'Scratching my nuts right at God. On second thoughts there's no one there, and I don't give a fuck.'
Yo, mofos!
Yesterday was class in a glass, as some sort of over-excited ned would say. Kay and I fell out a month or two ago but we sorted out all the hostility and yesterday was the first time we hung out since. Was such a laugh. It was like nothing ever changed at all. I sometimes forget how well we get on; really, we’re both pretty much the same person but you know, she’s the girl version, I’m the boy version. The boy version is best though. Maybe.
Lots of shopping had to be done, so that also meant lots of walking had to be done. I’m the least fit person in Scotland, so come to your own conclusions, kids.
Firstly, we searched everywhere for the daaaaaaaaark red hair dye I was looking for, but alas, it just couldn’t be found. So out the bloody window goes my fantasy of having the most badass hair in the world. Pretty gutted, so I’ll just be dying it black again. My hair is fucked right now - the black so lifeless and abused it‘s turning grey, brown coming back through the top, the fringe looking very dodgy, and all in all, it’s a shambles.
Kay then bought a motherload of CDs it seemed. She just went nuts with her cash for some reason haha. I vividly remember her walking around HMV with at least four. FOUR. Keep in mind, this is HMV, not a place like Avalanche where you can pick up lost classics and sought-after obscurities for 6 quid each. This is HMV where the average CD is what? £15. Oooft.
I was proud of the wee gal for picking up a Death Cab For Cutie album; can’t say the same about her buying Maximo Park’s album though. Bah.
I picked myself up a Jonah double: both the Gratitude album and a ticket for their Barfly gig. Sweeeeet. And Kay got a ticket too! YAS. So not only will Shiona be there, but the legendary Ally (I think) and now Kay. Shaping up to be a badass gig indeed.
My verdict on the Gratitude album: Great. Needless to say, it doesn’t come close to anything by Far (and lets face it, Jonah will never reach those astounding heights again - a true one of a kind band they were), but still, a fantastic and downright solid record here. As you all should know, Jonah’s voice is PEERLESS. Really, his vocals on this album soar like nothing I have ever heard before. Very rarely have we heard him sound this huge - Far didn’t really do choruses, and such was the minimalist nature of the majority of the onelinedrawing stuff.
To be honest though, his lyrics on this album don’t quite match the majesty of his voice - Jonah has always been prone to the odd clunker of a line, and there are quite a few on here unfortunately. Also, this is a VERY polished and accessible sounding album, and I’ve never been a fan of such things. But that’s just my personal opinion, some people prefer an album to have a really professional, shiny production, and fair enough, but I’m not one of them. It’s not too distracting though, such is the impressive stature of the songs themselves: ‘This Is The Part’ is still the greatest thing Jimmy Eat World never wrote; ‘The Greatest Wonder’ is the best ballad Jonah has put his name to since the forgotten gem that was onelinedrawing’s heartbreaking ‘Tides’, and ‘If Ever’ almost manages to top the beautiful acoustic demo version that the lovely Shiona sent me a while ago. Every song is effortlessly enjoyable and even though I’ve went on here about him for the last two paragraphs, Gratitude isn’t just Jonah Matranga with a backing band; they really do feel and sound like a proper unit, and that is always good. It’s just, such his cult icon status and me being a personal Jonah fan boy, it’s hard not to focus all attention on him.
So, nothing as revolutionary and life-changing as Far, or as quirky, intimate and eccentric as onelinedrawing, but what you have here is some faultlessly executed melodic rock songs, and sometimes, just that alone is enough.
Now, away from that wee semi-review, back to yesterday. After picking up our Gratitude tickets we went on a mission searching for a USB cable for my phone. Mission: FAILED. Actually, not really failed; I found one. It just costs 40 quid : |
Eh, wit?
My web cam only cost £15, and it’s a USB equipped device, yes? So why is a lone, solitary USB cable for my phone double that and more???? I’ll get it one day for sure, but I wanted it yesterday. I have shitloads of photos on my phone from yesterday and they are certainly LJ worthy. But nope, I have to be jobless and poor.
I took Kay to that nice lil’ fabric shop Louise and I found a while ago. Kay LOVED IT. Haha. I don’t think any girl that goes in that place wants to leave, and such is it’s charm, even I enjoy going in there. Probably shouldn’t have admitted that…
Actually, speaking of Louise, she apparently drove past us in a car with Gilly and decided to phone me and excitedly tell me, and also just to find out “who is that girl?!” It was so odd, random and confusing haha. But appreciated all the same for it’s comedy value. Love ya!
Uh, what else to say? Oh, everyone: buy this month’s issue of Big Cheese. Alkaline Trio are the cover interview, and even though they only talk to Matt, any Alkaline Trio related interview is good enough for me. It was weird though, Dan and Derek were there (as is obvious from the quality photos) but they only interviewed Matt. I can’t stand when that happens, we wanna hear Dan and Derek’s opinions too. It’s understandable if the journalist can only get a hold of Matt, but when the whole band is there, what the fuck??? And before anyone jumps in with, ‘But Paddy, the photos might have been from a different shoot from the interview, you moron!’. No, they are not. I checked.
Wow. Long post. But yep, all in all yesterday was badass and Kay and I seem better friends then ever. And I have my Gratitude ticket. All is swell.
Laters!
Yesterday was class in a glass, as some sort of over-excited ned would say. Kay and I fell out a month or two ago but we sorted out all the hostility and yesterday was the first time we hung out since. Was such a laugh. It was like nothing ever changed at all. I sometimes forget how well we get on; really, we’re both pretty much the same person but you know, she’s the girl version, I’m the boy version. The boy version is best though. Maybe.
Lots of shopping had to be done, so that also meant lots of walking had to be done. I’m the least fit person in Scotland, so come to your own conclusions, kids.
Firstly, we searched everywhere for the daaaaaaaaark red hair dye I was looking for, but alas, it just couldn’t be found. So out the bloody window goes my fantasy of having the most badass hair in the world. Pretty gutted, so I’ll just be dying it black again. My hair is fucked right now - the black so lifeless and abused it‘s turning grey, brown coming back through the top, the fringe looking very dodgy, and all in all, it’s a shambles.
Kay then bought a motherload of CDs it seemed. She just went nuts with her cash for some reason haha. I vividly remember her walking around HMV with at least four. FOUR. Keep in mind, this is HMV, not a place like Avalanche where you can pick up lost classics and sought-after obscurities for 6 quid each. This is HMV where the average CD is what? £15. Oooft.
I was proud of the wee gal for picking up a Death Cab For Cutie album; can’t say the same about her buying Maximo Park’s album though. Bah.
I picked myself up a Jonah double: both the Gratitude album and a ticket for their Barfly gig. Sweeeeet. And Kay got a ticket too! YAS. So not only will Shiona be there, but the legendary Ally (I think) and now Kay. Shaping up to be a badass gig indeed.
My verdict on the Gratitude album: Great. Needless to say, it doesn’t come close to anything by Far (and lets face it, Jonah will never reach those astounding heights again - a true one of a kind band they were), but still, a fantastic and downright solid record here. As you all should know, Jonah’s voice is PEERLESS. Really, his vocals on this album soar like nothing I have ever heard before. Very rarely have we heard him sound this huge - Far didn’t really do choruses, and such was the minimalist nature of the majority of the onelinedrawing stuff.
To be honest though, his lyrics on this album don’t quite match the majesty of his voice - Jonah has always been prone to the odd clunker of a line, and there are quite a few on here unfortunately. Also, this is a VERY polished and accessible sounding album, and I’ve never been a fan of such things. But that’s just my personal opinion, some people prefer an album to have a really professional, shiny production, and fair enough, but I’m not one of them. It’s not too distracting though, such is the impressive stature of the songs themselves: ‘This Is The Part’ is still the greatest thing Jimmy Eat World never wrote; ‘The Greatest Wonder’ is the best ballad Jonah has put his name to since the forgotten gem that was onelinedrawing’s heartbreaking ‘Tides’, and ‘If Ever’ almost manages to top the beautiful acoustic demo version that the lovely Shiona sent me a while ago. Every song is effortlessly enjoyable and even though I’ve went on here about him for the last two paragraphs, Gratitude isn’t just Jonah Matranga with a backing band; they really do feel and sound like a proper unit, and that is always good. It’s just, such his cult icon status and me being a personal Jonah fan boy, it’s hard not to focus all attention on him.
So, nothing as revolutionary and life-changing as Far, or as quirky, intimate and eccentric as onelinedrawing, but what you have here is some faultlessly executed melodic rock songs, and sometimes, just that alone is enough.
Now, away from that wee semi-review, back to yesterday. After picking up our Gratitude tickets we went on a mission searching for a USB cable for my phone. Mission: FAILED. Actually, not really failed; I found one. It just costs 40 quid : |
Eh, wit?
My web cam only cost £15, and it’s a USB equipped device, yes? So why is a lone, solitary USB cable for my phone double that and more???? I’ll get it one day for sure, but I wanted it yesterday. I have shitloads of photos on my phone from yesterday and they are certainly LJ worthy. But nope, I have to be jobless and poor.
I took Kay to that nice lil’ fabric shop Louise and I found a while ago. Kay LOVED IT. Haha. I don’t think any girl that goes in that place wants to leave, and such is it’s charm, even I enjoy going in there. Probably shouldn’t have admitted that…
Actually, speaking of Louise, she apparently drove past us in a car with Gilly and decided to phone me and excitedly tell me, and also just to find out “who is that girl?!” It was so odd, random and confusing haha. But appreciated all the same for it’s comedy value. Love ya!
Uh, what else to say? Oh, everyone: buy this month’s issue of Big Cheese. Alkaline Trio are the cover interview, and even though they only talk to Matt, any Alkaline Trio related interview is good enough for me. It was weird though, Dan and Derek were there (as is obvious from the quality photos) but they only interviewed Matt. I can’t stand when that happens, we wanna hear Dan and Derek’s opinions too. It’s understandable if the journalist can only get a hold of Matt, but when the whole band is there, what the fuck??? And before anyone jumps in with, ‘But Paddy, the photos might have been from a different shoot from the interview, you moron!’. No, they are not. I checked.
Wow. Long post. But yep, all in all yesterday was badass and Kay and I seem better friends then ever. And I have my Gratitude ticket. All is swell.
Laters!