Apparently The Kids have found a couple of classic rock songs to replace the guitar freakout in Free Bird to accompany their Insta reels: I’ve heard Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls repeatedly to describe Gen-X related topics they have no firsthand experience with. Now it’s stuck in my head. I didn’t like this band when they were big, and I was sick of this song when it was popular. Goddamn it. [Cues up a Spotify playlist to wash the dirt out of my ears]
Huh, I must be on some kind of Soundgarden/grunge kick these past couple of weeks. The excellent Hands All Over is currently stuck in my head, and I’m not complaining.
As I mentioned earlier, I bought Louder Than Love in ’89 right after was released and it was on heavy rotation for the next couple of months. This was a welcome antidote to the heavy diet of hair metal I’d been exposed to in high school, and was one of several I bought at the same time: Nothing’s Shocking, Gish, and Pretty Hate Machine, which were definitely not being spun on local radio. Sadly, at that time Baltimore was not a regular stop on the concert circuit for most of these bands, so it was difficult to see them without going to D.C., which was difficult as a broke college freshman without a car.
Finn’s recollection of her time at camp typically begins with “I didn’t like it and I wanted to come home,” which makes me feel really good about the whole experience. She’ll go into exhaustive detail about what she didn’t like, starting with two annoying girls she was stuck with the whole week, and then list the mosquitoes, the food, the lousy mattresses, the snoring, and the cold.
Writing for the weekly mailbag at Defector, Albert Burnenko answered a reader question about this phenomena which put it into better perspective for me:
The funny thing here, Pete, is that the kids are enjoying themselves. Your daughter and nephew had a great time. They will remember that trip to Michigan for the rest of their lives. In their adulthood they will spend money and time trying to organize vacations that they will hope can replicate the simple and unspoiled joy that will be all they remember of that trip to Michigan. If you are lucky, you will hear them talking about it, and you will smile a private little smile at your memory of how they complained the entire time, and if you are wise and merciful you will know not to spoil their memory by reminding them of this.
Speaking in an episode of the conservative “Ruthless” podcast released on Tuesday, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said the move was “basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion”.
The US is poised to gut its current carbon emissions standards as part of Project 2025, which is terrible, terrible news for our country, our children, and our environment. This clown referring to “Climate change religion” is telling; another way to weaponize words along the fascist playbook. Personally, I’m happy to belong to this religion instead of “soulless corporate greed fuck-you billionaire religion”.
Following up on last week’s earworm, Outshined is now stuck in my head:
An absolutely superior song by all measurements. And featuring one of the grungiest of grunge videos: fire, chains, dirt, sparks, the combination of shirtless black shorts and combat boots… I feel like it’s 1993 all over again.
Bonus: Brad Pitt’s best cameo appearance. We should all aspire to be Floyd.
The problems at Schlitz weren’t all legal. Beginning in the early seventies, the brewer made a series of spectacularly disastrous decisions in an attempt to gain market share. The first of these blunders affected the quality of the beer itself.
Esquire did a fascinating article on the downfall of the Schlitz Brewing Company in the late 1970’s, which details how business was done in the 1970s, and how a struggle for market share led to the consolidation of the industry.
We’ve been on the road since Wednesday, moving from rented minivan to hotel to restaurant at a pace that has us all pretty exhausted. Someone who has been an absolute rock through this whole anxiety-ridden trip is this goofball, who has weathered the new environments like a veteran traveler. She’s a ball of energy, an expensive pharmacological experiment, a confused mixture of competing instincts, and a bedhog, but she’s also the best dog in the world.
I’ve had this fucking song stuck in my head for the past five days now, and it’s probably one of my least favorite songs this band ever produced. I had a cassette of Louder than Love in high school and played it until it wore out, but found that my appreciation for Soundgarden’s last two albums fell off sharply, minus a few songs. I didn’t pay much attention to Audioslave even though it was a mixture of two of my favorite 90’s bands; the styles and genre didn’t mesh as well as I had hoped it would even though they gave it everything they had.
RIP, Chris Cornell.
Update: The same day I posted this, I learned that a group of excellent musicians—William DuVall, (Alice In Chains), Bill Kelliher (Mastodon), Charlie Benante (Anthrax, S.O.D.), and Mark Menghi (Metal Allegiance) among others, formed King Ultramega to do covers of Soundgarden tracks during COVID, and just started releasing them, beginning with one of my favorites, Rusty Cage. All proceeds go to support the MusiCares Foundation.
It’s been quiet around these parts mostly because we’re busy with camp and travel and family commitments and work. Somehow not planning a major family vacation has made this summer busier than ever, or so it feels. Finn is off at her first week of sleep-away camp, and we are praying she is having herself a good time. We got back yesterday evening and got to bed early, but I still feel pretty wiped out. I hope the next two weeks go smoothly.