7th Poll, Train Never Stops, News, New Poll

No, I'm not making apocalyptic porn

Hey kids, I feel like the past few weeks had been my longest absence and I hate that. I’ve probably got too much on my plate and I’ll spell it out here to give myself some sort of excuse for the lack of reviews (but when my schedule normalizes in the fall I know it’ll get better).

What I am doing right now:
Full time film major/English minor at UC Santa Barbara

Applying to Graduate School (taking the GRE next week)

Pitching a short film next week, Until The Very Last Moment (6 month production, decent budget, will take up every weekend from now until March)

Submitted my last film Chimes Of Gaviota: or I've Got The Real Estate Blues to the SBIFF (Santa Barbara International Film Festival) and making a special edition DVD

Finishing a script with a PHD student about the war in IRAQ to be produced in the fall

Working at Video Services (taping lectures, events, etc.)

Writing articles for Artsweek, the entertainment section of our school newspaper, The Daily Nexus

Will be writing articles for WORD, a local Isla Vista magazine

Playing shows as Existential Hero and making another album or two

Being an active member of CLLCT

And of course writing for Foggy Ruins Of Time

I’m sure there are those crazier than I, but I’m hustlin’ as much as I can. Again I think when I start having classes and my film gets started, the time will be more regimented and I’ll actually have no excuse to not give you more reviews and interviews.

So if you look below there is a review of the new Just Joans album (hint: it’s pretty darn fantastic), and right now I’m working on a review for the new Let’s Whisper EP. Hopefully next week I’ll have my long delayed interviews with Star from The Elated Sob Story, Rusty Anderson from The Top Grossing Films Of 1984 and Rob and Max from (Gang Of) Virgins. I’ve also received a few new CDs in the mail so look for some new faces soon.

Oh yeah, that poll:



Wall-E and The Dark Knight were so very close and as a tag team they did well too. I suspect The Dark Knight won because of Wall-E’s divisive philosophy on the future of the human race; although, both movies kind of share that view. Shame on those who haven’t seen either, but I suspect that by now they will have. And who the hell liked Hancock over the other two? Will Smith is pretty charming, but that movie was a mess.

I was planning to write a review of The Dark Knight, but seeing it in IMAX never panned out. I may write one eventually.

NEW POLL, check it out and leave any comments here.

Okay, so thanks everyone for being patient, I should be back on track soon.

Mp3:
The Brooke (a tiny ocean)-"Born On A Train

The Just Joans: Hey Boy... You're Oh So Sensitive (2008)

The Scottish kids are back with their second album on Wee Pop! Records, Hey Boy… You’re Oh So Sensitive. A bit more somber than Virgin Lips, The Just Joans still manage to mock and praise (quite beautifully) how we all become during the messy complications known as relationships (or lack thereof).

Hey Boy… kicks off with the title track where the sensitive boy in question tries as many possible ways under the sun (Woody Allen six-disc boxset, art school classes, glasses, etc.) to try and get a girlfriend, but is consistently rejected by the sweetly cruel refrain, “Hey boy, you’re oh so sensitive/But I’m afraid I’m just not interested.” Even in an age of ever growing “understanding men,” women still savor rejecting, or perhaps even since nerdy guys still want ass, women can see through the charade.

“What Do We Do Now?” is simply put, The Just Joans's masterpiece. Framed by two clips from what I assume is the same show, the song reflects on experiences of young twenty-somethings who return home after years of university, work, the road, or just time away. The act of reminiscing is placed under the microscope and The Just Joans capture perfectly the melancholy of growing up and growing apart. There is still humor but in the grip of a mortal sense of sadness when they sing, “What do we do now?/Now we’re ten years older/The bands we loved are dead/The bands we loved are dead/ I’ll always think of you/Whenever I smell cider/But it won’t be the same again.”

The rest of Hey Boy… vacillates between feelings of loathing, “Ma Baby (He’s Boring)” “The Telly’s Shite… Without You” and insecurity with and “The Kisses At The End Of His Texts” and “Grant Kelly.” Doesn’t give me much confidence in love, but I’m sure The Just Joans feel the same way.

Overall on Hey Boy… You’re Oh So Sensitive The Just Joans preoccupation with the utter failure of relationships leads to uncomplicated instrumentation and gripping narratives that play out like episodes on TV or short films (there is in fact a lot of sampled audio). It’s almost unbelievable, but then again, it happens everyday right in our own living rooms.

Video for Hey Boy... You're Oh So Sensitive:


Mp3:
The Just Joans-"What Do We Do Now?"

Link:
The Just Joans on Myspace!
Wee Pop! Records

The Just Joans: Virgin Lips (2007)

Virgin Lips the new EP from The Just Joans, “self-confessed losers from Motherwell,” lives up to its promise as an ode to teenage angst and longing. The opener “Virgin Lips” is a carnivalistic teasing about a girl trying to prove she’s “loved” someone. When we were youngsters we all desperately tried to think we were mature physically with others and this song embodies the type of anxieties we all had rather humorously. A song like “Lookin’ Like Rain” is a perfect example of something we would write after a break up championing the ironies that we so often look too hard for. This is exemplified by the hook, “She said ‘let’s go for a walk’/Cuz she said that ‘We needed to talk’/ So I said ‘I’ll just get my coat cuz its lookin’ like rain’/ I didn’t know right I was.” The somber piano illuminates the mood, but it also points how melodramatic we were (and can still be). The cover of The Cure’s “Pictures of You” is played beautifully and straight. It’s slower, placing emphasis on the lyrics reflecting how we all take songs and make them about ourselves. Using The Rugrats theme as the basis for “These Boots Are Made For Stalking” is another clever nod to the childish angst we experience growing up especially when we get obsessive about someone (Check out the hilarious and relatable stalking story in the liner notes). The Just Joans Virgin Lips is a humorous and honest homage to all the people whose love lives are not always the most successful. This album exemplifies all the times when we failed in love and that meant the entire world was ending.

Mp3:
The Just Joans-"Lookin' Like Rain"

Music Video for "Lookin' Like Rain"


Links:
The Just Joans on myspace
Wee Pop! Records