Ben Kweller – “Dollar Store” (ft. Waxahatchee)
Echoes of Death Cab’s “Cath” on this single from Kweller (with choral support from Katie Crutchfield), but at the pace and intensity of Smashing Pumpkins‘ “Rhinoceros,” crescendoing in a pop-indie explosion that’s head-banging and catchy like the cold. The lyrics float from generic and low-priced to existential:
We’re living in a simulation,
I’ll meet you at the dollar store
The dollar store (Dollar Tree and Dollar General are the big players) is a scavenger-capital creation that’s popped up in rural areas and small towns across the country, putting local generals out of business with low low prices and then, in the vein of their sexier tech counterparts Uber and Doordash, jacking up prices when they’ve killed off the competition. If you’ve been in a Dollar Tree or Dollar General, you know the quality of goods is lower than the prices, an issue for the towns they occupy when there’s nowhere else to get groceries or other necessities.
They’ve also been found to use bait-and-switch pricing tactics, where something might be marked for a dollar in the aisle and end up being a buck-fifty at the register. Chump change, one may think, but every penny counts for the typical dollar store customer, and it seems their owners treat them like bones-for-the-picking rather than valued regulars.
Dollar stores really are the lowest common denominator of consumerism. If those perfume ads want their customers feeling like they’re sailing through the sky with eagles and hyper-beautiful demigods, dollar stores want the people walking through the door to know they’re worth about as much as generic brand blue drink on the shelves.
Calling it quits, good as gets.
Yellow House – “Better Views”
Alright the dollar store rant was a bit depressing. Let’s all take a step back and relax with a light-groove bass line and some summery guitar arpeggios courtesy of Yellow House. I dug this one out of my Chill Tunes for Baboons playlist, created in August 2019. Am I going to defend the name of this playlist? No. Will I stand by its eclectic assortment of music you can throw on as you don your noise-canceling headphones and the plane takes off on the red-eye back home? Yes. I did just that last night.
Another thing I did was foolishly accept a water from the flight attendant and not immediately drink it. I left it on the tray in front of me then fell into one of those upright plane stupors. When I, of course, jolted out of half-sleep I knocked the water up and onto my knee and upon the floor of the aisle. I turned to the girl two seats to my left with a half-grin and a “I never do this sort of thing” look, but she saw the lie in that and went back on her phone.
She’s lookin’ at the expiration
All that you want, and more
01099 – “Augenblick” (ft. Gustav, Paul)
Thanks to reliable OFNL-feeder Tim L. (from Allentown!) for sending some German bounce my way. Or should I say danke?
Junior Varsity – “Cross the Street”
A playful indie ripper, ripped off OFNL fan Phil G’s Work in Progress playlist. Whatever he’s got progressing, it’s working.
(Is it weird I really want to hopscotch and jump rump on hot asphalt while listening to this one? Oh, ok. I’m the only one. Sure. God forbid I ever open up again.)
This town makes your mind meltdown
Slow Pulp – “Idaho” (Live at Palisade Studios)
A bit of a cheat here–I included the studio version of this tune in the October ’24 newsletter–but didn’t really write much about it. The live version is great and greatly timed (and album Moveys aptly named) as I just watched The Order staring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult. Jude, a grizzled FBI agent missing his estranged family, sets up shop in northern Idaho during the early 1980s as he tries to prevent a local white supremacist cell from becoming a full-blown militia. Leading the titular Order is Hoult, whose cold, smirking portrayal of the cell’s youthful leader perfectly matches Jude’s desk drawer whiskey bottle performance.
The throughline of the movie to the present day is the propaganda novel, The Turner Diaries, which inspired white supremacist terrorism from Oklahoma City to the Capitol steps.
…and the rest of ’em… Great Lake Swimmers tune in with some Drive-by Trucker-esque chords… The Airborne Toxic Event gives the Killers a run for their money… a wet one from Wet… another Tim L. rec? (do the old stuff!)… and Land of Talk just wants you to listen for once…
https://twitter.com/realBurhanAzeem/status/1889127975011979436
My home city of Cambridge passed the nation’s most comprehensive zoning reform last night. It may not seem like a lot, but legalizing four-story buildings across the city is a big first step to undoing the damge of decades of exclusionary zoning. Well done Cambridge and hopefully this serves as a beacon for the rest of the country to follow!
–Ned
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