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Archive for May, 2023

Colleen AF Venable, Stephanie Yue–Katie and the Catsitter: Secrets and Sidekicks (2023)

Posted in Cats, Children's Books, Colleen AF Venable, Cute, Funny (ha ha), Stephanie Yue, Summer, Superheroes, Unfinished series on May 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: May 20, 2023] Katie and the Catsitter: Secrets and Sidekicks

I have enjoyed everything I’ve read by Colleen AF Venable.  I really enjoyed the first book in the series and was excited for the second.  But apparently I missed it completely, because when I was reading this, I didn’t really know who all the characters were-or what their past together was.

Despite that, I was still able to fully enjoy this story and am looking forward to reading Book 2 to fill in the gaps.

Once again the artwork is by Stephanie Yue who also drew her Guinea P.I. books and it is a perfect match.

In this story Katie has been fully deputized by The Mousestress although her mother (who works nights) had no idea what she gets up to.

(Beth was the girl that Katie was best friends with until camp tore them apart in Book 1.  It’s nice they’re back together) would love to train with Katie and Mousestress.  But Mousetress wants her to be older (or have her mother’s permission) before she does any training.  Even though she is the same age as Katie–but Katie’s mother says it’s okay (except she doesn’t actually know).  Ironically, Beth’s mother is super hero Stainless Steel (the revelation to Beth’s father is pretty darn funny).

They have a mutual friend Jess (who I didn’t recognize).  She is dating the son of the CEP of Buttersoft Bionics, a company whom the Mousestress believes is up to seriously no good.

Apparently The Eastern Screech (aka Owl Guy) has escaped from jail and that is taking up much TV news time.  A photo on the screen shows that Mr. B (their beloved bodega owner downstairs) has a brother Benito and he looks exactly like Owl Guy (at least according to Katie–no one else can see it). (more…)

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Brian Level, Ryan Ferrier, Kate Sherron, Crank!–Silk Hills (2022)

Posted in Brian Level, Crank!, Death, Deer, Drugs, Graphic Novel, Guns, Huh?, Humiliation, Kate Sherron, Moths, Oni Press, Ryan Ferrier, The X Files, Violence, Yuck! on May 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus.

[READ: May 9, 2023] Silk Hills

I haven’t been reading that many graphic novels lately.  My daughter made the excellent point that our local library has an excellent graphic novel collection but that it hasn’t been updated in quite a while.  So I was pleased t o see this book at work, especially since it was from Oni Press, a reliably weird publisher.

I don’t know any of the contributors: authors Brian Level (has written for Star Wars and Marvel) and Ryan Ferrier (has written lots of indie books and written for Marvel and DC).  Crank! is Christopher Crank who has done lettering for just about everyone.  Kate Sherron has a very distinctive visual style (which I see a lot of people don’t like).  I thought it was pretty cool and unusual–it reminded me a bit of Jeff Lemire’s style.

I have been listening to a book of short stories from The X-Files, and this book immediately made me think of the X-Files.  It’s also the kind of story that either should have been longer or should have had fewer hallucinatory passages and had more explanatory pages.

Beth Wills is a former Marine turned private investigator.  She lives in New York City but is sent to an unnamed rural community called Silk Hills.  It must be pretty far, as a gas station attendant remarks on her New York plates, but we don’t know exactly where Silk Hills is.

I enjoyed the interactions with Wills and the gas station attendant also a former military man (out six years). (more…)

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Le Tigre (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 27, 2023)

Posted in Le Tigre, Philadelphia, PA, Shamir, Union Transfer on May 28, 2023| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 27, 2023] Le Tigre

Le Tigre’s song “Deceptacon” became a huge viral Tik Tok sensation last year.  I remembered the song from the 90s.  I was interested in Le Tigre because Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna was involved.

I liked it enough, but I found it so simplistic and repetitive that I didn’t really enjoy the album all that much.  I grabbed their second album, but didn’t follow through with them after that.  They put out one more album and then broke up.

Then they announced a reunion tour.  My daughter really wanted to see them.  The first date was at Union Transfer and then they were going to Europe.

I snagged two tickets as soon as I could and, amazingly, we would see Kathleen Hannah twice in two months.  (more…)

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Shamir (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 27, 2023) [LE TIGRE]

Posted in Le Tigre, Philadelphia, PA, Shamir, Union Transfer on May 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 27, 2023] Shamir

I was supposed to see Shamir on several different occasions, but it never happened.

So I was really quite pleased to see that they were announced as the opening act for this Le Tigre show.

Shamir is a Philly based singer songwriter.  When they first released “On My Own” I was so intrigued by the song.  Shamir’s voice soars to really high notes.  The song is very poppy, but with some great rocking guitars and full-on band.

Later Shamir released an album called Heterosexuality which explored personal issues with songs like “Gay Agenda” and “Cisgender.”

When Shamir came out, the crowd was immediately supportive.  When they asked who here is gay?  90% of the crowd waved their hands.  Which was good because the first song “Gay Agenda.”

Shamir’s band was great.  Rhea on drums and Grant on bass added a ton of accompaniment to Shamir’s relatively quite guitar playing.

The album has a lot more synthy sounds that fill in the songs.  Live, it was just the three of them with Grant’s basswork really shining.  And the songs rocked a lot harder with Rhea really smashing the drums.

I was pleased that they sang “On Mu Own” especially now that I see that Heterosexuality is their eighth album!  It sounded pretty different, a bit more gritty.  Shamir said it was an introverts anthem and when someone guessed that it was an asexual anthem, well, Shamir was fine with that.

They played the first single from the soon to be released album on Kill Rock Stars called “Oversized Sweater.”  I’m curious to hear what this new phase of Shamir’s career will bring.

On a few songs Shamir’s voice dipped into a low growl which was especially effective on “Other Side” –the “metal portion of the show.”

As the set neared the end, Shamir busted out an amazing version of “Cisgender.”  It was full of so much rawness–much more powerful than the recorded version.

And the set ended with “Our Song” (not the Taylor Swift song).  It’s about a couple who lives above a record store (based on a show he saw in England).  It was a great ending.

Shamir’s voice is pretty incredible and they can hold a note like few singers I know.

  1. Gay Agenda ⊕
  2. Reproductive ⊕
  3. On My Own §
  4. Oversized Sweater £ (first time played)
  5. Other Side §
  6. Appetizer
  7. TEARS
  8. Cisgender ⊕
  9. Our Song £

£ New album (2023)
⊕ Heterosexuality (2022)
§ Shamir

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Avatar / Veil of Maya / Orbit Culture (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, May 26, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Avatar, Orbit Culture, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts, Veil of Moya on May 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 26, 2023] Avatar / Veil of Maya / Orbit Culture

I’ve seen Avatar twice.  The last time was about a year and a half ago.  They always put on a good show with lots of spectacle.

I thought my son would enjoy going to see them with me so I got us both tickets.  I tend to forget that there’s a lot of growling and unclean vocals in Avatar because the parts I remember are more theatrical and campy/circusy.

This tour was for their new album which I didn’t know all that well.  But it turns out they were playing from throughout their career and it seems like they played for two hours.

We were both feeling pretty exhausted this week, and were both kind of hoping the other didn’t want to go.  So when he asked if he could bail, that was fine with me.  Especially since the show wound up with some things I wasn’t that excited about.

The opening band was changed so they would go on at 6:30, which would be fine if I was leaving from work, but a real pain to get home and then drive back to Philly.  On the positive side, this mean the show would end kind of early, but that was a small comfort.

I was intrigued by the opener Orbit Culture, a Swedish melodic death metal band.  They are heavy and brutal and yet there’s something about them (maybe because they are Swedish) that I liked better than most of this kind of music.  Plus you could actually understand the unclean vocals and when Niklas Karlsson sings cleanly he has a great powerful voice.

Veil of Maya is a metalcore band from Illinois.  I think of all of the subgenres of metal, metalcore if probably my least favorite.  This band has a lot going on with different vocals styles, lots of sound effects and some progressive metal time changes.  Frankly, it sounded exhausting on a night when I was tired.

So, I knew I wasn’t going to make Orbit Culture.  If I wanted to Make Veil of Maya, I would have to leave shortly after I got home and I wasn’t prepared for that.

As the time I’d have to leave to make Avatar rolled around, I thought about TLA.  It’s a pain to park there most times.  But a Friday night, arriving after 8PM?  It just seemed like far too much work for only one band.  So I was fine with blowing this show off.  And if I they come back around I can always see them again if I want to.

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Beach Bunny (The Rooftop at Pier 17, New York, NY, May 23, 2023)

Posted in Beach Bunny, New York City, Pool Kids, PUP, The Rooftop at PIer 17 on May 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 23, 2023] Beach Bunny 

When this mini tour was announced I was pretty psyched.  My son and I have seen PUP and loved them.  My daughter and I have seen Beach Bunny (twice) and loved them.  The only problem was that it was at Rooftop Pier 17–a massive pain in the butt to get to.

But I grabbed tickets anyway and surprised them earlier this month.

When PUP ended the place cleared out some.  There were definitely fans of both bands there (in fact, they had toured together five years ago), but a lot of the more hardcore PUP fans took off, which was nice.

I used the intermission time (since our space wasn’t that great anyway) to look at merch and use the bathroom.  When I came back up, my daughter had moved further back (she says she can see better from the back, which is kind of true, but there is the huge problem of drunken hangers on hanging on and talking back there).  My son, on the other hand, pressed forward and wound up just five people from the stage. (more…)

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Nekrogoblikon / Inferi / Aether Realm / Hunt the Dinosaur (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 24, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND, but my son did]

Posted in Aether Realm, Hunt the Dinosaur, Inferi, Nekrogoblikon, Philadelphia, PA, Union Transfer on May 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 24, 2023] Nekrogoblikon / Inferi / Aether Realm / Hunt the Dinosaur

I don’t know a ton about Nekrogoblikon, but I do know enough to know that they would be super fun to see live.  I mean, they have a goblin in the band, after all.

When this show was announced, I asked my son if he wanted to go.  He surprised me by saying that his friend Ty had already gotten tickets for the both of them.  And they wanted to drive to Union Transfer with no adult supervision.  [Even after the stupidly late night in NYC].

Well, we had been a few times recently and I showed him how to get there and the best place to park and when the night came up, he did great and got the free parking and arrived with enough time to buy merch and still be fairly close to the stage.

Suffice to say that if I didn’t really know the headliners, I sure did know the support bands.  Ty was a fan of the headliners and Aether Realm, but didn’t know the other two bands.

So after the show I asked for their reviews.

Neither of them liked Hunt the Dinosaur, a Dallas based “Progressive Deathcore” band.  Although the clips I’ve just listened to sound like heavy low end with occasional squeals of guitar and a lot of growled inaudible vocals.  It could get old fast, even after a 20 minute set.

Æther Realm is an American heavy metal band from Greenville, North Carolina. Their music is a blend of melodic death metal and folk metal, with lyrical themes of fantasy and mythology.  I can see how this band would be more palatable to them (and to me).  I like the melodic components and I enjoy the weird folk metal genre.  The vocals are still pretty growly, which is not my cup of tea, but it seems like the words are actually audible.

Neither of them much likes Inferi a technical melodic death metal band from Nashville. I always think I’d like this genre.  As I like technical and melodic, bit the death metal component usually doesn’t do it for me.  So these songs have long, pretty guitar parts and super fast but strangely muted double bass drums and then after a lengthy intro when the singer comes in, the vocals are growled and inaudible, which seems kind of pointless to me, but whatever.

They both enjoyed Nekrogoblikon who are also a growly band (but a goblin kind of growling).  And I enjoyed looking at the pictures and videos.

It sounded like a pretty good night.

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PUP (The Rooftop at Pier 17, New York, NY, May 23, 2023) [BEACH BUNNY]

Posted in Beach Bunny, New York City, Pool Kids, PUP, The Rooftop at PIer 17 on May 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 23, 2023] PUP

When this mini tour was announced I was pretty psyched.  My son and I have seen PUP and loved them.  My daughter and I have seen Beach Bunny (twice) and loved them.  The only problem was that it was at Rooftop Pier 17–a massive pain in the butt to get to.

But I grabbed tickets anyway and surprised them earlier this month.

I assumed that PUP would go on last as they are the louder band.  But, in fact, they went on second. And that may have been wise as many of PUP’s more bro fanbase left after their set.

But as they were setting up, the sun hadn’t set yet and PUP came out to the orchestral version of their album (they just released some kid of answering machine version of their album from during the pandemic, which I’m pretty curious to hear).  They had a cool evening sky and marveled at being on a rooftop in New York City (it is a very cool venue).

And then they were off.  They opened with the two songs they closed the show with last time.  This being a shorter set, it was more of a greatest hits and less of a celebration of the last album.

There’s only one rule at a PUP show.  Look at your neighbors around you, have fun and look out for each other’s safety.  Then the moshing began in earnest. (more…)

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Pool Kids (The Rooftop at Pier 17, New York, NY, May 23, 2023) [BEACH BUNNY/PUP]

Posted in Beach Bunny, New York City, Pool Kids, PUP, The Rooftop at PIer 17 on May 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 23, 2023] Pool Kids

I think I heard of Pool Kids about a week before this show was announced.  I really liked their mix of punky alt rock and really cool guitar shredding (so much finger tapping).

I was thrilled that they were opening this show.

The Rooftop at Pier 17 is a great venue but it is a huge pain in the ass to get to.  Last time, we drove in and looked for parking for about 20 minutes.  This time we drove to Hoboken and took the PATH train to World Trade Center.  It was about a ten minute walk but we stopped or food.

We had left the house at 4 and wound up being late for Pool Kids who went on at 6:30.  So I don’t imagine going to too many more shows there.

We saw about three Pool Kids songs and they were great.  The band has great on stage presence and clearly were cool with a large crowd.  Vocalist/guitarist Christine Goodwyne was fun with a powerful voice that held high notes and also screamed with rage.  She and second guitarist Andy Anaya played some great harmony solos together too.

Bassist Nicolette Alvarez took lead vocals on one song, but mostly held down the low end.  And drummer Caden Clinton somehow made a lot of noise on a drumset that was off to the side (and was much smaller) than Pup’s massive kit behind them.

I think we came in during “Arm’s Length.”  But I was really excited that they saved “Conscious Uncoupling” late in their set.  It’s the first song on their album and is a perfect statement about the band.  Great vocals, a cool riff and tons of energy.

I’m really excited they’re doing a headline tour later this year so I can catch a full set.

  1. Swallow
  2. That’s Physics, Baby
  3. $5 Subtweet ⊗
  4. Arm’s Length
  5. I Hope You’re Right
  6. Conscious Uncoupling
  7. Talk Too Much
⊗ Music to Practice Safe Sex To (2018)
¶ Pool Kids (2022)

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Indigo De Souza / Sluice (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, May 23, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Indigo De Souza, Philadelphia, PA, Sluice, Union Transfer on May 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 23, 2023] Indigo De Souza / Sluice

Here was the fourth time that this show was scheduled.

And by now, Indigo de Souza has become even more popular.  So much so that this show is sold out.

Unfortunately, the timing of this show didn’t work out for me.

I had been planning to go but then a show with Pup, Beach Bunny and Pool Kids was scheduled for the same night.  So I grabbed tickets for me and my kids and we headed for New York City.

I wrote this blurb about a year ago (when the first show was postponed):

Indigo De Souza is a new (to me) musician who I heard about on NPR music.  Her song “Kill Me” is outstanding.  A great dynamic of sounds, very funny lyrics and memorable hooks.  I loved it immediately.  She announced a tour soon after I’d heard it and I grabbed a ticket to see her headline tour (!).

She’s been making music since she was like 9 with a few EPs and a previous album.  I imagine she’ll be a fun and wild performer.

Sluice is folk music from North Carolina singer-songwriter Justin Morris.  Pitchfork notes that the songs are “without a hook or central focus” which I agree with, although they gave his album 7 out of 10.

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