It's not clocking to you that I'm standing on business
Talking about Brian Wilson, Jay Z, upcoming show(s), our friends' bands, and the greatest music biopic ever made.
Good morning from another in a string of the hottest days I’ve ever experienced. I complain about the heat every summer; it’s a time-honored tradition and it’s not going to stop now. But there are much more important things to talk about today.
Next month, we’ll be at Skylark with our buddies Cheap Kids as a part of The Sound’s Summer Mixtape, a crazy-stacked weekend of gigs around town presented by them and Rockin’ Rochester. Honored to have been asked to be a part of this MF! I love Cheap Kids and we’ve never played at Skylark before.
That’s crazy to me! All these years playing in bands in Rochester, and never once have we gone Full Meatball Mode (they serve meatballs there) (and that’s what they call it when you play at Skylark). Come see us on July 17th. Literally just two great bands at a cool bar on a Thursday in the summer with all your friends. Might find a way to try and serve popsicles. Also, look at the price. What the hell? Unreal. See you there.
“There are many things to love about music”
This is just one of many totally normal things I said on the radio yesterday when talking about the late Brian Wilson on WXXI’s Connections. You can watch the whole hour below.
I was really, truly honored to be asked to be on this show about Brian with Alex Northrup and Ben Morey, both of whom I’ve played drums for at various points over the last decade. It’s a very easy-going conversation with folks who take music seriously and have a deep love for one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, and I think you’ll enjoy listening.
Love & Mercy
Alex (whose Substack you can read here, by the way) and I hung out on Saturday and did the most Alex-and-Jake shit I could think of: saw a matinee of Love & Mercy and rode our motorcycles. So cool; life can be very beautiful.
Love & Mercy, for my money, is the best music biopic we have. Obviously I’m primed to love this movie, but it really does have everything. Piper and I started watching it again last night. I never get sick of watching Paul Dano and John Cusack portray Brian at different ages. The studio stuff is so cool. The Dr. Landy stuff (Giamatti Mode) is menacing and compelling. If you haven’t seen this movie, see it!
Al Barile guitar jump
SS Decontrol’s Al Barile died earlier this year of rectal cancer. There is lore about him selling all of his music equipment to buy a jet ski - which is true - and I think that could potentially be seen as a tragic punk-to-yuppie movie if taken in bad faith.
But Barile was rightfully beloved, and his legacy as a straight-edge pusher and true punk rightfully secured. He was also a pretty vocally progressive dude until the day he died - not always the case with the OG hardcore set, but not surprising for someone like Al.
I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate his stage athleticism. His guitar jumps are unmatched, for my money, and I literally have every photo I could find of him flying across the stage with his guitar saved to my camera roll, just to have.
Been listening to a lot of SSD recently, and had a funny thought of “Wow, the cover of The Kids Will Have Their Say sure looks like a bunch of skinheads storming the capitol.” Made me think twice about buying the shirt. I’m still thinking about it.
Jay Z Reasonable Doubt
Revisited this timeless fuckin’ album the other day at the gym. Listen to this today, it’s got so much heat on it. The song with Jay and Memphis Bleek is, like, cute. You’ll see. They’re kind of falling in love.
Magic, Alive!
This is a good record. I completely slept on his 2023 album Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? because the album art didn’t click with me (being vulnerable here). Check him out, much to love here.
Three guitars
I’m seeing Shy Tooth tonight at The Bug Jar, if anybody even cares!!! They put out a 3-song EP earlier this month, which goes crazy, and I’m excited to see these songs live. Can’t wait to see the lads. This music video is crazy, I love them.
Girlie Pop Official
Listened to the new Haim record yesterday and liked it! I especially like the second half. Good driving music, too. One of the later tracks on the album samples a U2 song which I only really recognized from listening to U Talkin’ U2 to Me? for so many years.
Hopped over to Reddit, though, to see if anybody else was talking about it - and of course they were. Found this comment that I really wanted to share because I was tickled by the self-awareness, and I agree with the spirit of it. I also remember, as a Rock Dude, how uncool it was to like Haim back then.
Okay, that’s it! Each and every one of you is my family. I hope you have a great day today. If I sweat through another white T-shirt I’m going to walk into traffic.
With love,
Jake + B.N.