The cover of Joyce Manor's sixth studio album "40 oz. to Fresno."
Joyce Manor is a pop punk band from Torrance, California.
I was 14 or so when I was first introduced to Joyce Manor by someone I probably considered cooler than me. Their 2016 album “Cody” was the first new album from the band that I was able to listen to as the singles dropped and I’ve considered it to be one of my favorite albums since then.
Joyce Manor will be at Cat’s Cradle with Teens in Trouble on June 26 as a small pit stop on their tour with Weezer. Tickets are currently being sold for $25, and more show info and ticket access can be found at the Cat’s Cradle website.
Joyce Manor
Joyce Manor’s most recent release was their album “40 oz. to Fresno” in 2022. Their most popular album, according to Spotify and the many Joyce Manor fans in my life, is “Never Hungover Again,” released in 2014 on Epitaph Records.
Joyce Manor has performed at the Cradle a number of times, including touring with Jeff Rosenstock and Modern Baseball. Their music is punchy and punky without crossing the bridge over to hardcore or pure punk. It’s like the type of punk that might be palatable to a larger audience, but still not everyone– essentially, pop punk.
Vocalist Barry Johnson has a trademark voice that sounds a bit like screaming without any of the vocal violence of screamo. It’s part of what makes the group so special, because they’re able to maintain a signature sound without becoming repetitive.
Teens in Trouble
Teens in Trouble is a WKNC favorite, especially after Double Barrel Benefit 19 earlier this year when they joined us for our annual fundraiser at Kings Raleigh.
Teens in Trouble is the perfect opener for Joyce Manor, because they’ve got indie rock to offer that is easily enjoyable without sacrificing inventiveness.
Vocalist and frontwoman Lizzie Killian described her band’s sound as “fuzzed out indie rock for dog people,” which is kind of a perfect descriptor. Reminiscient of music from Remo Drive and The Beths, Teens in Trouble should be a great opener for the show at the Cradle and will undoubtedly hype the crowd up before headliner Joyce Manor plays their set.
Album cover art for feeble little horse's "Girl with Fish"
Pittsburgh based band feeble little horse released “Girl with Fish” on June 6 2023, it has since became one of my favorite albums of the year.
On feeble little horse’s Bandcamp page for their May 2021 release “modern tourism”, the band was comprised of just their two guitarists (a lineup lacking their current main vocalist and bassist, Lydia Slocum). I found it pretty interesting to look at this album and see the band in its primordial state.
With time and the addition of new members, the group’s sound has since developed to fall in a middle ground between noise pop and shoegaze.
Favorite track – “Steamroller”
This track is a fantastic example of just how well feeble little horse does dynamics within their songs. About half way through the song, all the instruments and vocals completely pause as if they were taking a breath- listening to it feels like looking down over the edge of a cliff. Next, you are knocked off the cliff and are meet with a wall of sound ornamented by a brief eerie and unfamiliar sounding guitar solo. The part then leads into the second verse of the song.
A combination of opposing qualities: a strong driving power is maintained in the song while soft, pleasing melodies are carried throughout. Of course feeble little horse is not the first band to make a song with both of these attributes, but they bring their own sound to these songs in a way that I can’t help but love.
Official audio for feeble little horse’s song Steamroller
Other Recommended Tracks
It’s hard to not list all the songs off this album in this because it is just so consistent, but below are a few I would recommend.
“Freak”
“Tin Man”
“Paces”
“Pocket”
Concluding Thoughts
This has been the third album the band has released in a two year span and I feel they have continuing to improve with each album. I am super excited to see what this group puts out in the future.
Album cover of "Everyone's Crushed" by duo Water From Your Eyes
Water From Your Eyes is a duo made up of Rachel Brown and Nate Amos. In late May 2023, the duo released an album worth writing home about– it’s a unique mix of art pop and rock. It’s the sort of album your somewhat-elitist music friend would like.
The album, “Everyone’s Crushed,” begins with a song titled “Structure,” paying homage to Water From Your Eyes’s 2021 album “Structure.” The opening of the album is slow, almost cryptic, but still inviting– at the very least, intriguing.
The album feels a little bleak– it’s got catchy songs, high-tempo beats, interesting vocals with thoughtful lyrics, but it still leaves the listener with a feeling of melancholy, though not overwhelming. The musical choices made within the album are also pretty unique, and although the music doesn’t sound alien in any respect, it does maintain an “out of this world” sound.
The aforementioned bleakness of the album is the result of the artists’ perspective, which is focused on the struggles and discomfort of the pandemic and what’s come since then.
The album’s title reflects this. “Everyone’s Crushed.” It’s something you’d normally hear at a funeral, or upon hearing tragic news. In the case of this album, Water From Your Eyes seems to be attempting to relay the idea that everyone is struggling, it’s the nature of right now.
The album ends with a song called “Buy My Product,” which seems to be a kitschy kick at capitalism and corporations that spew adverts implying that a product or material good could bring you peace from the ugliness the rest of the album expresses.
The album is vulnerable in a way that’s not overt or cliched, and it makes for a good listen for those interested in new and different pop.
Cover for "The Pink and Black Album" by Dog Park Dissidents
Dog Park Dissidents is a self-described “loud and flamboyant” queer rock band from New Orleans, Long Island and Philadelphia.
As the band explains, they “bend genres, genders, and decency” with a mix of “old-school” punk, pop punk and camp energy in order to stoke the flames of queer rebellion.
Anti-Respectability
The band’s reputation largely comes from its unflinching condemnation of respectability politics and the corporatization of Pride Month.
While I personally am not a huge fan of the band I do admire their commitment to the defense of “queer anger,” a concept often shirked by mainstream circles due to its “poor optics” and “lack of respectability.”
The idea that being a “good queer” will somehow garner the support of the straight hegemony is certainly not new. The classic “kink at Pride” debate is a prime example of this.
“Norwich Pride 2019-308” uploaded to Wikimedia commons by Sasastro from Suffolk, licensed CC BY 2.0
While it’s understandable that members of a marginalized class would strive for anything to lessen the burden of systemic oppression, recent events involving a certain big-name grocery store demonstrate that even “respectable” queerness is not enough to win over those who have already decided that queer people are not worthy of public existence.
Thus, Dog Park Dissidents is wholly committed to being a group of “bad queers.”
Such is the reason that I respect the band. Not only do they produce flagrantly bitter, queer music, but they exist as open members of the predominately-gay puppy play scene, a group often looked down upon by fellow members of the LGBT community for its lack of respectability.
Cover for “Sexual and Violent” by Dog Park Dissidents
If Dog Park Dissidents makes anything clear, they couldn’t care less about playing the game of LGBT respectability, especially when the rules are made by the same people who oppress LGBT people in the first place.
“Queer As In F– You”
Dog Park Dissidents formed in 2017 after vocalist Zax Xeper and guitarist Jon Greco produced the single “Queer As In F– You” as part of an anti-Trump sampler compilation.
Don’t sell me a rainbow Your market’s never done s– for me Don’t want a seat at your table And f– an invitation to your party
You want to celebrate a gay man on your cable TV While trans lesbians of color dig in garbage just to eat You’ve paved the road for CEOs to suck on some d– While all the kids on the street are getting pelted with bricks
The following year, the band had their first live performance in Long Island with drummer Mike Costa and bassist Joe Bove from The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, a 6-piece ska band active from 1998 to 2006.
The EP features the track “Refugees,” which highlights the growing fear within the queer community as the enactment of anti-LGBT legislation becomes a growing threat on the horizon.
Into the great unknown In fear of losing our home With the stroke of a pen Threatening to erase us Our lives can be revoked Hard won rights in limbo When your shield’s on the books It’s thin as the pages
“Refugees,” Dog Park Dissidents
The band’s next release came in 2021 with the EP “ACAB For Cutie,” featuring Costa on drums.
Cover for “ACAB For Cutie” by Dog Park Dissidents
The EP touches on classism and queer liberation, exploring themes related to the queer community’s relationship to the police force and the ways in which prominent LGBT figures capitalize on fame at the expense of their peers.
I don’t care that the labor board Says it’s A-OK to be gay When they shout, “get out” You don’t got no clout They don’t need a f– reason They can say whatever they gonna say I don’t care that the police Carry rainbows in our parades ‘Cause they’ll be sent to take down all our flags As soon as their bosses want to put us in body bags
“Class Struggle,” Dog Park Dissidents
“Gay Pride in Valencia,” uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Dorieo, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
She’s that empress with her fierce jeweled crown And she don’t care if you call her a sellout Took your culture and she made it her brand That’s how you play, it’s just the law of the land But it was not enough for she To make it a commodity To turn your queerness into business And to sell your raison d’etre Bitch, she put on these nails To hydrofracture some shale You came to play, she came to slay Entire ecosystems, hunty
“RuPaul’s Frack Race,” Dog Park Dissidents
The Pink and Black Album
As Dog Park Dissidents released their third EP, they announced their partnership with Say-10 Records.
On June 2, 2023, they released their first full-length album, “The Pink and Black Album,” featuring a compilation of remixed and remastered tracks from all 3 EPs.
What I find particularly important about the album is its context. While other bands I’ve discussed, such as Limp Wrist and Los Crudos, were largely active during the 80s and 90s, Dog Park Dissidents exists in the contemporary sphere of queer culture in America.
As someone who often hears straight people chalk-up queerphobia to something of the past, something I and other queer people are responsible for “getting over,” projects such as “The Pink and Black Album” preclude the idea of straight people’s plausible deniability.
Straight people cannot look past the messages laid out by Dog Park Dissidents without admitting their deliberation in ignoring queer suffering and contributing to institutions which directly suppress our freedom and self-expression.
With songs targeting specific political and social figures, dynamics and events, “The Pink and Black Album” paints a very real picture of the fears and struggles of the modern-day queer community.
We’re only free to be you and me to the degree Capital and the state consent We only live our lives and we can only thrive Within the boundaries they have set
“Class Struggle,” Dog Park Dissidents
The purpose of groups like Dog Park Dissidents is not to make the queer community “look bad,” but rather to liberate the community from the burden of having to exist within the strictures of heterosexual respectability.
Once the queer community can reclaim its freedom of expression, it will be all the more easy to mobilize in defense of our civil liberties.
Until then, Dog Park Dissidents and other unabashed creatives will work to lay the foundation for queer revolution.
Vision Video makes “dance music for the end-times.”
Drawing inspiration from The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus and The Chameleons, Vision Video introduces a familiar but distinct concept to the post-punk genre that blurs the line between contemporary and classic sounds.
Overview
Featuring guitarist and lead singer Dusty Gannon, keyboardist Emily Freedock, bassist Dan Geller and drummer Jason Fusco, Vision Video cultivates an intimate atmosphere through each of their songs.
Cover for “Inked in Red” by Vision Video
Based in Athens, Georgia, the band debuted in May 2020 with their single “In My Side.”
The track features a dreamlike arrangement of guitar, keyboard, bass and vocals that evoke the sensibilities of Robert Smith and Ian Curtis.
The rest of the band’s discography, now spanning across two albums and 12 singles, is similarly nostalgic. Without the ethereality of synths, the band’s raw sound smacks of decades long past.
Artistry Through Vulnerability
One of the main things that sets Vision Video apart from other groups is their unflinching irreverence, something reflected primarily through their lyrics.
Subject matter for the band’s songs draws from the lived experiences of frontman Dusty Gannon, a former soldier, paramedic and firefighter.
One of the first Vision Video songs I ever heard (and also played on-air during my DJ set) was “Death in a Hallway,” released October 2022.
As Gannon explains in a short video, his time as a paramedic during the pandemic and his frustration with surrounding political discourses led him to compose the song as a “big f– you” to influential individuals who profited off of the pandemic while simultaneously downplaying its severity.
The song’s music video, filmed in an abandoned hospital, served to punctuate the massive loss of life incurred by the pandemic.
Liеs likе bоdiеs соunting up Whilе thеy оvеrflоw thеir сups In dеniаl, gаsping fоr brеаth In this hаllwаy оf yоur dеаth
“Death in a Hallway,” Vision Video
Another track, “Kandahar,” draws inspiration from Gannon’s time as a rifle platoon leader in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Part of the 2021 album “Inked in Red,” the song captures the pointlessness of modern warfare and the emotional weight of the destruction left in its wake.
Pain made manifest A scream out like broken glass A cry out into the void To pronounce its pointlessness
Did you hear we killed the monster? Did you you think we did so well? Did you see the broken bodies lying there? We’re getting good at building hell
“Kandahar,” Vision Video
Goth Dad
Argubably the face of Vision Video, Gannon is also known as “Goth Dad,” a quirky online persona with a midwestern accent and heavily made-up face.
Primarily active on TikTok, “Goth Dad” videos consist of song recommendations, fashion advice and general topics such as how to tie a tie and how to shave.
Cover for “In My Side” by Vision Video
Given the goth scene’s unsavory history (a topic I may touch on in a future post), it is unignorable that a figure such as Dusty Gannon is a beacon of light for young goths across the subculture.
Not only does his proud existence as a queer man (Gannon identifies as bisexual) help to destigmatize “unconventional” self-expression, but his “Goth Dad” persona stands as a constructive, purposeful role model for young members of the scene.
A Safer Scene
As many subcultures can attest, alternative scenes often become breeding grounds for predation. Impressionable young people eager to prove themselves amid cultures of exclusivity can easily fall victim to malevolence.
The risk increases significantly when alleged malefactors are prominent subcultural figures. Influence becomes a tool used to exploit and abuse young and vulnerable individuals.
The situation with Marilyn Mansion a perfect example of this.
With these dynamics coloring aspects of the goth scene, it’s important to recognize individuals like Dusty Gannon whose efforts contribute to making goth safer and more accessible.
