atxsubpunk

[atxsubpunk]

Celeste Returned

Avert your gaze and

restrain your tongue

Suffer the glory of

Kingdom Come

Bathe in the warmth of

its fiery gates

Behold vengeance rendered

flesh and blood

Calamity cloaked in

the figure of

A delicate waif with a

slender waist

I plunge a flaming saber

deep into the undead hearts

Of the heinous, limp deceivers

who seek to bend the world

With their unholy arts

I am returned

Brandishing a lethal song

I’ve learned

Hear my words and paint them

o’er your shuttered doors

Let justice fall and the

faithful rise

The hour of accounting is

now arrived

When every deed will be

weighed and scored

I ride upon a giant storm of

rolling pestilence

I isolate the insincere and watch

them beg

Feigning their innocence

I’ve come through hell

so be attentive and

Remember well

Your vile offenses as I

send you to your doom

A golden calf with a

wide eyed stare

Upturned and defiled in

the thoroughfare

It’s elegant horns now adorned

with filth

I glide unnoticed over

hill and hedge

Instinctively drawn to the

water’s edge

And settle my feet in

the gentle surf

Within the tidal patterns

myths are being born

and raised

A name newly remembered slips

beneath the foam

Of the majestic waves

My grief remains

Though less potent in its

own strange way

It’s a secret that I keep

well hid

Like a talisman

inherited

from a dear, departed

cherished relative

[atxsubpunk]

BRIGANTINES

LYRICS BY JACOB LEWIS, FROM THE SUITE “CELESTE RETURNED”

BRIGANTINE FREIGHTERS

THEIR BACKS ARCHED AND TAILORED

FOR SPEED AND SUPPLY

BREAK HARD AND HEROIC

THEIR FIGUREHEADS STOIC

BENEATH HOSTILE SKIES

FROM HIGH ABOVE THE MAIN DECK

LONG HAIR WINDSWEPT

CELESTE CHARMS THE BREEZE

UNWAVERINGLY SHE SINGS

A MELODY THAT BRINGS

THE SEA TO ITS KNEES

SUBDUED AND DEMURE

BOUQUETS OF PRAISE ARE TOSSED

TWILIGHT DEEPENS AS WE CROSS

THE TREACHEROUS DEPTHS ON THE

COURSE THAT WE’VE SET

TO A NEW CONTINENT

STATIC YET MOVING

THE OCEAN SPRAY SOOTHING

AND COOL ON MY FACE

MY PREVIOUS EXISTENCE

RECEDING IN THE DISTANCE

A LIFE NOW ERASED

CRADLED IN MY SOFT HANDS

THE RELIC OF A LOST LAND

BEQUETHED UNTO ME

THROUGH DEADLY RAIN AND THUNDER

I PERSEVERE AND WONDER

JUST WHO WILL I BE

WHEN WE COME ASHORE

SKILLED HANDS CARESS MY NECK

RECONNOITER MY SILHOUETTE

HIS HEAD ON MY SHOULDER

IMPOSSIBLY LIGHT AS

WE SAIL THROUGH THE NIGHT

AS WE SAIL THROUGH THE NIGHT

AS WE CRAFT OUR BILE

INTO HONEYED VERSE

SCULPT THE ANGLES

OF OUR ANGST

ARTISANS OF UNREST

ACKNOWLEDGED AND SELF-CONFESSED

IRREVERVENT, BELLIGERENT

BLASPHEMOUS, AND PROFANE

WE HAVE COME FOR YOUR HEARTS

AND YOUR SOFT UNDERPARTS

WITH OUR HARMONIES SWEET

WE’LL ENSNARE YOU WITH EASE

WITH A

SHIT-EATING GRIN

WE WILL WELCOME YOU IN

AND TAKE HEADS BY THE SCORE

AS THE CROWD CALLS FOR MORE

KISS OUR FEET

AS WE CHEAT

YOU OUT OF YOUR HOMES

SLOW BUT INSISTENT

OFF IN THE DISTANCE

THE COAST DOES APPEAR

A CITY ON ITS DARK BROW

SHINING LIKE A JEWELED CROWN

IT BECKONS US NEAR

A SPECTACLE OF HIGH WALLS

CATHEDRALS AND GREAT HALLS

COMPELS ME TO SPEAK

BUT REACHING OUT FOR BRAVE WORDS

I FIND THAT THEY’VE ALL TURNED

AND FLED IN RETREAT

THEY HAVE FLED IN RETREAT

AND RENDERED ME MUTE

STERN FACES CARVED IN STONE

ANCIENT FEATURES OVERGROWN

BY DENSE, VERDANT VEILS OF

IVY THAT CLIMB AND CLING

TO THEIR EYES

MY HEART IS MUCH THE SAME

BLIND AND HOPELESS

EVER CHAINED TO DOUBT

AND MISFORTUNE

BUT WHEN IN YOUR ARMS

I’M SAFE FROM ALL HARM

I AM SAFE FROM ALL HARM

I AM SAFE FROM ALL HARM

[atxsubpunk]

Today’s Persona 5 Update:

The Phantom Thieves have secured an infiltration route through Futaba’s Tomb and all that remains is to deliver the calling card and hopefully rouse this poor girl from her waking nightmare.

Previously there was a scene where the gang, after being rained out of a fireworks show, discusses their most current predicament in a Tokyo subway station. It was here that I realized I’d completely succumbed to the charms of the characters and story.

Soon thereafter the Futaba arc began and even my wife, someone who is completely disinterested in games like this, began asking me what was happening in the story. I wonder if Futaba is as beloved amongst P5 fans as Nanako is to P4 fans?

At this point I’m all-in with Persona 5 and think it’s every bit an equal to its precursor although the two games have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. I hope I’ve still got lots of game to go!

NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS PLEASE!

[atxsubpunk]

Today’s Persona 5 update:

The walls are closing in on the swine Kaneshiro and the Phantom Thieves are rolling!

Makoto’s joined the team and then hit the ground running as one of the most badass, no nonsense heroines in any game I’ve ever played. Usually her skill set would be split into two characters, the brainy tactician over here, the bare knuckle beast over there, but she’s the whole package with a pretty braid on top.

Around the beginning of the Kaneshiro arc something shifted inside me and I began to enjoy the characters more than I had been. It’s not that I disliked them before, but they didn’t have my heart in the same way that P4’s Investigation Team did.

But that’s true to life. Sometimes you meet people and you instantly feel a connection. “Oh, it’s you. I know you. I like you. We’re of the same tribe.” Other times a relationship builds slowly between two people until one day they realize how much they appreciate each other.

I’m not sure I love P5 yet, but I’m starting to imagine what a future together could be like, and there’s potential there.

[atxsubpunk]

FYA

Lyrics by Jacob Lewis, from the suite “XX”

Lounging

In period dress

On a Hollywood set

Awaiting my cue

Do you

Recognize me?

Are the lines of my face

Familiar to you?

I look into

The camera

I feel you look

Back at me

That expression of

Yours

I’ve seen it

Before

And I can tell

What you think of me

You think

I’m a vacuous slut

Who’ll come when you call

And when you command

I think

You’re a five foot, nine

Sack of shit in

The shape of a man

Don’t kid yourself

Don’t you know?

You’re hardly Serge

Gainsborough

Don’t covet

Me

I’m not a

Salve

For your lust or

Your boredom

Don’t covet

Me

I’m not a prop

For your lust or

Your boredom

[atxsubpunk]

Amnesiac

Lyrics by Jacob Lewis, from the suite “Celeste Returned”

Seaborne debris

Litters the lonely beach

At dawn

The aftermath of a storm

Now vanished

And gone

Crouched in the wreckage

Half-embedded in the sand

Confused, forsaken

A little girl lost

In a foreign land

A wicked wind

Bites hard upon

Her skin

And into

Her fragile bones

Canvas of white

Compass and telescope

Of brass

A wilderness before me

Wide and vast

A stray shard of mirror

Delivered in the currents of

The sea

And suddenly face to face

With a stranger

Staring back at me

A pair of eyes

That I fail to recognize

Do they

Belong to me?

I watch as the young girl

Mimics my every move

Her footsteps are soft

Her face is hard

Battered and beat and marred

She is travelled from

Afar

We are

The very same

But I don’t even know

Her name

A spector appears

Clad in gown of white

Her features feminine

And clear

She whispers into

My ear

Dry your crying eyes

My dear

I will be near

You have no need to fear

And then she

Disappears

And now on my own

With no memory

Or home

[atxsubpunk]

Today’s Persona 5 update:

Madarame is revealed to be culpable in the death of Yusuke’s mother! And said mother is the real artist of the famed “Sayuri!” I’m blown away!

I’m not sure what surprised me more, the aforementioned revelations or the decision of the writers to raise the stakes of the game so dramatically. I’ll admit to a certain prejudice when considering video games as works of art. It’s not that I look down on them, it’s just that I never go in expecting anything other than a fun time. Well… maybe that is looking down on them actually. Either way, I’m often blindsided when a game’s story takes a turn that’s genuinely dramatic and thoughtful

What else is going on? Well I’m seeing this guidance councilor that has my hackles up. I’m not sure but there’s just something about him that I don’t trust. I’m not sure if that’s my own natural instincts or if I’m just picking up on Ryuii’s “all adults are assholes” worldview.

Anything else? Oh yeah there is that little thing about MY HOMEROOM TEACHER MOONLIGHTING AS A MAID!!! Ms. Kawakami?? WHAT?!? Are student loans that high in Japan too?!?

[atxsubpunk]

Her Favorite Man / Black Strap

(duet for male and female voices)

Recline your head

let slip your inhibition

train your knees against

the hardwood floor

My favorite man

newly reimagined

as the delicate

girl next door

Come beg me sweetly

in a soft voice high and fair

and feel my warm breath

as it grazes your perfumed hair

tonight

My precious babe

long have I sat and noted

the labored way

you wield your heels

Your tomboy’s grin

is the cri du couer

of a father’s son

long concealed

Untie your ribbons

and shear your tumbling curls

cling to me tightly

and I’ll show you a brave new world

tonight

I’m blushing

you grip me like a vice

I’m rushing

the gates of paradise

if you ask me nice

I’ll surrender and sacrifice

myself to you

In darkness frightened

a black strap biting

My chest and waist, I gasp

my stockings torn

A whisper (hush)

soothing

(try to stand)

It’s kind words (here)

moving

(come and take my hand)

me to my feet I was

a twin absorbed

From the depths of myself

I’m remade, renewed, reborn

[atxsubpunk]

Today’s Persona 5 update (no spoilers please):

My crew has secured the infiltration route on that hack painter Madarame and the only thing that remains is to send the calling card and watch the blood drain from his face.

The Museum Palace has been a joy to navigate. The plot device of the characters operating in a surreal world detached from reality really allows the game’s creators to go crazy with their dungeon designs. These designs are far and away the biggest improvement from Persona 4, whose various castles, bath houses and strip clubs were more of a chore than a fun time.

Art museums are a rare treat for me in real life so I was extra buzzed to slip in and out the various paintings and ambush all the smartly dressed guards I found.

I’d like to give a shout out to Cassandra Morris for her excellent performance as Morgana. How much have I enjoyed this performance? Well, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever bothered to look up voice cast information for a video game so I’d say she’s a revelation.

Morgana is also, in my very narrow appraisal of video game history, the best “Virgil” character that’s ever been created. I’ve never played a game with as many tutorials as P5 and it’s a major miracle that I’ve gone through so many of them and have never once wanted to tell my guide to stfu already.

I’m not sure P5 will usurp P4 in my heart but this game is so stylish, so layered and so overall impressive that I often aimlessly wander its landscapes, trying to absorb and cherish all the real sensations I feel from its virtual space.

[atxsubpunk]

Acoustic Friday is back on track with the original “Another Dreary Day (in East Berlin).” From the suite “Cold War Country Western.” Enjoy!

Seven below

Alexanderplatz

Christmas Eve

Watching clusters of punks

As they glide across

The icy streets

Jesus Christ

Born in a manger

They say

But to a lonely,

Godless heathen

Or anyone with a brain it’s plainly

Just another dreary day

Boarded a train at

Ostbahnhof

And headed home

Caught a glimpse of a girl

At the back of the car

Sitting alone

And she sang

Soft and perfectly

Sweet

Johnny Cash’s

“Ring of Fire”

And as we hurtled along I felt

My heart completely skip a beat

We’d walk the length

Of the wall at night

Just for a thrill

Razor wire, cement and

Fanatical guards

Trained to kill

“I’ll get out.

I’m going over,”

She’d say

“And if they catch me,

Maim or kill me,

Then at least I’ll be spared the misery

Of another dreary day”

[atxsubpunk]

Ainsley and I will be playing a special duo set this Wednesday, September 11th at Coral Snake! If you’re an ATX resident come say hi!

[atxsubpunk]

A Quiet Place: Day One

I've seen all three of the "Quiet Place" films, and while I don't remember much of the first two my instinct is to say that "Day One" is the best of the lot. It's certainly the bleakest. I appreciate post-apocalyptic films that focus on characters managing the new world order (Nausicaä / Mad Max) instead of showing characters trying to put the world to rights (I Am Legend). The two leads are great. I expected that from Lupita Nyong'o but Joseph Quinn was very much her equal. It was actually his character that had my attention as the movie progressed. Can he be trusted? Why is he doing the things he's doing? What does it say about me that when I see simple kindness and decency in a stranger that my suspicions rise and I start surveying the landscape for a melee weapon? Joseph Quinn's traumatized facial expressions made for some of the most memorable images of the film. It's rare to see a man terrified without screaming, demolished but still functioning. It reminded me of David Johnson's performance in "Alien: Romulus." Not because Johnson's character was terrified, but because 99% of said performance came entirely from his face and communicated more any amount of dialog could. I also want to give props for the 99 minute runtime. That may sound like a backhanded compliment but it isn't. The secret to making a good movie is knowing exactly what kind of movie you should be making, and these filmmakers understood that. That's an accomplishment.

[atxsubpunk]

Suburban Lawns “Gidget Goes to Hell”

I like to think I’m omnivorous in my musical tastes but I have a special place in my heart for transgressive, subversive rock (bonus points if there’s a strand of punk woven into it’s DNA). This is an excerpt of “Gidget Goes to Hell,” the debut single of the legendary Suburban Lawns.

I was going to say it’s like a demented version of the B-52s “Rock Lobster” but I think “Rock Lobster” is already pretty demented itself!

Enjoy!

[atxsubpunk]

I found myself in a patch of sadness today but the universe seemed bent on guiding me out. First, I found a super rare Suburban Lawns 7” (pictured) at my favorite record store, had a great cup of coffee, and then finally struck gold with an amazing parking spot at HEB that really should be reserved for the handicapped.

All this AND discovered the great new Nick Cave song “Long Dark Night.”

So yeah, not so bad really.

[atxsubpunk]

Born Again

Lyrics by Jacob Lewis for Western Threads / from the suite “XX”

Last night I had

a lovely dream

my sins were cleansed

in a mountain stream

somewhere in the wilderness

from my naked skin

you washed away my wickedness

and I was born again

Last night I had

a dirty dream

and you were there

lying in between

a pretty pair of devotees

with a vacant stare

I gently plucked a marigold

from your pretty hair

Sister, sing a song

and we’ll all sing along

and build a nation high

from the bones of the countryside

Over the hills

and far away

we’ll plow our fields

and spend our days

preaching to the destitute

and the perverts,

puritans and prostitutes

that we’ll convert

Sister, say a prayer

and if you despair

we will care for you

we’re a family through and through

Come here my dear

and have a seat

Look in my eyes,

repeat after me

“I’ll obey your every whim

faithfully

you’re the one I’m worshipping

you’re my deity”

[atxsubpunk]

Today’s Persona 5 update: (no spoilers please)

I’m concerned that my character (not myself mind you, MY CHARACTER) is starting to have the hots for this shady doctor lady that keeps my crew supplied with unregulated uppers.

Focus on the mission, fool! THE MISSION!

[atxsubpunk]

“Holiday”

Song lyrics by Jacob Lewis / from the suite “XX”

By the age of eighteen

I’d claimed the crown of Pharaohs

the desert sands of Egypt danced

around my gold stilettos

From Thebes to Memphis

my kingdom stretched before me

countless slaves in chains were bid

to worship and adore me

But when the city fell around me

a suicide was how they found me

No need to mourn

death was a holiday

I said a prayer and was

reborn

From a bed in Buda

I awoke the Regent Mother

medieval strings were made to sing

and my enemies to suffer

The Danube was lovely

from the window of my carriage

authority bestowed to me

through the sum of blood and marriage

My daughter wept when I was strangled

my regal neck mauled and mangled

But I had learned

death was a holiday

I closed my eyes and was

returned

Reborn a beauty

upon a golden throne

the teenage Queen of France

with a heart as hard as stone

Life was a such a pleasure

in the Palace of Versailles

draped in silks and diamonds while

my subjects starved outside

I heard the revolution call

the guillotine began to fall

It was a bore

the crowd called for blood

but I had seen it all

before

Death’s not the end

it’s only a holiday

and I will see you all again