thetracksatchristieroad

[thetracksatchristieroad]

May Wrap-Up

Once again, I am reaching out to the void because I'm bored and burnt out from watching YouTube shorts while playing solitaire on my phone. Basically, I'm trying to have hobbies again. With that in mind, I thought the void might appreciate some things that made me happy in May.

**Please Oooo and Awww at my graphics. I only spent literal hours making and re-making these**

So this month was heavy on movies and fairly light on music, but the fact that I listened to any new music is a win for me. It's far too easy to just put my same favorite playlists on repeat, ya know. Overall, I listened to 3 new albums and saw 13 movies in theaters. I also started watching Sailor Moon all the way from the beginning. I haven't watched that show since it was 1990-something and I'm happy to report that I am, in fact, having a great time with it. Lastly, I did attend 1 singular concert, so that's pretty cool, but also pretty boring of me (I'm going to a lot more shows this summer, thank God).

Anyways...The music...

Pup - Who Will Look After the Dogs?

Like many punk kids in 2019, I am very fond of Pup's album Morbid Stuff, but I found myself feeling less fond of their 2022 album THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND. To be honest, I probably need to give it at least another listen because on my first listen of Who Will Look After the Dogs I thought it was doomed to be another flop for me. Thankfully this one has grown on me with repeated listens. It's a good little punk rock time and that's really all I ask for from a Pup album.

Aly & AJ - Silver Deliverer

Sad to say, I didn't have an Aly & AJ phase during their Disney Channel era, but I made up for it in 2021. I really loved their album a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet and gets you out and then into the sun (my god). I'm a bad fan, though, because I still haven't listened to their 2023 album With Love From (deeply sorry for that). However, I listened to their latest album Silver Deliverer, and it quickly reminded me why I became so enamored with them in the first place. This is one to put on when I just need to catch a vibe.

Tunnel Vision - Beach Bunny

Best Beach Bunny album yet. That's it. That's all you need to know. I love this one so much.

I saw 13 movies this month, but some of them were bad...really bad...

Okay, I'll name names: "Rosario", "The Ruse", "Hurry Up Tomorrow"

However, I still saw several movies that were pretty darn swell.

Thunderbolts

Florence Pugh is everything. Love a good story about a team of misfits. Also, love a good "it's actually all about depression" movie. Best Marvel movie in a HOT minute.

Kiki's Delivery Service

I'm well aware that this is not a new movie, but it is new to me. And I did see it in theaters this month. I adored this movie. It literally almost stole the crown for my favorite Ghibli movie, but I'm just so attached to "Howl's Moving Castle". "Kiki's Delivery Service" is pure cozy-core where the stakes could not be lower, and I love it very much.

Final Destination: Bloodlines

Best Final Destination movie. That's it. That's the review. They managed to make good movie out of a franchise of movies that are charmingly bad.

Bring Her Back

I am now obsessed with Sally Hawkins, and based on what I've seen on Letterboxd, I guess that means I need to see "Paddington". This movie was just the way I like it: sad and scary. I loved the characters and hated watching their fates unravel, but that's also kind of what I loved about it.

Friendship

This was silly. The plot is kind of there but is sort of an afterthought to the jokes. I haven't laughed this much at a movie in a while. I also was unfamiliar with Tim Robinson going into this, so I had no parasocial preconceived notions. But now I know, and I'm glad I do.

***

So that's the post. I'm mostly posting this for my future self who will inevitably get bored and scroll through this again in a few years. If you're not future-me, cool! I hope this post was chill for you!

[thetracksatchristieroad]

It’s a cruel summer with you. ☀️🫶

📸: John Shearer

[thetracksatchristieroad]

✨ 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 ✨

[thetracksatchristieroad]

I saw Turnover the other night and I don’t have any deep thoughts about it but it was fun so here are some pictures...

I’ve been wanting to see Turnover headline since about 2019 when I started listening to them with the release of their album Altogether. I saw them once in 2015 and thought they were great, but wasn’t fully sold on them until I interviewed them in 2019 and shortly after Altogether became my go-to “I need to relax” album during the early part of the lockdowns.

Fun Fact: When I was listening to Altogether in preparation for the interview, I uttered the phrase “sexy sax” while hearing some saxophone in one of their songs. I told myself not to describe it like that when I talk to them. I then proceeded to describe it with that exact phrase in the interview like the cringe human I am. They didn’t seem to judge me for it though. That alone is a reason for me to keep buying their records.

Less Fun Fact: I’ve listened to Peripheral Vision like more than 3 times and I’m still not that into it. I was one of the very few people not singing along to any of those songs at the show. You are welcome to judge me for this apparent character flaw, but know that I’m not likely to change.

Anyways this is my very okay clearly taken on an iphone “concert photography”. If you want to read my interview with Turnover for New Noise Magazine, I have a cute little link for it:

https://newnoisemagazine.com/interviews/interview-distance-between-band-mates-forces-turnover-to-get-creative-2/

If you don’t read it that’s cool, but I’ll definitely like you a little less. jk. Maybe.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

I can feel the fixation kicking in and I know it’s better if I fight it.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

would've could've should've

[thetracksatchristieroad]

You're on Your Own, Kid inspired lock screens

feel free to use them as lock screens/wallpapers but PLEASE don't repost them onto other platforms or use them as part of your own edits.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

Me feeling like I need to buy a tour shirt to “remember the night” like I didn’t take like 100 pictures.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

I started my week sobbing over Taylor Swift tickets and am ending my week singing my heart out to State Champs.

Nothing but chaotic alt swiftie energy over here ✌🏻🖤

[thetracksatchristieroad]

How I Became a Swiftie in 7 Days

I’m going to keep leaning into this Taylor Swift stuff right now because between the release of Midnights and this whole Eras Tour fiasco, Taylor has been a predominant thing on my brain. In light of that, this is a blog post I wrote going on 2 years ago now, back when I was super convinced TikTok was going to be my THING. While I’ve sort of stepped away from TikTok for the time being, I still feel like some magic was created when I made my “How to Become a Swiftie in 7 Days” series and was completely overwhelmed by the attention and support from the swiftie community. Since I originally wrote this piece, my blog where it lived has become no more, and I’ve been pretty sad for awhile that this piece has stayed hidden away in my drive folder, so I’m resurrecting it here:

Right now I’m sitting in my room with a still steaming mug of chamomile lavender tea. Waiting in dim candlelight hoping to summon a moment of solace after an impossibly stressful few weeks. The last time I found myself in this place was the summer night I first listened to Folklore by Taylor Swift. Heart full of desperation, curiosity, sadness, and just under all the anxiety, hope. That was where Taylor Swift’s music found me.

In the winter with a tired mind, body, and soul, I found just enough creativity and courage to give TikTok a try. That’s where Taylor Swift’s fans found me.

I was a sophomore in high school when I first heard of Taylor Swift. We had a substitute teacher in my health class that day and he’d just attended the concert of a young, up-and-coming country singer. He raved about the young girl’s songwriting talent: “She said she wrote that song when she was thirteen, and you know what, that song was good too”. Too bad I didn’t listen to country music.

A few months later, I went with my older cousin to watch her get tattooed. We rode in her boyfriend's truck and she told me she loved the song currently playing through the speakers. Our song is a slamming screen door, sneaking out late, tapping on your window. I simply nodded and smiled because I didn’t like country music.

In my junior year of high school I watched the music video for “You Belong With Me” all the way through more than once, but I’d never tell a soul because my friends knew I didn’t care for country music.

In college I could hear the girls down the hall of my dorm building jamming out to Speak Now and reminding myself that I wasn’t like them. 

As a college graduate in 2014 I watched music writers I knew place 1989 near and even at the top of their favorite albums lists knowing that I didn’t like Taylor Swift but sometimes finding myself mumbling the words to “Blank Space” and wondering if I was missing something.

I was.

My first realization was that summer night of 2020, listening to Folklore by candlelight. Swift’s narrative driven lyrics woven together by gentle and enticing melodies. Did I really ignore such beauty for more than a decade? I had to fix it.

So at the beginning of 2021 I spent seven days listening to the seven Taylor Swift albums that I had yet to listen to, and I decided to bring TikTok along for the ride. I posted a video on New Year’s Day explaining this dive into Taylor’s discography, not sure what to expect. I definitely didn’t expect thousands of likes and views and around a thousand new followers. Clearly when it came to Taylor Swift I’d missed quite a lot.

In seven days I listened to all seven albums, from the beginning of her career to just before Folklore. I listened to Taylor's stories of love and heartbreak and growing up. I listened as Taylor learned that love is real, but it’s not a fairytale. I felt with Taylor as she took her deepest lows and turned them into her greatest strengths. All the while, her fans told me what her songs meant to them, about the drives they took, the tears they cried, and the hope they’d found.

After experiencing Taylor’s introspective and poetic storytelling for myself, I understand why so many people are drawn to her as an artist. There’s something so magnetic about the world she paints for herself and it’s hard not to get sucked into the force field.

Turns out I like country music, and I love Taylor Swift. I wish I could go back to that truck ride with my cousin and turn the volume up on “Our Song”. I wish I could tell my college-age self that I’m exactly like those girls down the hall. I wish Taylor Swift could’ve landed in my favorite albums well before Folklore. I wish I could’ve let myself love Taylor sooner, but I’m glad I’m here now.

*Photos are taken by me, quotes are from TikTok

[thetracksatchristieroad]

Just to add my two cents to this Ticketmaster/Eras Tour discourse, here’s a visual of my my attempt at buying tickets on Tuesday. Literally no ticket buying experience has made me so frustrated or made me cry like this one. Kinda made me miss when I didn’t care about Taylor 😅. But seriously Ticketmaster is trash and I hope we get some change out of this.

That last one should say: “How did I wait for hours for IT to not let me just pay”. I was absolutely frazzled at that point 😭.

Luckily my friend got tickets to a different date (I thank God everyday the entire friend group was blessed with presale codes), so I’m going to see Taylor, but this was the worst and I’m sorry most of us experienced this.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

If you would like to judge my music taste and decide if my Tumblr page is right for you, here’s a playlist I made for my birthday with some songs that give me warm fuzzy feelings about the last year.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

A Reintroduction

Hey Tumblr,

As with many of my social media pages, I’ve greatly neglected you for a rather lengthy amount of time. What can I say, my interest in things has a short shelf life. But It’s that random time of the year where I feel like I need to be more creative and like read a book or something, so I think I’m going to lean into that urge until I ultimately don’t feel like it anymore. 

So...

In case you’re seeing this because you randomly followed my in like 2013 because I reblogged Fall Out Boy and Supernatural posts, but totally forgot I existed (totally understandable, I don’t blame you at all). Or you were one of the unfortunate ones that came over from my super terrible 2014 YouTube videos that I’m too proud and lazy to take down, let me reintroduce myself:

I’m Annette. When I started this account I was working on my bachelor’s degree in journalism and sometime shortly after I made my grand debut here I began doing freelance music journalism. My degree helped me do the thing I wanted to do: talk to musicians and help tell their story. Unfortunately, it didn’t help me get paid. I painfully pretended like the clout of saying I got to talk to so-and-so in such-and-such band on the phone was totally worth earning basically nothing for the better part of decade while I worked in retail and felt guilty for not doing enough free labor for my “career”.

Anyways, I’ve been on hiatus as a writer for over a year now, and it has definitely has been the right move for me. But I do miss writing for myself. As I continue to word vomit here, I realize more and more that I do actually kind of miss this part of writing. Also, I do a lot of fun stuff that makes me feel things sometimes that I miss telling the world about in a sentimental, probably a little romanticized, and really trying hard to not sound pretentious sort of way. So if you’re cool with it, Tumblr, I may try to do a bit of that here.

Here’s picture I took a Riot Fest this year, so you know I mean business when I say I go on adventures and stuff:

Anyways, Tumblr, I hope we can hang for a bit while my brain is into it.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

Life’s a wreck (quite literally), but we’re back at it again. I had to include at least 1 pop punk album in this little project, so of course I had to pick Wake Up Sunshine by All Time Low 🌞.

All Time Low were one of those bands for me that never seemed to put out a bad record, then Last Young Renegade happened. It’s not a terrible album, but to me it felt like a pretty bland one. I hated feeling so meh about All Time Low’s music, and I was afraid of future disappointment with them.

Thankfully Wake Up Sunshine did not disappoint. The album beams with all the energy and enthusiasm that LYR lacked. It feels like old All Time Low with a touch more maturity, and it’s so easy to love. I’m so happy that this album exists and that it was able to revitalize my excitement for All Time Low.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

Next up on #dresslikeyourfavoritealbums is Poppy’s I Disagree 🖤🖤🖤

I honestly didn’t expect to like this album at all. When I started following and listening to Poppy back in 2016, I didn’t think I was getting on board with an up-and-coming metal artist. But it’s 2020 and honestly I’m down for the ride!

I Disagree actually seems to throw out the concept of genre altogether. It weirdly and uniquely blends Poppy’s original softer pop sound with the a newer heavier sound that has made her a heavy metal force to be reckoned with. Even if the bizarre combination isn’t your thing, the album demands your attention.

I’m really excited to see how Poppy’s career continues to blossom and see what odd musical journeys are yet to come.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

So I was going to wait to drop these photos, but ya know Taylor Swift just dropped a whole new record so screw it! Here are my Folklore pictures! These were easily some of my favorite photos from this whole project.

I don’t think I ever imagined Taylor Swift would end up on my top albums of the year, but here we are.

Folklore showed up in my life on a candlelit evening during one of the most stressful summers of my life. I listened to the album on YouTube music out of sheer curiosity. I’d spent a lot of time this year stepping out of my musical comfort zone, so why not listen to Taylor Swift’s surprise record? After that night I couldn’t shake the album. I listened to it in the dark on the nights I sought peace and on train rides to the city. I realized I was falling in love with this album and it didn’t matter how a past version of myself would feel about it.

For me Folklore reminds me of a desperate summer, the smell of lavender and sage candles, and the memory of a little girl with no preconceived notions and who loved music with her whole heart.

[thetracksatchristieroad]

Okay! It’s December, so that means it’s almost time for me to announce my top 10 albums of the year!

This year, I’ve had so much fun on this app creating outfits and makeup looks based on the music that’s moved me in some way, so I wanted to take it to the next level as a lead up to my top 10. All the looks I’ll be presenting you with are inspired by some of the albums on that list.

First up is Tickets To My Downfall by Machine Gun Kelly. I think for a lot of people this was easily one of THE albums of the year. I’m no exception. MGK seems to be bringing pop punk back in a big way with his own blend of punk, pop, and hip hop. I think what makes this album even more spectacular, though, was MGK’s clear enthusiasm behind making a pop punk record. There’s so much heart and excitement on this album. I think MGK is more excited about pop punk than any pop punk band out there right now.

Honestly, I’d love to see your own music inspired looks, so if you come across this post and want to join in, just give this a reblog with your outfit!