, ambushing bullies, or picking up women in bars (bars that don’t card because everyone of legal age is in the war), these boys are growing up too fast.
The only thing that eases their minds is to consonantly hit the refresh button on their email. Hoping, hoping, hoping that their fathers have written them a message that says things are okay.
One of the boys has a way out, though. Josh plans to go to college. His friends tease him and expect that he’ll enlist with them as soon as they are old enough. But he holds out hope for something better.
And then an event happens that changes everything. This event spirals out of control for all of them (and perhaps a little unbelievably). Their solution to the crisis is basically a last resort. And the cycle of violence continues.
I have to wonder if their solution won’t just cause them more problems. Not for the obvious cycle of violence reason, but on a simple, practical level. When it is discovered what happened, I would think that the people they go to for help will not look too kindly on them. But then, I don’t know much about it, really.
So, all in all, I didn’t like the story. It was brutal and rather hopeless. And yet, it was a good story. And I don’t want to get all After School Special-y, but it feels like an important story, especially for kids in that situation. It doesn’t seem like their voices are heard very often.
When I finished reading the book, I pieced together the credits of who actually wrote this thing.
And it goes like this:
Benjamin Percy wrote the short story “Refresh Refresh” in 2006. It’s available in his book Refresh, Refresh.
James Ponsoldt wrote a screenplay based on the story. It will begin filming in late 2009.
Danica Novgorodoff based this graphic novel on Ponsoldt’s screenplay. So, I don’t know exactly how faithful it is to the short story, (although I’m sure it’s not unfaithful). Her art is pretty dark and vivid. The violence definitely comes through. The style is also kind of rough and ragged, which really heightens the violence.
Reviews of the short story are universally positive. And I have to wonder if I would enjoy the original short story more than the graphic novel…at he very least I wish I had read the story first as I don’t know that I’d want to read it now.
But none of this is to detract from the quality of the work. As I say, it’s just not my cup of tea.
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