Hail Satan!

I’ve heard good things about this.

Chronicling the extraordinary rise of one of the most colorful and controversial religious movements in American history, Hail Satan? is an inspiring and entertaining new feature documentary from acclaimed director Penny Lane (Nuts!, Our Nixon). When media-savvy members of the Satanic Temple organize a series of public actions designed to advocate for religious freedom and challenge corrupt authority, they prove that with little more than a clever idea, a mischievous sense of humor, and a few rebellious friends, you can speak truth to power in some truly profound ways. As charming and funny as it is thought-provoking, Hail Satan? offers a timely look at a group of often misunderstood outsiders whose unwavering commitment to social and political justice has empowered thousands of people around the world.

Speaking Of Cthulhu …

Received this in the mail yesterday! Even better than I expected, and the photo doesn’t really do it justice. Shout out to sculptor Joe Broers, who was nice enough to ship this thing in the middle of a massive snowstorm. The free demon magnet (also one of his originals, I assume) and the little doodle on the box were nice touches, too.

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

H.P. Lovecraft
“The Call of Cthulhu”
1928

Reading Is Fundamental

What are any of you bastards reading these days? Believe it or not, I put down the band bios for a minute and I’ve been enjoying the hell out of John Dies At The End. It’s got kind of a MIB vibe, if the agents were a couple of twenty-something college dropouts.

In this reissue of an Internet phenomenon originally slapped between two covers in 2007 by indie Permutus Press, Wong — Cracked.com editor Jason Pargin’s alter ego — adroitly spoofs the horror genre while simultaneously offering up a genuinely horrifying story. The terror is rooted in a substance known as soy sauce, a paranormal psychoactive that opens video store clerk Wong’s — and his penis-obsessed friend John’s — minds to higher levels of consciousness. Or is it just hell seeping into the unnamed Midwestern town where Wong and the others live? Meat monsters, wig-wearing scorpion aberrations and wingless white flies that burrow into human skin threaten to kill Wong and his crew before infesting the rest of the world. A multidimensional plot unfolds as the unlikely heroes drink lots of beer and battle the paradoxes of time and space, as well as the clichés of first-person-shooter video games and fantasy gore films. Sure to please the Fangoria set while appealing to a wider audience, the book’s smart take on fear manages to tap into readers’ existential dread on one page, then have them laughing the next.

Guitar Moves With Keith Richards

https://youtu.be/ceWWMfhAvD4

A few years ago, Matt Sweeney had a chat with Keith Richards, wherein the master dropped some wisdom, told some great stories, and demonstrated the open G tuning he used on “Honky Tonk Women,” “Brown Sugar,” “Happy,” and tons of other Stones songs. Amazing stuff.

Legend is a word that’s thrown around probably too much, but there’s no real other way to describe Keith Richards. What else can you even say about the Rolling Stones guitarist? The 71-year-old is not only responsible for creating some of the most monumental music we’ve enjoyed over the last five decades, but his influence—alongside the Stones—have shaped music and the world that surrounds it. Watch our latest episode of Guitar Moves in which host Matt Sweeney lives his dream, freaks out, and sits down with Richards himself. Ever wanted to know how Richards learned how to play the guitar? Well, it started with his grandfather…

https://youtu.be/p4BH_F4zgtA

The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs

New Coen brothers movie available on Netflix. Anybody seen it? I’m ready to discuss, goddammit.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a six-part Western anthology film, a series of tales about the American frontier told through the unique and incomparable voice of Joel and Ethan Coen. Each chapter tells a distinct story about the American West.

Bob 2 Throbblehead

We must repeat!

Bob Casale, one of the 5 essential gears in the original Devo Fab 5, gets honored posthumously with this hand-numbered, limited edition, 7″ sculpted figure of 1,000 units. Bob is outfitted for devolved action with his “Duty Now for the Future” era helmet and protective pads circa 1979 and his classic Devo Tee and 3-D glasses.

This year marks legendary Devo’s 40th anniversary release of their iconic debut record, “Are We Not Men?, We Are Devo!” Commemorate Bob 2 (and his famous facial mole) by stepping up and becoming one of the few Throbblehead owning members of the Devolutionary Army.

Get yourn here.

UPDATE: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! came out 40 years ago. In its honor, 99% Invisible‘s Sean Cole investigates the creation of that iconic cover, interviewing all involved – INCLUDING CHI-CHI RODRIGUEZ.