OPE! Mixtape #27: You are not late

You're not late!

Welcome to OPE!, the ranch dressing of music blogs by Brady Gerber. OPE! is a daily blog, but this weekly newsletter includes more song reviews, my favorite links of the week, and exclusive essays. All typos are intentional.

Well, hello there. How are you?

There's not much to report on from the past week. I love weeks like this. I’m listening to a lot of new music that I can’t quite talk about yet, so I'm making up for the fewer song reviews with plenty of cool links. You know the drill.

Anyway, let’s get to the dang thing. Here are this week’s links and songs.

MY FAVORITE LINKS OF THE WEEK

• You are not late.

• Hey now, we’re back on the moon.

• “Our company is doing so well that you’re all fired.”

• Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened.

• When institutions try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution: the Shirky Principle.

• Online shopping in the 1950s.

• I have fond memories of watching Avatar: The Last Airbender as a kid, yet I have no desire to watch its new Netflix adaptation. Jackson McHenry’s review of the new series has this excellent lede that I think could apply to a lot of content these days: ”What should have felt like an exciting adventure romp instead feels like being handed a homework assignment, which is a rough fate for something based on a Nickelodeon kids’ cartoon.” I continue to cringe at the adultification of children's IP, even if it seems to be the only way to make money these days.

• Happy Chinese New Year! Here’s some pork-flavored coffee.

• How Google helped destroy the adoption of RSS feeds.

• Things unexpectedly named after people.

• Air Canada has to honor a refund policy its chatbot made up.

• Loved Nicholas Quah’s Vulture profile of Matthew Belloni (as a devoted listener of Belloni’s Hollywood podcast).

• Why do you rarely see clocks at the mall?

• How to use a blow-dryer. (This is the content that gets me excited these days!)

• If I don’t respond to your email this June, it’s because I’m playing the new Elden Ring DLC.

THIS WEEK’S MIXTAPE

MGMT – “Dancing In Babylon” (feat. Christine and the Queens)

2.5/4

MGMT might have my song of the 21st century with “Time to Pretend.” I could write a book about that song; maybe I will one day. But even I am burned out by all my colleagues who can’t think of anything more interesting to say about MGMT other than Congratulations is underrated. I used to be boring too. Congratulations came out 14 years ago. It’s fine. So is “Dancing In Babylon.” So is Loss Of Life. When was the last time druggy and psychedelia pop-rock sounded more interesting than a GAP dressing room? At least MGMT isn’t pretending to be edgy. I just ask that the band seem interested in their own music. Christine and the Queens, who is a fine artist, makes me wish I was listening to actual ’80s music rather than modern indie rock’s endless death march toward sucking the life out of misremembered ’80s nostalgia.

DIIV – “Brown Paper Bag”

1.5/4

The joke about ChatGPT writing a shoegaze song is overused but in the case of DIIV, at least ChatGPT would use a more interesting singer. I regret first listening to “Brown Paper Bag” (bland) through its horrendous music video. Shoegaze musicians, god bless them, are not funny. This is ultra-serious music for preteens who take themselves too seriously and music journalists who wish they were preteens again back when the world promised them a career hanging out with other preteens and blurbing about B-tier Slowdive ripoffs. And I say this as someone who still believes Loveless is the rare good shoegaze album because yada yada yada. Radiohead did the last clever thing in rock music with “Fitter Happier” and every mediocre band since (including my beloved The 1975) thought they could one-up irony. The other irony is that DIIV is now music-industry-famous enough to maybe get a polite pass from SNL’s music booker. I would add a half-star if they picked a more interesting song title and wrote a more interesting song. If you see a band in which the bass player is wearing a tank top, run.

Kings Of Leon – “Mustang”

.5/4

I clipped my toenails this morning and those four minutes were more fulfilling and dynamic than “Mustang.” Imagine being in Kings Of Leon. A scary thought by itself. Now imagine being in Kings Of Leon, looking at a car, any car, and thinking, “Howdy, how can I make this vehicle sound so bland that licking other people’s taxes would feel more dangerous.” My 2015 Subaru Legacy has more sex appeal than “Mustang.” Were these drums recorded in a toilet? Is Caleb Followill singing to a toilet? Is a toilet the inspiration that Followill needs to get up in the morning and write a rock (emphasis on rock) ‘n’ roll song that will capture the hearts and bodies of teens and creepy genxers who wish to be teens? We all need muses. The new album title is good.

Being Dead - “Muriel’s Big Day Off”

Shout out to my buddy and friend of OPE! Jared, thank you for introducing me to Being Dead, a band that wasn’t on my radar until I saw them live in LA. They were wonderful. The group of friends we were with concluded that Being Dead were the children of The Mamas & the Papas and Minutemen. When was the last time you watched a band having fun on stage? Being Dead’s studio recordings don’t quite capture how dynamic and fun they are live, and even this KUTX session from last year doesn’t do their current show justice. Still, it’s a hell of a time. Go see Being Dead live immediately.

And that’s it!

Until next Wednesday, as always.

With love and all the other good things,

-b

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Original OPE! logo by Claire Kuang. Words and cartoons by yours truly. Stock photos by Substack unless credited. Animations made using FlipaClip and EZGIF. All typos are intentional.