If you are familiar with shows like TMZ, then you are definitely familiar with the paparazzi. Me and @BrianObnoxious were hanging with some of the paparazzi after an unsuccessful adventure to try and see John Mayer perform at the Hotel Cafe. Though unsuccessful, I didn't go home empty handed as John Mayer signed the underbill of my hat!
Check out the video (look out for a bright teal hat around the middle of the video):
And just for shits, here's a music video that came out about a year and a half ago. A band named A Cursive Memory (AKA the Bandarazzi) came out with a video for their song "Everything" that I found creative and absolutely hilarious. If you've never seen the clip, check it out!
If you haven't heard of the movie, here's the trailer.
... and within that first 30 seconds of the trailer, Fox Searchlight you had my money in your hand. Zooey Deshanel (Summer) singing lyrics from my favorite Smiths song "There is a Light That Never Goes Out." No matter what I HAD TO see this movie opening weekend.
This is not a love story. This is a story about love. From the opening sequence of the movie, with Regina Spektor's beautiful song "Us" playing as the credits rolled, this movie had me, and it tugged at my heart strings for the entire hour and a half.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in my eyes, played the most spot on hopeless romantic since John Cusack was Rob Gordon in "High Fidelity." And I definitely know a thing or two about being a hopeless romantic. I'd sit there as Gordon-Levitt's character, Tom, endured this journey of love and heartache, and would cringe every time he'd be a "sucker for love" as I like to call it, because I am all too familiar with those pitfalls. This movie more than any other of it's kind, that I've seen, encapsulates what it really feels to love and lose.
It definitely feels more real than these bullshit Hollywood tales of love that we've seen over and over. And I think this has a great deal to do with the format of the movie, it isn't told in the regular "start to finish" way that most movies of it's similar genre are told. It's broken up in such a way that you feel both the elation and heartache within moments of each other, leaving you with a "deeper" understanding of Tom and Summer's relationship.
There were also many clever subtleties that I noticed in the cinematography of the movie that I thoroughly enjoyed; from the use of the color blue used in anything relating to the character Summer to bring out the color of Zooey Deschanel's eyes to Tom walking frantically down a spiral staircase to signify the downward spiral of their relationship. The soundtrack of the movie is also something that I found to be particularly stellar. As I stated before, The Smiths are heard in the movie and that's never a bad thing. Hall & Oate's "You Make My Dreams Come True" may seem a bit out of place for a move like this but somehow it ties perfectly into the soundtrack. But once again Regina Spektor pulls at the heartstrings with the song "Hero" at the emotional climax of the film, in all it's split-screen glory, it's a song that's just heartbreakingly beautiful. The soundtrack added so much more to the emotion in this film.
And lastly, something that I was really happy with is how the movie is set in Los Angeles, the city I love the most in the world. A lot of movies of this genre are set in New York especially, and it was good to see my city as the centerpiece to this great story. I'll tell you that even if you live in the Los Angeles area, you haven't seen L.A. quite like this. I definitely need to see Los Angeles in real-life as beautifully as it's portrayed in the movie sometime soon.
Bottom line: See this film! It's the quintessential movie for anyone that's ever loved so much it hurt and I find it to be more relatable than any "romantic comedy" I've ever seen. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be entertained, and most importantly you'll be at peace with your heartache.
So please, please, please, let me get what I want this time... -Juicy Justin.
I've thought about writing this blog for a long long time now, but never had the time to give it the thought and attention it deserved. So now I sit here at 4AM and I feel inspired. Inspired to share with you all how much pop-punk meant to me growing up and how hearing those same songs to this day remind me of simpler times.
I have conversations with people about music all the time and it's very common to hear all these stories about how they grew up on hardcore, metal, etc. But I never front and try to act like I was a huge Poison the Well fan, that my first concert was Bane, or that I totally moshed it up for Madball and Hatebreed. No, no it was all about power chords and high pitched voices singing about girls for me and I'll never ever be ashamed of that. And now I hope to share with you an era in my life, the music that moved and motivated me for my entire adolescence, the wonderful music of pop-punk.
Blink 182, the first pop-punk band I ever got into, and I'm sure it's the very same for 85% of all pop-punk fans. They were just the best and they never took themselves too seriously. I remember trying multiple times to buy the "Mark, Tom, and Travis Show," their live album and getting rejected because of those goddamn "Parental Advisory" stickers but finally after the 3rd or 4th try, it was mine and those immature jokes on that live album are still funny to this day. The music they've made is timeless and those that don't even like pop-punk were stoked on Blink.
"Josie" I remember this video being on a DVD named "punkrawkshow" and it's got Alyssa Milano in it, how could you go wrong?!
"Going Away to College" My favorite Blink song. I remember that I made it a point to include it on the first mix CD I ever made for a girl.
The Ataris. The first concert I ever went to was the video shoot for "In This Diary." They played every song I wanted to hear and going to shows was an addiction that I would not soon break. Singer/guitarist Kris Roe really knows how to write songs about girls that can really dig into you.
"San Dimas High School Football Rules" It's sad to say everytime I was bummed about a girl, I'd listen to this and sing all my teen angst out. I swear I'd treat you like a queen, enough said.
"Song 13" This is from the DVD of my aforementioned first concert "The Ataris: Live at Capitol Milling." I actually was in the scramble for Kris' Les Paul for a while, but after 3 minutes of holding on I decided to let go. This song goes out to any friends that have ever fucked you over.
Saves the Day. How can you talk about pop-punk and not mention the great band from New Jersey, Saves the Day? It'd be impossible. Chris Connelly is one of my favorite writers to this day, he writes some of the most amazing lyrics and amazing metaphors.
"Sell My Old Clothes, I'm off to Heaven" My favorite Saves the Day song.
"Shoulder to the Wheel"
Rufio. Yes, Rufio at one point was my favorite band. I actually wrote an article about them in my high school newspaper and had them all sign it. Holy shit, I can't believe I admitted that.
"Above Me" Best intro ever.
Fall Out Boy. I know, I know. Fall Out Boy actually used to be a pop-punk band! Before Pete Wentz became a superstar and knocked up Ashlee Simpson there was "Take This To Your Grave." One of the most flawless pop-punk albums I've ever heard.
"Grand Theft Autumn (Where is Your Boy)" When I wanted a girl with a boyfriend, this was my jam!
Fall Out Boy came out with this acoustic EP named "My Heart Will Always be the B-side to my Tongue" that came with a DVD and my favorite part was this acoustic session at what seems to be a house party, such a rad video. Songs include "Grenade Jumper," my personal favorite "Chicago is so Two Years Ago," and "Saturday."
Fuck, re-watching that makes me miss when I was the only kid that I thought liked Fall Out Boy.
A New Found Glory. That's right I said A New Found Glory. People seem to make a big deal about their roots in hardcore, but when I was young I really didn't give a shit. They were fun and they made catchy music, that's all that really mattered to me. By the way I saw these guys about a year and a half ago for their "ISHC/Tip of the Iceberg" CD release show and it was one of the best shows I've ever been to. Over 20 songs of crowd requests!
"3rd and Long"
"All Downhill From Here" Off of my least favorite NFG album "Catalyst" but still one of my favorite songs.
The Starting Line. Some of the most memorable songs were songs written by The Starting Line, I don't think I've enjoyed jumping up and down more at a show than when The Starting Line played.
"This Ride"
"Three is a Charm" I still find this video hilarious!
Drive-Thru Records. You didn't really like pop-punk if half of your top 10 pop-punk bands didn't come off DTR as far as I'm concerned. Their DVDs were legendary and I wasted hours and hours watching them over and over again in my teenhood. Both the previously mentioned Starting Line and New Found Glory came from Drive-Thru Records as well.
The Movielife "Walking on Glass"
The Movielife "Hand Grenade" my personal favorite!
Midtown "Just Rock 'N Roll"
Midtown "Like a Movie"
Home Grown "Surfer Girl"
Home Grown "You Are Not Alone"
Fenix Tx "All My Fault" seriously the best singalongs in my life have involved this song.
Fenix Tx "Threesome"
Allister "Somewhere Down in Fullerton"
And there's so much more. Here are a couple more memorable bands/songs/albums:
Spitalfield "I Loved the Way She Said L.A."
MxPx "Punk Rawk Show"
Audio Karate "Nintendo 89"
Yellowcard "October Nights"
Slick Shoes "Angel"
....and I'm sure there's a whole lot that I'm missing. If you've stuck with me and listened to/ watched a majority of the videos, you're absolutely insane but thank you so much. It's been a real surreal experience taking it back and listening to a lot of this music. I just wanted to showcase how simple and fun music could be and still be able to define an era in your life because pop-punk will forever and always remind me of simpler times and the growing pains I encountered as an adolescent. And I hope that some of you reading this blog reminisced a whole lot on the music that you listened to growing up, pop-punk or not.
Well it's 6AM and I'm exhausted. Forgive any spelling or grammatical errors.
About a year and a half ago I stumbled across this band from Orange County, California named Eye Alaska. I listened to this track called “Roll Right Over” and I was hooked, it sounded to me like cheesy R&B from the 80’s but I was stoked because a band created this sound. I quickly added them and was really surprised that a band that sounded this good only had about 500 friends. Fast forward through an EP named “Yellow and Elephant” that came out in 2008, tours/shows with big named bands like The Maine and the Cab, and also playing at both 2008 and 2009’s Bamboozle Lefts and now they’re definitely a force to be reckoned with.
On July 7th 2009, Eye Alaska released their first full length album named “Genesis Underground” off of Fearless Records. The album starts off with a “poppier” song named “Walk Like a Gentleman” and it’s definitely a song I’d expect to hear in the soundtrack of a romantic comedy. The album starts out strong with its first couple tracks, after the aforementioned song comes a track called “Show Me Daluv” which has a real jazzy feel to it, and I’m definitely a fan of that, it definitely shows off more of their versatility, then comes a verse rhymed by an MC I’m not too familiar with named “VerBS,” though it was unexpected it shows that the band is definitely not scared to bring something different than most bands would. Next standout track in my eyes is called “American Landslide,” and this song is definitely the “baby-making” song of the album (though you could make babies to the entire album as far as I’m concerned). “Miles Don’t Mean Anything” is the band’s obligatory “I’m on the road and I miss you song” but it’s definitely the emotional climax of the album, nothing beats the sound of an acoustic guitar on a track like this and it’s done completely tastefully. And the last track I will mention is the re-done version of the track that made me a fan named “Roll Right Over,” the new recording is much clearer and it sounds beautiful adding harmonies and a much more warm sound. I still believe that “Roll Right Over” above all is the standout track in this album, especially when singer Brandon Wronski croons “I’ve never seen the ocean so clear as tonight, it’s raining over head and it’s almost just right. I could make it better if we left tonight for an island where we could sit and watch the waves just roll right over.”
So what are my general feelings toward this album? I think that Wronski is going to get boy band ass simply from his singing on this record. He is the brightest spot on this album. He’s got a very pop-rock/r&b vibe to his voice and also, for lack of a better word “soul,” which can’t be said for many frontmen out there. The entire album has a major “chill” vibe to it, which is just a bit troubling to me because I would have appreciated a much more energetic sound, at some points I felt like there wasn’t enough energy to keep me invested in it. They’ve definitely got a sound you can instantly fall in love with and I think they will gain tons of fans.
Bottom line: Definitely give Eye Alaska’s debut album “Genesis Undeground” a listen, it’s definitely a lot better than most of the garbage that has been invading the airwaves lately.
