#Japandroids

[groovesnjams]

"Chicago" by Japandroids

DV:

If this was 2012 and Japandroids dropped a song called "Chicago" it's entirely possible that MG and I would have lost our minds. "The House that Heaven Built" and Celebration Rock soundtracked so many of our nights out in Logan Square or Andersonville or Lakeview in that period, either in fact or in principle. It was an era of buying beers based on their cost-to-ABV ratio, of smoking endless cigarettes in alleyways as if they'd provide shelter from the sub-zero weather, of staying out until sunrise. A time filled with mistakes we knew we were making. But times change, and so did we, and we were a lot cooler on the band's follow-up work, to the extent that a dozen years later I'm not sure I can actually call a Japandroids song named after our city GNJ bait (not least because neither of us actually lives in the city currently.)

But while I don't think either of us are looking for a song to inspire the kind of bad behavior that "Fire's Highway" et all once did, Japandroids aren't really making that kind of song anymore either. And "Chicago" does kind of hit, especially once I stop expecting an actual chorus and notice that Japandroids have left plenty of space for a crowd to shout out, "We call it like we see it in Chicago." A motto I've never heard but like sure, why not. Maybe they're not shouting quite as loud as they used to, but maybe they still recognize the impulse. Maybe I do too.

MG:

There's a real problem with Brian King's vocals on "Chicago." A line like "Sorry, baby, we call it like we see it in Chicago" is supposed to be shouted louder than the lines preceding it, not hollowed out and delivered plainspoken. He's never been a technically gifted singer, but comparing "Chicago" to 2012's "Continuous Thunder," which uses the same blunt vocal style, it's clear his voice is just shot. Understandable! He sung recklessly and that was what was so beautiful about that era of Japandroids -- it was always meant to be a brief but powerful fire of emotion and excess. And now it's viscerally over. It hurts to hear him thin and weak, it feels like his inability to sing forcefully has extended to his lyrics, which lack the snapshot specificity he was once so gifted at conjuring. There's no gut punch truth at the heart of "Chicago," instead a sort of wistful longing to go back and be preserved in amber hangs over the song. At this point, you just had to be there. As a teen, I was insanely jealous of anyone who got to experience The Replacements in real time because all I could do was read about how fragile, human, and alive they were in their brief, transcendent career. Japandroids will be someone's Replacements and to that person I can confirm, they really were that special.

[sad-sappy-sucker]

Japandroids - "Chicago"

[nobodycallsmemaurice]

[bandcampsnoop]

2/28/25.

Taxidermists are a Massachusetts based duo that met back in 2007 through MySpace. Since then, they've become music lifers, making music together and with other bands. One of Taxidermists releases was via the esteemed Feeding Tube Records. Recently, they have released their music through Danger Collective Records. This Los Angeles label has been featured many times throughout the years. Going back through the blog, I saw their amazing compilation "Save The Smell".

As a guitar drum duo, Taxidermists bring to mind other similarly constituted bands, Buick, Japandroids or No Age. But this is decidedly lo-fi and the songs take unexpected melodic turns. Musically, they're kind of hard to pin down, but the length and poppiness of some songs recall Guided By Voices. Sometimes, the voice and music remind me of The Who.

[pretendpopstar]

Celebration Rock by Japandroids

[hubcaphalo]

Favorite Albums of 2024:

Here we go: favorite albums of the year. I like to make my lists every year and these? Are just my favorites. Are they the best albums of the year? Who the fuck knows. Maybe some are, some aren’t. I make these lists for myself, because I like to go back and revisit these, but if you listen and find something here you like, that’s awesome!

favorite albums of 2024, in alphabetical order:

Dagny - ELLE (listen: In My Bones, Strawberry Dream)

Dawn Richard, Spencer Zahn - Quiet in a World Full of Noise (listen: Quiet in a World Full of Noise, Breath Out)

Dehd - Poetry (listen: Hard to Love, Mood Ring)

Empress Of - For Your Consideration (listen: Femenine, Kiss Me)

FLETCHER - In Search of the Antidote (listen: Attached to You, Crush)

Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Past is Still Alive (listen: Alibi, Hourglass)

Japandroids - Fate & Alcohol (listen: Upon Sober Reflection, Fugitive Summer)

Joy Oladokun - Observations from a Crowded Room (listen: Good Enough, Drugs)

Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well (listen: Jade Green, Sway)

Kaleida - In Arms (listen: Choices, Kilda)

Kenya Vaun - The Honeymoon Phase (listen: Yesterday, Overrated)

Lizzie No - Halfsies (listen: Halfsies, Annie Oakley)

Moses Sumney - Sophcore (listen: Vintage, Love's Refrain)

Orville Peck - Stampede (listen: How Far Will We Take It?, Chemical Sunset)

Pom Pom Squad - Mirror Starts Moving Without Me (listen: Street Fighter, The Tower)

Raveena - Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain (listen: Lose My Focus, We Should Move Somewhere Beautiful)

Rei Brown - Aura (listen: Get Me Out, Fire)

Reyna Tropical - Malegria (listen: Cartagena, Lo Siento)

somesurprises - Perseids (listen: Be Reasonable, Dark Victory)

TezaTalks - Black Girl American Horror Story (listen: STOPIT!!, Oxygen, Cops)

Honourable Mentions:

Fleet Foxes - Live on Boston Harbor I don't put live albums on the EOY list, but this is an excellent listen--you can also watch it on youtube. Robin is in peak banter form. (listen: Ragged Wood)

Various Artists - American Football (Covers) The classic American Football record is so iconic, and so gorgeous, of course a record full of covers from other brilliant musicians is gonna slap. (listen: Ethel Cain - For Sure)

Usher - Coming Home It didn't need to be a double album! The first half is perfect! The second half has some decent songs, but it is definitely weaker. (listen: Kissing Strangers "how'd we go from strangers kissing to kissing strangers"? LAWD shot to the heart)

[jmunneytumbler]

Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 10/18/24

Keepin’ it poppin’ (CREDIT: CBS/Screenshot) Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out. Movies –Anora (Theaters) –Goodrich (Theaters) –Smile 2 (Theaters) –Woman of the Hour (October 18 on Netflix) – Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut. TV –Happy’s Place Series Premiere (October 18 on NBC) –…

[gastricotv]

Japandroids | D&T

[strangledeggs]

Everyone's nostalgia is different, "monoculture" is fake, blah blah blah, but I think one reason that the ubiquity of Mr. Brightside pisses me off is because this song exists. To me, this far better captured the emotional highs of being a millennial (sort of?) teenager/young adult, and it just feels like it does everything Mr. Brightside is trying to but better - like, it's just MORE, even to the point that it sounds contradictory: more poetic, more punk, sloppier, but somehow more technically impressive, louder, more intense, more tender, but also more stand-offish. The Killers have always been second-rate Springsteen wannabes (except in those brief moments where they're slightly-more-interesting second-rate new wave wannabes); these guys might have been a flash in the pan, but that flash was truly dazzling for at least those first couple albums and it feels like a cosmic injustice that this song doesn't have the status Mr. Brightside does instead.

[valaquenta]

Japandroids - Chicago

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for January 14, 2017; #130.

Jay Reatard “Oh It’s Such A Shame”

Yucky Duster “Paul Revere”

King Khan & The BBQ Show “Love You So”

Elvis Depressedly “Okay”

Kindling “Black Eye”

Mary Lynn Gloeckle “Space”

Diamond Guts “The Worst Kind Of News”

K9 Sniffles “Donovan’s”

Gland “Cram It”

Courtneys, The “Silver Velvet”

Japandroids “No Known Drink Or Drug”

Connections “Kate”

Pill “Medicine”

Sonic Death “Gotika”

Beth Israel “Springtime”

Thirty Silver “Burn”

Guilloteenagers, The “Books Endorsed By Kirk Cameron”

Cende “Widow”

Deformity “Nausea”

Shock Cinema “Breathe Again”

Warm Bodies “Psychic Connection, The”

Bombshells, The “No More”

Ivy “Head Buisness”

Heartless Magnus “Mass Prolapse”

Vanity “Don’t Be Shy”

Tough Tits “Hairless”

Dope Body “Leather Head”

Big Heet “Conversation Paranoia” (demo)

Frustrations “Confusion Kills”

JJ Doll “She’s Onto You”

Miss Destiny “The One”

Super Unison “Broken”

Dame “Hostage”

Deluxe garage, post-punk, d.i.y., and punk.

[lightyearsdream]

재팬드로이즈는 내가 좋아하는 것과는 별개로, 유감스럽지만 진작에 끝난 밴드라고 생각했다. 실제로는 반년 전에 공식적으로 끝이 났었네. 마지막 앨범의 발매가 작년 10월인데 전혀 모르고 있었다. 수많은 아티스트들과 각종 매거진을 여기저기서 팔로우해봤자 이젠 이런 소식이 내게 전해지지 않는다.

시대 한정적인 소명을 다해 이제는 "irrelevant" 해진 젊음의 흔적이 여기 있다. 마침 좋았던 젊은 시절을 잠깐 다시 되새겨본다. 10년전 재팬드로이즈 내한공연 내내 스테이지 다이브를 일삼았었던 기억에 아직도 흐뭇하다. 아마 그 이상 좋았을 수 없을 것이다.

[laxxvora]

i Japandroids, duo canadese di rock esplosivo... [al link 👇🏼] #onr #opinionenonrichiesta #sotd #laxxvora #freeplaylist #inloop #F8ckTr8mp #radioGrafie #PassaParola

[randommusicvid]

The House That Heaven Built - Japandroids

[reckonslepoisson]

Fate and Alcohol, Japandroids (2024)

Once I admired oversharing, earnestness and a general lack of fucks about what people think – cringe, in other words – but these days my face can only do so much wincing. You had to be there, but you still do. 

Pick: ‘Alice’