Golem, Zach

It was a fun album. I'm writing this late at night, after I just ate plantain chips and a cottage cheese for dinner. I thought about eating tofu, but I didn't have enough and I'm making dinner tomorrow night so I need to preserve it for that dinner. Someone just canceled on me and they were supposed to bring wine but they're bringing wine anyway even though they're not coming. I hate when people cancel even though I can understand it. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so sensitive. This album was better than I expected. I'm not sure if I hit the word count, and I'm writing this on my phone so I'm not going to check. So let's just hope that this word and this word gets me there.

Love Is Not Enough, Nate

In the same way that one's favorite Mountain Goats album is whichever aligns with a specific post-adolescent emotional cataclysm, one's favorite Converge album may well be the first one heard. There are outliers for the attuned ear—Jane Doe belongs in the Library of Congress, Axe to Fall is punishment music for people who love to be punished—but its hard to explain why Love Is Not Enough is better or different than No Heroes or All We Love We Leave Behind. So let's just take the easy way out and say: it's not.

In My Place 086

March 27, 2026. 40.05062, -74.99973. See the updated map here. See all the blog posts here.

[2]

"I swear we're going to a pajama party after this" he yelled at no one over the ear-splitting country pop song, wearing Christmas pants not long enough, exposing Cheez-it socks.

Timber Timbre, Nate

Regarding Timber Timbre: Someone more committed to the grind would do the full work and understand if Tim Tamb evolved from their Neutral Milk Hotel / stick-munching nature twee songwriting into something more traditional (or, ideally, much less traditional). But you get what you pay for and this blog is free. A mid-level also-ran that carved a career out of swimming in a wake. I ain't mad at it, but I ain't listening to it again, either. 

In My Place 030

January 30, 2026. 39.91987, -75.20851. See the updated map here.

No secrets. No secrets. I don't have any secrets. I'm not keeping any secrets from you. Just ask me. I'm an open book. I know who I am. I know what I am. I will tell you. Just ask.

This feels like a secret but it's not.

Gandadiko, Gloria

This album is such a vibe. I was hypnotized by the relentless rhythms and beautiful textures. I've been doing Record Club for exactly a year, and this is the first album that we reviewed that I felt compelled to buy on vinyl.

School Days, Gloria

The bass parts on this album are phenomenal. You can tell that Stanley Clarke really puts his heart into the instrument. This is a beautifully jazzy album that is an interesting listen throughout. 

M.B.D.T, Gloria

My first listen through of this album, I was fascinated. I couldn't tell if it was bad or good, but it had my complete attention. It's both chaotic and minimalistic, and I think the style works really well. I'd be really curious to see what the vibe is if this is being played live. Cool pick, really different than what we normally see here.

Dreams of Being Dust, Gloria

I wasn't able to get into this album this week. And that might be on me because I was only able to listen to it once though completely, but did listen to it piecemeal another time. I think the instrumentation is great—it's a solid metal album. I don't know, nothing really stood out or moved me on these initial listens. I'm not even sure if this should count as a review, but I won't have the time to really listen to it again to do a deeper dive this week.

I quit, Nate

I hear the hooks. I hear the writing. I hear the instrumentation. I hear the progression. But it's all so far away, so faint, none of it quite as sticky or as evocative as the band's reputation would suggest it should be. I wish everyone well.

Yearlong Song Challenge, Day 179: Anonymous brocarthy

Prompt: "A song that lacks closure"

Selected by Brian

"Flight of the Bumblebee"

written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

1900

also here's my answer for ~A SONG THAT LACKS CLOSURE~

track: flight of the bumblebee

artist: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

answer: where that damb bee going. -brocarthy  

Yearlong Song Challenge, Day 130: Zach

Prompt: "Chekov's song"

Selected by Zach

"Changing Chekov"

The Hated

single, 2024

I don't understand this prompt and I don't need to. Because I'm going to write it in less than five minutes. It doesn't matter, anyways. I am surrounded by lots of books but I really don't think I've read anything by Anton Chekhov. He's a Russian playwright. There's a Belarussian tennis player in the US Open Women's Final tomorrow and is she really Russian at all? I feel ignorant for not knowing the answer to that question. Has she read Chekhov? Who knows. No one knows. Sometimes we have to mail in our YSC submissions and this is one of those times.

Fine Art, Brian

There's a nasty little banshee that lives inside of me and haunts us all writing a review that still starts with "well it's much better than it should be!! for irish rappers!!!" But that's not me. I really like the music. I love the movie. I salute the lads. If it makes sense, it makes sense. Simple math. 26+6=1. Saoirse don Phalaistín.

Talking Record Club with Nate: Oas by Dina Ögon

I have not listened to the album this week—on vacation, no real good time to crush tape—but I did get a chance to read all the reviews this morning while my kid toddled around the timeshare. Based on the available interpretations of the text, I have determined that the album is fine, but that would personally find it to suck. Thanks for nothing, Hiatus (and by extension, their kaiju pilot, Sunny).

Yearlong Song Challenge, Day 93: Joe

Prompt: "A song featuring a trickery"

Selected by Joe

"The Gift"

The Velvet Underground

White Light/White Heat, 1968

"The Gift" is the Velvet Underground eschewing their poetic powers for the density of prose. Based on a short story that Lou Reed wrote while attending Syracuse University, the song (or "song") finds John Cale (VU's viola player and weirdo among weirdos, who would leave the band after the release of this album) giving a non-dramatic but still strangely compelling reading of the story of Waldo Jeffers, a man willing to risk it all for love. Listen on headphones, and you'll hear the story on the left channel, and a hypnotic Booker T.-esque groove on the right. Quite a trick.

The A.S.S. Creative Writing Lab: Prompt #25

This is a weekly space for creative writing. Please check out the landing page if you're interested in what we've written already, or if you yourself are interested in writing creatively. Feel free to comment below (according to the request feedback level) with any comments or suggestions!

Prompt:

Author: Nate

Requested feedback: ???

~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the far future

If the wall don't get knocked down

they'll know about Kurt

Teenage Dream, Michaela J.

Dear Cousin Nate,

I have not listened to the album, but I know the song "Teenage Dream" and like it. I remember the version of the song on the show Glee and that made me like it more. Is "Roar" on that album? The "hey"s on that song were so catchy and then I started hearing them everywhere. Did Katy Perry's producer start that trend? Also, what an amazing halftime show. Maybe the most memorable ever?

I'm sorry, this is not a review.

WISHING YOU ALL THE GOOD LUCK THO!

Yearlong Song Challenge, Day 41: Dwyer

Prompt: "A parody song"

Selected by Dwyer

"Amish Paradise"

"Weird Al" Yankovic

Bad Hair Day, 1996

Writing this only because of the harassment I've been getting every other day over the past two weeks from our PoYB lord and savior. 

Before I dive in, let me first say I hope all Contributors and readers that know me are doing well, since it feels like quite a while that I've spoken to many of you. 

Ok, parody challenge... really, the song that comes to mind is "Amish Paradise" from "Weird Al" Yankovic. This was the first "parody" song I ever heard. 

I hope that is enough to get me to 100 words. Five more words will do it.

Fore!, Seth H.

Let's talk about Huey Lewis & the News.

In '87, Huey released this, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to Be Square," a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.

Yearlong Song Challenge, Day 2: Erin

Prompt: "One of the best songs"

Selected by Erin

"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt.1"

The Flaming Lips

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, 2002

The Flaming Lips are one of the best concerts I've ever been to. They're the only band I've seen play more than once live (unless you count the Irish band Blackthorn and the other Irish band Round Tower and any Irish Weekend bands). It's a great fucking song. My husband's family also happens to play it on guitar around the campfire at their annual camping trip each year. The entire album in general makes the listener approach what normally would be dark and depressing topics through an oddly quirky and optimistic lens. If I can remember to keep up with these postings, I'll hopefully be including more songs from this band. Have I got the word count minimum yet? God willing. Happy new year.