OPE! Mixtape #9: L.A. Freeway
Reflections on another longer-than-expected break, to the sound of Jerry Jeff Walker and KROQ.
Well, hello there. How are you?
Once again, life happens, and it keeps me from the consistent newsletter schedule that I so value and desire. But we write in order to live, not the other way around, right?
My last email, a sort of eulogy for BuzzFeed, was sent out at the beginning of last month right before my trip to L.A. The trip was a blast. I’m excited to make the move out there soon. (This is a sneaky heads-up that the next few newsletters will probably be shorter and a little more chaotic as I get settled in a new city; this is also my justification for why this week’s mixtape is so heavy on SoCal-friendly rock.)
The trip out west was also cut short due to my grandma passing. Though not a total surprise - she had been sick for a long time with severe Alzheimer’s, and we were on standby for this news for a long time - nothing can prepare you for the actual moment you get the call. I extended my break longer to be with family and to think more about my grandma, whom I am missing a lot right now. Love you, Grandma.
On top of all of this, I was traveling a decent amount after L.A., including one special weekend for a blast of a wedding back in NYC (congrats, Lauren and Ryan!) and having a few lovely reunions with friends in both NY and elsewhere in IN I haven’t seen for a while. I hate how hot and sticky the summers can be, but I love how many more people I tend to see and catch up with throughout the season.
So a lot of highs and lows that kept me away from my computer. Coming back into a semi-normal routine again, I find myself again wondering how I should approach this newsletter. As if there’s a “right” way to do it. Wouldn’t be great if the universe was like, “Hey, Brady, this is the newsletter schedule and format you can stick with for the rest of your life even when your schedule constantly changes and life keeps throwing you curveballs and this newsletter schedule will automatically make you millions of dollars so you can now relax and maybe pick up fishing”? That would be sweet. That would be nice. I keep waiting for this sign from the universe - this permission to not be so strict with myself - and so this newsletter feels like the organized chaos of me trying to navigate life while I wait for this “moment.” And isn’t that life anyway? All the stuff we do while we wait for “life” to happen?
My family and closest friends have heard me say this a billion times, and it’s true: I’m always in a hurry to relax. And the hurrying - the feeling of moving towards something - is relaxing to me, too. It’s strange and annoying, I know. It’s probably why I keep coming back to this newsletter.
And so I come back with more links and tunes, many of which have been stuck in my head longer than usual while I was out. I also have a scheduling update: After giving Monday mornings a shot, I’m returning to sending OPE! newsletters out on Wednesday mornings, just like when I used to do 7 For Seven. It just makes more sense for me in terms of my weekly schedule.
So let’s back to the dang thing. Here are some great tunes and links for the week.
LINKS
60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s. I’ve been pretty anti-podcast for a long time, but over the years I’ve slowly come around to some great series, including U Talkin’ U2 To Me?, Indiecast, and Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend. Rob Harvilla’s Ringer podcast has finally won me over in terms of what a podcast format can do that a piece of written music criticism can’t. While my other favorite podcasts follow the whole “Let’s hang out and just, like, talk” format - the exact format that most bad podcasts I hear validated my overall podcast hatred - there’s a show-like quality to how Rob explores some of the ‘90s biggest hits in a way that’s not nostalgic “remember when music was better when we were in junior high” clickbait. Very few music critics (including me) also are as personal and funny as Rob. My favorite episodes so far are on Radiohead’s “Creep,” R.E.M.’s “Nightswinning,” Oasis’s “Wonderwall,” and Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash Into Me.”
How Nintendo solved Zelda’s open-world problem (aka why Breath of the Wild works as a video game; I just finished Tears of the Kingdom and good lord what a game)
We’re officially in the age of mainstream metamodernism (at least in the world of film)
THIS WEEK’S MIXTAPE
Listen to this week’s mix on Spotify.
Noah Kesey - “Forget”
So obviously I missed a lot of new music while I was out, so this week’s newsletter is light on actual new music. “Forget” is sort of the exception, even though it’s not, like, new new. It seems like “Forget” came and went. I’m still a fan. As a critic, “Forget” is also maddening: I enjoy this song a lot, and I can’t think of anything smart to say about it other than “Remember Pavement?” But, yeah, melodic noise is always nice.
Blur - “The Narcissist”
Shocking: I love a chill late-career Blur song. I imagine this will sound better within the context of the album, as most Blur singles do. I love when bands act their age. I wonder if the new album cover is an intentional response to The Great Escape.
Bully - “All I Do”
I’m probably overrating the new Bully album a little because 2023, for me, has been a mediocre year in new music. After more listens though, I think this is just a killer rock record, full stop. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but I’ll still be listening to it throughout the rest of the year.
Jerry Jeff Walker - “L.A. Freeway (Live)”
I’ve been on a Jerry Jeff Walker kick ever since I interviewed Steve Earle for his (very good) Walker tribute album from last year. To me, this is what L.A. sounds like, in all its chaotic and dusty charm that can come across as hilariously phony and weirdly compelling at the same time. The Guy Clark original is outstanding no doubt, but there’s levity to Walker’s version that makes me feel thankful for life’s bliss and sorrow. It’s like Walker has stared down the void of life many times but can still say, “Eh, this will pass too.” Clark just makes me sad.
Lucinda Williams - “I Lost It”
The Car Wheels On A Gravel Road in my head will always sound better than the actual Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Every song is close to perfect, yet the actual album’s sequence and flow leave me feeling restless as if I still don’t know when and where I should put on this record; is this a road trip record, or a lake record? The exception is “I Lost It,” which sounds perfect no matter where you hear it.
The Killers - “Human”
While I was out in L.A., I realized that I’m pretty much the human personification of KROQ, the longtime radio station for all things SoCal pop-punk and alternative-adjacent rock hits. Listening to KROQ while driving around L.A. is the most consistent Killers I’ve ever heard on the radio. It was great. Every song sounded better in the desert air. When I interviewed Brandon Flowers a few years ago, he picked “Human” as the Killers’ most properly rated song. This is hilarious, and it’s true. I thought I was pretty up to date on Killers music videos, but finding a link for “Human” forced me to watch it for the first time. It’s eh. With more overtly silly lyrics, this could be a Lonely Island-like parody of a big-budget rock band music video.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Black Summer”
Speaking of KROQ. I still don’t like this song, yet I concede that any RHCP sounds 200% better while driving around southern California. (The same rule applies to Foo Fighters.) This video absolutely looks like a Lonely Island parody.
Tame Impala - “The Less I Know The Better”
Speaking of KROQ. I’ve been conditioned to believe that Lonerism is the better Tame Impala album. Currents is indeed a thin listen beyond the singles. Yet “The Less I Know The Better“ - this whole vibe - might be Kevin Parker’s lasting legacy. This song still sounds impossibly relevant after all these years.
Blink-182 - “EDGING”
Speaking of KROQ. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this song has grown on me. Actually, yes, I can believe it.
My Chemical Romance - “Welcome to the Black Parade”
Speaking of KROQ. A few years ago, I worked on an MCR-related book proposal that ended up going nowhere. (An argument I made that I still stand by is that MCR were one of the last great traditional music video rock bands during the brief exchange of power from music video TV institutions like MTV and VH1 to new digital video-friendly platforms like YouTube and eventually social media; MCR were lucky enough to be a rock band that still cared about making good videos when they could take advantage of both the old and new mediums for how we discovered new music, where a 14-year-old like me could discover “Welcome to the Black Parade” on MTV but then rewatch its video over and over on command on YouTube.) The initial research for this proposal was a blast, especially when I reread a bunch of music publications that, in 2006, considered this album to be … not great. And now it might be one of the most beloved albums among the older Millennial nerds now running the last remaining music blogs. I love this album, but I’m mindful of how much music history has been rewritten by the MCR fans who now have clout in the music industry to make room for The Blake Parade to be classic rock. Which is perfectly fine. It’s expected, too. Every generation gets to create its own mythology.
boygenius - “Not Strong Enough”
Speaking of KROQ. I still think this album is eh (again, I think this “ha ha i’m sad” era of music has been stale for a long time), but listening to “Not Strong Enough” so many times on KROQ has won me over. These guitars sound wonderful.
Thirty Seconds To Mars - “The Kill”
Speaking of KROQ. I know, I’m surprised too. Writing about MCR just now is how I’d like you to think of me and how I spent my earliest musical journies. The reality is that the first music video I remember watching on MTV2 was “The Kill.” Speaking of MCR: Did Thirty Seconds To Mars film their stage scenes on the same stage as … MCR for the “The Ghost Of You” video??? Are these songs sort of the same??? Not really, and kinda.
Joyce Manor - “Dance With Me”
Not KROQ-core, but it should be.
Josh Joplin - “Camera One”
Also not KROQ-core, but this might be the best impression of a slick R.E.M. song I’ve ever heard. It sounds even better while driving around L.A. at sunset.
Counting Crows - “Hard Candy”
I also have been on a Counting Crows kick, and I remember how much I love Hard Candy. It’s not their best album, but it has the most moments that I consistently come back to when I think about Counting Crows. Like the Killers, this is music especially attuned to the desert air.
Michael Farneti - “The River”
This song came out in 2011, but it sounds like it was recorded in the early ‘70s in Randy Newman’s basement right before he got famous. “The River” reminds me of more beloved classic songwriters like Newman, until I go back through various catalogs and realize that few of these classic songwriters actually have one song as straightforward and pretty as “The River.” When the present sounds more like the past than the past.
Tobias Jesso Jr. - “Without You”
Everything I said about Farneti also applies to Jesso and his best song.
Warren Zevon - “Excitable Boy”
But c’mon, we all know Farneti and Jesso would rather write songs as good as Zevon.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - “Heads Will Roll”
Maybe because I’ve never been the biggest YYY fan, and maybe because I know the band eventually moved from Meet Me in the Bathroom-era New York to L.A., but “Heads Will Roll” to me is a more successful L.A. vibes rock song than anything the band wrote while in their breakout period that “reflected” that one blimp of time when Brooklyn was both cool and affordable. This isn’t a diss on YYY; “Maps” is as close to perfection as you can get. But I can’t claim that it reminded me of anything in New York while I was living there. “Heads Will Roll” still sounds great in L.A.
Young Fathers - “Geronimo”
I finally checked out Young Fathers because Noel Gallagher keeps insisting on how much he loves this band. The songwriting can feel thin at times, but I can imagine a future classic in the works from these lads.
The Gizmos - “Bible Belt Baby - Hoosier Hysteria”
Shout-out to my buddy James for introducing me to these Bloomington punk greats. I went to IU and didn’t know about these guys!
Adorable - “Sunshine Smile”
I’m sad there’s only one Adorable song on Spotify, but at least it’s my favorite Adorable song. One of Creation Record’s most underrated bands.
And that’s it! Until next Wednesday.
Like this newsletter?
Here’s how you can help (if you have the funds)
Subscribe to the paid version of this newsletter (for more goodies).
Gift a subscription.
Donate to my coffee fund, where the funds actually go towards coffee.
Here’s how you can help (for free)
Consider me for freelance writing opportunities: I’m available for blurbs and bio writing, content marketing, SEO, copywriting, and technical writing. (Shoot me an email at bradywgerber@gmail.com and we can talk more.)
If you don’t need a freelance writer but know someone who does, send them my way and recommend me! (It’s always best to work with people with mutual connections, you know?)
Sign up for this newsletter.
Heart, comment on, or repost this specific newsletter post. (See the buttons at the top of this post.)
Share this newsletter post on one of your social media channels.
Share this newsletter post with one of your friends, family members, or colleagues.
Seriously, y’all sharing this newsletter is how OPE! grows the most. Sharing really is caring.
With love and all the other good things,
-b
website | twitter | donate to my coffee fund | candyfloss | find your local reps
OPE! logo by Claire Kuang. words and cartoons by yours truly. all typos are intentional.