#its songs like hot & heavy by lucy dacus

[poetryinsepiatones]

a letter

to those who will remain unnamed i thank you for my childhood the small clumps of hair we chopped off with safety scissors never really grew back the mud stains never washed out of my socks my knees still scab over from the carpet burn we got together running from growing up somewhere, in the basement, the tinny television set still plays those old reruns and VCRs we forgot to wind back and on some bench there's still the plastic sleeve covered in sticky fingerprints from the juice popsicles that our moms bought when we begged so we could save our favorite flavors for each other i still have the bracelet with your misspelled name strung on the blues you thought were the same shade in the flashlight's beam and in my drawer i have the almost empty notebook titled "Our Summer" with amateur signatures in the top right corner and smiley face beneath them that never got filled when you drove away in june you don't have one name and often i hit myself where you asked to kiss my cheek because i forget one of them and when i remember one i scribble it in crayon on my heart (i always forget that crayon fades like the drawings i helped you with when you were three) now, when i'm the age you were when you would push the swings because i was too short to touch the ground and my shoes would be too big to line up perfectly with your purple ones like you always liked to do i wish you were still here to split your jelly beans wait at sticky bus stops drink bittersweet lemonade and help me forget that one day you would walk off in your hand-me-down pants and take my childhood with you

[someoctober]

Home Video is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus.[4][5][6] It was released on June 25, 2021, via Matador.[7] It was promoted by the singles "Thumbs", "Hot & Heavy", "VBS", "Brando", and "Going Going Gone". The album received critical acclaim and placed on many critics' year-end lists.

Background[edit]

In late February 2021, certain fans of Dacus received a VHS tape of a new song in the mail. On March 9, 2021, the song was released using the title "Thumbs". It had long been a staple of Dacus' live performances prior to its release. Dacus explained the way the song came about in a press release.

Like most songs I write, I wasn't expecting it and it made me feel weird, almost sick.

Home video footage is used in the album's music videos, as Dacus "wanted to visualize the moment when you first reflect on your childhood, which I think can also be the moment that childhood is over."[9]

Promotion

Prior to the album's announcement, "Thumbs" was released as the lead single on March 9, 2021. On April 13, 2021, Dacus released the lead single for the album, "Hot & Heavy".[10] The release of "Hot & Heavy" was accompanied by the album's official announcement.[4] Dacus performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[11] On May 19, 2021, Dacus released the album's third single, "VBS".[10] "Brando" was released as the fourth single on June 8, 2021. The song was sent to adult alternative radio on June 14, 2021.[12] Dacus promoted the album with a 28-city tour across North America in 2021.[6] A shortened version of "Going Going Gone" was released as a single on August 7, 2021.[13]

Critical reception

Home Video was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 85, based on 18 reviews.[14]

Reviewing for AllMusic, Marcy Donelson wrote that, "With Dacus' warm vocals and melodies leading the way throughout, Home Video is an engrossing set steeped in life lessons and nostalgia."[15] In Clash, Rebecca Sibley declared it "a powerful album" and "another exquisite offering from Lucy Dacus",[16] while Pitchfork's Peyton Thomas appraised it as "a bold statement, a powerful post-adolescent text in its own right".[2] Exclaim! reviewer Dylan Barnabe claimed that, "Dacus has long been heralded for her ability as a raconteur, and Home Video further cements this reputation. It is a deeply personal album filled with raw vignettes of young adulthood that claw at our collective consciousness."[17] Writing for NME, Rhian Daly believed that, "for the most part, Dacus proves that looking back at your past might make you cringe, but there is beauty and value in those faltering, gawky days."[18] Rolling Stone magazine's Angie Martoccio hailed the album as "her greatest work yet — a cohesive and poignant collection of tales from her teenage years in Richmond, Virginia", with stories "woven like a quilt, with several dark patches reminiscent of her hero Bruce Springsteen's The River".[19] Jeremy Winograd shared similar praise in his review for Slant Magazine, saying that, "Ultimately, it's less the nuances of Dacus's writing than her willingness to expose herself and her past so freely—even the most difficult parts—that make the strongest impression on Home Video."[20]

In June 2021, Home Video was listed as the 15th best album of the year so far by Stereogum and was included on a similar list by Slant.[22][23]

you are SO real for this

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

for the otp ask game, 2&20?

so since you didn't specify a pairing i'm gonna do this for pianjeong bc i am probably the most unwell about them, they're most OTP for me. if there's another pairing you wanted let me know

2. What would they do if the other woke in a manic state after a nightmare?

(i'm gonna assume this was op's typo for "panic" bc i don't think that's how manic states work)

this is unfortunately a fairly regular occurance. there's no way in hell jeong jeong doesn't have horrible nightmares of the world in flames. in fact this is a major part of my fic ghosts. i think piandao's very good at staying levelheaded when other people are panicking, and he's able to be a steadying influence. he'll encourage jeong jeong to talk about it if he wants but not push too hard if jeong jeong doesn't want to. it's kinda cheesy, but i like the idea that jeong jeong has fewer nightmares sleeping next to piandao

i think it would be rarer the other way around, but it's not like piandao doesn't have traumatic memories. i think if it happened jeong jeong would feel like he's not the right person to handle it. he doesn't think he's a gentle, healing person. but he'd find it within him. he knows how to meditate, so he could coach piandao through breathing. i don't think he'd ask what it was about and i don't think piandao would tell him but it'd be okay just because of how important it would be to have that interaction. for piandao to be vulnerable in front of jeong jeong, and for jeong jeong to discover his caregiving side.

20. Choose one song that perfectly describes their relationship.

well i have multiple playlists (main, all mitski, all taylor swift) but hot & heavy by lucy dacus is basically exactly the plot of ghosts (which has its own mini playlist)

"being back here makes me hot in the face / hot blood in my pulsing veins / heavy memories weighing on my brain" - jeong jeong returning to the fire nation

"how could i deny a diamond in the rough" - piandao being an exceptional person who came from a lower-class background

"you were always stronger than people suspected / underestimated and overprotected" piandao being underestimated for being a nonbender

"when i went away it was the only option /couldn't trust myself to proceed with caution / the most that i could give you was nothing at all" jeong jeong deserting the military because he couldn't take it anymore and not telling piandao in order to protect him.

"now you're the biggest brightest flame / you are a fire that can't be tamed" - piandao has become a great swordsman and respected fire nation citizen.

"you're better than ever, but i knew you when / it's bittersweet to see you again" - jeong jeong is conflicted about this transformation piandao's undergone. it's good to see him gain the respect he always deserved, but jeong jeong is critical of the fire nation elite and he feels like he doesn't know piandao anymore.

the funny thing is that i first heard the song after i'd already written the first drafts of the fic, so it's not like i wrote the fic to fit the song. in fact, i started the fic in march 2021, and the song came out in april 2021. i would jokingly accuse lucy of plagiarism but i cannot do that even as a joke i love her.

ask game

[hoohoobeanie]

SPOMMY FLORIDA CHILDHOOD FIC??? INSPIRED BY HOT & HEAVY?????? you are a fucking genius……. (honestly any lucy dacus song inspired spommy fic would have me losing my fucking mind)

omg thank u for calling me a genius... ive had the idea of childhood friends fic for spommy for a while (so many good songs to inspire it) but ive been listening to SO MUCH lucy lately and every time i start home video with hot & heavy i feel like im hit by the fic gods, the way i start thinking about the spommy fic

i have specific lines from hot & heavy that keep sticking out to me, like

"Led me to the floor even though I'm not a dancer. Ask me all the questions that your parents wouldn't answer"

bcos its giving me spencer pov being dragged around by tommy to things hes only agreeing to bcos its tommy

or

"Couldn't trust myself to proceed with caution"

spencer pushing away bcos hes getting too attached? classic

maybe i will listen to more lucy/boygenius and get more ideas for other fics but so far this one is just in its baby phase still (as well as 2 others) so ill work on those first !!

[lovesongbracket]

PRELIMINARY ROUND A - Match 9

This is a nomination round. The top songs across ALL preliminary round polls will become our 64 competitors in Round 1.

Note: It’s about the song, not the recording. The artists/specific tracks provided are either the original, most popular, or suggested by a submitter. If you prefer a different version, a cover of the song, you like the song but not the artist etc, don’t let that deter you.

Youtube videos of all songs & submitter notes are under the cut.

Aquaman - WALK THE MOON

Dreamin' Chuchu - emon feat. Luka

IT GETS BONUS POINTS BECAUSE OF THE CUTE ART

Hot & Heavy - Lucy Dacus

I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston

it's ms Whitney Houston

I Won't Say (I'm in Love) - from Hercules

Let Me Love You - Mario

No Children - The Mountain Goats

Okay so you could (pretty easily) argue that this isnt really a love song, and if you dont want to include it i COMPLETELY understand and support that decision, but like. Its a song competition on Tumblr, somebody had to submit "hand in unlovable hand".

Isnt a horribly toxic divorce a form of love in its own way? Going down with someone, hand in unloveable hand?

Toxic miserable codependent divorcecore ftw

Once More to See You - Mitski

Soren - beabadoobee

Tonight - from West Side Story

[anatomicaltheater]

was tagged by @faeralentity to post my current top five songs!! thank u love💖

i have been sooooo ive been on my magnetic fields shit recently <33 love you magnetic fields i could post just five magnetic fields songs for this but i will not ill b normal

ive been getting back into cake recently this song is soo fun for me to put on to listen to on my headphones while im walking around to class feeling like patrick bateman

i loveeeeeee love love love this entire album soooo much i play it on all my little radio shows and shit its so lovely this song is definitely my favorite though its so dreamy

i love women. no notes here

yall know ive been on my yellowjackets shit this song makes me want to bite something

and umm ill tag anyone who wants to do this :-)

[discoidal]

listens to hot and heavy by lucy dacus and dissolves into my brother's sweaty gaming chair (i am one with the chair and the floor it rests on and the walls of this structure around me—) and when the song ends it feels like getting a blessed lungful of air after an eternity treading water. anyways its really a very normal song

[meetsthebones]

top 5 lucy dacus songs? :)

LUCYYYY my love.... nonbeliever, hot & heavy, night shift (basic its gotta be in top 5 its just so good), thumbs, and triple dog dare. i love no burden too i swear but historian and home video are like two of the greatest albums ever ever ever

[dykesbat]

playlist: you found the treasure chest made by you and your childhood friend (who you’ve lost contact with)

this name is so long agsjdhsh sorry lee

HELL YEAHHHHH!!

1. christmas island by lake "Come along with me / To a place beside the sea / We can wander through the forest / And do so as we please” the childhood memories! the adventures! the happy summers!!

2. day without you by keep for cheap "I don't wanna think about a day without you / Meet me later the midnight rendezvous / And wind and the trees they talk to me / Can't Remember what it's like to be carefree" more childhood memories! but the idea of separation seeps in “i don’t wanna think about a day without you”

3. nonbeliever by lucy dacus "If you find what you're looking for / Be sure to send a postcard / You promised you'd never forget / The little ones when you got big / You deal in unspoken debts / No kindness without wanting something back / What do I owe you? What did I forget? / Or are we even after all of that? / You shook my hand and said goodbye / You'll never let me see you cry again / What good has come from learning to pretend? / You said I could've been a better friend" the friend leaves, an argument ensues. you both realize that despite growing up alongside each other, you’ve both grown to be very very different people. 

4. the gold by manchester orchestra "Couldn't really love you any more / You've become my ceiling / I don't think I love you anymore / That gold mine changed you / You don't have to hold me anymore / Our cave's collapsing / I don't wanna be me anymore” the friendship’s getting taxing on both of your parts, this is your admission to yourself

5. i guess by mitski "I guess this is the end / I'll have to learn to be somebody else / It’s been you and me since before I was me / Without you, I don't yet know quite how to live / If I could keep anything of you / I would keep just this quiet after you / It's still as a pond I am staring into / From here, I can say, 'Thank you'" its been a while and you’re still grieving your friendship but it’s gotten to a place where you can acknowledge it lightly. it’s not exactly all painful anymore. you end up moving out of your hometown.

6. hot & heavy by lucy dacus “Being back here makes me hot in the face / Hot blood in my pulsing veins / Heavy memories weighing on my brain / Hot and heavy in the basement of your parents' place / You used to be so sweet / Now you're a firecracker on a crowded street / Couldn't look away even if I wanted / Try to walk away but I come back to the start” you come back one year to visit your relatives and all the memories and nostalgia come back. you were together for the entirety of your childhood, you can’t help but remember their face everywhere.

7. it all comes back from fun home “It all comes back / It all comes back / It all comes back!There’s you / And there’s me / But now I’m the one who’s forty-three / And stuck / I can’t find my way through! / Just like you / Am I just like you?” you’re in your room and the memories of both of you, childishly playing floods your mind. you wonder, distantly, if you’re still both so different (you wonder if you were ever all that different). you don’t even remember why you fought.

8. pathways by ezra glatt “Oh Avalon, although you'll never hear this song / I just wanted you to know that I'm still here... / ...Do you remember on that road trip / Under the grey Virginia skies? / You told me love is but a weakness / A future heartache in disguise” you spot it in the closet, hidden deep behind clothes and other trinkets, a box you both decorated when you found out about time capsules. your memories held gently like a treasure. you wonder if they think of you, if they have anything physical to remember you by.

9. christmas island by lake "Come along with me / To a cliff under a tree / Where we can gaze upon the water / As an everlasting dream / All of my affections / I give them all to you / Maybe by next summer / We won't have changed our tunes/” you open the box. “maybe by next summer we won’t have changed our tunes” here takes a bittersweet meaning bc we know how the friendship developed

10. old friend by mitski "We nearly drowned / For such a silly thing / Someone who loves me now / Better than you... / ... I haven't told anyone / Just like we promised / Have you? / Every time I drive through the city where you're from / I squeeze a little" you finally remember what you were arguing about. it seems much smaller now. you still wonder about them and make a half-conscious decision to reach out. pen in hand you draft a letter.

11. we'll meet again by vera lynn "So will you please say "Hello" to the folks that I know / Tell them I won't be long / They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go / I was singing this song / We'll meet again / Don't know where, don't know when / But I know we'll meet again some sunny day" you won’t get a response for a while. but something tells you the tale of you and your friend won’t end just there. 

[vhagarswattle]

Can you perform the emotional labour of recommending me a couple of Lucy Dacus songs that you love? I'm going to see her in March with the bestie and I haven't really listened to her yet.

Bestie. Nothing in the world would make me happier.

From her debut No Burden:

I don't want to be funny anymore. this is the first ever lucy dacus I heard and i was like damn! ok! and then didn't listen to her for years.

map on a wall. i mean. just listen to when it gets to the part where she puts like those drums or sth in there?? what the fuck

direct address. i don't have to tell you why this is good.

From Historian:

Night shift. probably her biggest song? good to listen considering she will absolutely play it AND it has the greatest opening line of all time

Body to flame. NUTS. a friend told her that he was going to light himself on fire and she wrote this song about it. some of her most beautiful singing.

Yours & mine. she's a fucking rock star.

From Home Video:

Hot & Heavy. i think every one of my mutuals had this in their top ten of 2021.

Brando. every line hits. she's an incredible lyricist and its like. lucy let me kiss you

Partner in crime. autotune!!!!!!!!!! bop and a half.

Triple dog dare. a song that i will listen to on repeat. 7 minutes that i would not sacrifice one second of.

Thumbs. i couldn't NOT put this on here but also. whew. listen to the song exploder episode about this one

From her EP:

fools gold. i wanted to include an original from the ep & this is my favorite.

dancing in the dark. unbelievably sexy of her. i'm seeing her at the stone pony and i KNOW she's going to play it and i'm going to be even more of a lost cause than i already am

la vie en rose. hot!

boygenius

bite the hand. the best of the boygenius songs in my humblr opinion.

so i made this into a playlist for you. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/17c9w01FVN3vqjTWkOngWw?si=397fd19fd6e04d37

[motherofqups]

Weights & Measures Playlist (2022 Update)

A Forest (Remix Mix) - the Cure, Mark Saunders

Running Up that Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush

It's Okay To Cry - SOPHIE

Rylan - the National

Da Funk - Daft Punk

Blue Monday - Orgy (New Order cover)

I Got It - Charli XCX, Brooke Candy, cupcakKe, Pabllo Vittar

Where Is Her Head - the National

Something Has To Change - the Japanese House

Glow - Moose Blood

Tap Dancer - Local Natives

Everything In Its Right Place - Radiohead

Glass House - Gabbie Hanna

motive - Ariana Grande, Doja Cat

peacfall - Purity Ring

Cold World - SOPHIE

Under Ice - Kate Bush

Hot & Heavy - Lucy Dacus

Hysteria - Muse

Strange Terrain - Circa Survive

My Enemy - CHVRCHES, Matt Berninger

i like the devil - Purity Ring

Various Storms & Saints - Florence + the Machine

Is It Cold in the Water? - SOPHIE

Traffic - Thom Yorke

Lemon - Local Natives, Sharon Van Etten

Blood Bank - the Mountain Goats (Bon Iver cover)

NDA - Billie Eilish

Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish

Rat A Tat - Fall Out Boy, Courtney Love

Go As A Dream - Caroline Polachek

No Light, No Light - Florence + the Machine

Days Go By - Dirty Vegas

Baby Girl, I'm A Blur - Say Anything

Scatterheart - Björk

Hit Me Where It Hurts - Caroline Polachek

Hey, Ma - Bon Iver

Prescilla - Bat for Lashes

Replay - Lady Gaga

Heavy Balloon - Fiona Apple

The Moment I Said It - Imogen Heap

femia - Purity Ring

Can I Believe You...? - Fleet Foxes

As You Are - Kimbra

And Dream of Sheep - Kate Bush

sinew - Purity Ring

WTH - Jhené Aiko, Ab-Soul

Burn the Witch - Radiohead

Nate Growing Up - Labrint

Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Glass Animals

Kingslayer - Bring Me The Horizon, BABYMETAL

Idioteque - Amanda Palmer (Radiohead cover)

Running Up That Hill - Meg Myers (Kate Bush cover)

Imposter Syndrome - Circa Survive

The Melting of the Sun - St. Vincent

He Said She Said - CHVRCHES

Idioteque - Radiohead

Laughing with a Mouth of Blood - St. Vincent

Thirteen - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Big Star cover)

Landmines - St. Vincent

Weights & Measures - Dry the River

Blood in the Cut - K. Flay

Your Power - Billie Eilish

cowboy like me - Taylor Swift

Gone For Good - Circa Survive

Decks Dark - Radiohead

Time is Running Out - Muse

Movies - Weyes Blood

Blinding Lights - the Naked and Famous (the Weeknd cover)

In Circles - The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die (Sunny Day Real Estate cover)

Good Girls - CHVRCHES

Running Up That Hill - First Aid Kit (Kate Bush cover)

Dreams - Scary Pockets (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Bags - Clairo

Bad Friend - Rina Sawayama

Over Yet - Hayley Williams

Dead of Night - Orville Peck

Heat Waves - Glass Animals

Ferris Wheel - Sylvan Esso

I Don't Do Drugs - Doja Cat, Ariana Grande

Sanctuary - Joji

Circadian Rhythm (Last Dance) - Silversun Pickups

Truth Is a Beautiful Thing - London Grammar

Stop the Fucking Car - Circa Survive

Moon Song - Phoebe Bridgers

Who's Gonna Save U Now? - Rina Sawayama

Blinding Lights - the Weeknd

Fuck This World (Interlude) - Rina Sawayama

I Give Up - Caroline Polachek

Without Me - Halsey

Wasting My Young Years - London Grammar

Forever - Labrinth

Caves - Chiodos

1x1 - Bring Me The Horizon, Nova Twins

The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box - Modest Mouse

Impossible Weight - Deep Sea Diver, Sharon Van Etten

The Gate (Extended Version) - Caroline Polachek

pink diamond - Charli XCX

Self Care - Mac Miller

Tiny Cities Made of Ashes - Modest Mouse

What's the Use? - Mac Miller

Shimmer - Moose Blood

We're All Thieves - Circa Survive

My Limb - Hayley Williams

Latter Days - Big Red Machine, Anaïs Mitchell

How Not To Drown - CHVRCHES, Robert Smith

almanac - Purity Ring

evermore - Taylor Swift, Bon Iver

Newspaper - Fiona Apple

enemy - Charli XCX

Stockholm Syndrome - Muse

Endlessly - Muse

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful - Florence + the Machine

Seventeen - Sharon Van Etten

Running Up That Hill - Placebo (Kate Bush cover)

Remembrance - Balmorhea

I Know The End - Phoebe Bridgers

Waking the Witch - Kate Bush

Blinding Lights - the Weeknd, ROSALĺA

Sine From Above - Lady Gaga, Elton John

stardew - Purity Ring

Running Up That Hill - Georgia (Kate Bush cover)

Oh, La - Ra Ra Riot

Rooting for You - London Grammar

Time After Time - Iron & Wine (Cyndi Lauper cover)

[recommendedlisten]

This week, we got Between the Richness with Fiddlehead, “Affection & Care” from Philly punks the HIRS Collective, and got to hold hands with PACKS leading up to this week’s release of their debut album Take the Cake. Hurry on the other hand were in love avoidance mode with fake ideas, Flash Trading got paranoid with similar answers, while Faye Webster just kept to herself with her own funny jokes on relationships in the title track off her forthcoming effort. Recommended Listen also ushered in a new era in song reviews with collaborations between familiar kindred spirits Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen as well as something special by Oneohtrix Point Never and ROSALÍA.

Here are the rest of the week’s song and video highlights....

black midi - “Chondromalacia Patella” [Rough Trade]

Photo courtesy of Anthrox Studio

“Chondromalacia Patella” is the breakdown of tissue beneath the kneecap, causing pain in the human who is unlucky enough to experience it. In the auditory form, it’s the latest discordant bout between post-rock and jazz noise from black’s midi’s imminent sophomore effort Cavalcade, due out next week. Throughout the listen, there’s fits of impact jarring with softer stretches as vocalist Georgie Greep collects himself from the ground. Reprieve is but temporary, as the stressors and strains from every direction return to wreak havoc on the body in its closing moments. To the audience, it’s mere arts and entertainment.

Japanese Breakfast - “Savage Good Boy” [Dead Oceans]

Photo courtesy of Peter Ash Lee

“I wanna be a man / I wanna be a savage good boy / I wanna take care of you / When everybody’s gone / I wanna be the one you come home to,” Michelle Zauner sings in the opening moments of Jubilee’s latest single “Savage Good Boy”. Coming on strong with those sentiments might be sweet in a different universe, but the intentions behind those words get typically darker when you consider the context behind this sugarcrushed indie-pop Japanese Breakfast was birthed from the idea of a money-hoarding bro attempting to lure in a mate during post-apocalyptic times with ulterior motives. In the track’s visuals directed by Adam Kolodny, Michael Imperioli plays the part of that asshole.

Lana Del Rey - "Blue Banisters" / "Text Book" / "Wildefire Wildflower" [Interscope / Polydor Records]

On the trails of this past spring’s swerve back to simplicity that was Chemtrails Over the Country Club, the thought of yet another Lana Del Rey album being released this year either has you elated or in need of a break after surviving another album cycle full of incident from the pop culture magnet. Framed as the reclamation of her own narrative, Del Rey’s 8th full-length effort Blue Banisters arrives on July 3rd, and wastes no time drumming up buzz with three early previews in its title track, “Text Book” and “Wildfire Wildflower”. Norman Fucking Rockwell and Chemtrails... producer Jack Antonoff exits stage left on this round, with Gabe Simon of festival indie rockers Kopecky and modern age rap shaper Mike Dean stepping into his seat. All three drift away from the fingerpicked bluff of her most recent era, favoring vacant-space pianos for verbosity, occasionally deviating from its porcelain surface.

Lucy Dacus - “VBS” [Matador Records]

Photo courtesy of Ebru Yildiz

Church culture fucks you up, but so can a Lucy Dacus song just the same in repairing the wounds of bearing that cross. “VBS” -- the second single from Dacus’ forthcoming third studio effort Home Video -- chronicles the songwriter’s summer youth in attending vacation Bible schools and being a do-gooder in saving a Slayer-listening campmate’s soul from a life of bad poetry and smoking weed. The song itself feels like a warm stroll through a past version of who she once was and finding herself better off on the other side of the light by letting the darkness touch her. Previous to “VBS”, Dacus also released the gutting live fav “Thumbs” and reconciled old flames on “Hot & Heavy”, and I’m not sure why this site is just getting around to mentioning that now. It's good time going to Hell with her, nonetheless, although Marin Leong's animated visuals for the track look like paradise.

Navy Blue - “Ritual” [Self-released]

Photo courtesy of Rahim Fortune

The momentum behind Navy Blue just keeps going. In the past year, the Brooklyn underground rapper, skater and fashion model made a breakthrough with his listmaking debut album Àdá Irin, began 2021 with another recommended effort in Song of Sage: Post Panic, and has collaborated alongside the Alchemist and Earl Sweatshirt on the cut “Nobles” as well as produced his peer AKAI SOLO’s latest True Sky. Add another album which Sage Elsesser just dropped without any notice, as his latest work Navy’s Reprise is available now exclusively on his website. The effort was produced by Navy Blue himself, Malik Abdul-Rahmaan, Playa Haze, Like, Alexander Spit, Evidence, Stoney Willis, Theravada, Laron, and Jacob Rochester, and mixed by Zeroh. Visual collaborator constant Ryosuke Tanzawa directed the loft lit video for its leadoff single “Ritual” that equally turns toward shimmering production between the poetic bars.

Squid - “Pamphlets” [Warp]

Photo courtesy of Holly Whitaker

Avant-post-punk collective Squid just released their debut album Bright Green Field two weeks ago, and we’ll have more words on that soon enough, but in the meantime, they’ve released a music video for one of its most beguiling standouts, the politically-popped freakout “Pamphlets”. Directed by Raman Djafari with character animation by Barney Abrahams, the watch traverses across an eight-minute odyssey of hyperreal animation. Djafari describes it as “a meditation on the feeling of being unfit, unlovable, not compatible and the manic anxiety and stress that this results in.” The flurry of human creatures and insects we met along the way very much alter perceptions of reality through the window into Squid’s outside world.

[bolachasgratis]

Review: Vodafone Paredes de Coura ‘18

What can we put into a list of “things that do not happen often” when talking about a music festival? What about this: there’s this festival - our favorite festival, for reasons that extend beyond the lineup - that, faced with another cancelled Björk gig, decided to go for the jugular and announce, in her place, giant “stadium indie” act Arcade Fire, thirteen years after playing there in the 2005 edition while touring Funeral. Nothing could take the spotlight away from them, right? But imagine there was this kid from the Lisbon suburbs that self-produced his albums at home and played his first gig only six months before this festival. Could he relegate one of the most sought after bands of our world - whose show was quite spectacular, at times - to the footnotes of our festival review? 

Playing for a completely packed Vodafone.fm stage on the first night of the festival, after a lukewarm, absolutely forgettable headlining The Blaze show in the main stage, Conan Osiris and dancer João Reis Moreira revealed themselves to really be a force of nature - although a divisive one, exactly as we expected to. Even those who watched from a distance as the bizarre show went on will remember, in ten years, that they witnessed the pinnacle (we think!) of the invulgar rise to fame of two complete outsiders that already inserted themselves - and rightfully so - into the mythology of the festival. Just check out Canal 180′s video of the happening. Earlier that afternoon, Conan Osiris had a huge opportunity to promote himself in a secret show organized by Vodafone, but decided to prop up his protegè Sreya instead to a room full of press and festival goers. That’s what a proper idol does, guys. 

Marlon Williams. Picture: Hugo Lima / Festival Paredes de Coura.

But they were not the only highlight of the first night of Vodafone Paredes de Coura 2018. Earlier on, Marlon Williams was raising hell as he and his band threw hit after hit from the much lauded Make Way for Love - oftentimes with a ballad, with a more rock-ish number shaking up things every now and then - and we can tell this is the start of yet another loving relationship between a songwriter and the Portuguese public, following the footsteps of Kevin Morby who seems to play the country every single summer. He left the FC Porto shirt at home (maybe he thought fans of the local club would kick the shit out of him if he did), but a few of his fans didn’t. I might have been one of them, but don’t let SC Courense fans know about this. 

Pussy Riot. Picture: Hugo Lima / Festival Paredes de Coura.

But the highlight of the third night of the festival had to be the mythical ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, playing one of the essential indie rock albums of the 21st century in its entirety, Source Tags & Codes in the Vodafone.fm stage plus two straight to the point tracks off their back catalogue: Worlds Apart’s magnificent “Will You Smile Again?” and set closer “A Perfect Teenhood” off Madonna, igniting a riff-hungry packed tent. Earlier on, Lucy Dacus presented her sophomore album for the first time in the country with a more than competent early afternoon show, certainly collecting a few hundred new fans along the way - expect her to keep visiting us in the next few years. Imarhan were already killing it in the smaller stage as Dacus finished her set. I was lucky to see them alongside Blonde Redhead and Snail Mail at Paradiso Amsterdam a few days after Paredes de Coura, and what a show it was. Later on, Slowdive sounded, once again, crystal clear, but the magic of their first reunion tour seems to be wearing off; fortunately, the songs off their latest, self-titled album, are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise unremarkable show for such a late hour time slot. Fortunately, Skepta has turned up the volume (except during that 15 minute set interruption as overly enthusiastic people were allegedly throwing shit on stage) to set us up for the bizarre world of the umpteenth - and probably the most entertaining - coming of Russian activist collective Pussy Riot. Thank God they and their band seem to have sold their guitars and bought turntables, as their punk rock past was mostly a schadenfreude generator: this Slav-heavy hard bass suits them way better, and the projections were hilarious at times. Yes, this is what punk can be in 2018 and there’s nothing wrong with it: Internet memes can sometimes be more effective than meaningless shouted angry words.

Shame. Picture: Hugo Lima / Festival Paredes de Coura.

Back to Thursday. Shame were our top pick for the day, and although we would prefer them in the cozyness of a small stage, the main stage wasn’t certainly an obstacle to a young band that’s on their way of establishing themselves, alongside IDLES, as one of the British powerhouses of angry, anthemic, anti-establishment rock music. And, well, who doesn’t love a band that takes themselves so seriously to the point of taking the stage to the sound of the great Vengaboys? On the other hand, Japanese Breakfast was a bit too lukewarm for our taste. Another case of a good songwriter that cannot make it in the 20:30 time slot on the second stage at Paredes de Coura, our music festival equivalent of a decent football team having to play Stoke City away on a rainy Tuesday night (Frankie Cosmos would suffer the same fate the following day, as Waxahatchee, Algiers or Cigarettes After Sex did a few years back). At night, Surma tried to battle this history presenting her beautiful, intricate recent album Antwerpen, and we cannot say she failed, although her delicate music certainly fits a seated, proper theater instead. On the main stage, Fleet Foxes were competent, without shining too bright. But we can blame both the difficulty of capturing the complexities of the Seattle folk band and delivering a consistently good quality sound to a natural amphitheatre, and the usual troublemakers that think buying a festival ticket entitles them to having loud conversations ten rows from the stage. Jungle seem to be only a little more than a one hit wonder, but then we remember that one hit is the massive “Busy Earnin’” and everything’s alright with the world once again.

Dead Combo. Picture: Hugo Lima / Festival Paredes de Coura.

The most emotional moment of the festival had to be Dead Combo’s incredible show in the last night. A much deserved prime time show for the best band coming out of Portugal in the 21st century in a delicate time for one half of the founding duo, as Pedro Gonçalves appears to be struggling with disease; we really hope this is not the last we see of him. Mark Lanegan, who’s featured in their latest record Odeon Hotel, has joined the six-piece outfit for part of the gig, his contributions being way more interesting than anything he has done on his countless Portuguese shows over the past few years. A huge version of “Lisboa Mulata”, towards the end of the set, was the highlight of this show. It’s not like we merely want more of them in the future, we need Dead Combo alive and kicking. Just a couple of hours earlier, Big Thief have confirmed their status as the best indie band of the past couple of years. Yes, this is a big statement, but anyone who’s familiar with their work knows it’s the truth, even without main guitar player Buck Meek, who’s focusing on touring his solo debut album. Listening to their masterpiece “Masterpiece” should be enough, but as Adrianne Lenker et al. launch into tearjerker “Paul”, we know we’re witnessing something special. She’s surprised she’s playing for so many people; we’re certain they’ll be playing for a crowd like this daily on their next summer festival tour. Later on, Arcade Fire brought the big guns in the beginning of an euphoric show (“Everything Now”, “Neighbourhood #3″, “Rebellion (Lies)”, and “No Cars Go”) before dwelling into less interesting territory, interrupted here and there with well received incursions into less played material (pre-Funeral deep cut “Cars and Telephones” and Neon Bible’s “Intervention”). But we had to wait much later for a spectacular, ecstatic “Reflektor”, before going into an encore closed with the very first song they played, in that same stage, 13 years before: sing-along favorite “Wake Up”. Between hardcore fans and people they lost along the way through their journey from an unknown (but hot prospect) Canadian indie band into a huge outfit capable of filling up arenas and headlining massive festivals like Rock in Rio, few could say they were not entertained. But could they do it against an unknown 20-something kid from the suburbs in a cold, early evening 20:30 slot in Paredes de Coura?

[hana-umag]

lucy dacus, home video (2021)

ok edit opinion on this has changed completely i am now obsessed with this album. i think hot & heavy was on my discover weekly and it just spiraled from there.

I feel like hot & heavy + cartwheel are similar in their extensive use of harmonies but obvs the former is much mroe lush in its arrangement,,, the way the production steps up when she says “led me to then floor even though im not a dancer” is just. chefs kiss.

i also really love first time. i feel like the imagery in the beginning of the song where she talks about drooling on the kitchen tile etc is very evocative

my favorite lyrical moments are (unsurprisingly) in brando. especially “you admit you think we’re fated/ i’ll be lucky if i’m your third wife” like damn that hurts !!! i also like the structure of the song a lot-- i feel like each of the verses build on each other really well to the point that it feels like a theme is really developing

honestly,, the one track that’s kind of a miss is partner in crime. i get what she was trying to do with the autotune like produce an air of alienation and distance but in actuality it just sounds disjointed, especially when considered in the context of the rest of the episode.

generally though this album is amazing,,, there’s a coherence to it, both sonically and lyrically that holds up really well to the example set by historian,,, i love u lucy dacus

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OLD REVIEW [bad]: look this is not my FAVORITE lucy dacus albim but damn does it hit i feel like it must rlly capture that repressed queer christian girl vibe and i love that it feels so small town core like damn this is so personal

[upalldown]

Lucy Dacus - Home Video

Third album from the Richmond, Virginia indie rock artist featuring contributions from Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers

8/13

Whether your generation’s story of self-sacrifice revolves around kid’s books such as The Rainbow Fish and The Giving Tree, or Jesus Christ himself, Lucy Dacus gives us so much of herself on her third album, Home Video, that it’s a wonder there is anything but a steaming husk of herself left at the end. Having recently migrated away from her childhood home of Richmond, Virginia, Dacus, aided by primary collaborator Jacob Blizard, picks apart her pre-teen and not-so-far beyond years with her typically strong-eyed attention to detail. In alternating roles of prey (“Partner in Crime”), protector (“Thumbs,” “Christine”), and tongue-in-cheek predator (“First Time,” “Triple Dog Dare”), Dacus recounts the formative days and relationships that shaped her. As a lyric-driven album, its musical nuances take several listens to start to sink in and if it doesn’t hold the immediacy of her last album, 2018’s Historian, it’s well worth the time to connect with Dacus’ past.

Unlike Dacus’ last time out, Home Video leaves its slow build epic for its end. The album opens with “Hot & Heavy,” a song that starts with a simply laid out bed of synths that quickly builds to a mid-tempo rocker with a Springsteen-ish “Dancing in the Dark” bridge. As with many of Home Video’s tracks, the song contends with romantic pursuits fogged by uncertain desires and unflagging hormones. Dacus as pursuer reappears in the bracing “First Time,” where the image of her as cat burglar, splayed out on the floor, makes for a vivid and hilarious picture. But the mix of pathos and humor hits its height on the closer, “Triple Dog Dare.” An early glimpse of a queer relationship, Dacus becomes the unlikely “neighborhood kid you’re not allowed to play with.” The line, “your mama read my poem,” brings both a knowing smile and a lump to the throat. While the sound of a string of bells on a drugstore door and the threat of running away from home “on your parents’ boat,” brings the specificity to paint the picture of a doomed relationship that feels like the one here that meant the most to Dacus.

Given the Herculean effort that must have gone into recounting these tales of her youth, it’s not surprising that Dacus does a remarkable job of plumbing deep wells of empathy towards several of her subjects. The live set crowd favorite, “Thumbs,” makes its recorded debut here and recounts an encounter standing by the side of a friend who’s the product of a broken home. And the gentle pace of the piano- and strings-driven “Christine” shows Dacus’ inner dialogue imagining upholding her friend’s honor against a boyfriend she doesn’t quite trust. In playing things out to a wedding of the future, Dacus imagines herself in position to “throw my shoe at the altar,” in objection to the proceedings.

But if there is a song that impacts here as it plays out, as folk songs are wont to do, the brief “Going, Going, Gone” shares a title and the emotional impact of Dylan’s best. Dacus recounts park bench moments with a first crush (“I wasn’t sure if he and I were going out”), but the relationship in the song goes from “going out,” to “going down,” to Dacus’ ultimate departure from town and Home Video’s subjects. As her left hand lets go of this song’s Daniel, another song’s Christine, and a myriad of others, her right hand connects with future friends and life as an adult. Appropriately, Dacus’ boygenius brethren, Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker, along with a dozen others, provide a choral assist and gentle landing as the song closes out. The microphone captures the studio chatter and Dacus’ declaration, “I am so happy.” Of course she is referring to perfecting the recording and her vision for the song, but it also speaks to the hoped for outcome of awkward relationships, leaving home for good, and finding friends that love you for who you are and not for the fact you lived next door.

The album’s songs may not hold the immediate compositional grip of Historian’s jewel boxes like “The Shell” or “Body to Flame,” but that’s not Home Video’s purpose. It’s here to relay Dacus’ own formation stories, which serve as parables relatable to all. She has memories of being splayed out like a starfish on a kitchen floor; of spices snorted in a camp bunk; or a clutch of dried flowers hanging from the ceiling. Where your own memories may be of promise rings woven from blades of St. Augustine grass or sneaking a first cigarette on the roof of your parents’ house. Regardless of her context or yours, Dacus weaves a broad scale epic full of lusty almost adventures, broken hearts, dashed dreams, and damsels in distress that couldn’t quite be saved. Home Video will appeal to Dacus’ existing fan base, but also holds the potential to bring hordes of new fans that will find themselves in the middle of a story not exactly their own.

https://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/home_video_lucy_dacus

[dept13]

Good to be back, may great new sounds this week from Low, Neko Case, Beabadoobee and Needles//Pins!! Yeah!!

Artist  🌞  Song  🌞  Release

Beachy Head  🌞  Destroy Us  🌞  Destroy Us - Single Lee Hazlewood  🌞  If It's Monday Morning  🌞  The LHI Years: Singles, Nudes & Backsides (1968-71)

Nancy Sinatra  🌞  Machine Gun Kelly  🌞  Start Walkin' 1965-1976 Neko Case  🌞  Be and Bring Me Home  🌞  May the Circle Remain Unbroken: a Tribute to Roky Erickson The Besnard Lakes  🌞  Feuds with Guns  🌞  The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings

Virgo Rising  🌞  Molly Ringwald Dances in the Front Row  🌞  Molly Ringwald Dances in the Front Row - Single Car Seat Headrest  🌞  Golden Years  🌞  MADLO: Influences - EP Car Seat Headrest  🌞  Bodys  🌞  Twin Fantasy

beabadoobee  🌞  Last Day On Earth  🌞  Last Day On Earth - Single Lucy Dacus  🌞  Hot & Heavy  🌞  Home Video

They Might Be Giants (For Kids)  🌞  Clap Your Hands  🌞  No!

Fucked Up  🌞  Queen of Hearts  🌞  David Comes to Life Needles//Pins  🌞  Woe Is Us  🌞  Needles//Pins Archers of Loaf  🌞  Raleigh Days  🌞  Raleigh Days - Single Guided By Voices  🌞  Keep It In Motion  🌞  Class Clown Spots a UFO Sleater-Kinney  🌞  Bring Mercy  🌞  Path of Wellness

Wye Oak  🌞  Its Way With Me  🌞  Its Way With Me - Single The Weather Station  🌞  Tried to Tell You  🌞  Ignorance Low  🌞  days like these  🌞  single

Chad VanGaalen  🌞  Nightwaves  🌞  World's Most Stressed Out Gardener Yves Jarvis  🌞  Semula  🌞  Sundry Rock Song Stock Closetjudas  🌞  The cycle of emergence  🌞  non sequitur