the production almost saves some pretty weak songwriting. there's potential here, but it's not even close to being realized.

https://summerliketheseason.bandcamp.com/album/thin-today

a key aspect of what i'm trying to do is separate music from fashion.

music always suffers when it finds itself attached to any kind of fashion....it's the death of any serious art....

so, i don't just not think i'm cool, the whole point of what i'm doing is trying to look for things that aren't cool, because that's what i actually like. and, as soon as it gets cool, i don't like it any more.

you don't really think i think i'm cool do you?

anyways...

this is too poppy and upbeat for me. i'm not joking.

the more underground variants of this style were never this catchy and arena-ready, even if this probably isn't going to hit an arena any time soon. or, maybe i'm wrong....maybe we'll never get out of these cyclical 80s revivals...

if i was going to listen to something like this nowadays, i'd want it to be a lot noisier and a lot darker.

as it is, it's just kind of repetitive and predictable and ultimately just sort of boring.

https://actors.bandcamp.com/album/it-will-come-to-you-lp

this sad girl bullshit is worse than corporate emo.

most of what i connect to most effectively is pretty noisy, but i'm extremely picky about noise on it's own; this is legitimately interesting, and that is very rare. you never know what a show is going to be like when you hear a demo like this, as they essentially have the choice between running the tape and doing an improv session. but, i would have certainly gone to this under normal situations, even if i would have walked away disappointed from it.

https://suntrash.bandcamp.com/

if you want to understand zappa, you should just watch portlandia.

it's basically the same thing...

to be clear: in zappa's universe, everybody is stupid.

it is true: the women are often portrayed as not so bright, but they aren't generally portrayed as less intelligent than the men, who are also generally portrayed as fairly daft. at the least, they tend to have names and personalities...and they often win out in the end....

so, if you're just focusing on his treatment of women, you're really missing the plot. it's a total attack on the 60s culture in general, not a targeted attack on the women within it.

you know how tv shows have spin-off series? like, frasier is a spin-off of cheers? i haven't watched tv since the 90s, and that's probably obvious...

....but, this is what one might imagine it would be like if one of zappa's misanthropic takes on 70s women decided to start their own band. and, you consequently want to interpret it tongue-in-cheek, except that it actually appears to be taking itself seriously.

it's poorly recorded, and broadly absurd, but there is at least some attempt at musicianship, even if it's hamfisted and largely cliched. in the end, this demo may be better left forgotten, but there may be some reason to check back here in a bit.

https://catlung.bandcamp.com/releases

this is utter pretension, and fails as a consequence of it. but, i take it it's also a first record, and there's enough potential hiding inside of the pretension to maybe hint at something....

https://joeypecoraro.bandcamp.com/