The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: Mailbag

Letters to the Postal Service (Written by Hand! With a Pen!)

Megan Seling — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:17:59 -0700

To celebrate the Postal Service's 10th anniversary (and mark their appearance at Sasquatch! this weekend), a bunch of us wrote letters to the band:

Read 'em all here!

E-Mail Subject Line I'm Least Excited About Today

Grant Brissey — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:05:42 -0700

CHERRY POPPIN' DADDIES ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM WHITE TEETH, BLACK THOUGHTS, OUT JULY 16TH

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Breaking Sublime News

Emily Nokes — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:09:00 -0700

"Set for release on June 18, 2013, the package marks the first-ever complete Sublime concert to be officially released on DVD and CD. This new release also celebrates the 25th anniversary of the seminal Long Beach, CA band, who performed their first official show on July 4, 1988 and went on to release a string of critically acclaimed hit singles."

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New Britney Spears Song... for The Smurfs™ 2

Emily Nokes — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:10:45 -0700

BRITNEY SPEARS TO RELEASE NEW SONG “OOH LA LA” FOR COLUMBIA PICTURES/SONY PICTURES ANIMATION’S FAMILY COMEDY THE SMURFS™ 2

Pop icon Britney Spears will release a song for Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation’s highly anticipated family comedy The Smurfs™ 2... “Ooh La La,” which will play at the end credits of the film, was written by Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke), Joshua Coleman (Ammo), Henry Walter (Cirkut), Bonnie McKee, Jacob Kasher Hindlin (J Kash), Lola Blanc and Fransisca Hall and produced by Dr. Luke, Ammo and Cirkut for Prescription Songs.

Britney Spears added, “I have always loved the Smurfs as a kid and now my boys are the biggest Smurfs fans EVER. I wanted to surprise them with a song in the movie. I know they'll think it's Smurftastic!”

:( :( :(

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I've Been Getting the Weirdest Emails Today

Emily Nokes — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:04:24 -0700

Enjoy?

"Sam Davison has supposedly never been in a room he’s been comfortable in. Sam Davison still lives with his parents, has no job, and will continue to be the oldest dude at the party. Sam Davison refuses to apologize for this, but with just a bass, sparse tambourine, and a college degree, will write a song about it, and a damn good one... 'Always Around' is somehow reminiscent of 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.'"

Always Around - Single by Sam Davison

This email subject line said simply, "Emily- She's like Drake meets Emily Dickinson (MTV)."

Or how about this one, with the subject: Violent Ambience. "Gene The Southern Child & Parallel Thought's 'Artillery Splurgin' ...a strickingly new age soundscape mirrored with violent wordplay."

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Polite Emails of the Day: City Bear and Thrasher's Corner

Emily Nokes — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:57:24 -0700

Today, (and most days, actually) I'm really in the mood for a POLITE EMAIL from a real person who isn't just spamming for the spam of it.

EMAIL 1: Andy Wylie wrote to let us know that he recently self-released a debut solo album Mournography for his project City Bear (before that, he spent four years in the horror rock band, Church for Sinners). The full album can be listened to/purchased online at the City Bear Bandcamp, OR you can head over to the Conor Byrne tomorrow evening and catch the live show.

Nell by City Bear

City Bear w/Phosphenes, the Faradays | Conor Byrne, 5140 Ballard Ave NW | $7, 9pm

Lisa Still
Gordon "Leadfoot" Griffiths

EMAIL 2: Gordeaux wrote to let us know that we should have promoted his band Thrasher's Corner's last gig and even included a photo of himself with the caption "I'm pretty effing HOT!" to prove that it was our loss. Since we slept on that last show, you can attend the next one on April 26th. He probably puts it best:

This is going to raise the bar in W Sea, dudes! 25 Cent Ride are a brand new group playing Americana-influenced Rock, and T/C is THE NW SOUND. For 5 bucks (or whatever) you won't get any better rocknroll anytime, anyplace, any town-I ain't lyin'!!!!! So get your butts down to the BENBOW April 26 & plan on taking a cab or public transportation or maybe even an ambulance home!!!

Thrasher's Corner w/25 Cent Ride | Benbow Room, 4210 Admiral Way | $5, 9pm

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An Open Letter To: Stephen Malkmus

Hallie Santo — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:52:11 -0800

Dear Stephen Malkmus,

I hear that you and your band* played Ege Bamyasi in its entirety in Cologne last week. So, I'm just dying to know:

Were you there in 1968? Were you there at the first Can show in Cologne?

Are you losing your edge to the drunk sixteen-year-old kids whose footsteps you hear on your roof?

Are you losing your edge to the internet seekers who can tell you every member of Pavement, the Silver Jews, and the Jicks?

Are you losing your edge to all the kids from Tokyo and Berlin? (Of course you are. You live in Berlin now, don't you?)

Are you losing your edge to the art-school Brooklynites with "sunset nostalgia" for your unremembered 1989 EP Slay Tracks?

Were you there in 2000 at the Kim's Bedroom exhibition in a museum in the Netherlands?

Were you there when David Berman started up his first band? Did you tell him, "Don't do it that way; you'll never make a dime"?

Were you the first guy playing The Fall for the punk kids? Did you play it at the Whitney? Did everybody think you were crazy?

When you worked at a radio station, did you have everything before anyone? Were you there in the WTJU DJ booth with James McNew from Yo La Tengo?

I hear that you're on a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody. Every great song from Slanted & Enchanted. All the underground hits. All the Quarantine the Past tracks.

I heard that you have a vinyl of every Faust record on German import. I heard that you played Ege Bamyasi every night before you went to sleep for three years. (By any chance was that 1985, '86, '87?)

I hear that you bought a synthesizer and an arpeggiator and threw the rest of your band out the window because you wanted to make something real. You wanted to make a solo record.

I hear that you and the Jicks traded in John Moen for Janet Weiss.

I hear that you and the Jicks traded in Janet Weiss for Beck.

I hear all the musicians that you've met are more relevant than all the musicians that I've met. (After all, you did just meet Jaki Liebezeit and Irmin Schmidt.)

But can I see your records?**

Sincerely,
Hallie

P.S. I omitted the line about losing your edge to better looking people with better ideas and more talent, because I couldn't think of anyone who is better looking and has better ideas and more talent than you do.

*Okay, maybe Van Spar isn't your band yet. BUT THEY WILL BE.

**According to Perfect Sound Forever: The Story of Pavement, a list of Stephen Malkmus's records would probably look something like this: "Pell-Mell, The Fall, Minutemen, the Stranglers, the Eagles, Can, the Kinks, Melvins, The Fall, Wire, Jim Croce, Faust, the Groundhogs, Mission of Burma, Captain Beefheart, Beat Happening, Desperate Bicycles, New Order, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Guided! By! Voices!, the Cleeeean, Dinosaur Jr., The Velvet Underground, Gang of Four, Brian Eno, R.E.M., Echo & the Bunnymen, the Pixies, the Black Flag, Sonic Youth... Sonic Youth... Sonic Youth... Sonic Youth..."

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An Open Letter To: Kevin Shields

Hallie Santo — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:32:26 -0800

Dear Kevin Shields,

I'm sure you're busy working around the clock in the studio, and I'm sure you get lots of fan letters, so I'll be brief. You see, I'm not just writing to you as a fan, Kevin. I'm really concerned about you. The last time you said you were working on a new My Bloody Valentine album, you just bought a bunch of chinchillas and let them run wild in your home studio. I won't judge you if you've chosen to become a chinchilla breeder (former rock stars have chosen stranger new career paths... I think...), but there are better cover stories than telling NME that you're releasing a new MBV album this year. Trust me: no one will believe you.

Truth be told, I wish you were releasing new material. I loved Loveless. I can't tell you how many nights I've spent lying on my couch in the dark listening to it, trying to achieve some type of shoegaze nirvana. Speaking of Nirvana, I think it's an awful shame that Nevermind consistently overshadows your magnum opus when the critics make their Best Albums of 1991 lists. And that's why it makes no sense to me that you'd want to release a new MBV album—which is sure to be an instant classic—after the Best Of 2012 lists have already come out. Everyone knows that's why new albums rarely come out in December. Everyone also knows that you aren't going to release a new MBV album until after you've made your solo debut. (Isn't that what you told Mike McGonigal, the author of the 33 1/3 book on Loveless?) And you aren't fooling anyone by saying that the newly reincarnated MBV will be playing its first gig in Tokyo, because everyone knows that's where Lost in Translation took place.

So, here's what I propose: Because I so desperately want to believe that your new LP is on its way, I'm going to give you an opportunity to prove it to me. Mail me a tape with some brand new tracks on it. Send me some mp3's. Round up what's left of your band, come to my house, and debut some new songs in an exclusive, intimate concert. (Please?) Then, I'll be happy, you'll be happy, the rest of your fans will be happy, and we can forget that chinchilla thing ever happened.

Sincerely,
Hallie

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Maths Time Joy: Hideaway EP

Sean Jewell — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:36:39 -0800

I don't know how Timothy James Worthington, aka Maths Time Joy got my email. I spend a lot of time cruising the interweb listening to tumblr producers, cloud rappers, and facebands, and it's likely that in just such a binge I blacked out and started actually giving people in England my contact information. Anyway, I'm not mad, because his latest EP Hideaway available for download on Live For The Funk is pretty bangin.

Maths Time Joy gets the combo of brassy synth and computer love style production just right on this short three song adventure. I snickered at his wonky moniker (insert sex joke here), but I am not laughing at all at his cloud production skills.

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LOST & FOUND: Did You Find a Camera at The Funhouse on Halloween?

Kelly O — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:19:04 -0800

Hello, fellow Funhouse closing night Halloween bash goer: On Halloween, I lost my pink/magenta Nikon Cool Pix S-360 camera. Perhaps someone picked it up? There were some very sentimental pics on this camera, aka, as a weekly patron of The Funhouse at happy hour, I took a series of pics of friends, the Funhouse itself, Holly, Joann, Cyndi, etc., over the course of this October, including the Halloween closing party. The Funhouse is a very special place, filled with honest, cool ass people found nowhere else!!!! So I make this plea, I would be eternally grateful for this camera's return, or at the very least the memory card with all the pics. So please if you have it or know who does contact me on facebook, Tara Bernth. No questions asked since it was I distracted and filled with Halloween spirits, that I left it sitting somewhere in Funhouse without its case. I thank you for your honesty and for your help.

Email drunk [at] thestranger.com, with any leads...

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Spaceman vs. Starchild

Emily Nokes — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:56:25 -0800

This is the best email I've received all week. I assure you I remember the incident differently.

Hey! I met you on Halloween... I was dressed as Paul Stanley but you and your friend kept calling me Ace and when I corrected you, you shushed me and asked me not to say that I'm Paul Stanley out loud because everyone was gonna think that I didn't know who I was.

This email got me thinking about how hilarious and dramatic Ace and Paul (and really all of KISS) are. Remember when Ace shocked himself on a mic and had a near death experience? Remember when Ace got mad at Paul and challenged him to an IQ test? Remember when Paul admitted he never liked Ace? Remember how Paul looks like Cruella Deville and Ace looks like he's been dead for over a decade? Sigh.

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Olympia's Last Punk Mourns the Death of Punk Rock

Megan Seling — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 16:18:53 -0700

Mr. Maxwell is back for more!

Punk Is Not Dead! - Letter to the Stranger

Congratulations, the Stranger! You’ve somehow managed to hire Emily Nokes, a music writer that’s even dumber than Megan Selig. Kudos.

But why stop there? Why not take this aging teeny-bopping worthless scenester and make her the editor of the whole music department? What’s that? That’s exactly what you did? Well, once again you’re one step ahead of me and a million miles behind the times. Let’s start with some excerpts of her reviews in your October 10-16, 2012 issue, and I quote:

“aww” – from Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby review

“Double aww!” – from same

“EEEEEEEH!” – from Naomi Punk review

Those quotes are taken out of context, but they are there nonetheless. To be fair to Emily here is another quote from the Naomi Punk review:

“…they take their time, unwinding with high airy vocals and oddly gratifying key changes that fade in and out as they please.”

Which isn’t bad, except she’s describing Naomi Punk, a band that does none of those things. If you go to Naomi Punk’s bandcamp site you get the privilege of hearing two cuts from their latest sold out LP The Feeling. The first one is entitled Voodoo Trust, a bland garagey drone that sounds like it was recorded with a set of cheap headphones plugged into a boombox. They do not take their time. The vocals are anything but airy as the singer whines out of key in the background. Fortunately his poor voice is buried beneath an uninspired derivative surf guitar lick that is repeated over and over until the key does in fact change. Once. To an equally uninspired and stale progression until the song finally ends as though the band just stopped playing for no good reason.

The other song entitled The Spell sounds remarkably similar to Voodoo Trust. So much so that it’s not worth mentioning any further.

Sorry Emily. That shit sucks and you have bad taste. Any band that would use the work “punk” in their name in 2012 is likely exactly that: a bunch of cheap and worthless punks.

But don’t feel bad. Megan Selig is still on the roster and while her writing has improved in the last 5 years her taste hasn’t. She describes the group Black Hills as “pop music with a sepia-tinged vintage sound” and “Picture the late ‘60s or early ‘70s- hippies, really, but with a little rock-and-roll edge.”

Perhaps she’s talking about a different Black Hills than the one I know which sounds like exactly what you would expect from members of Minus the Bear and the Lonely Forest. And that is tepid whiney Seattle shoegaze with just enough electronica injected to make the dentist’s chair feel more comfortable. There is nothing vintage about it unless, like Megan, you think that 2009 trying to sound like 2005 is vintage. And there is certainly no “rock-and-roll edge” or any resemblance at all to anything that came from the late ‘60s/early ‘70s by any stretch of the imagination.

Oddly enough there was a band from the late ‘60s/early ‘70s that did have a rock-and-roll edge called Led Zeppelin. But that’s old and Black Hills is new. So why not compare the two? After all, one is a legendary supergroup that to this day still sells records by the tens of thousands, and the other one is Led Zeppelin.

So good job Stranger. You’ve somehow managed to put your music section in the hands of dumb children that don’t know anything about music and write like teenagers on their phones. According to Darwinian Evolutionary Theory every generation is supposed to get better, but if you use the Stranger as a model it would seem that Devo had it right all along.

Sincerely,

Finneas Maxwell
Olympia

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Midnight Haiku

Sarah Galvin — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 16:29:28 -0700

We decided to start a religion whose only holiday was celebrated by throwing pumpkins off roofs. We were inspired to do this by whiskey and Lady Gaga, and not the Lord, but we hoped the Lord would see that no one else was throwing pumpkins and want to join us. It was like the letter we sent Lady Gaga suggesting she fuck both of us because we have access to a gazebo. She never wrote back. The gazebo is still lovely without her, though it is actually a parking garage.

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E-Mail Subject Line I'm Least Excited About Today

Grant Brissey — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:06:54 -0700

ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK UPROAR FESTIVAL EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION WITH SHINEDOWN'S BRENT SMITH, GODSMACK'S SULLY ERNA AND ADELITAS WAY'S RICK DEJESUS

The ones you don't give a shit about invariably arrive in all caps.

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Can Anything Be Worse Than Fifty Shades of Grey: The Classical Album?

Megan Seling — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:54:31 -0700

This e-mail just landed in my inbox:

New music for you: Fifty Shades of Grey - The Classical Album

EMI Classics will release Fifty Shades of Grey - The Classical Album, a 15-track album featuring classical music personally selected by author E L James herself and referenced in her bestselling Fifty Shades book trilogy. The album will be available in the U.S. and Canada digitally on August 21st and in CD format on September 18th. The album will be released internationally in both formats on September 17th.

Is this the worst piece of mail I've received? Maybe! What a pointless, money-grabbing load of poop. "Listen to these pieces of classical music while reading my horrifically written pseudo erotica!"* The album includes (to name a few) Bach, Debussy, Chopin, and Verdi. You know, you can listen to classical music without the help of an insipid novel.

Stephanie Meyer did this, too. She released a list of songs she hears in her head while reading Twilight (Coldplay! Linkin Park! David Gray! Collective Soul! Barf!). And L. Ron Hubbard went a step further, making his own book soundtrack for Battlefield Earth (book expert Paul Constant tells me the album is called Space Jazz, it was released in 1982).

But maybe I'm just being cranky. I should appreciate that books and music are colliding in such a way. I'd love to see more authors supply playlists that could go along with their words. Wouldn't that be great, if all your favorite books came with the option to buy an accompanying soundtrack, carefully chosen by the author? I would love that! But for now, why is it always the bad books that come with (mostly) bad music!?

That said, Fifty Shades of Grey and some classical music isn't the worst thing in the world, I suppose. Certainly there are worse books that would supply worse soundtracks. Let's take a poll!

And when you're done voting, which books do you think would have a totally wonderful soundtrack?

*FWIW: I haven't read the whole book, just a few passages. They were terrible.

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Improvisational Review - RACHEL

Sean Jewell — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:35:00 -0700

Robbie Plackemeier is the leader of a Nashville improvisational trio called RACHEL. He sent me an email after my review of Teen Suicide’s Goblin Problems, asking me to listen to his band RACHEL's album called (Side A), suggesting that I might like his form of lo-fi, diy, emo, improvisational freak folk.

I said fuck that, then did some improv of my own and listened to the link Robbie didn’t send me. It was for his recording of his trio live at Swan Stock (whatever the hell that is) on 4-28-12, which includes the voices of some rude bastards talking in the bar, and beer bottles clinking, but also includes a valuable Conor Oberst-like nervousness in the vocals that makes the lyrics seem more like reactionary emotional responses, and finds the musicians playing off of one another rather than playing along alone. Hey Robbie, why didn’t you tell me about this album? It made me think of early Motopony, and I think you might enjoy artists like Lydia Lunch and DNA.

The other album, (Side A), completely falls apart in its own first track “Meet RACHEL,” but perhaps that’s acceptable since every track on the album is improvised. Rachel’s electronically aided/emo folk music seethes dysrhythmia and their sessions are recorded straight to tape. While their recordings fall short of modal, songs on their album (Side A) evoke thoughts of Daniel Johnston's more extemporaneous works and New York’s No Wave movement.

RACHEL on Tumblr| RACHEL on Twitter

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Maybe the Most Fucked-Up Music-Related Press Release I've Ever Received

Megan Seling — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:11:39 -0700

PTAHIL: Fan Bites Head Off Decomposed Rodent; Live Video Footage Posted

Regularly adorning the stage with lamb bones and decaying rats, Indiana black metal miscreants PTAHIL are known for their moody, violent and lawless exercises in live musical mayhem. At a recent ceremony at The Brass Rail in Fort Wayne, their onstage chaos led one fan to bite the head of a decomposed rodent.

Comments PTAHIL drummer, Mhaghnuis: "It is good to see that when a human being is bombarded with specific emotions, smells and sounds that they can commit actions that are normally unthinkable to them. We are proud that our music and presence helped this person do something unthinkable to any current standard of social behavior."

Added concert attendee/rat nibbler Zac Bau: "I felt it necessary to step outside the rest of the fans behavior and show that it only takes one person to break the monotony of fist-pumping metal fans. Everybody can mosh; everybody can throw the horns but the true metal fan will eat things that the spirit of the moment moves them to no matter the rest of the world's thoughts on it."

View footage from the show at THIS LOCATION.

PTAHIL recently completed the follow-up to For His Satanic Majesty’s Glory. Titled The Almighty Propagator Of Doom And Despair, their newest assault Satanic doom/punk/black metal is slated for release on December 21, 2012 through Wraith Productions and was written and recorded in acknowledgement to the prison of life and the pursuit of true freedom. Further info to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Cue to 3:02 to see the gross.

Happy Friday, everyone!

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Today in "What Won't Henry Rollins Do?"

Grant Brissey — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:14:43 -0700

E-mail subject line:

HENRY ROLLINS HOSTS ‘ANIMAL UNDERWORLD’ON NAT GEO WILD; 3-HOUR MARATHON MEMORIAL DAY EVENT MAY 28

No longer content to appear in just every music documentary ever and say something like "[Insert band name here] were just SEMINAL." Rollins is now encroaching the world of animal documentaries.

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E-Mail Subject Line I'm Least Excited About Today: "Maroon 5 Releases Footage from Songs About Jane Recording Sessions"

Grant Brissey — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:51:00 -0700

That is all.

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E-Mail Subject Line I'm Least Excited About Today "The Wallflowers Return With Highly Anticipated New Album This Fall"

Grant Brissey — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:54:19 -0700

That is all.

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E-mail Subject Line I'm Feeling Most Conflicted About Today: "Review Copies Available: L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXVIII"

Grant Brissey — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:45:15 -0700

Carry on.

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E-Mail Subject Line I'm Feeling Most Apathetic About Today: "LENNY KRAVITZ - MAMA SAID- DELUXE EDITION TO BE RELEASED ON JUNE 5 "

Grant Brissey — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:04:00 -0700

That is all.

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I, Anonymous: Shitty Person at the Breakroom, Eleven Years Ago

Grant Brissey — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:40:39 -0700

I assume this was intended to be an I, Anonymous, but it said nothing else in the body of the e-mail. Moving past the obvious shitiness of dosing someone's drink, people, if your friend is passed/blacked out and vomiting, take them to them to the fucking hospital, or better yet, call 911. That's how rock stars die.

Dear Asshat,

Eleven years ago, I was at a Wiretaps show at The Breakroom on Capitol Hill and had the misfortune of sitting next to you along the wall. You made some kind of disgusting sexual gesture towards me and I turned around to ignore you, leaving my drink in your sights. After another rebuffed gesture, I got up and went to a booth with my friend. Minutes later, the room began to close in on me. After the tunnel vision, I began to lose control of my limbs. My friend panicked and helped me to my car. She had never driven before but she drove us back to her house, while I vomited from the moving car. That night, she watched over me saying I was vomiting while blacked out and she thought I was going to die. I obviously did not die. I'm angry 11 years later because she did die a few years after that, and now you're shitheadiness is associated with my memories of her. You are a shitty person who has hopefully been caught.

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E-Mail Subject Line I'm Feeling Least Excited About Today

Grant Brissey — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:47:13 -0700

Maroon 5 set to Debut NEW Studio Album ‘Overexposed’ on June 26th

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Here's an Example of How NOT to Send Your CD to Media Outlets

Megan Seling — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:20:16 -0700

Speaking of sending your CDs to radio stations, just a couple weeks ago I got this package in the mail:

THIS IS WHAT YOU DO NOT DO when sending your album to media outlets.

Creativity is appreciated. Kithkin sent me leaves and rocks. Speaker Speaker once sent me jellybeans. But this motherfucker right here was sealed in eight layers of tape, meaning I had to spend minutes tearing through women doing stupid poses in their panties in order to open the package. Strike one. Then, inside, the short note taped to the front of the CD spelled my name wrong. Megen. Strike two.

I like bands with a sense of humor. I like getting weird shit in the mail. But I don't want to have to tear through Victoria's Secret models and clippings from an old GQ in order to hear your music. Is that really the first impression you want to make?

The music wasn't my thing. It sounded like singer/songwriter stuff that would've been used on Dawson's Creek back in the ’90s. Strike three. You're out.

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Least Exciting Thing in the Mail Today

Grant Brissey — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:34:07 -0800

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Poll: Least Compelling E-mail Subject Line of the Day: "Nickleback Extends 2012 North American Tour" OR "Candlebox blast 3-7-12"

Grant Brissey — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:19:50 -0800

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From Today's Mail: The Self-Censoring Diaper-Gram!

Megan Seling — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:23:46 -0800

Look at what The Stranger's music department just got in the mail:

Evanne Hall

Here's a tip: If you're going to have the balls/ovaries to send us a fucking diaper, also have balls/ovaries to write the word SHIT on it without censoring yourself.

Cowards.

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RE: Mailbag: Every Revolution Needs Its Anthem [Cont.]

Dean Fawkes — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:42:39 -0700

I see yours, Grant and James, and raise you Blur's "We've Got a File on You".

The band had this thing nailed down eight years ago and it gets its point across in an instantly yellable, relevantly paranoid, and even more concise six words and 62 seconds.

We've got a file on you
We've got a file on you
We've got a file on you
We've got a —
On you.

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Mailbag: "Every Revolution Needs Its Anthem"

Grant Brissey — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:34:12 -0700

The letter reads:

"Editor,

Every revolution needs its anthem—in lieu of something better, I think people sitting in Wall Street should hear Muse's "Uprising" frequently played on portable CD players."

Then I accidentally ran over it with my rolling desk chair. See our list of songs for the revolution in this week's issue, out Wednesday. Until then, what's your revolution song?

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