Apparently Christina Aguilera is supposed to be revealing a new sound on her upcoming album Bionic. With her new single, "Not Myself Tonight," that sound is apparently cacophonous electronic pop. Make no mistake, I have no problem with electronica or even most bad pop music. That what this blog's about, having questionable taste but enjoying it anyway.
That said, this track is not good.
It starts with a spoken intro and gives way to what seems to be the music behind Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack." And then the vocals. Oh the vocals. I literally could not understand the melody of the verses. Half-spoken, half-sung and at the end, scream-censored: I was very confused. I'd just like to say that I was reading the lyrics along with the song the whole time. It wasn't that I wasn't getting the words through all the quickly varying sounds, but as a whole, I'm not sure it made any sense.
Maybe I'm getting too deep with it, expecting to find meaning in a Christina Aguilera song. As a club track, it won't be terrible. When she's not singing, I actually don't hate it. But there are so many layers, bleep bloops and voices coming from every direction that even her own voice is lost in there. That's a problem. - Lanie
Look, I used to like Christina Aguilera a lot. That said, I haven't been into anything she's done since Stripped. Yeah. So I knew this wasn't going to be good for me. And then it started with spoken word and I cringed. Then I started singing Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" along with it, which, okay, if that was what you were going for, Xtina, then good job? I know people are doing that lately. (See example: being able to sing Britney Spears's "Womanizer" to Cobra Starship's "Nice Guys Finish Last" or being able to sing Blondie's "Call Me" to Muse's "Uprising.") But being able to sing "SexyBack" along with it was genuinely the best part of the song for me, and ... I don't like Justin Timberlake. The verses were a disaster, the entire concept of having a "pre-chorus" longer than the actual verse is something that grates on my nerves, and the chorus was nearly non-existent. And for this to be a pop song, the lack of a chorus is kind of going to be a huge flaw - pop music should have a catchy hook, and this track doesn't.
And let's not even discuss the faux-orgasm scream censorship and the idiotic spoken word at the end. - Julieann
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Whip It!
This movie is too cute to live!
Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It! is the feel good comedy of the year! I mean, no, okay, but it really is her debut, and she's also playing a character named Smashley Simpson (Lanie laughed really loudly at this when it was said in the theatre - she hearts Ashlee Simpson-Wentz) who is permanently stoned. And ridiculous!
So it's about this girl Bliss (Ellen Page) whose mommy is forcing her to be a beauty queen when clearly she just wants to be a hot probably-lesbian alternative girl. I mean, I don't know. (Ellen Page! Seriously!) So she ends up going to roller derby and then she tries out for roller derby and the rest is history.
Also, fucking roller derby, man. It's great to watch. I love it. I'd do it but you have to have health insurance, and I don't, or I would've tried out to be a DC Rollergirl. Just sayin'.
Anyway, it's really cute and kind of heartfelt and I almost cried just a little bit because seriously she just wants her mommy to be proud of her! And he hooks up with a douchebag boy in a band who is a douchebag but she pays him back and she makes the woman who wants to kick her ass into her friend or something and SERIOUSLY. Seriously this shit is great.
I loved it. I'd go see it again. I'd buy it on DVD! Yeah.
- Julieann
Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It! is the feel good comedy of the year! I mean, no, okay, but it really is her debut, and she's also playing a character named Smashley Simpson (Lanie laughed really loudly at this when it was said in the theatre - she hearts Ashlee Simpson-Wentz) who is permanently stoned. And ridiculous!
So it's about this girl Bliss (Ellen Page) whose mommy is forcing her to be a beauty queen when clearly she just wants to be a hot probably-lesbian alternative girl. I mean, I don't know. (Ellen Page! Seriously!) So she ends up going to roller derby and then she tries out for roller derby and the rest is history.
Also, fucking roller derby, man. It's great to watch. I love it. I'd do it but you have to have health insurance, and I don't, or I would've tried out to be a DC Rollergirl. Just sayin'.
Anyway, it's really cute and kind of heartfelt and I almost cried just a little bit because seriously she just wants her mommy to be proud of her! And he hooks up with a douchebag boy in a band who is a douchebag but she pays him back and she makes the woman who wants to kick her ass into her friend or something and SERIOUSLY. Seriously this shit is great.
I loved it. I'd go see it again. I'd buy it on DVD! Yeah.
- Julieann
Sunday, March 28, 2010
An Evening with Andrew McMahon @ Sixth & I Synagogue, Washington, DC 10/18/09
First, let me start by saying that seeing a concert at the (historic!) Sixth & I Synagogue in DC may sound like a really strange thing, but it was actually kind of incredible. Of course, sitting in a pew in a house of worship lends itself to a great many jokes about religion. (I was raised Baptist and am not Agnostic, for the record, and this was my first time being in a synagogue - or anything but a Christian facility, actually.)
The Sixth & I Synagogue is beautiful. It is absolutely, positively gorgeous, and the sound, sitting and watching Andrew McMahon play with just the piano and Bobby Raw accompanying him on acoustic guitar (and occasionally mandolin) was an experience unlike any other. It was pure, auditory perfection. In the balcony, Lanie and I couldn't see that well (in fact, it took me several minutes to realize Bobby Raw was onstage at all), but it didn't matter. The sound was so perfect that I didn't need to be able to see anything.
I love Andrew McMahon. This is a thing I am completely unashamed of. He is one of my heroes in life. If you are not familiar with him, he is the frontman of the piano rock bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin, and had a bone marrow transplant in 2005 while battling leukemia. The current tour is in support of the documentary he made while going through treatment, Dear Jack, which I'm sure we'll review as soon as it comes in. (I've got it on preorder for the release date of November 3.) His music has helped me get through difficult times in my life, and his personal battle has made me aspire to be a better person.
That said, I went into this show with the knowledge that I would probably cry, and that I had put on my regular mascara instead of the waterproof stuff. And yes, I teared up, right from the very beginning as McMahon opened the set with "Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)" from Jack's Mannequin's 2008 release The Glass Passenger.
I don't remember the precise order, but the songs played are vaguely as follows.
from Jack's Mannequin:
Hammers & Strings (A Lullaby)
Spinning
Crashing
Swim (Music Box version)
The Resolution
Bloodshot
Holiday From Real
Rescued
Bruised
Dark Blue
La La Lie (West Coast Winter version)
There There, Katie
The Mixed Tape
from Something Corporate
Walking By
Punk Rock Princess
The Astronaut
As You Sleep
21 and Invincible
covers:
Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead)
Moon River (Audrey Hepburn)
Dream (Everly Brothers)
Bobby Raw also played one song, which I don't remember the name of, other than McMahon sang harmony on it and it was very nice.
Yes, seeing him in a synagogue, watching him drink wine and tease Bobby Raw about drinking Mexican beer in a synagogue was strange, but the entire experience is one that I am extremely glad to have had. -Julieann
The Sixth & I Synagogue is beautiful. It is absolutely, positively gorgeous, and the sound, sitting and watching Andrew McMahon play with just the piano and Bobby Raw accompanying him on acoustic guitar (and occasionally mandolin) was an experience unlike any other. It was pure, auditory perfection. In the balcony, Lanie and I couldn't see that well (in fact, it took me several minutes to realize Bobby Raw was onstage at all), but it didn't matter. The sound was so perfect that I didn't need to be able to see anything.
I love Andrew McMahon. This is a thing I am completely unashamed of. He is one of my heroes in life. If you are not familiar with him, he is the frontman of the piano rock bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin, and had a bone marrow transplant in 2005 while battling leukemia. The current tour is in support of the documentary he made while going through treatment, Dear Jack, which I'm sure we'll review as soon as it comes in. (I've got it on preorder for the release date of November 3.) His music has helped me get through difficult times in my life, and his personal battle has made me aspire to be a better person.
That said, I went into this show with the knowledge that I would probably cry, and that I had put on my regular mascara instead of the waterproof stuff. And yes, I teared up, right from the very beginning as McMahon opened the set with "Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)" from Jack's Mannequin's 2008 release The Glass Passenger.
I don't remember the precise order, but the songs played are vaguely as follows.
from Jack's Mannequin:
Hammers & Strings (A Lullaby)
Spinning
Crashing
Swim (Music Box version)
The Resolution
Bloodshot
Holiday From Real
Rescued
Bruised
Dark Blue
La La Lie (West Coast Winter version)
There There, Katie
The Mixed Tape
from Something Corporate
Walking By
Punk Rock Princess
The Astronaut
As You Sleep
21 and Invincible
covers:
Friend of the Devil (Grateful Dead)
Moon River (Audrey Hepburn)
Dream (Everly Brothers)
Bobby Raw also played one song, which I don't remember the name of, other than McMahon sang harmony on it and it was very nice.
Yes, seeing him in a synagogue, watching him drink wine and tease Bobby Raw about drinking Mexican beer in a synagogue was strange, but the entire experience is one that I am extremely glad to have had. -Julieann
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Zombieland
(Another post from the archives of the past few months. We're working on new content to show up once we're done with these posts!)
Uhhh, holy shit.
That's kind of all I can say about this flick. Seriously. I didn't know a lot about it when I went in, other than some friends of mine saw and adored it on Friday night, and that it was supposed to be a zombie-fest in the vein of Shaun of the Dead.
It was hilarious. It made you like these characters and genuinely worry that they were going to get eaten by these zombies. It had Bill Murray.
Nothing about Zombieland really fell flat. It was funny from start to finish. It had great use of on-screen captions as it illustrated Columbus's (Jesse Eisenberg) rules for survival. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) was a riot in his quest for a Twinkie. All the man wanted was a Twinkie.
And man, you don't think a 12-year-old girl can be a badass? I give you Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). She'd blow your brains out and not think twice about it. And Witchita (Emma Stone)? Distractingly gorgeous. No seriously. Should she be that pretty whilst killing zombies? She's gonna give Milla Jovovitch a run for her money, ladies and gents.
Haven't seen Zombieland? Do it. After work today, go to your nearest theatre and catch this flick. It will make your day so much brighter that you'll wonder how it didn't exist before now.
- Julieann
This movie was 81 minutes of pure glee. By the time we saw this movie, the Bill Murray secret was still under wraps but oh holy shit. If you were a baby of the 80's and you have any affinity for the man, the entire time he's in the movie, you will be bouncing in your seat with excitement. It is awesome.
Seriously. Weeks later and I cannot wait until this comes out on video.
- Lanie
Uhhh, holy shit.
That's kind of all I can say about this flick. Seriously. I didn't know a lot about it when I went in, other than some friends of mine saw and adored it on Friday night, and that it was supposed to be a zombie-fest in the vein of Shaun of the Dead.
It was hilarious. It made you like these characters and genuinely worry that they were going to get eaten by these zombies. It had Bill Murray.
Nothing about Zombieland really fell flat. It was funny from start to finish. It had great use of on-screen captions as it illustrated Columbus's (Jesse Eisenberg) rules for survival. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) was a riot in his quest for a Twinkie. All the man wanted was a Twinkie.
And man, you don't think a 12-year-old girl can be a badass? I give you Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). She'd blow your brains out and not think twice about it. And Witchita (Emma Stone)? Distractingly gorgeous. No seriously. Should she be that pretty whilst killing zombies? She's gonna give Milla Jovovitch a run for her money, ladies and gents.
Haven't seen Zombieland? Do it. After work today, go to your nearest theatre and catch this flick. It will make your day so much brighter that you'll wonder how it didn't exist before now.
- Julieann
This movie was 81 minutes of pure glee. By the time we saw this movie, the Bill Murray secret was still under wraps but oh holy shit. If you were a baby of the 80's and you have any affinity for the man, the entire time he's in the movie, you will be bouncing in your seat with excitement. It is awesome.
Seriously. Weeks later and I cannot wait until this comes out on video.
- Lanie
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
First Listen: Paramore - "brand new eyes"
lanie: it is really hard to appreciate the epicness of paramore on a first listen, can I just say that?
julieann: yeah, probably this is a bad plan
lanie: it's not like you can't appreciate them but their singalong quality is a huge part of why they're awesome
julieann: truefax
julieann: mentally i'm prepared to turn this whole thing into a plethora of eisley jokes, just like the brand new review.
lanie: noooo
julieann: think of how much stuff we listen to that lends itself to a lot of eisley jokes.
Track One: Careful
I don't like the repetition of "more" in this. I think mostly, I have issue with with the way it breaks into what's pretty much two distinct words. I hate that in singing. It makes me crazy. Otherwise not a bad track, but that one little annoying thing is putting me off. It's whatever. - Julieann
This track is par for the Paramore course. I love when Hayley sounds angry -- and she does, but this song is just here. Not a great pick for a first track. Not everything can be the most epic song ever, but I was hoping for something a little more impressive. - Lanie
Track Two: Ignorance
This is actually the first review ever posted on this blog. View it here.
http://loseyourcred.blogspot.com/2009/07/first-listen-paramores-new-single.html
Track Three: Playing God
The title didn't really hold up to what I expected, which was blasphemy. I like this track. Hayley Williams is pissed. Better watch your fingers boys, because she's about to break those suckers off. And then Lanie gave me a Taking Back Sunday earworm. She's a whore. - Julieann
There's a line about pointing someone's finger into a mirror that was a little cheesy and kind of ruined the end of the chorus for me. It was better than hearing about the three fingers pointed back at oneself when pointing fingers but still. It's a good mid tempo jam and I can't find much fault with it. - Lanie
Track Four: Brick By Boring Brick
So I'd heard this one before, because I think it rolled through on my iPod or something since it's been lurking on the internet a while. I don't know what that says about the song that I listened to it then couldn't remember it, but probably nothing good. Then I heard the "ba da ba da ba ba da" shit and remembered why I didn't enjoy this track in the first place. Also, I want someone to explain to me what "bury the castle" is supposed to refer to. Hatchets, yes. Castles? Not so much. - Julieann
I'm not sure where I'd heard this one before either, but I knew that I liked it. Something about the ending freaked me out a little but it was decent enough. - Lanie
Track Five: Turn It Off
I'm not sure if this track is too religious or what. I get icky when God is brought into things, you know. Cranky-like.
lanie: I'm not sure it's literal more than it is just using religious imagery to discuss losing faith in someone...or something like that
julieann: that's a lot of expectation in a band who prosletyzes on stage
As someone who has seen The Almost, Paramore is almost not religious at all. I do get cranky as well when religion is brought into music because it forces people to choose sides rather than bringing them together, so I wish this track didn't involve that. It was, otherwise, a nice song about losing your faith in someone, I feel like. - Lanie
Track Six: The Only Exception
This song sounds like another song to me, but I'm not sure what. But holy shit, is Williams ever going to regret this song later in life when she grows out of being "omg in love!" with her boyfriend after two weeks of dating. - Julieann
julieann: i like this one the least so far.
julieann: i hate this chorus, omg
julieann: it's so ... lackluster?
julieann: SAD? PATHETIC?
julieann: ABOUT CHAD GILBERT AND THEREFORE GROSS?
It's so weird when young people sing about love, especially the kind of thing you could dance to at a wedding. It's so bittersweet. Of course you want other people to be happy but the other half of you is screaming "oh honey, no" because when that breakup comes, crap like this will be soooo embarrassing. No one wants to end up like Taylor Swift, singing through tears at your asshole ex in the front row of some award show. One good thing about growing up will be that she will be able to better hit a really low note that she doesn't quite get in this song, if it's not too awkward to sing later on. ...Also the chorus was really repetitive and a little annoying. So maybe it won't be so bad to leave this one in the past. - Lanie
Track Seven: Feeling Sorry
This song sounds like "For A Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic," which, boo recycling your own stuff, but yay not recycling other people's stuff? (I'm looking at you, All Time Low.) I can't understand most of what she's saying, though. But hey, her voice sounds good! It's getting better with age. Which is good. That means she's less shrill. - Julieann
Hayley uses some of her vocal power in this song, not so much of her range but that's ok. Just one is enough. The girl's got a lot of talent. If she wasn't so outstanding, though, I'm not sure there would be much to this track. - Lanie
Track Eight: Looking Up
This would've benefited from Williams not throwing in some "woah oh oh oh" bullshit. But hey. And then the song went on too long. It was just too much. I threw up my arms in defeat and asked for a beer. So sue me, I'm old. - Julieann
Oh my god. If you need to get up off your ass, listen to this song. At the time we played this, I had to be on a flight in 8 hours and still hadn't packed...and had to review the rest of this album. It made me too tense to enjoy it. It was too much! I couldn't take it! And yes, we felt so old. - Lanie
Track Nine: Where The Lines Overlap
So, there's some repeat lines I don't like. Have I mentioned I don't like repetition yet? This is a bizarre phenomenon because I listen to Taking Back Sunday fucking religiously. They're the exception to the STOP REPEATING THAT SHIT SO MUCH rule. Them and Brand New. But since Daisy sucked, Brand New don't count. I digress. The bridge of this track doesn't really sound like Williams, but fortunately, this is another track where you can hear what her voice is going to sound like when she's a bit older, and her voice is fully matured. And that voice is awesome. - Julieann
This song kind of ran into the track before it. They were similar, not in a terrible way, but in a way that makes Paramore seem like their range as a band is even smaller than it already is. I wish they'd separated these. Otherwise, I'm not sure I have many complaints. - Lanie
Track Ten: Misguided Ghosts
julieann: take your bet on whether this is a ballad or not
lanie: ugh I don't want to
lanie: I hope not
julieann: BALLAD
julieann: I WIN
So... I just... don't like this track. It's weak, and the ending is a total blower. The track ends with "they echo in circles" and then ... that's it. REALLY? YOU'RE GONNA LEAVE IT ON THAT, WILLIAMS? - Julieann
This song almost put me to sleep. - Lanie
Track Eleven: All I Wanted
I like a nice rock ballad from Paramore. Not the sappy, Plain White T's (or as a friend of mine calls them, Plain White Crap) style mopey garbage that was "The Only Exception." This song blew my face off. This song inspired me to burn a copy of this for my car, and listen to this track in my car at (the volume usually reserved for songs like "Helena" and "Everything Must Go", which is to say - really fucking loud). Hayley Williams sounds fucking incredible on this track. The solid power of her voice over the dead space going into the last chorus? Both times I've listened to this track since this first listen, it's given me chills. - Julieann
So how about I almost cried at the end of this song when it's just Hayley's voice all by itself? I definitely got chills. Even though she had already hit that high note in the song already, the silence made it feel even higher and more powerful than it had been already. This song is gorgeous. The CD should end here, leave the kids wanting more. Instead, there's Decode (which we've already reviewed), but I guess that's fair. Kids should not have to buy some awful movie soundtrack to get one of their songs. - Lanie
julieann: yeah, probably this is a bad plan
lanie: it's not like you can't appreciate them but their singalong quality is a huge part of why they're awesome
julieann: truefax
julieann: mentally i'm prepared to turn this whole thing into a plethora of eisley jokes, just like the brand new review.
lanie: noooo
julieann: think of how much stuff we listen to that lends itself to a lot of eisley jokes.
Track One: Careful
I don't like the repetition of "more" in this. I think mostly, I have issue with with the way it breaks into what's pretty much two distinct words. I hate that in singing. It makes me crazy. Otherwise not a bad track, but that one little annoying thing is putting me off. It's whatever. - Julieann
This track is par for the Paramore course. I love when Hayley sounds angry -- and she does, but this song is just here. Not a great pick for a first track. Not everything can be the most epic song ever, but I was hoping for something a little more impressive. - Lanie
Track Two: Ignorance
This is actually the first review ever posted on this blog. View it here.
http://loseyourcred.blogspot.com/2009/07/first-listen-paramores-new-single.html
Track Three: Playing God
The title didn't really hold up to what I expected, which was blasphemy. I like this track. Hayley Williams is pissed. Better watch your fingers boys, because she's about to break those suckers off. And then Lanie gave me a Taking Back Sunday earworm. She's a whore. - Julieann
There's a line about pointing someone's finger into a mirror that was a little cheesy and kind of ruined the end of the chorus for me. It was better than hearing about the three fingers pointed back at oneself when pointing fingers but still. It's a good mid tempo jam and I can't find much fault with it. - Lanie
Track Four: Brick By Boring Brick
So I'd heard this one before, because I think it rolled through on my iPod or something since it's been lurking on the internet a while. I don't know what that says about the song that I listened to it then couldn't remember it, but probably nothing good. Then I heard the "ba da ba da ba ba da" shit and remembered why I didn't enjoy this track in the first place. Also, I want someone to explain to me what "bury the castle" is supposed to refer to. Hatchets, yes. Castles? Not so much. - Julieann
I'm not sure where I'd heard this one before either, but I knew that I liked it. Something about the ending freaked me out a little but it was decent enough. - Lanie
Track Five: Turn It Off
I'm not sure if this track is too religious or what. I get icky when God is brought into things, you know. Cranky-like.
lanie: I'm not sure it's literal more than it is just using religious imagery to discuss losing faith in someone...or something like that
julieann: that's a lot of expectation in a band who prosletyzes on stage
As someone who has seen The Almost, Paramore is almost not religious at all. I do get cranky as well when religion is brought into music because it forces people to choose sides rather than bringing them together, so I wish this track didn't involve that. It was, otherwise, a nice song about losing your faith in someone, I feel like. - Lanie
Track Six: The Only Exception
This song sounds like another song to me, but I'm not sure what. But holy shit, is Williams ever going to regret this song later in life when she grows out of being "omg in love!" with her boyfriend after two weeks of dating. - Julieann
julieann: i like this one the least so far.
julieann: i hate this chorus, omg
julieann: it's so ... lackluster?
julieann: SAD? PATHETIC?
julieann: ABOUT CHAD GILBERT AND THEREFORE GROSS?
It's so weird when young people sing about love, especially the kind of thing you could dance to at a wedding. It's so bittersweet. Of course you want other people to be happy but the other half of you is screaming "oh honey, no" because when that breakup comes, crap like this will be soooo embarrassing. No one wants to end up like Taylor Swift, singing through tears at your asshole ex in the front row of some award show. One good thing about growing up will be that she will be able to better hit a really low note that she doesn't quite get in this song, if it's not too awkward to sing later on. ...Also the chorus was really repetitive and a little annoying. So maybe it won't be so bad to leave this one in the past. - Lanie
Track Seven: Feeling Sorry
This song sounds like "For A Pessimist I'm Pretty Optimistic," which, boo recycling your own stuff, but yay not recycling other people's stuff? (I'm looking at you, All Time Low.) I can't understand most of what she's saying, though. But hey, her voice sounds good! It's getting better with age. Which is good. That means she's less shrill. - Julieann
Hayley uses some of her vocal power in this song, not so much of her range but that's ok. Just one is enough. The girl's got a lot of talent. If she wasn't so outstanding, though, I'm not sure there would be much to this track. - Lanie
Track Eight: Looking Up
This would've benefited from Williams not throwing in some "woah oh oh oh" bullshit. But hey. And then the song went on too long. It was just too much. I threw up my arms in defeat and asked for a beer. So sue me, I'm old. - Julieann
Oh my god. If you need to get up off your ass, listen to this song. At the time we played this, I had to be on a flight in 8 hours and still hadn't packed...and had to review the rest of this album. It made me too tense to enjoy it. It was too much! I couldn't take it! And yes, we felt so old. - Lanie
Track Nine: Where The Lines Overlap
So, there's some repeat lines I don't like. Have I mentioned I don't like repetition yet? This is a bizarre phenomenon because I listen to Taking Back Sunday fucking religiously. They're the exception to the STOP REPEATING THAT SHIT SO MUCH rule. Them and Brand New. But since Daisy sucked, Brand New don't count. I digress. The bridge of this track doesn't really sound like Williams, but fortunately, this is another track where you can hear what her voice is going to sound like when she's a bit older, and her voice is fully matured. And that voice is awesome. - Julieann
This song kind of ran into the track before it. They were similar, not in a terrible way, but in a way that makes Paramore seem like their range as a band is even smaller than it already is. I wish they'd separated these. Otherwise, I'm not sure I have many complaints. - Lanie
Track Ten: Misguided Ghosts
julieann: take your bet on whether this is a ballad or not
lanie: ugh I don't want to
lanie: I hope not
julieann: BALLAD
julieann: I WIN
So... I just... don't like this track. It's weak, and the ending is a total blower. The track ends with "they echo in circles" and then ... that's it. REALLY? YOU'RE GONNA LEAVE IT ON THAT, WILLIAMS? - Julieann
This song almost put me to sleep. - Lanie
Track Eleven: All I Wanted
I like a nice rock ballad from Paramore. Not the sappy, Plain White T's (or as a friend of mine calls them, Plain White Crap) style mopey garbage that was "The Only Exception." This song blew my face off. This song inspired me to burn a copy of this for my car, and listen to this track in my car at (the volume usually reserved for songs like "Helena" and "Everything Must Go", which is to say - really fucking loud). Hayley Williams sounds fucking incredible on this track. The solid power of her voice over the dead space going into the last chorus? Both times I've listened to this track since this first listen, it's given me chills. - Julieann
So how about I almost cried at the end of this song when it's just Hayley's voice all by itself? I definitely got chills. Even though she had already hit that high note in the song already, the silence made it feel even higher and more powerful than it had been already. This song is gorgeous. The CD should end here, leave the kids wanting more. Instead, there's Decode (which we've already reviewed), but I guess that's fair. Kids should not have to buy some awful movie soundtrack to get one of their songs. - Lanie
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Ring of Darkness
Wow, so um. This movie was recommended to us as "boybands that are vampires!" by the girl that was cashiering at Torrid a few weeks ago, and we just now got around to watching it. And wow, is it ever bad. It's also totally homoerotic, to the point where I actually told Lanie it would be hilarious if it turned out to accidentally be porn. It didn't. (Whether that was a good thing or not, I will never know.)
Anyway, it's about this... boyband made up of vampires and they kill their old lead singer right off the bat because he's peacing the fuck out because he realizes that there's crazy shit going on. So they eat him and then they're holding an audition to find a new lead singer. They pick three guys, a mixed-race cutie named Max, a journalist named Jonah, and Our Hero, Shawn. (Actually, when it first started I thought they said "Jon Walker" and I looked at Lanie and said "I am not going to be able to take this seriously at all if that's really his name.")
Anyway, they hold an audition, it's really bad, there's a lot of lip syncing, then they go to the Island of Boyband-itude and continue their auditions. One of the guys is super racist and hates Max the Mixed Guy Who Looks Like Corbin Bleu.
Crazy shit happens. Ryan Starr is in this. It's really dumb and there are a lot of scenes that are inter-cut with TERRIBLE BOYBAND MUSIC VIDEO. And by terrible I mean it looks like Blink-182's joke video that made fun of all the boybands ("All The Small Things," I think).
Blah blah, they want to turn Max into a vampire, Max doesn't want to have group sex, they eat him. Then they set their sights on Shawn, because he's a Real Musician (evidenced by the acoustic guitar he carries around the entire movie and plays, like, once) and they're moving on to be the Vampire Fall Out Boy (or Vampire Nickelback, I'm not sure).
Blah blah, it's really short, thank god, 'cause it's kind of bad in a "now I can say I've seen this" sort of way and never watch it again. It will get funnier with hindsight, I'm sure. I hope. Maybe? - Julieann
Holy shit, what a waste of time.
I think it's no secret that we enjoy some pretty horrible movies here at Lose Your Cred, but this one was a complete waste of what could have been an awesome cheese-fest or parody. I spent the entire hour and 18 minutes praying that Ring of Darkness would get better or, please, just end. Thank God it did one of those, eventually.
The thing that kills me is that this movie had great potential. In the right hands, with even a slightly better cast, it could have been amazing. Don't boy bands lend themselves perfectly to horror? They could have been killer robots, or demons that live off the sound of young girls screaming frantically that occasionally need an actual young girl snack. The band Whoa! (the rival band in the 2gether movie) was scarier than these guys were. The Josie and the Pussycats movie made more sense in "the music industry can be pure evil" genre. Ring of Darkness seemed to want to be among these movies, with their cheesy music video that was interspersed between almost every scene, oftentimes in places that made no sense at all. If they didn't force you to see the whole video in the beginning of the movie, repeat the song three whole entire times during the audition scene or somehow revealed the secretly evil intentions of the band, which, by the way, was named "Take 10." Wouldn't that indicate parody? Why wasn't this movie funny?
If you think that this all sounds awesomely bad, please believe me, it's not. The pacing was awful, chase scenes went on forever but lacked any suspense whatsoever, unless you were interested in when it would actually end. The acting was atrocious and I feel like if I noticed it, it had to be horrible. There were plot holes everywhere and some things just didn't even make sense, period. The tiny plot twist at the very end was surprising but I don't know if it should get pity points because it came out of nowhere, like the writer needed an ending and a motivation and just pulled one out of his ass, complete with some revisionist logic straight out of a soap opera; you know when they try to convince you that someone lived through their decapitation or falling down a well or whatever?
There was one cute moment at the end, surprisingly not ruined by Ryan Starr's mumble acting but it was a false payoff for watching this crock of shit, since you were only given a reason to give a shit about her about 2 minutes prior.
I try to enjoy whatever I'm watching and make my own fun, whatever whatever...that's half the fun of watching shitty movies, you snark all over them, laugh at whatever's stupid at the moment and have a good time. That was almost impossible with Ring of Darkness. Were it not for the super-random homoerotic moments, this movie would have been totally without comedy. I'm not sure why it's necessary for them to drop their pants en masse and perform satanic rituals or whatever, but it made for one of the very few funny moments in the whole movie.
If you feel like you MUST watch this movie, please gather a big group of friends and add alcohol. Hopefully you'll be too distracted to notice that the movie's even happening. - Lanie
Anyway, it's about this... boyband made up of vampires and they kill their old lead singer right off the bat because he's peacing the fuck out because he realizes that there's crazy shit going on. So they eat him and then they're holding an audition to find a new lead singer. They pick three guys, a mixed-race cutie named Max, a journalist named Jonah, and Our Hero, Shawn. (Actually, when it first started I thought they said "Jon Walker" and I looked at Lanie and said "I am not going to be able to take this seriously at all if that's really his name.")
Anyway, they hold an audition, it's really bad, there's a lot of lip syncing, then they go to the Island of Boyband-itude and continue their auditions. One of the guys is super racist and hates Max the Mixed Guy Who Looks Like Corbin Bleu.
Crazy shit happens. Ryan Starr is in this. It's really dumb and there are a lot of scenes that are inter-cut with TERRIBLE BOYBAND MUSIC VIDEO. And by terrible I mean it looks like Blink-182's joke video that made fun of all the boybands ("All The Small Things," I think).
Blah blah, they want to turn Max into a vampire, Max doesn't want to have group sex, they eat him. Then they set their sights on Shawn, because he's a Real Musician (evidenced by the acoustic guitar he carries around the entire movie and plays, like, once) and they're moving on to be the Vampire Fall Out Boy (or Vampire Nickelback, I'm not sure).
Blah blah, it's really short, thank god, 'cause it's kind of bad in a "now I can say I've seen this" sort of way and never watch it again. It will get funnier with hindsight, I'm sure. I hope. Maybe? - Julieann
Holy shit, what a waste of time.
I think it's no secret that we enjoy some pretty horrible movies here at Lose Your Cred, but this one was a complete waste of what could have been an awesome cheese-fest or parody. I spent the entire hour and 18 minutes praying that Ring of Darkness would get better or, please, just end. Thank God it did one of those, eventually.
The thing that kills me is that this movie had great potential. In the right hands, with even a slightly better cast, it could have been amazing. Don't boy bands lend themselves perfectly to horror? They could have been killer robots, or demons that live off the sound of young girls screaming frantically that occasionally need an actual young girl snack. The band Whoa! (the rival band in the 2gether movie) was scarier than these guys were. The Josie and the Pussycats movie made more sense in "the music industry can be pure evil" genre. Ring of Darkness seemed to want to be among these movies, with their cheesy music video that was interspersed between almost every scene, oftentimes in places that made no sense at all. If they didn't force you to see the whole video in the beginning of the movie, repeat the song three whole entire times during the audition scene or somehow revealed the secretly evil intentions of the band, which, by the way, was named "Take 10." Wouldn't that indicate parody? Why wasn't this movie funny?
If you think that this all sounds awesomely bad, please believe me, it's not. The pacing was awful, chase scenes went on forever but lacked any suspense whatsoever, unless you were interested in when it would actually end. The acting was atrocious and I feel like if I noticed it, it had to be horrible. There were plot holes everywhere and some things just didn't even make sense, period. The tiny plot twist at the very end was surprising but I don't know if it should get pity points because it came out of nowhere, like the writer needed an ending and a motivation and just pulled one out of his ass, complete with some revisionist logic straight out of a soap opera; you know when they try to convince you that someone lived through their decapitation or falling down a well or whatever?
There was one cute moment at the end, surprisingly not ruined by Ryan Starr's mumble acting but it was a false payoff for watching this crock of shit, since you were only given a reason to give a shit about her about 2 minutes prior.
I try to enjoy whatever I'm watching and make my own fun, whatever whatever...that's half the fun of watching shitty movies, you snark all over them, laugh at whatever's stupid at the moment and have a good time. That was almost impossible with Ring of Darkness. Were it not for the super-random homoerotic moments, this movie would have been totally without comedy. I'm not sure why it's necessary for them to drop their pants en masse and perform satanic rituals or whatever, but it made for one of the very few funny moments in the whole movie.
If you feel like you MUST watch this movie, please gather a big group of friends and add alcohol. Hopefully you'll be too distracted to notice that the movie's even happening. - Lanie
Friday, March 19, 2010
First Listen: The Academy Is... - "Lost in Pacific Time EP"
Track One: I'm Yours Tonight
The first thing I said to Lanie when we started this listen was that if this EP sucked, I was going to be super pissed that I paid the $5 to download it. I was pleasantly surprised by at least this song, and decided that I could definitely say at least this track was better than anything on Fast Times at Barrington High, which I liked, especially in comparison to Santi, which I loathed. This song gave me total warm fuzzies inside, because it's so power-ballad-y and William Beckett is kind of made for power ballads from the top of his head to his Steven Tyler mouth to his toes. - Julieann
Like I said to Julieann, it's like they cracked the power ballad code and now TAI finally know what they're doing, after their past stumbles lead them astray. They're a band really built to do a power ballad and they seemed to be denying themselves. Sure, it's a retro thing to do, but if you can do it awesomely, why the hell not?! - Lanie
Track Two: Days Like Masquerades
This track's a little bit of a backslide from the first one. It's not as good, but it's still better than anything on Santi, and with TAI that's pretty much a win. I kind of hope they play it when we see them live November 1, because I feel like I could really dance around like an asshole to this one and it would be better that way. - Julieann
Eh! - Lanie
Track Three: Sputter
THIS IS THE ONE WITH ANDREW MCMAHON. And you can tell, because it sounds like a Jack's Mannequin song even though you can't really hear McMahon's backing vocals hardly at all. I like the echo-y quality they have when you can hear them, though. This track basically sounds like McMahon did everything on it but sing lead vocal. McMahon's inclusion, though, means this song has a totally unfair advantage in me liking it. Cheating, Beckett, cheating. - Julieann
McMahon's fingerprints are all over this song, in the phrasing, in the melody. It's like they're doing a cover of a Jack's Mannequin song. Which is fine but it's not what I thought we were here for! - Lanie
Track Four: New York (Saint In The City)
This song is boring and sounds like it was something that got cut from Fast Times at Barrington High. And, like much of Fast Times, it doesn't make me want to dance, and it doesn't excite me. It's just there. Definitely the low point of this EP. - Julieann
See review for Days Like Masquerades. - Lanie
Track Five: In The Rearview
When I see the title of this song, I start singing Midwest Kings's "Rearview," which is dumb, because they're exactly nothing alike other than referencing rearview mirrors. Whateverrr. This song pretty much rocks as hard as I think the Academy Is... are able to rock. It's a lot more guitar heavy than their stuff usually is, and I spent most of the track imagining scarves tied around mic stands while Beckett stomped around on stage. - Julieann
I was less stoked on this song than Julieann was, but I didn't hate it. - Lanie
Conclusion:
Basically, it's a decent little EP. Track four is kind of a throwaway, and track two isn't far behind. Tracks three and five are decent, and track one's a solid little tune. At least two of these songs are probably going to go into heavy rotation on my iPod ("Sputter" and "I'm Yours Tonight," and maybe "In The Rearview"). Good job, TAI. It's not Santi. - Julieann
Months later, I have not asked Julieann to send me this EP. Our computers are about 10 feet apart. Just saying. If you're a die-hard TAI fan, go for it, get it. Likewise if you are in love with Andrew McMahon, you won't be disappointed. It's a few more tracks to add to the list, but I find it hard to care too deeply about any of them. -Lanie
The first thing I said to Lanie when we started this listen was that if this EP sucked, I was going to be super pissed that I paid the $5 to download it. I was pleasantly surprised by at least this song, and decided that I could definitely say at least this track was better than anything on Fast Times at Barrington High, which I liked, especially in comparison to Santi, which I loathed. This song gave me total warm fuzzies inside, because it's so power-ballad-y and William Beckett is kind of made for power ballads from the top of his head to his Steven Tyler mouth to his toes. - Julieann
Like I said to Julieann, it's like they cracked the power ballad code and now TAI finally know what they're doing, after their past stumbles lead them astray. They're a band really built to do a power ballad and they seemed to be denying themselves. Sure, it's a retro thing to do, but if you can do it awesomely, why the hell not?! - Lanie
Track Two: Days Like Masquerades
This track's a little bit of a backslide from the first one. It's not as good, but it's still better than anything on Santi, and with TAI that's pretty much a win. I kind of hope they play it when we see them live November 1, because I feel like I could really dance around like an asshole to this one and it would be better that way. - Julieann
Eh! - Lanie
Track Three: Sputter
THIS IS THE ONE WITH ANDREW MCMAHON. And you can tell, because it sounds like a Jack's Mannequin song even though you can't really hear McMahon's backing vocals hardly at all. I like the echo-y quality they have when you can hear them, though. This track basically sounds like McMahon did everything on it but sing lead vocal. McMahon's inclusion, though, means this song has a totally unfair advantage in me liking it. Cheating, Beckett, cheating. - Julieann
McMahon's fingerprints are all over this song, in the phrasing, in the melody. It's like they're doing a cover of a Jack's Mannequin song. Which is fine but it's not what I thought we were here for! - Lanie
Track Four: New York (Saint In The City)
This song is boring and sounds like it was something that got cut from Fast Times at Barrington High. And, like much of Fast Times, it doesn't make me want to dance, and it doesn't excite me. It's just there. Definitely the low point of this EP. - Julieann
See review for Days Like Masquerades. - Lanie
Track Five: In The Rearview
When I see the title of this song, I start singing Midwest Kings's "Rearview," which is dumb, because they're exactly nothing alike other than referencing rearview mirrors. Whateverrr. This song pretty much rocks as hard as I think the Academy Is... are able to rock. It's a lot more guitar heavy than their stuff usually is, and I spent most of the track imagining scarves tied around mic stands while Beckett stomped around on stage. - Julieann
I was less stoked on this song than Julieann was, but I didn't hate it. - Lanie
Conclusion:
Basically, it's a decent little EP. Track four is kind of a throwaway, and track two isn't far behind. Tracks three and five are decent, and track one's a solid little tune. At least two of these songs are probably going to go into heavy rotation on my iPod ("Sputter" and "I'm Yours Tonight," and maybe "In The Rearview"). Good job, TAI. It's not Santi. - Julieann
Months later, I have not asked Julieann to send me this EP. Our computers are about 10 feet apart. Just saying. If you're a die-hard TAI fan, go for it, get it. Likewise if you are in love with Andrew McMahon, you won't be disappointed. It's a few more tracks to add to the list, but I find it hard to care too deeply about any of them. -Lanie
New Posts! State of the Blog!
Hi! This is Lanie! I am the sole reason that any posts have been held up for the past three months. You see, I am prone to extreme cases of the winter blahs where I find it hard to simply exist in the colder seasons, much less keep up with other aspects of life that aren't necessary to being socially acceptable. That is to say, I eat, breathe, ensure a certain level of personal hygiene and pretend not to loathe life in the company of others. The loss of my job in this "delightful" economic climate was the nail in the coffin of my good mood. Blogging fell off the map.
But there's a bright side! Pun not intended. Now that the sun has come out, we're going to be getting back into the swing of things since my extreme lethargy isn't going to hold us up any longer. Not only that, but we have a small backlog of posts that will go up today and in the near future.
If you've been waiting, we can only thank you for your patience. I promise not to abandon you with a read-a-thon and a plethora of promises ever again! If you're new to the blog, welcome! There's fun and snarkiness ahead.
But there's a bright side! Pun not intended. Now that the sun has come out, we're going to be getting back into the swing of things since my extreme lethargy isn't going to hold us up any longer. Not only that, but we have a small backlog of posts that will go up today and in the near future.
If you've been waiting, we can only thank you for your patience. I promise not to abandon you with a read-a-thon and a plethora of promises ever again! If you're new to the blog, welcome! There's fun and snarkiness ahead.
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