Apr 10th, 2010 - Retract that last statement
Sooo, I (Mickey) wrote that I was going to start reviewing the album reviews we have. And I also said that it would be in good fun. But as I started to write the first one I realized that it would be the kind of good fun bully's had sitting on my head when I was in Elementary School. You know, the kind where no one wins, and by no one I mean myself. Everything I wrote came off as either insulting or just plain unfunny. And I wish to promote neither of those two things. While insulting critics is fun and awesome I will keep it to myself, laugh at my petty witticisms and never print them.
We're working on material to put out a new EP, hopefully this year. The songs are sounding great and we're going to be whipping them out at our live shows. I suggest you come check them out sometime! You can start tonight (April 10th) at Casselman's Bar and Venue!
Finally, it's that time again for us to push our way onto the Warped Tour with The Battle of the Bands! You can vote everyday, so if you've got the time, please do! It's been great the past 3 years and we'd love to keep it going! Thanks for your help!
Mickey
Apr 5th, 2010 - Reviews
Since we released our second album, The Politics of Apathy, the record has been critiqued by a number of people from many different publications and outlets. These reviews have made for an interesting reading experience. We've had positive reviews, as well as negative ones. To see how people interpret our music, for better or worse, is surprising and sometimes confusing to me, but always entertaining. And as they say, "any press is good press".
This is all good and great, but in reading many of album's reviews I have questioned the effort put forth by some of our critics. In some instances I wonder if the reviewer listened to the entire album, or the first thirty seconds of our first song before typing away. Other times I wonder if they wrote it in a stream of consciousness, Jack Kerouac lack of punctuation style without a thought towards editing. We've also had well written pieces that have both blasted and praised the album. Either way, I've come to the conclusion that music critics should also be held to the same standard of the music they are judging. Their output is a reflection of their talents, insight and ability as a writer that should be open to the same public criticism and praise that the music they judge is. And it is with this petty thought that I will start reviewing our reviews. I do not intend to use this platform as a chance to rail against the people who did not like our music, though that would be a great series in itself. No, this is really just something to keep me, and perhaps you, coming back to our website to have a little fun with what people take so seriously!
Mickey
Jan 29th, 2010 - Download our new album for as little as 1 penny!
That's right kiddies, our new album, "The Politics of Apathy" (featured to the left of this blog) is available for download at any price--1 penny and above--through Pay Pal. Stream our new tunes here, buy 'em piece-meal through iTunes here, gloat over your awesome purchases here.
Dec 12th, 2009 -
2012
Does this right: excellent special effects, and maintaining an air of nonchalance through the violence, which makes the movie slightly palatable. It just doesn’t quite go far enough into that territory, where it would have excelled as a farce.
In a nutshell, if bright flashing lights and moving pictures are the kind of thing that get your shorts all steamy, then this is the flick that warrants a couple changes of underwear, because 2012 is nothing and I mean nothing if not visually appealing.
Yes, apart from the extravagant CGI—if you have time to think in between having your mind completely fucking blown, man—the film falters considerably. After all, it is a Roland Emmerich film, and as such, 2012 showcases all the inane blockbuster-movie caveats that have their way with the best of his intentions: cheesy and predictable one-liners go hand-in-hand with dramatic hyperbole; deeper meaning and emotional connection are scrambled beneath an impossible storyline that chucks facts in favor of ‘dem fancy graphics.
And now I shall complain.
Ahem.
The dog and the kids survive, despite Armageddon’s best attempts to off them; the guy gets the girl over the dead body of the unnecessarily mauled beau, as if to say, “Take that, you bastard! That’ll teach you for being an all right fellow, with a fine mind and a full set of teeth who only desires to do right by the woefully undersexed Amanda Peet (playing the woefully undersexed Kate Curtis); the really bad dude gets his comeuppance and learns a thing or two on the way, uh, down (goddam immature moralizing!); and Emmerich even jams in a wet t-shirt scene courtesy of Tamara (played very attractively by Beatrice Rosen). That last one wasn’t all bad, I suppose, just another obvious bit of pandering to the teenage males who are paying for Emmerich’s personal jet.
That isn’t to say that the film lacks a message or a motive, it’s just that both are poorly wrought. Emmerich tries to get a point across about religion-versus-science or right vs. wrong or something; he hints at it here and there throughout the film (see the unintentionally hilarious Sisteen Chapel demolition) and it all builds to the drab climax where the character whom Emmerich deems fit to wear the morality cape, Adrian Helmsley (played by the under-appreciated-in-this-film Chiwetel Ejiofor) finally confronts his pasty, money grubbing boss. And though Helmsley does triumph, the scene doesn’t go down the way we want; i.e., it doesn’t involve mixed martial arts and some kick-ass UnitedStatesifyin’ Kid Rock. Instead, it happens with a shoulder shrug and a nod to the obvious. The seconds count down and there is no sense of urgency, just a very slight sigh of finality and the realization that there are a few more scenes of crazy shit to swallow before the apocalypse finally blows its load.
And if sexual references in poor taste are my downfall, then predictability is 2012’s. The destruction scenes melt into one another and stop mattering entirely once one learns that there is never a doubt as to who is going to make it out of the fire or the water or the ice or the plane or the earthquake or the flaming balls of molten earth-bomb-stuff without a scratch. Hence, there is no reason to care. And there is nothing between the chaos to hold the movie together; the film becomes one meaningless natural disaster after another: a highlight real for the CGI team.
I recommend watching this movie some night when you’ve got nothing else to do. It is fun, but a good film it is not. It’s just, well, another blah bit o’ story heaped together with some sweet eye candy. That is, it says nothing but looks nice. If you’re already a fan of Emmerich’s films, this one won’t make you rethink your life choices.
P.S. To everyone who contends that the Mayan prophecy was downplayed in this movie: So what? Because it was played up in the previews? If you still believe previews preview the movie then you need to learn how to wear pants on your legs and not over your eaty-end-for-meats-and-drinnkinlikker. Previews preview what a studio hopes the audience wants, not the actual movie. Besides, if the film had expounded on the intricacies of the Mayan prophecy then it would have been titled 2012: The Mayans Laugh Last and would have involved the Discovery Channel and a voiceover by Morgan Freeman. The prophecy is mentioned more than a few times and when you get right down to it, once Armageddon actually arrives, would anyone really give a shit if the Mayans had it all figured out? I know it’ll be the last thing on my mind at least. I’ll be too busy boarding up my room, oiling my shotgun and setting up my Xbox360 for a marathon run of “Left 4 Dead 2”.
Dec 5th, 2009 - Licking Envelopes
In the daily tasks of my work I usually have the pleasure of licking at least one envelope a day. If you lick envelopes, you know the joys I speak of. So one can imagine how excited I was to cut my tounge with an envelope while licking it today. Besides the sting of the papercut, I was reminded of an urban myth where a person who gets an envelope papercut ends up with cockroach eggs in their tounge (which were for some reason on the sticky part of the envelope), therefore hosting the eggs until they hatch in the person's mouth. I did a little research and now feel that it's probably just that, a myth. But just to be safe I'm going to drink a lot of alcohol tonight at the Parade of Lights to kill any little buggers that might be growing in my tounge because I licked an envelope with a little too much vigor.
Mickey