America, I think I saw your heart

There’s just a lot of music to talk about today. I haven’t even had a chance to listen to some of it, but let’s get some links going so you can crank it up.

One quick thing about TV first: something I don’t love doing is recommending a show while it’s still on because what if I say “watch it” and then it sucks. Well, Widow’s Bay (Apple TV) has only gotten even better in the three episodes since I mentioned it so everybody say “good call, Crit!” Really great stuff from Katie Dippold and Hiro Murai and Matthew Rhys and Stephen Root and Kate O’Flynn.

Shoutout to Old Bay Goldfish. That’s the stuff.

Anyways, here’s some music. I have been listening to last week’s playlist a bunch and I have to say, it rocks.

ssa lin - baby

I’ve been listening to this one a ton on Bandcamp and as of today it’s out on your favorite streaming service. Eight great songs dripping with desire and sex and alcohol and nicotine.

Josaleigh Pollett - “The Witness”

I’m sure you listened to this song the first time I told you to but just in case, here it is again. This might just end up being my favorite song of the year.

“Could it be that we arrived at truer places once we stopped following the map?”

Molly O’Malley - Jeepers Creepers

I have been a fan and internet friend of Molly for many years and I am so happy her debut LP is finally here… and it rules. The self-described “overcast pop” maker is much more than that, shifting sounds and instruments genres from track to track, but always creating an atmosphere that extends to the album art.

Labrador - The Rosy Red World

The first two singles were great and I can’t wait to dive into this whole thing. To quote frontman Pat King, “If you like big guitars, down and dirty Mod/garage rock, soul music, and songs against fascism, this is the record for you.”

Compandas - “I Just Quit My Job at the Liquor Store”

This new band featuring members of Short Fictions has a record coming out next month on Lauren Records and the first single whips.

phoneswithchords - “Summer of ‘91 (America)”

A summer road trip song that would be a great soundtrack to any summer roadtrip. The moment when the drums build and crash around the four-minute mark just soars.

“America, America
I think I saw your heart
I think I saw your heart
Still looking for your heart.”

Death Cab For Cutie - I Built You a Tower

I thought the first two singles were alright, and I’m curious to check the whole thing out. I sort of fell out of true love with the band for awhile but really loved Asphalt Meadows (2022) and the acoustic version of that record they put out in 2023. Facts, Photo, Trans, and Plans will always have a special place in my heart no matter what.

Cinema Stare - “FML”

After another long shift at the pop-punk banger factory, Cinema Stare is back with another pop-punk banger.

Good June - Afterimage EP

I really like this emo/pop-punk band from Boston and I’m excited to check out this new EP.

Weezer - “We Might As Well Be Strangers”

You never know what you’re gonna get with a new Weezer song but this one rocks.

What else? Uhh…

Shoutout to Scott Pelley. Bari Weiss and Nick Bilton, eat shit.

The guy with the Nazi tattoo totally sucks? Who could have seen that coming other than anyone who saw that he had a Nazi tattoo? Maine is a wonderful state and it doesn’t deserve all this negative attention. If you think you hate Maine go visit Acadia or get a lobster roll at Red’s or have a meal at Crispy Gai or eat some Parlor Ice Cream and then get back to me.

Last week I mentioned a trans woman found dead in Houston. She has been identified as Persia Amarra Conway. RIP.

This is another amazing episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out. You just never know where this story is going to go, I can promise you that. It’s about Harambe, but it’s so much more.

“Artificial intelligence is an anti-community technology whose principal civic innovation is to reduce social trust and engender a greater sense of unreality in our lives.” - Matt Pearce

“Being open to the possibility that LLMs are conscious is the same as being open to the possibility that Microsoft Word is conscious, or, more precisely, that multiple distinct consciousnesses are dormant in every Word document containing a conversational transcript, and that they are awakened every time the document is loaded.” - Ted Chiang

“I see and read the word tool in rambling paragraphs evangelizing on the nature of [AI]. Claiming that they are for writers, and for editors, or everyone who strings words out onto the page. As if you can hold AI on the grip, near the base, and loosen your wrist just enough to know you have control. But this betrays the nature of tools, and humans, and ideas. It subverts the idea of creation, and thrives on unseen and unbidden destruction.” - Anxiety Shark

“At least 97 of the more than 1,500 individuals granted clemency by President Trump for their roles in the January 6 Capitol attack have been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of crimes separate from Jan. 6 since their participation in the riot.” - Lawfaremedia.org

Teapot Dome was the worst scandal in American history (before Watergate) which involved about $9 million adjusted for inflation. Trump’s ballroom donors have won $50 billion in contracts after making their donations. That’s 55,500% bigger than Teapot Dome. It’s just all corruption.

After ICE deported Wendy Hernandez Reyes, it turned her 3-year-old son Orlin over to her sister’s estranged partner, who tortured Orlin and beat him to death. The details here are grisly and I won’t type them out. Abolish ICE yesterday. RIP, little guy. I’m so sorry we are led by monsters.

A real quote from the actual president that doesn’t make any more sense in context: “Today, we just hit another number, number 69 is all-time high today. And we have a war going on.”

I love Payton Tolle. I love you. Bye.