These guys are crushing it right now.
Happy Happy Joy Joy
Coming August 14, a documentary about the creation and influence of Ren & Stimpy! SPOILER ALERT: Here’s another one of those instances where you must appreciate the art but hate the artist. From Gizmodo …
Directors Ron Cicero and Kimo Easterwood promise an honest and direct look at what Kricfalusi brought to the world of animation as well as what he took away from it, with reports of failing to deliver episodes on time and fostering a hostile work environment. According to the documentary description, it will also address the allegations of sexual misconduct. They were first brought to light in 2018 by Buzzfeed, and included an admission that Kricfalusi had engaged in a relationship with a 16-year-old girl. It’s clear from the trailer that the folks who worked on Ren & Stimpy have great respect for the show and how it’s influenced the world of animation, but that it’s hard to rectify that with the knowledge that the person who created it was responsible for so much pain and suffering.
My Newest YouTube Obsession
Car detailing!
767,902 views means I’m onto something …
Mea Culpa
Maybe it’s due to COVID or an orange troll (or both), but I’ve been enjoying these guys lately. One of my biggest problems with them was the relentless gloom and doom. They always struck me as Iggy Pop’s The Idiot (probably one of my top 5 favorite albums) without the humor, with a bit too much Jim Morrison for my taste. But those are persnickety reasons to reject a band, and they are perfect for these times. Anyway, take away the clinical depression, and you’re pretty much just left with U2, only with (in my opinion) more interesting musicians and a technically worse but more interesting (and less pretentious) singer. Not really fair to judge them for being who they were. I still think Ian Curtis had an under-developed melodic sense, but for some reason it all works.
The Film 2020 Deserves
The Jam at the 100 Club
For whatever reason (ignorance or senility) , I don’t recall ever seeing this clip of The Jam at their ’77 peak. It’s from the German Punk in London documentary. The whole documentary is available here, but I have a feeling this Jam performance is the highlight. Although some heavyweights are interviewed, the performance segments are mostly B-listers.
Free Again
I vaguely remember this coming out, and thinking I should listen to it. Seven years later I’ve finally gotten around to it, and it’s great. Recorded at Ardent after Box Tops and before Big Star, it’s loose and fun, but not as sardonic or weird as his later solo stuff. I’ve been streaming it, but am hunting it down on Discogs.
Crossing fingers for Renfield stories in the comments.
These Guys Again
And about time! Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, AND Malcolm McDowell?
Truth Seekers is a supernatural comedy drama series featuring Nick Frost, Samson Kayo, Simon Pegg, and Emma D’Arcy. A group of part-time paranormal investigators team up to uncover a deadly conspiracy.
I’m in. No firm release date yet.
Donuts. Los Angeles.
More Starcrawler.
Good find, Makerbot!
Goofy TV Gigs
I completely missed this one when it aired. I don’t remember hearing about it at all. A little sad, by ’79 the Ramones should have been too big for the Sha Na Na show.
But I did happen to be watching the tube in ’68 when psychedelic proto-punks The Seeds (as The Warts) mimed their biggest hit, the classic pushy-girlfriend-fuck-off song, “Pushin’ to Hard” on a now-forgotten sitcom called The Mothers-in-Law. I bought the album soon after. Oddly enough, that album had been released two years earlier, and they’d released another since, but they were still pushin’ this song on TV. The second verse and guitar break were edited out.