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Another year, another trip back North for Thanksgiving. And for some reason, it doesn't get any less exciting to make the trek.

Thanks to everyone who's done anything or been there for me this past year, and that probably includes you. Have a great Thanksgiving, and travel safely.

Just a note to anyone in CT who may be reading this, I'll be appearing on Saturday night at Nellie Green's in Branford (50 Maple St.) with Pat Oates, Davin Rosenblatt, and Howie Mason. I haven't seen or worked with these guys before, but the show should be pretty good. It's $8 and starts at 9pm.

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Hipsters, lovelorn punks, wide-eyed poets, and every self-righteous music geek who’s been late to the party anytime since 1996, rejoice! Blake Schwartzenbach has a new band. Apparently, they’re called The Thorns of Life (oooh- literate!) and from what I’ve heard, they sound pretty good. Possibly like Jets to Brazil and/or Jawbreaker (Just a wild conjecture there… just a guess). Anyway, since the uber-worshipped Blakis Maximus has crossed well into the world of his 40’s yet remains subversively relevant, I’m going to hit you all with my latest nerd-list. That’s right. What time is it? Rank the tracks on Jawbreaker’s 1994 masterpiece “24 Hour Revenge Therapy” o’clock! Start your engines…

1. Do You Still Hate Me?
   You know when you and someone you care about deeply are drifting apart, and you never know, but you suspect that they’re mad at you about something? Well, this gem hits that nail on the head with a 2-ton hammer. Also, it’s one of the most driving, catchy, pieces of awesome that the band ever generated.
2. Jinx Removing
   One of the best choruses that the 90’s produced. This one could easily bump itself to the #1 spot on this list depending on the day, for me. My jaw drops the second the beat drops. Or, guitar distortion, whatever. The line “I was just the same, 20 blocks away,” has that all-encompassing ‘I’m young, lovelorn, and broke, but when I stand on the hill, breathe in the air, and look out over the bay, I know everything’s going to be alright’ subtext down to a T.
3. Indictment
   I love how the all 3 instruments collapse in perfect synchronicity into the chorus, which is almost as stellar as the one in “Jinx Removing.” Give it up for one of my favorite lyrics of the last twenty years: “While everyone’s depressed and broke, I get high off your sick jokes.” Also, hilarious in a pessimistic way: “So crazy that it just might work, then we’ll quit our jobs. We could be the next group that you rob.”
4. Boxcar
   This song provides a healthy Danza-slap to all the kids who screamed “sellout” as soon as the 'Breakers hopped on a leg of Nirvana’s self-loathing stadium tour. I mean, of course, these kids, many of whom never really had to struggle for anything in their lives, have every right to criticize their beloved Blake for wanting to make money and get attention to the band he’s been busting his ass for! I mean, if it weren’t for kids like that, who would be around to turn the punk scene into one gigantic joke and belittle everything that Blake, Jeff Ott, Tim Armstrong, Ian MacKaye, et al. have accomplished? Anyway, this song pwns.
5. Condition Oakland
   Ditto for that “young, lovelorn, living in the bay area, yet nostalgic” aura. The extensive Kerouac sample on here is the conceptual Pièce de résistance. Way too many bands have tried this same thing, but never to this level of execution (see the Ataris with their “Bronx Tale” and “Good Will Hunting” samples).
6. Ache
   The distorted backing vocals are a good starting point, but when the song vaults into the resignation part toward the end (“So right, so wrong, another winter’s coming on”) then it’ll make your jaw drop.
7. Outpatient
   As far as songs that vividly recount getting throat surgery in a foreign country go, this song is tops. The slow build to raucous, crashing musical climax score this one valuable points.
8. The Boat Dreams from the Hill
   “Boat on a hill, never going to sea, anchored to a fixer-upper’s dream.” METAPHOR SANDWICH!! A pretty good way to kick this record off. Adam Pfahler’s terrific tumble of drumbeats is a nice touch at the top.
9. In Sadding Around
   A terrific closing track, especially since the first line involves ‘sleeping off the last five years.’ The last line? “I say hello and it’s goodbye again.” Sob!
10. West Bay Invitational
    Something about a party, something about unity. Magnetic enough to call itself a Jawbreaker song, but that’s about it.
11. Ashtray Monument
    Same thing here. I hate to spit on a subgenre’s greatest poet laureate, but not everything that the tandem of Schwarzenbach/Bauermeister/Pfahler ground out was endearing and catchy. In fact, this track is the only one on 24, in my opinion, that falls into their pile of tuneless filler. See “Bivouac” and “Dear You” for more (but not a ton) of fine examples of this.

So, there you all have it. Hope you liked my take on yet another awesome album. To answer all of the “kids’” collective issue, I’m not ‘missing the point.’ I just calls them as I hears them. And you can’t understand a damn thing that Blake sings, anyway.

Enjoy/savor "Jinx Removing":


And "Boxcar." These videos were shot in Austin, TX 13 years ago this week.

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I'm pretty sure that everyone who reads this site knows how brilliant The Onion is (especially during this election cycle), but I found this particularly spot-on, considering how it's been something I've been complaining about since YouTube struck.


YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A 'Good' Video

I'm not really sure if anyone who reads this site knows how wonderful The Gaslight Anthem are. I just got around to picking up on them, and their recent release The '59 Sound is great. Here (courtesy of our quality controllers at YouTube) is the altogether pleasant video for the title track. Good to see that the Jersey Shore Sound is alive and well! Enjoy this band before this record gets traction, their next one hits big, and they're watered down to crap! Hooray.

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Pretty rad.

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How’s it going? Hope you’re all doing well. I clearly wanted to make something out of those “make fun of ridiculous videos from MTV’s heyday” posts, but I had something of a false start. I’d be lying if I said you wouldn’t be seeing (several) more of those in the future, though…

Anyway, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, again. Thanksgiving is coming soon, and if that’s not good enough, the NHL season is in full swing, and THERE’S A NEW ‘THE BIG TAKEOVER’ PODCAST UP! Now, THAT’S progress. Take that one to the bank, Barack!

I haven’t written too much here about the Caps so far this season, but I have tons of faith in them this year to live up to, and exceed what they did last year. The only key is Ovechkin breaking out of this sluggish slump and netting two or three goals per week like last season. If the Caps get both Alexes firing on all cylinders simultaneously (Semin’s been phenomenal; 21pts, +11 through 13 games), then it won’t be far from the impact that Lemeiux and Jagr had back in the early 90’s. And neither of them is a jackass like Jagr. Well, Semin, sort of. But he's still great. At the risk of sounding like Lars Larson, a few English lessons wouldn't hurt.



The stars aside, no team can truly dominate without solid third and fourth lines, and I don’t feel like the checking line of Donald Brashear, Boyd Gordon, and Matt Bradley has gotten a fraction of the credit they deserve for their outstanding playmaking so far this year. They way that Brashear has been playing, you would forget that he’s the Caps’ enforcer. His numbers barely reflect the contribution he and the checkers have had on the Caps’ 8-4-2 record.



And now, this post's feature presentation:

THE BIG TAKEOVER PODCAST #4

I'm about to tack this onto the feed on iTunes, but I thought I'd dish it to you guys first, being as how the entry with Episode #3 got deleted. That was the one where I interviewed Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen. They played their big reunion gig this weekend in Austin, so hopefully that went well.

ON THIS EPISODE, I interviewed the standup comic Joe DeVito (Last Comic Standing, The Late Late Show, etc.), Jake interviews legendary lounge act/Arby's favorite Larry Poon, and we jabbered about this ridiculous election. Hope you enjoy it! Any questions or comments? Shows at tdcpresents dot com.



Just because this got dropped from the site on it's own entry, here's the link to episode 3:



These episode graphics are intentionally crude but the content itself isn't. Promise.

Of course, here is the link to directly subscribe to this thing on iTunes so you don't have to rely on my unreliable self to post this direct links. Much love.

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Say what you want to about democracy, but I haven't felt this good about it in a long time. California can kiss my ass regarding Prop 8, and Alaska can kiss my ass in general (Stevens? Really?), but right now let's take a long look forward. Thanks to Oliver Willis for digging up this cartoon. It was great randomly meeting him on the White House north lawn around 12:45 last night.

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Yes, Virginia, it is possible to have both the Israelis and the Palestinians behind you. I found this incredibly moving.



Let's DO this, America! BREAK