Record #425: Brand New – Science Fiction (2017)

Last week, my friend Dan texted me. “Jesse Lacey, man.”
I didn’t need to try very hard to figure out what had happened. The fallout from the #metoo movement has gone Scorched Earth on the entertainment world. It was easy to put two and two together.
The next day, I got an email: my vinyl preorder of Brand New’s newest album had finally shipped. I had been eagerly awaiting it, but now, it sort of tied my stomach in knots.
But at the same time, I still really wanted to listen to it. I enjoyed it enough to buy it, after all.

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Record #418: Firefall – Firefall (1976)

After years of smug punk-ethos and hipstery you-wouldn’t-have-heard-of-thems, I’m trying to be a better poptimist. Cynicism and taste policing stopped being fun a long time ago.
Part of that is embracing the mountains of soft rock filling discarded collections, thrift stores, and $1 bins.
But sometimes, I find records that don’t require me to lower my standards to enjoy them.
As long as I’ve been collecting, I’ve seen Firefall all over the place. So when I stumbled upon it this past weekend, I decided to take a chance on it.
And that gamble is paying off.

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Record #417: Cool Hand Luke – Cora (2017)

About a week before I started 10th grade, I was at a Taking Back Sunday show (at a small coffeeshop in my hometown—this was before they got huge), and I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said, “Cool Hand Luke.” Always eager to find new music, I hopped on Interpunk.com (they’re still open, B.T. Dubs) and did a quick search.
And friends, I’m not sure if any other internet search has ever had such an effect on my life.

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