Album of the Week: Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

Last week's album felt like a good one for this Halloween season. I didn't know anything about that album, and its placement during the week before Halloween was not on purpose. If I'm being honest, I thought this Limp Bizkit album would be creepier, and did purposefully place it here, the week of Halloween. And now that I'm looking at this horrendous cover art for the first time in a couple decades, I'm doubling down: this Limp Bizkit album is absolutely the creepiest album I could have picked for the Halloween season.

Record Club:

archives | supplemental

spotify playlist | youtube playlist

choose | writing

WEEK 404 — October 25-31, 2026

Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

by Limp Bizkit

LISTEN:

Spotify | YouTube | Bandcamp | Apple

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PICKED BY JEANINE

JEANINE'S PITCH: "CSatHDFW is a gripping hard rock rap thrill ride from start to finish!" and "I'm positive you'll love it MORE than Simon & Garfunkel!"

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ALBUM DETAILS

GENRE: Nü-metal, rap metal, rap rock, hip hop, alternative rock

RELEASED: October 17, 2000

LENGTH: 75:08

TRACKLIST:

1. Intro
2. Hot Dog
3. My Generation
4. Full Nelson
5. My Way
6. Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)
7. Livin' It Up
8. The One
9. Getcha Groove On (ft. Xzibit)
10. Take a Look Around
11. It'll Be OK
12. Boiler
13. Hold On (ft. Scott Weiland)
14. Rollin' (Urban Assault Vehicle) (ft. DMX, Method Man, Redman)
15. Outro

LYRICS: Genius.com

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ARTIST DETAILS

PRONOUNS: he/him/his for Durst

ABOUT: Limp Bizkit formed in 1994 in Jacksonville, Florida. The band currently consists of Fred Durst (lead vocals), John Otto (drums), Wes Borland (guitar), and DJ Lethal (turntables). Limp Bizkit was founded by Durst and bassist Sam Rivers. Rivers tragically passed away in 2025 at the age of 48. Commercial success at the turn of the century was evened out with controversies at Woodstock '99 and Big Day Out in 2001. Eight of their singles have reached the Top 20 on the U.S. Alternative Airplay chart. In my humble opinion, Fred Durst seems like one of the dumbest dudes on earth, but that shouldn't affect one's opinion about the art on display here.

DISCOGRAPHY: This is the band's third of six albums total. The first was 1997's Three Dollar Bill, Y'all. 1999's Significant Other was the other commercial smash hit. Their most recent is 2021's Still Sucks, released after a ten-year hiatus.

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ADDITIONAL INFO

READING SOME SHIT: a 2014 Vice interview with Fred Durst

WATCHING SOME SHIT: Apparently Fred Durst directed an eHarmony commercial, but I can't find it. Hopefully you can.

RECORD CLUB CONNECTIONS: We continuously check off the lineup from Woodstock '99, and in Limp Bizkit, we have a key player. They join the likes of Dave Matthews Band, Alanis Morissette, the Roots, Rusted Root, Willie Nelson, Guster, and more!

The "feuds" section of Fred Durst's Wikipedia page is pretty hilarious. It starts with Slipknot. I'm surprised that Eminem isn't on there (only going from what Marshall raps on "The Real Slim Shady" about him). Durst's friendships have been all over the place. Weezer's Rivers Cuomo claims to have hung out with Durst a lot when he (Cuomo) was hooked on pills.

Durst is also pals with Ed "Not Complicit" Sheeran, which is strange... only because Fred Durst was, at one point, explicitly pro-Putin and pro-Russia (before later apologizing, saying he was bamboozled by propaganda), and meanwhile, Ed "Not Complicit" Sheeran actually took a stand on that conflict, supporting Ukraine, publicly, in concert, which, oh boy, sure does make his "both sides" stance on the Israeli government murdering Palestinians seem pretty weak, huh? What say you about all this, Fred Durst?

Fred Durst is also pals with Jelly Roll, so I don't really know what to tell you.

MENTIONS ON THE BLOG: "Nookie" was the first piece of music mentioned EVER on this blog, way back on June 23, 2008, by our esteemed colleague Mandy, in a hit piece about Nickelback. That little piece of trivia was followed up on in a Song of the Day entry, and on MMM 048 for the same reason. "Nookie" isn't on this album.

Another path of entry on this blog is that we already covered a movie that was directed by Fred Durst. That movie was called The Fanatic, and it was my second-least-favorite movie of the entire original Never Seen It project (after the worst movie, Avatar). I found out about that movie originally after it was mentioned by Meri in her Your Favorite Movie interview about another John Travolta flick, A Love Song for Bobby Long.

Other than the occasional mention of Limp Bizkit (especially in the context of nü-metal, whenever that genre is discussed), the bulk of writing about this band has been around Song Challenge. Seven songs were chosen over a two-year period: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Bob on SSC Day 49, "Break Stuff" by Bob on SSC Day 59, "My Way" by Allison on YSC Day 43, "Shark Attack" by Allison on YSC Day 57, "Nookie" by Zach on YSC Day 109, "Love the Hate" by Bob on YSC Day 115, and "Break Stuff" by Maeve on YSC Day 150.

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RECORD CLUB ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

This week's discography dive album: M'Boom by Max Roach

This week's follow-up album: Doctrine of Love by Jalen Ngonda and aethermead by Of Montreal

This week's keeping up album (probably): n/a

Listen with us! Keep your favorite Record Club artists in the rotation!

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COUNTDOWN:

69 Weeks Until Week 420

chocolate expo and the hot dog flavored potsie

We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. During Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. The goal for Week 420 of Record Club is that it will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people. 

THIS WEEK: We are 16 weeks away from Week 420.

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Happy listening, RC family!
Have a great week!

Record Club Alumni Association — Minutes from Meeting #20: Meat Wave, Tori Amos, Blaqbonez, Fontaines D.C.

The Record Club Alumni Association meets every week to discuss the larger body of work that our RC alumni have put together, outside of the specific albums that were covered in the main section of our club. You can follow along with everything that the RCAA has covered so far HERE.

(Deeper Dive)

Meat Wave

Malign Hex — RC Week 220 — 3.5 pukes out of 5

The Incessant

February 17, 2017

I get Meat Wave and Mclusky mixed up sometimes, mostly because both are firmly in the wheelhouse of our very own Nate, having chosen both artists less than six months apart in Record Club. We see eye to eye in this regard—bands that rock out like this are worth keeping up with. The way I keep them apart (beyond just not being a dumbass and knowing which is which, a task that isn't actually hard, I'm just using the argument as a crutch for something to write about here, bear with me) is that Mclusky seems to not be taking things very seriously (this is a compliment), but I can't really tell with Meat Wave sometimes. It feels like they use a way milder version of the sarcasm that Mclusky employs, but as a shield over some pretty intense stuff, whereas the smirk of Mclusky goes all the way down to the core. This was what I was thinking about as I listened to The Incessant, which I like in similar ways to Malign Hex. I could see how maybe Malign Hex felt like a retread if you heard them in chronological order. I could also maybe see how Malign Hex felt like a little bit slower, like they lost a tiny bit of energy in the between of the two. Maybe it's just been a while since I've given Meat Wave enough attention and I'm surprised at how energetic The Incessant sounds because I've forgotten. In any case, this shit is still badass, continue to count me in.

GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5

(Follow-up)

Tori Amos

Little Earthquakes — RC Week 187 — 3 pukes out of 5

From the Choirgirl Hotel — RCAA #12 — 3 pukes out of 5

In Times of Dragons

May 1, 2026

Okay, maybe it's that I don't have the energy for Tori Amos? Because I liked this one a lot. Probably liked it more than I have either of the other ones, including the RC album that I listened to many more times. There's not that much of a difference. You know what you're getting with Amos, aesthetically speaking. Maybe she just did enough to mix it up this time? "Gasoline Girls" was by far my favorite, with that dope-ass riff that stuck in my head even after the whole album was done. I was smitten with "Fanny Faudrey" too. It felt out-of-place, in a good way. "Pyrite" had a good drum rhythm. The fact that I'm naming songs that stand out honestly is all you need to know, that there are actually songs that stand out. This was long, too long, but not a slog. There were enough songs that kept things interesting. That's all I want out of this artist! But I just wouldn't have the energy to revisit it more than maybe one more time. I don't need to love every album. Sometimes, listening once and knowing that an artist is doing their thing and doing it well is enough for me!

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5

Blaqbonez

Sex over Love — RC Week 304 — 1.5 pukes out of 5

No Excuses

October 17, 2025

I have written over 250 mini-reviews for post-RC albums from our alumni, and I'm at the point where I sincerely don't know what I'm supposed to do with some of these. Will Blaqbonez ever release something that doesn't sound like the generic pop-rap that is snuck into AI-generated YouTube playlists and play until you realize what's happening and skip them? No, most likely he will not. I am here because, ya know, maybe there's a chance he will surprise me. There's been a few of those over the years, artists that level up but only after their time in Record Club comes and goes. No Excuses is not that album. I have the same conclusions that I did with Sex over Love. Expectations thoroughly maintained! So if I'm not being surprised, then what? Why am I here? It's... well, it's punishment sometimes. I have to listen to Blaqbonez for the rest of my life, and that's my punishment for fucking around with Facebook scammers and turning that STUPID bullshit into a Record Club pick. I'm paying the price. I'm listening to Blaqbonez. It's fine. ("Go Crazy" is pretty good, if you're looking for that one track that sounds anything close to interesting.)

GRADE: 2 pukes out of 5

Nomadinho: 4th Prime

October 16, 2026

Ah SHIT, I forgot for a second that there's been two releases from Blaqbonez since RC covered him. No Excuses was fine but painfully generic. But with an album title like Nomadinho: 4th Prime, maybe THIS is the album that surprises me?! Nahhhhhhh. But—and maybe this is from like Stockholm syndrome or something, what happens after listening to something for x amount of time, two albums in a row absolutely beating me down into a pulp more willing to be open to it—this one sounded better. I still felt the insane density of the "commercialism" (as opposed to "artistry") pressing down upon me as I listened, but it was more bearable on this one? Maybe it was just buying into the fact that I'm only gonna understand like every other word, and the words I do understand sound like gibberish? E.g. during "Big Performer," I'm pretty sure the hook was about Willy Wonka and the Oompa-Loompas? Why? I don't know. But it made me laugh. I want to believe that Blaqbonez is taking all this as seriously as I am. That's not going to improve his skills as an artist, but it's going to, at the very least, not make me want to die as I listen to two hours of pop rap. ("Ca$h Out" is pretty good, if you're looking for that one track that sounds anything close to interesting.)

GRADE: 2.5 pukes out of 5

(Keeping Up)

Fontaines D.C.

Dogrel — RC Week 11 — 4.5 pukes out of 5

A Hero's Death — individual 2020 review — 3.5 pukes out of 5

Skinty Fia — RC f/u #7 — 4 pukes out of 5

ROMANCE — RC f/u #36 — 4.5 pukes out of 5

Dopamine Chamber

October 16, 2026

Fontaines D.C. joins the five-timers club in RCAA, those artists that have four more albums since RC covered an album in the main club. Outside of RC even, five albums is enough to start to come up with the official narrative. Here's what I'm seeing recently: Fontaines have gotten better and better, and those who cling to Dogrel being their best are woefully behind the times. See, I do think that Dogrel is their best, still, but I don't think I fit into the category that the strawman in this logical fallacy is trying to paint. As you can see from the grades above, it just took me a little bit to adjust. By the time this band dropped ROMANCE, I was totally bought in again. I thought their most recent album was the closest they'll ever get to Dogrel in terms of quality. And the funny thing is that ROMANCE is about as far as Fontaines have ever been from Dogrel in terms of sound.

Okay, so what of Dopamine Chamber? The most efficient description I've heard of it so far is "ROMANCE after dark." That's accurate. It also results in some real great songs. But it must be said (ad nauseam at this point) that the "after dark" description does nothing to address my inherent needs or wants in rock music. "After dark" means slower and more intentional and sleeker. Fontaines D.C. has managed to strip away everything that made Dogrel special at this point. The incredible thing is that I still really like this music and this band. I think this is a fantastic album. And I also think that the sound is "big" in a way that I appreciate (not exactly the "big" foretold in the Dogrel song "Big," but close enough). Something like "Demolition," which is huge but oddly cold. I guess that's the post-punk still working through this band. The robot voices in "Tongue" add to the coldness, but the gigantic drums add to the scope of the sound, basically calling it even.

This is not a misstep, just another step. I am fully invested in this band, and I will follow them even if they go in a direction that is not to my own preferences. I do not feel the same elation that I felt with ROMANCE, but of course, that's by design. Interesting stuff. I'm definitely willing to reevaluate in a while and see if it grows and if anything else opens up for me. Until then, let's say this is a good album from a great band.

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5

(Random RCAA News)

• Olivia Rodrigo's incredible "Expectations" gets a remix, featuring Chappell Roan, and a very fun music video featuring both of them plus Talking Heads' David Byrne.
• MUNA is on their "Gets So Hot" tour, and, unfortunately, their bus took that tour name serious and caught fire.
• Not sure Fontaines D.C. needed defending (they are very good, see above), but Paramore's Hayley Williams has defended them anyway.
• Shaquille O'Neal's hangin' out with some fucking loser in the FBI, rough stuff!

Let us know if you'd like to join RCAA and write about any of these albums! There's a lot to discover!

Discussion — Week 403: Exuma by Exuma

Anybody doing those fucking trunk-or-treats this year? We had one last week, and we have one tomorrow night. Shameful shit. Wait, what's that? I already went on this screed last year? Whoops, I guess I did. Just ignore me. We're here to talk about the album anyway. What did you think about Exuma? A good time? I had a good time. Always cool to have never heard of an artist at all before RC hands you a great album that that artist created. What are our closing thoughts on the matter? Let's discuss below. TGIF.

Exuma, Catherine

I'm thrilled I had an excuse to revisit this one. There's really nothing like it. Every track is so unexpected, and some of them—"Seance in the Sixth Fret particularly"—are hardly songs at all in the traditional sense. Experimental music can sometimes bore me to tears (or make me irrationally angry), but this is tethered to so much personality and history that I find every single sound so incredible. I never knew I needed frogs and crickets and whistles and howling wolves and ZOMBIES but I don't wanna go back. I know Tony McKay / Exuma never saw true mainstream success, but I think that's a testament to his unwavering singularity. I love that this album tells a complete story. In the first song he introduces himself to us, coming down to Earth on a lightning bolt and into his mama's belly, and in the final track, the angels call him home. Heaven, hell, birth, and death in an unending cycle. Obviously my takes on the album I chose won't be a surprise to anyone, but I love the lyrics, I love the sound, I love the album—full stop.

Exuma, Joe

I guess Halloween playlists have been a thing for a while. This is my assumption based on the number of generic examples one can find if they visit their closest algorithmic music streaming service. But this year is the first time the idea of "Halloween music" has been codified within my own household. I'm not too upset, since the kids are putting it together themselves, piece by piece, and that happens by asking "Daddy, can you add [insert song] onto the Halloween playlist?" and me manually going into the old iPod that they use and uploading said song from my computer. No algorithms, basically. But I think that they are getting the idea of what exactly is Halloween music from the already established norms of the music marketing industry that is slowing gathering steam in their attempts to market "Halloween music" in the same way that they market "Christmas music," i.e. that there are certain indicators that indelibly mark something as "Halloween music," even if the song itself was never intended to be so in its creation period. These indicators are usually thematic. For example, a song like "Werewolves of London" is supposedly a Halloween song now. Why? Because it's about werewolves. It's not actually about werewolves (what it's actually about is besides the point in this paragraph), but there's the word. Werewolves. It's a Halloween song. Sits comfortably next to "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers now on my kids' classic iPod.

According to the generally agreed upon criteria as our 21st century holiday-as-commercialism society has cemented it, "Exuma, the Obeah Man" would be a Halloween song. That is because the song begins with a wolf howling. "Mama Loi, Papa Loi" is a Halloween song too. It mentions zombies, you see. That's enough to get it on the playlist. Now, would my kids question their inclusion on the playlist if I put these songs on there without warning her first? Of course. I'm speaking academically on the subject of Halloween songs, but my eight-year-old doesn't give a fuck about any of that. She was giving me shit about adding "She Wolf" by Shakira, even though there is a direct path to entry for the kids on that one (Shakira sang the main song from both Zootopia films) in addition to the subject matter undeniable branding it as Halloween related. And I don't like the idea of "Halloween playlists" being a thing either, mind you. I'm just mentioning all of this because I've suffered through a few weeks of "This Is Halloween" by the townsfolk of Halloween Town and "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. (they are unfortunately still too young for the Vargskelethor version) and now I'm listening to Exuma and this is—coincidentally, but still—definitely feeling like a breath of fresh air, as far as "Halloween music" goes.

It's borderline insulting to describe this album as such, I'm mostly being facetious to make the point about Halloween music. But I also can't deny that it's fitting, for the season. The hesitation comes from the fact that, culturally speaking, Exuma's music was deeply personal and specific, and the insulting thing to do would be to retrofit it to someone else's culture, i.e. our crass bullshit consumerism culture where all arts and entertainment are crowbarred into whatever season we're in now to sell more trinkets. I think the word I'm looking for is "authentic." That's the word I would use to describe Exuma. And there's something deeply inauthentic about saying "oh well there's a wolf howling at the beginning of this album, don't you want to listen to it now, here, deep in the spooky month of October?"

Especially because Exuma himself, a.k.a. Tony McKay (though he specifically explains in the lyrics that, on this album, he is not Tony McKay, he is Exuma, the Obeah Man), was pretty firm about this not being your garden-variety "voodoo man" bullshit, whatever white Americans have in their head about that subject. Like, he's begging you to not picture Keith David as Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog. This is a musician who is playing up the angle of "this is my culture, this is where I live," which bends more toward, like, religious beliefs than mystical powers. It's rooted in cultural tradition—emancipated slaves who emigrated to (e.g.) the Bahamas would celebrate freedom around Christmastime (i will fucking kill you if you attempt to call this music christmas music), using chanting and upbeat rhythms and a whole bunch of percussion instruments. This music is rooted in tradition. Attempting to shoehorn this particular sound into our tradition of asking neighbors for candy is bullshit, fucking bullshit.

But that was my first thought, so what can ya do. I'm infected with the same virus you are.

It's authentic, though, I think that's what I really wanted to say. It's probably one of the most authentic albums we've ever listened to in this Record Club. There is no pretense here, no indication that it was done for any reason other than Exuma the artist speaking his truth as a human being and as a Bahamian. There was a lot of discussion about "authenticity" as this most recent book club, vis-à-vis Springsteen being "authentic" on Nebraska, and that authenticity becoming the album's value. It depends on how you look at it. Is it authentic when an artist hides behinds the characters created within that artistry? If so, Nebraska is inauthentic... but then is Exuma as well? Because Tony McKay created a character who is not real but through him what's real is spoken. It's all up to interpretation, sure. Ultimately, I'm defining "authenticity" as "a means to get to the truth," and so I would say that Exuma (and Nebraska, yes) is authentic.

I will also admit that I usually jump right to the "authentic" description when I'm learning something new, so you should take all this with a grain of salt. Exuma is my one and only entry into Bahamas music and Junkanoo, so I have no choice but to believe it's authentic. I have nothing and no one else telling me differently. I hear a slide whistle at the end of "Exuma, the Obeah Man," I hear the jumble of percussion instruments on "Junkanoo" and think that it sounds like a parade, because that's what I'm told is the tradition here and who the fuck am I to say otherwise? I hear the psychedelic mania of "Seance in the Sixth Fret" and have no other option, I must believe that this is authentically Exuma, attempting to heal the audience through words and sounds, the gong signaling the point of change.

I need to believe this, but why shouldn't I? What's the point of disbelieving? I'm not talking about my lifestyle here, I'm talking about listening to music, and attempting to hear truth from an artist. There is no risk in believing Exuma. There is no liability in choosing to view the art as authentic. I listen because it makes me feel good, to hear it, to hear what I believe is truth.

That's probably why I hate the Halloween playlist phenomenon. There is no attempt at finding deeper truths there. It's simply an attempt to move more bags of candy off the shelves. If I want to feel in tune with the spirits that supposedly haunt this month on the calendar, then there's one album I'm comfortable listening to now.

GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5

Album of the Week: Exuma

Catherine is choosing her first album for Record Club today. I just counted (from the list here, after you scroll down), and she is the 81st person to choose an album for this club over the years. Welcome to Record Club, and welcome to the ranks of RC captains, along with such past captains as the bassist of Real Estate, Stephan's grandmother, and the boyfriends of every classmate I had in grad school.

Record Club:

archives | supplemental

spotify playlist | youtube playlist

choose | writing

WEEK 403 — October 18-24, 2026

Exuma

by Exuma

LISTEN:

Spotify | YouTube | Bandcamp | Apple

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PICKED BY CATHERINE

CATHERINE'S PITCH: "I can't remember how I first stumbled across Exuma, but I revisit this album a few times a year for a palette cleanse when I get stuck in a musical rut. The '70s Bahamian folk style is like nothing I'd heard before. It's cool, it's catchy and it's even a little scary—perfect for this time of year. As an extra cherry on top, this album partly inspired Jordan Peele's Nope."

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ALBUM DETAILS

TITLE: It's called Exuma, but all three streaming services insist on calling it Exuma, the Obeah Man. I don't know where that came from, or how it was collectively decided. Don't get distracted, this is a self-titled album.

GENRE: Psychedelic folk, Caribbean folk music, wyrd folk, Junkanoo, calypso, goombay

RELEASED: April 1970

LENGTH: 38:41

TRACKLIST:

1. Exuma, the Obeah Man
2. Dambala
3. Mama Loi, Papa Loi
4. Junkanoo
5. Seance in the Sixth Fret
6. You Don't Know What's Going On
7. The Vision

LYRICS: Genius.com

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ARTIST DETAILS

PRONOUNS: he/him/his

ABOUT: Macfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey was born on February 18, 1942, on Cat Island, the Bahamas. He was known professionally as Tony McKay, or Exuma. His Exuma persona, as well as his lyrics, were influenced by the West African and Bahamian tradition of Obeah, a system of spiritual and healing practices developed among enslaved West Africans in the West Indies, practiced by many on the islands of the Bahamas. McKay denied any "voodoo" imagery, stating "it isn't voodoo or witchcraft, not in the way that the man goes home at night and makes a secret potion." After releasing his first six albums, he created a musical stage production titled Junkanoo Drums, which led to him becoming a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. In the 1980s, he created his own record label called Inagua Records. He spent time in Colorado and Miami before moving back to the Bahamas and passing away in his sleep in January 1997.

DISCOGRAPHY: This is Exuma's first of ten studio albums. The last and most recent album listed on Wikipedia is 1982's Universal. The first six albums are the ones with hyperlinks, including sophomore album Exuma II, released the same year as Exuma.

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ADDITIONAL INFO

READING SOME SHIT: a 50-year retrospective from Rolling Stone in 2020

WATCHING SOME SHIT: "Exuma, the Obeah Man" on what looks like a public broadcasting show called Soul!

RECORD CLUB CONNECTIONS: RC alumnus Andrew Bird wrote about this album briefly for Pitchfork back in 2009. "You Don’t Know What’s Going On" was featured in a 1970 comedy called Joe, 54 years before RC covered R&B artist Joe. 

MENTIONS ON THE BLOG: Nothing yet! I haven't even seen Nope!

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RECORD CLUB ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

This week's discography dive album: The Incessant by Meat Wave

This week's follow-up album: No Excuses by Blaqbonez and hopefully The Time of Dragons by Tori Amos finally

This week's keeping up album (probably): Dopamine Chamber by Fontaines D.C.

Listen with us! Keep your favorite Record Club artists in the rotation!

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COUNTDOWN:

69 Weeks Until Week 420

We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. During Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. The goal for Week 420 of Record Club is that it will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people. 

THIS WEEK: We are 17 weeks away from Week 420.

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Happy listening, RC family!
Have a great week!

Record Club Alumni Association — Minutes from Meeting #19: Harry and the Potters, Neil Diamond, Converge, Adeem the Artist

The Record Club Alumni Association meets every week to discuss the larger body of work that our RC alumni have put together, outside of the specific albums that were covered in the main section of our club. You can follow along with everything that the RCAA has covered so far HERE.

(Deeper Dive)

Harry and the Potters

Lumos — RC Week 21 — 4.5 pukes out of 5

Harry and the Potters

June 2003

The concern, probably, is the voice. Well, no, that was the concern last time, and it was gently washed away in the excitement of a Harry Potter music album that was fun and clever and catchy and dorky in all the right ways. But the two dudes in the band just simply cannot sing. It's only a problem if the songwriting isn't there (or song-stealing, or whatever, who cares, who cares if they aped from Weezer and Pete Townsend and etc. etc., who cares?!). With Harry and the Potters' first album, a self-titled affair that covers the stories of the first four books, I would argue that the songwriting just simply isn't there. It's not that big of a mystery. Sixteen years separate the first and the last albums from this Wizard Rock band. That's a lot of time to learn how to write a catchy song. As it stands in 2003, the music mostly consisted of sad dumb keyboard playing while terrible vocals explained, in not-so-great detail, the events of the books. It's all good though. I appreciate the fact that this shit even existed at all, back in a time when the world seemed innocent and wonderful to my young, immature eyes, and dumb silly dudes in Harry Potter glasses played the dumbest, silliest rock music you've ever heard. I also think that there are at least two songs on here—"Save Ginny Weasley" and "These Days Are Dark"—that are legitimately good, in the way that the majority of the songs on Lumos are good. I'm not trying to be a spoilsport. I just think that it's not that great, and that's because these dudes are way younger, and just not very good at what they are doing. Yet!!!

GRADE: 2 pukes out of 5

List of bands that I found under the "Wizard Rock" genre tag on RYM (and yes, I'd like to check them all out, please):

• Harry and the Potters
• Draco and the Malfoys
• Rubeus and the Hagrids
• The Whomping Willows
• Voldemort
• The Cruciatus Curse
• The Remus Lupins
• Hollow Godric
• Roonil Wazlib
• The Parselmouths
• Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls
• The Hungarian Horntails
• The Sectumsempras
• Muggle Death Camp
• Voldemort
• Ginny and the Heartbreakers
• How Airplanes Fly
• Ministry of Magic
• The Hermione Crookshanks Experience
• The Moaning Myrtles
• The Fleur Delacours
• Gred and Forge
• Creevey Crisis
• The Marauders
• Tonks and the Aurors
• Dumbledore
• Kingsley and the Shacklebolts
• Justin Finch Fletchley and The Sugar Quills
• The Butterbeer Experience
• Gryffindor Common Room Rejects
• The Mudbloods
• The Nifflers
• Big Whompy
• Tom Riddle and Friends
• The Basilisk in Your Pasta
• The Giant Squidstravaganza
• Shrieking Shack Disco Gang
• RiddleTM
• Peeved
• Swish and Flick
• Bob Dylan
• Danny Dementor
• The 8th Horcrux
• Dawlish and the Archies
• Hungry Hungry Hippogriffs
• House of Black
• The Blibbering Humdingers
• The Muggle Spell Theory

(Follow-up)

Neil Diamond

The Christmas Album — RC Week 255 — 3 pukes out of 5

Wild at Heart

May 8, 2026

It's telling that Neil doesn't have a "THAT album," one that people can point to and say something like, that's the one, that's when he got everything together and pulled off the good one, his masterpiece, etc. Neil Diamond does songs, not albums. I mean, he does albums, he has a bunch of them, but his high points arrive in the form of songs. That's just how it goes with some artists. It makes sense that we did a Christmas album of his in order to smuggle him into Record Club, which is an albums-forward music club. Anything else would've been too easily dismissed. I think it's easy for me to dismiss Wild at Heart. The title track is really wonderful, a high point of a song. Diamond's voice is as full of life as ever. The album slowly loses steam throughout the rest of its runtime. It's one of those songwriting exercises in which you can easily see the math equations that brought it into existence. His songwriting is the equivalent of a tennis player picking up keys off the floor 1000 times in order to practice their swing. It's swift, flawless, and also rote and lifeless. But then there's Diamond's vocals, which do a lot to cover up the generic lyricism. It all sounds nice, and often doesn't make any sense. I also fear that Neil Diamond's music is always going to sound like Christmas music to me now. I fucked up!

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5


Converge

Love Is Not Enough — RC Week 375 — 3 pukes out of 5

Hum of Hurt

June 5, 2026

Look, I'm listening to these albums because I have to. I have to due to self-imposed restrictions, that I have to keep up with every Record Club alumni. I also want to. I want to because I like the idea of keeping up with all the artists we've covered, even the ones that have been utterly perplexing to me. I'm listening to the new Converge album because I have to and because I want to. I have to because they made the beguiling decision to release their new album four months after they released the one we covered for RC. I want to because I want to see if anything has changed. How it was before: I have no idea what I'm listening to, I cannot get a grip, but the chaos is fascinating, and occasionally enthralling. How it is now: ehhhhh, pretty much the same. "Punishing" is used as a compliment around these genres; I would describe both of Converge's 2026 albums as "punishing." I don't have enough experience to say how these two albums differ. They are both the same to me. And because of the tight timeframe in between releases, I'll say that I have not had any time to change or grow either. I'm the same guy I was in April 2026. I'm still listening to Converge. I still think of it as chaos. I still kinda like it, and still remained confused.

GRADE: 2.5 pukes out of 5

(Keeping Up)

Adeem the Artist

White Trash Revelry — RC Week 227 — 4.5 pukes out of 5
Anniversary — RC f/u #31 — 4 pukes out of 5

notes from inside

February 25, 2026

The self-written Bandcamp description of this album is the most informed I've ever been from such a blurb. It's less an explanation as it is a cry for help. This is a stripped-back album, and it is obvious what it represents. It represents a low point in one's life. It represents an attempt to keep one's head above water. And it represents a pause while Adeem figures their shit out. Some details emerge from that Bandcamp thing, but much is left unsaid. What remains implied is implied in the music itself. This is sad, introspective music, from a human being who has zero sense of which direction is up and which direction is hell below. To give you a better sense of what it sounds like: the album highlight "learning to drive again" is basically a Mountain Goats song. The fact that it sounds like the Mountain Goats and not like Adeem the Artist says, to me, that Adeem the Artist is truly struggling to find their identity. One word sticks out in the blurb: "tokenization." I've wondered that sometimes too, whether Adeem would have found all that (brief, flickering, due for a comeback, whatever) success if it didn't feel good to someone like Jason Isbell to say that they are signal-boosting a talented non-binary country artist. I've wondered the same thing about myself, and my affinity for this artist's work. I think that Adeem themself has thought about it (or else how else to explain the suicide note of "jason isbell b-side"?). All of this means that the album is striking and memorable. It also means that it doesn't have the joy of Adeem's previous work, true. But the desperation remains.

GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5

(Random RCAA News)

• Harry Styles and Radiohead's Thom Yorke sat down in conversation for a Rolling Stone interview series. "Talk Show Host" by Radiohead was the song that Harry Styles lost his virginity to. The intro to "Talk Show Host," to be clear.
• The Raconteurs have reunited! I wasn't clear on the fact that they were broken up. Do bands break up anymore?
• Doechii dropped a dope-ass new song. New album in the works???
• Probably gonna be some intersections between Record Club and the midterm elections coming up. E.g. Kacey Musgraves responding to what's-her-name, the dog killer, regarding Kacey's support of Senate candidate Talarico.
• What's going on with Kelly Clarkson beefing with a boutique store? Feels like a "too online" thing, I don't want to look into it, because I don't like being "too online."

Discussion — Week 402: She's the Best by Troye Sivan

Sometimes I am surprised about what I find on the rear artwork for these albums. With such a vivid, striking, boob-filled front cover, I thought for sure that something even more outrageous was gonna be on the back. Maybe something to do with a penis to balance it out? But instead, it's the song titles written in fancy cursive letters. It's all good, because Blogger sent out a notification to all editors this week that they are tightening their standards for content warnings on blogs. No nudity! The album art isn't technically nudity, of course, but I'm always afraid that Blogger is going to unceremoniously shut us down because of a salacious album cover or something. I haven't been this worried since Go Go Diva!

For now, we are safe, and so for now, let's chat. What did you think of the album? Did any of the reviews sway your opinion? There are eighteen more weekly discussion posts after today. Are you going to miss them? If so, let me know, I'll include you in the group text or email or whatever the fuck we'll replace them with.

She's the Best, Sunny

Today the vagaries of life and work had me traveling to three mega-party cities: Vegas, NYC, Cleveland. When you go to a party city, you need party music. Sivan delivered literally and figuratively. The opening and title track is kind of sweet (kind of), rather than coded in full hardcore party-style. That gives you a range of what might be coming up. Then by track 2 the MDMA should be tickling the bottom of your brain stem, and you're really off from there. Mostly full UK-style club bangers with some softer stuff mixed in, but still with that same slant. Fun album; party at the pool, party at the show, party at the airbnb, party at the podhotel.

She's the Best, Rachel S.

In honor of Troye's succinct "Party," here's my short n' sweet review, song by song:

1. Thank you, women* really are the best. 

2. Am I too old for the clerb?

3. APPARENTLY NOT. LET'S FUCKING GOOOO. My favorite part is when he goes, "Party on the way to the party at the PARK." So plosive. 

4. Mid-'90s adult contemporary.

5. Perfume Genius-core meets everyone-wants-to-be-a-cowboy-these-days-core.

6. So satisfying when the Aussie accent comes out on "so."

7. Absolutely belongs in the 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack. Kat Stratford downnnn.

8. Not the vibe you'd expect from the title!!! (Reminds me of his previous "One of Your Girls" 😭)

9. I see what you did there, you cheeky little rascal! Jazzy! 

10. Troye stays putting out the HORNIEST videos. Sometimes they're sad AND horny. As one YouTube commenter wrote, "what a glorious day to have eyes." And ears, for that matter!

11. If "No YOU hang up" was a song.

12. WHY LRD?

Closing thoughts: Some lovely and silly highs with some skippable lows. I'm glad Troye Sivan is making music for the masses. I'd take his version of cowboys over the slop on country-pop radio. Stay glittery, y'all.

*The world seems to be at an excessively high level of hating women right now. Sure, that's been the case for most of western/Christian civilization for all time; it's just feeling extra potent. I'll take all the diva worship I can get these days. The bar is in hell when it comes to men showing up for women. Y'all don't need to write a song for us, but maybe tell your friends/coworkers/gym pals/the guy next to you on the bus to shut the fuck up the next time they say something demeaning about the better sex. I promise you, the opportunities ABOUND. THANKS.

She's the Best, Joe

This album made me feel great in a few ways. ¶ First off, how it challenged me and my perception of what pop music is in the year 2026. I don't know how popular Troye Sivan is and I refuse to do any research on the subject, but I will estimate that he's popular and maybe popular enough for a stadium tour, but probably more so on the lower end of a high echelon. That's speaking quantitatively, but speaking qualitatively, I would imagine that there aren't many pop star peers who are trying the sounds that he's trying here. At least not right in this moment. ¶ Beyoncé's RC album comes to mind, with its focus on house music, so maybe you're thinking about that when you're hearing, e.g., "Canada Dry," but RENAISSANCE was almost a half-decade ago (hard to comprehend, I know), and the winds have shifted mightily in the pop arena. The forward-facing part of it, anyway. All those bloodsuckers are chasing country music now (even Beyoncé in her RENAISSANCE follow-up). Sivan isn't doing that here. ¶ He's doing his own thing, and I think "doing your own thing" is sincerely something that stands out, when you're a pop artist. A refusal to chase trends is tantamount to bravery. And it adds value to the art itself, because you know that there's a truth here, one not even Beyoncé could touch. Like, there's a difference between leading trends and being unconcerned with trends. That's the difference. ¶ And I don't even think "doing your own thing" necessarily means "doing something no one else has ever done." That's not true for anyone anymore, all the sounds have been done already. But you have artists combining those sounds in fresh ways, and you also have artists making those sounds for the first time in a while, in a slightly new context. I don't really hear anything that sounds like She's the Best today. ¶ The closest modern equivalent is probably the 1975, but I don't think it's an exact match, and it's possible that I'm thinking about that more because Sivan approaches "everything and the kitchen sink" in the same manner (but possibly not the same scale) as the 1975. But you don't need a modern equivalent. You say that Sivan is messing with similar sounds like, uhhhhh, the Stone Roses were messing with it? The genre tag "Baggy" is right there, listed among the rest, and if you click on it, you'll see that the highest-rated Baggy album of all time is The Stone Roses. I'm not saying the albums sounds alike, but I'm saying that Troye Sivan is messing with "jangly guitars, looping basslines, four-bar drum patterns, and a hypnotic, carefree feel" in the same way that the bands in the Madchester scene were messing with them. ¶ This isn't my overarching point, by the way, that Troye Sivan sounds like the Stone Roses. I don't even think that's true for most of the time. But the fact that I'm able to draw even the slightest connection at all says something about this modern-day pop artist. "Doing your own thing," as opposed to leading or following, gives me the ability to not feel like I'm "following trends" either, which is important to me, whether I like to admit it or not. ¶ Like if I said I like the new Taylor Swift bonus tracks, then that would be boring, but if I said I hate the new Taylor Swift bonus tracks, then that would be boring too. Shit that everyone has to have an opinion about and 90% of those opinions are based on preconceived notions, that's a fucking drag. I don't like it. There's no room for me. With something like Troye Sivan, he's popular in the outside world, but in my insular world, he was sort of an unknown, and I get to approach his music and feel like I am liking something because I like it, not because of the artist or who he is or what he's previously done or what he represents. I get to see just the music. ¶ It's helpful, of course, to think that it's good, that there's quality here, that it's catchy, but that's all expected from such a pop album. I think the point here is that it's easier for me to say that I like it because it feels like an honest assessment, untainted by outside forces. ¶ Possibly the only outside force that I might consider—but only because this is a safe space, and somewhat insular if we're being honest, and also this space has existed for so fucking long so there's history here—is the idea that our pal Rachel S. recommended it, her fourteenth album recommendation in this club, and I feel like the majority of her picks (not all, but a healthy majority) have been present-day pop, which is good, but perhaps have not always landed with me personally as they might with Rachel and others. Sam Smith? Perfume Genius? BTS? Adele? At best, I'm shrugging, and at worst, I'm callously dismissing those albums. ¶ And now here comes Troye Sivan, and I think we might have finally found an album we can share, me and Rachel. I think it's time to admit that in Record Club, after 400+ weeks, that it does actually affect my opinion about an album depending on who chooses it. When Rachel chose She's the Best, I wanted so hard to like it, and now here we are. I like it. A lot. ¶ And that feels good, to find something through a music club like this, and through someone who deigns to occasionally be part of it. I probably like She's the Best more because Rachel chose it and because this feels like a well-earned achievement in Record Club. We're finally sympatico. We can finally forget all about CANDIACE!!! ¶ If you put all that extra stuff aside, then it's really as easy as saying that this is a catchy album and that should be enough. But when you add all the extra stuff back in, then this experience becomes an important one. Yes, this is pop music. Yes, it's catchy. But yes, it's catchy in ways that other pop music from 2026 is not even trying. Yes, it's from a popular artist. Yes, this artist is not someone whom I was familiar with, or even wanted to be before this week. Yes, that adds to the experience too. ¶ And yes, Record Club afforded me the space to listen to it a bunch more times than I would have otherwise. Yes, I listened to it a lot. Yes, it sincerely got better every time. I'm wrong in that it sounds like nothing else, because there are so many things it sounds like. But I'm right when I say that the music is so consistently good that it feels new anyway. I've heard trip-hop beats like "I Do This for You" plenty of times, but somehow, it feels fresh and exciting here. I've heard staticky ballads like "FF," and arena-ready crescendos, but for whatever reason, "FF" feels like a high point here, for this particular artist on this particular album. ¶ What's the difference? I don't know. I've laid out a few theories in this review but it could ultimately just come down to it being good. Like, you hear those flutes during the "FF" climax? That's some good-ass shit. I don't often get excited for pop albums like this, but I am excited, here, with this pop album, in the year 2026, and that changes everything.

GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5

Album of the Week: She's the Best

Damn, when was the last time we listened to an album the week it came out? I feel like it's been a while. I like it. I'm actually in Knoebels right now, but I hopefully had enough time on Friday morning before leaving to download the album and fill out some last-minute details in this Sunday write-up. If you see anything that's accidentally blank on here, no judgment please!!! Enjoy the tunes.

Record Club:

archives | supplemental

spotify playlist | youtube playlist

choose | writing

WEEK 402 — October 11-17, 2026

She's the Best

by Troye Sivan

LISTEN:

Spotify | YouTube | Bandcamp | Apple

~~~~~~~~~~

PICKED BY RACHEL S.

RACHEL'S PITCH: "I just think that everyone deserves a little party in their ears and bodies from time to time. If you're unfamiliar with Troye Sivan, he's an Aussie electropop it-boy who started his career on YouTube and has since become an international darling. His music ranges from sweaty dance bops to bedroom heavy-breathers to meditative yearning. And it's all wrapped up in the shiniest packaging. I encourage you to let go and let Troye here, folks."

~~~~~~~~~~

ALBUM DETAILS

GENRE: Neo-psychedelia, bedroom pop, baggy, trip hop

RELEASED: October 9, 2026

LENGTH: 41:55

TRACKLIST:

1. She's the Best
2. Canada Dry
3. Party
4. I Do This for You
5. Cowboy
6. Embarrassingly
7. Le Boy
8. Sex Star
9. Troye Meets World
10. FF
11. Love So Big It Hurts
12. Lost Time (ft. Lily-Rose Depp)

LYRICS: Genius.com

~~~~~~~~~~

ARTIST DETAILS

PRONOUNS: he/him/his

ABOUT: Troye Sivan Mellet was born on June 5, 1995, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He grew up in Perth, Australia, and got his start in music mostly through YouTube (but also was in the finals on StarSearch). He signed with EMI Australia on his eighteenth birthday. Besides music, he also acts, most notably as young Wolverine in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and a role on the Weeknd's HBO series The Idol (which probably explains why his co-star, Lily-Rose Depp, is featured on this album). He has a "lifestyle brand" called Tsu Lange Yor. He was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, though he does not consider himself to be religious. Sivan has a mild form of Marfan syndrome.

DISCOGRAPHY: This is his fourth and most recent album. He released his debut album, Blue Neighborhoods, in 2015. This was followed by Bloom in 2018 and Something to Give Each Other in 2023. He has five EPs under his name as well.

~~~~~~~~~~

ADDITIONAL INFO

READING SOME SHIT: interview with Billboard from five days ago

WATCHING SOME SHIT: from Rachel—"OH and please watch the music video to 'Party.'"

RECORD CLUB CONNECTIONS: Troye Sivan has collaborated with Charli XCX, including on the brat remix album (for "Talk Talk," which also featured a voice note from Dua Lipa). Like Lana Del Rey from a couple weeks ago, Sivan was featured on The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show in 2019. Since he played Wolverine, we can say that he is the third Marvel superhero in RC (I think?), after Jeremy Renner (Hawkwhatever) and Harry Styles (Thor's brother or some shit, in a post-credits thing, I think, I don't know, I'm not looking it up, I don't care). We can probably say that Sufjan Stevens' song "Wolverine" is NOT about Troye Sivan, or about Marvel at all.

Troye Sivan was NOT featured on Trolls World Tour, which is the only Trolls movie that is acknowledged on this internet website (though if we did hypothetically acknowledge other Trolls movies, we might say that he did voice acting on Trolls Band Together, alongside RuPaul).

Sivan took part in "We Are the World." NOT the original (which included ten RC alumni, if you include the Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd, which I very much do), and NOT "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" (which included Miley Cyrus, T-Pain, the bourgeoisie Good Charlotte brothers, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys), but instead "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube edition)." There are 56 other musical artists on that YouTube version, and ALL of them will be covered in Record Club eventually.

MENTIONS ON THE BLOG: Not mentioned above is the Troye Sivan song "Easy" that features RC alumna Kacey Musgraves, but it was only not mentioned there because it's being mentioned here—Rachel S. wrote about "Easy" for our Song of the Day column.

~~~~~~~~~~

RECORD CLUB ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

This week's discography dive album: Harry and the Potters by Harry and the Potters

This week's follow-up album: The Time of Dragons by Tori Amos; Wild at Heart by Neil Diamond; maybe Hum of Hurt by Converge

This week's keeping up album (probably): notes from inside by Adeem the Artist (came out earlier in the year, but I just found out it existed)

Listen with us! Keep your favorite Record Club artists in the rotation!

~~~~~~~~~~

COUNTDOWN:

69 Weeks Until Week 420

eighteen more weeks until RC implodes

We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. During Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. The goal for Week 420 of Record Club is that it will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people. 

THIS WEEK: We are 18 weeks away from Week 420.

~~~~~~~~~~

Happy listening, RC family!
Have a great week!

Record Club Alumni Association — Minutes from Meeting #18: The Stone Roses, Kneecap, MUNA, Willie Nelson

The Record Club Alumni Association meets every week to discuss the larger body of work that our RC alumni have put together, outside of the specific albums that were covered in the main section of our club. You can follow along with everything that the RCAA has covered so far HERE.

(Deeper Dive)

The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses — RC Week 379 — 4.5 pukes out of 5

Second Coming

December 5, 1994

There is a saying—I've heard it at least once, though it's possible that this "saying" was only said once and becomes a "saying" only in apocrypha through this very blog and my repetition of it—that the last song that you write for an album is a great indication of what your next album is going to sound like. I think this is the problem with Second Coming, the second and final Stone Roses album that notoriously falls short of the expectations that that first album built. The final song on the debut self-titled (at least on my version, but it depends on what you consider "bonus tracks" or not), "Fools Gold," was by all accounts written last, and it is in my opinion a pretty stark departure from the rest of the album. It leans into the Madchester / Baggy / alt-dance shit that this late-'80s/early-'90s British music scene was developing. But after like four years of waiting, Second Coming leans back into the neo-psych alt-rock that made up the bulk of The Stone Roses. I think this is the album's true failure, despite the fact that I'm choosing at least six songs over "Fools Gold" on that self-titled every single time. It's just that Second Coming is a watered-down version of what they already perfected. That's it. It was always gonna be this way for me, though. An album as important as The Stone Roses cannot possibly have a follow-up that is going to feel in any way satisfying. There are decent songs on here, e.g. I like "Good Times." But even something like "Good Times" lacks the magic of that first album. I can't explain it better than any other Stone Roses fan already has a million times.

GRADE: 3 pukes out of 5

(Follow-up)

Kneecap

Fine Art — RC Week 289 — 3.5 pukes out of 5

FENIAN

May 1, 2026

As we learned with Macklemore recently, the music doesn't have to even be "good" for the message to resonate. I would say that I'm on the fence about Kneecap's music. A lot of hip-house and grime / acid house that I'm tolerant of but not totally enthralled by. The message, though, is something that I totally buy into, almost 100% (with the occasional misstep that their opponents, both here and abroad, have surely tried to press in bad faith). It's the oppressed vs. the oppressor. Same shit that we talked about with Fine Art. It's just that they became involved in the global conversation about the Israeli government murdering Palestinians in the meantime, and that means that there's more at stake with the music. The message remains the same, but now the music itself feels... more serious? Which I think I would argue is to their detriment. I'm not saying it affects the message, I'm saying that it makes me less likely to engage with the music. I agree with Kneecap, but I don't need Kneecap's music to influence me re: my beliefs about the world. So if I'm writing this review in order to review Kneecap's moral stance, then I'd be dropping like 4.999 pukes out of 5. But I'm actually reviewing the music, and with the music, it's just okay. Remember this, though: Kneecap doesn't have to play great music for them to be essential. This is an important band, and I appreciate what they're doing. I just don't need to be enveloped in their music, that's all.

GRADE: 3 pukes out of 5

MUNA

Saves the World — RC Week 41 — 2.5 pukes out of 5

MUNA — RC f/u #7 — 4 pukes out of 5

Dancing on the Wall

May 8, 2026

My new thoughts last time (oh gosh, over four years ago!) was that I had been wrong about MUNA, that this is fun pop music, that maybe it just requires the tiniest bit of effort to break through the wall of "this is music for people younger or queerer than me" and simply appreciate the universality of such catchy music. Those thoughts remain the same here, to the point that I am again convinced that I should immediately download the newest MUNA album, so satisfied was I after listening to it once. My new thoughts this time around, with Dancing on the Wall, was that gap between MUNA and one of my favorite non-male ("non-male" used here to account for non-binary identities in MUNA) four-letter-all-caps trios, HAIM, is not that wide, and that the gap is really only formed at all because MUNA approaches the sound from a pop perspective, and HAIM approaches the same sound from a rock (folk-, indie-, whatever) perspective. Beyond simple comparison purposes, I think we can say that the similarity in sound means that there is an intentionality behind the artistry in both cases. MUNA isn't a pop group who's making music to be commercially successful. This feels real and true, what they are doing here. Real and true and catchy. Okay, yeah, so I'll go ahead and download it, and I promise, from here on out, never to doubt MUNA again.

GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5

Willie Nelson

Red Headed Stranger — RC Week 318 — 3 pukes out of 5

Oh What a Beautiful World — RC f/u #50 — 3 pukes out of 5
Workin' Man: Willie Sings Merle — RCAA #7 — 3.5 pukes out of 5

Dream Chaser

May 29, 2026

In listening to Willie Nelson's 104th studio album, we must consider the definition of "insanity," and wonder whether the application of the word "insane" to Nelson's discography (i.e. that he is doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting different results) is going to be detrimental at some point. It's not like I'm listening to Willie Nelson all day every day, so I can't say that I dislike this, despite the fact that it basically sounds exactly like the other three Willie Nelson albums I'm familiar with. It's not notable in any way, beyond the triple-digit quantity of the discography at this point, and maybe the Bob Dylan co-writing credit on "I Can't Read Your Mind"? Otherwise, chalk it up to our yearly exercise in listening to a nonagenarian do his thing and somehow never go insane. At this point, I'm just hoping he manages to make it to 100 years of age. I'm interested to hear what that sounds like. Though maybe it'll be the same stuff then too. I'll be tracking it here, and not really having all that hard a time withstanding it. (Okay, alright, try this: "After All." Maybe he'll make a whole album of songs that sound like this! Gosh, he sounds positively young in this song, like he's in his 70s or something!!)

GRADE: 3 pukes out of 5

(Random RCAA News)

• CMAT feels bad for, and has an extremely reasonable take on, Ed "Not Complicit" Sheeran.
• Ed "Not Complicit" Sheeran, meanwhile, was finally able to find an opening act willing to be as Not Complicit as he is—the Fray's Isaac Slade, who was brave enough to say that we should try to see "both sides" of the issue, try to see that, maybe, just maybe, there are TWO sides to the Israeli government murdering Palestinian children? That we should meet in the middle, between those committing genocide and those being genocided? Has anyone even CONSIDERED the idea of, hmmm, half a genocide?! Very brave. I'm very proud of our RC alumnus Ed "Not Complicit" Sheeran for choosing such a brave opener for his tour!
• Fontaines D.C. and Iceage are touring North America next year, and hopefully not taking the Fray with them.
• Alright, more political news. A round-up of RC alumni on politics, if you will. Hayley Williams of Paramore beefs with ICE. Three-time RC alum Phil Collins calls the U.S. President "nasty" and is trying to write a song about America called "Fat People with Guns." Olivia Rodrigo condemns Cornell and the rapists that go there. Oh, were Ed "Not Complicit" Sheeran and the Fray's Isaac Slade only able to be brave enough to comment on these as well! WHY can't Olivia Rodrigo understand that there are good people on BOTH SIDES?? Why can't she be BRAVE enough to meet in the peaceful middle space here? Between the college women who are being raped and the rapists who are raping them?! Surely we can all get along here?!?!
• Might be too late at this point in the blog post (sorry), but I forgot to say a couple weeks ago that Frank Turner is retiring.