The Good News, #8
Hello True Believers!
Welcome back to The Good News! We took a little break from the Good News during the holidays, but we're back! And thanks to those who came out to the show last night! We'll soon have more news on our next show, at Lost Lake on 2/12. But for now, let's get into it.
Something fun to get lost in this week:
The Donna’s (1993-2012)
I always thought that The Donna’s were a band put together by record exec demand, but nope, those ladies were 100% rock and roll. I myself still don’t love their records, but their story is more than a Josie and the Pussycats situation! Oh and their first drummer has had an awesome post-music career.
A nice thing to listen to this week:
Apoptygma Berzerk - You and Me Against the World (2005)
This was one of those bands I picked up in high school that I largely left back there. They were a sort of expansion of early NIN stuff, and then an evolution into something closer to VNV Nation. From hard industrial to something more akin to house music, Apop evolved from there after I stopped listening. A few years ago I discovered that they’d put out a fairly competent and extremely catchy little entry into the mid-2000’s electro clash movement (don’t quote me on any of these genre specifics, this is just how I feel they fit in haha). I've put it on while we do housework, cleaning and cooking and eating and relaxing, and I find it to be something that feels out of time and place. A little 80's, a little mid-2000's (fittingly), a little modern even. It may be too corny for some, but I like the silly side of things, and maybe it'll sit just right in your home this week.
Terrific thing to watch:
Gremlins (1984)
Another one where I feel like I’m stating the obvious, but this movie maybe rules more than you remember. If your memory of this first entry into what will soon be a trilogy is that it was super scary and they sanitized the scares and ramped up the wackiness for the second one, then this recommendation is for you. Gremlins 1 is a kid friendly (mooostly haha) wild as hell romp through 1980’s suburbia the way it was: brown and beige and filled with cigarette smoke. If you’re able to shirk off the pretty offensive orientalism, you’ll be treated to a nostalgic, at times buck wild ride that is, as far as I can tell, almost entirely devoid of a lesson, meaning, or deeper question beyond “What if ET came from China?” One last note: I don’t think it’s that Gizmo is learning how to speak throughout the movie, I think he’s just learning English and he already knows how to speak, it’s just that he’s only fluent in Mandarin!
A good read:
And Lo! The Bird - Nelson Bond (1950's)
I don't know where I first encountered this short story, but it was some time in childhood, and it's haunted me ever since. It's a 1950's short science fiction story, so you probably won't be entirely blown away by the story beats, but if you're able to suspend your disbelief enough, maybe this short story will shake and bake your brain like it did lil Luke's brain. I don't want to say too much more, because it really is just a short story, so if you have an hour or so on your hands this week, give it a read. Also, I've linked a copy of it that was easiest to find at the moment, but I'm sure if you search around, there might be a few different ways of reading it out there on the web. Also, I cannot speak to the quality of the other short stories in this particular collection. My physical copy is in a collection unfortunately title the Monster Book of Monsters, a long out of print sci-fi collection whose name has become un-google-able for reasons that will become evident if you do in fact google it haha.
And finally, our weekly pic of the pup, Apollo:
Be nice to each other, and we'll see you next week!
Best,
Luke