I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: DANKO JONES-Below the Belt (2010).

I love Danko Jones.  He’s bad, he’s cruel, he’s crass and he rocks.  He’s everything a 15 year-old boy loves in rock.  And yet there’s something about him that even I (far older than 15) think is wonderful (perhaps he’s the thinking man’s Andrew W.K.?). 

I’m sure it’s because his early stuff was short, fast blasts of over the top machismo.  He hasn’t started too far from that template (his songs are now three minutes, but that’s okay).  And I still love him even if every song is a cliché (and that he still thinks a Cadillac is the height of coolness).

“I Think Bad Thoughts” is a stupid balls-out rocker about how bad Danko is.  Best line, “That’s how it is as a knight in Satan’s service.”  A nice nod to Kiss.  And this song is followed by the very early-Kiss sounding “Active Volcanoes.”  “Tonight is Fine” is a heavy rocker (okay they all are, that’s redundant), but “Magic Snake” is surprising because it seems to be addressing impotence (“It’s friday night but your magic snake don’t slither no more”.)–not doing anything about it, just addressing it.  “Had Enough” has a great sing-along chorus (when Danko is not yelling at you, he croons with the best of ’em).

Of course a song title like “I Can’t Handle Moderation” should tell you all you need to know about Danko (he must have his tongue in cheek, at least I hope he does.  I’ve never seen him in anything other than album covers, so I have no idea what his off-stage life is like).  It’s always a surprise when Danko reveals a softer side.  And even though “Full of Regrets” seems like it would show that softer side, it’s actually about how he’s full of regrets about any lonely nights he spent.  Heh.  “The Sore Loser” is a not very nice song about a woman.  But it’s funny.  “Like Dynamite” is all about sex, of course.

I love the aggressive riff of “Apology Accepted,” it’s faster and more furious (even if it is about accepting an apology).  And the final song “I Wanna Break Up with You” cracks me up.  It’s a song about wanting to break up with someone.  Did he imagine it as a breakup anthem?  Something you play in the background when you dump your significant other?  I particularly like the chanting “break up break up everybody break up” at the end.

There are two bonus songs on the disc (an idea as antiquated as his lyrics, but which is strangely charming).  Neither sounds like it shouldn’t be on the record–they continue what he does so well.  They’re both about guest lists, but I particularly enjoy “Rock n Roll Proletariat.” It sounds a lot like AC/DC but who fits the lyric “I pledge allegiance to the Rock n Roll Proletariat” into a chorus?  Genius!

Yup, his album covers are as sexist as his lyrics.  But there is something just cartoonish enough that I can’t help but think hes a really nice guy under it all (maybe it’s because he’s Canadian).

[READ: December 28, 2011] “Creative Writing”

Sometimes a very short, very well written story can really make your day.  I read this story this morning (because it was so short–a page and a quarter) and I was immediately hooked. 

It opens with a woman, Maya, taking a creative writing course (at the suggestion of her mother).  Maya just had a miscarriage and has been just sitting in the house not doing anything, and her mother thought that an activity wold be beneficial.  Maya’s first story was quite interesting.  [In fact, I LOVE the conceits behind each of her stories and while I immediately thought I’d like to read them, I’m not sure how will they would work beyond the simple concept presented here.  But the ideas are so clever that I wanted to read the full things right then!–maybe make this story longer and include Maya’s full works?]

All of her stories have to do with love or marriage or birth, but in wonderfully metaphorical ways.  The first story, about people who split in half to generate offspring has an ending that her teacher calls wonderful but which her husband finds quite dull.  [Incidentally, I’m all for reading stories from other cultures.  It’s fun and interesting.  But man, sometimes it’s so hard to tell the  gender of a person by his or her name is you don’t know the culture.  This story was written in Hebrew (translated by Sondra Silverston) and the secondary character’s name is Avaid.  In addition to not really knowing how to say the name, I had no idea if it was a male or female name.  I suppose it is not really up to the writer to compensate for ignorant audiences, but perhaps sometime earlier in the story an author can subtly hint at the gender of the person?  (We get the “he” in paragraph three).  Shy of a dramatis personae, there’s little that you can do organically for the story, I suppose. ]

Avaid is happy that his wife is happy but he is growing somewhat jealous of the teacher’s praises.  He even has to ask a bookshop owner of the professor is really a published author.  When they finally meet, the teacher proves to be very kind to Avaid as well.

The story ends with Avaid taking a writing class.  His story is just as compelling as Maya’s (man, Keret has some great story ideas–let’s see more from him).  The ending is poetic and beautiful.

I can’t get over how much I enjoyed this story.