i'm not getting any younger
fixation on a new record from deadguy; crushed, nilufer yanya, pig pen
alright so first things first, i’m back in the bootleg game and selling shirts in anticipation for this weekend’s oasis reunion. preorders start today and run until next weekend. allow 4-6 wks for fulfillment but probably less time than that. you can cop here: https://acollectivefeeling.myshopify.com/products/aquiesce
big record of the week
Deadguy - Near-Death Travel Services
7.5/10
Deadguy’s first record in 30 years sounds like their last record, and I think that’s worth talking about. even if you’re not a fan of Deadguy or aggressive music in general, ask yourself something: when’s the last time you heard a good reunion record? i feel like i can count the amount of good reunion records ever on two hands, if i’m being generous. especially if you put three decades between records.
i went to the Deadguy reunion show at St. Vitus in Brooklyn and it was one of the best shows i’ve seen from a “legacy” act, if you can call them that. their 1995 album, Fixation On A Coworker, is the definition of a cult classic. the record was only found in bargain bins and discogs searches for years, shared among friends with mediafire links and pre-vevo youtube videos of the album art with the song in the back. one thing was clear at the show: in 26 years or so, the band hadn’t lost a step. they definitely didn’t have to make a new record, or even call it a Deadguy record, to make a statement.
if there’s one thing i love about the new Deadguy record, it’s that the lyrics are still operating on the same plane as the last record, but Near-Death Travel Services is cynical and punk in the service of positivity. where Fixation is a brutal sort of record that teeters on the edge of insanity, making the listener wonder when the speaker is going to snap, Services is clear about its targets and its disdain for everyone making daily life worse for the people around them.
i think out of all of this, the record just makes me happy in general, even if i’m not listening to it all the time and it probably won’t make any top 10 lists or reach the sort of acclaim its predecessor did. it’s a good record, it’s a solid piece of art. it’s something the people involved should be proud of. it’s something any listener can feel positive and excited about. i realize more and more every day that i’m not getting any younger. i worry that the future may hold nothing as promising as my past. i worry it’s all over and i’ll never be able to say “we’re so back.” but i listen to the new Deadguy record and think “30 years is such a long time from now and there’s no way those guys were thinking about making a kick-ass reunion record 30 years ago.” hell yeah.
more stuff i listened to
crushed - starburn (single)
my fav record from 2023 was the extra life ep from crushed and wow the new single is so good. i’ve listened upwards of 20 times. this week, i made an excuse to run some errands in the evening so i could drive around with the windows down and stare off at the sunset behind the mountains while listening to this song. great vibe. this is your last chance to say you were into this band before they blew up. they’re touring near you this fall, go see them.
nilüfer yanya - dancing shoes ep
8/10
nilüfer yanya makes this odd kind of laid-back groovy indie pop that doesn’t fit neatly into one box, and so it’s hard to explain it adequately but it’s all extremely good. the tracks here are on the minimalist end of the spectrum compared to some of the songs on her 2024 lp, My Method Actor, but they’re not holding anything back. i don’t know what it is, but i’m always really impressed by the beats as much as yanya’s vocals. it’s clear that she’s got such a complete vision of how this should sound, from tone to lyrics to presentation, that it’s hard to find anything bad about it. really excited to see her open for alex g later this year. a friend called it a perfect pairing and i can’t disagree with that at all.
pig pen - mental madness
unrated/10
oh you know what, it would be SO easy to be SO cynical about a record from the hardcore-adjacent chef who plays the handyman on The Bear and really rip this record a new one but i’m not going to do that because the structure here is frankly not dissimilar from a lot of the hardcore i like. it’s not bad, i just don’t think i’m the target audience for it. someone who’s not chained to his desk and blogging about heavy music every week could probably stand to listen to this. show this to your college-aged brother and blow his shit clear across the room. and if he likes it, show him a cro-mags record and ruin his life the old-fashioned way.
thx for reading. more soon. peace.