Japanese Breakfast is an alternative-pop band led by Korean-American musician Michelle Zauner.
“Be Sweet” was released in 2021 and this song is a little different on my level of obsession compared to “Remember When” and “Amoeba.”
I am obsessed with Michelle’s voice and although the instrumentals are catchy as well, it’s her vocals that keep me coming back.
The track has an 80’s synth-pop vibe to it and is very different from other Japanese Breakfast tracks. The guitar riffs, drums, and Michelle’s vocals create a dynamic track that is very upbeat and energetic.
It’s a song about forgiveness and optimism. A track that blossomed from Michelle’s desire to write a positive and bright track that is stark in contrast to her past music which deals more with grief and mourning.
I think that’s why this song is so refreshing and lingers in your mind. It’s the culmination of personal growth and artistic growth that adds a spark.
Especially the verse “So come and get your woman (come and get your woman) | Pacify her rage (pacify her rage) | Take the time to undo your lies.”
Make it up once more with feeling | Recognize your mistakes and I’ll let you back in | Realize not too late, love you always”
It’s almost like she’s talking to herself in a way, telling herself to keep her rage towards everything in control and that it’s not too late to start looking at the world in a different light.
The chorus is what hooked me the first time when I heard the song. “Be sweet to me, baby | I wanna believe in you, I wanna believe (be sweet) Be sweet to me, baby | I wanna believe in you, I wanna believe in something”
She hits those high notes while maintaining a powerful voice.
The music video of the song matches the alternative Kate Bush-inspired vibes behind the track. It’s straight out of an X-Files episode with J. Brekkie in the middle of a corn field looking for aliens.
Sick Thoughts run rampant in the minds of punk rock lovers. Drew Owen, lead singer and sole member of Sick Thoughts, has captivated the ears and souls of punk rockers since 2013.
His first full release, “Terminal Teen Age”, is full of rampant riffs and cheesy choruses. This first release is more grimy and crackly than his new releases, but what charm Sick Thoughts has lost in the at home production quality he has made up for it with creative energy and captivatingly edgy lyricism.
I am very excited for Sick Thoughts’ new album. “Heaven is No Fun” as I have been listening to his releases for about a year now. Owen’s dry vocals worked some magic on me and got me invested in his music quickly. All of his tracks are thrash-able and make for fantastic mosh-pit anthems.
This new track offers cheesy lyrics like, “Promise I’m not an evil man/ I’ll send you a pentagram” and some great guitar work that brings me back to sounds like a good mix of 80’s rock and early punk.
The music video for this song is a mix of wonderfully awkward dancing from Owen himself, and has the classic VHS grain texture overlaid atop it.
“Mother I Love Satan” by Sick Thoughts. Video posted on YouTube by Total Punk Records.
I found this song to be a great step and direction for this whole album. I am excited to see how much of Owen’s charm will pull me into this new release and how much will be enjoyable.
Sick Thoughts has brought a lot of joy to the punk rock scene, at least for me, and I hope this new track will provide some brightness to your day too.
"The Colour of Magic" by Sir Terry Pratchett book cover.
Creating worlds rests only in the power of gods and authors like Sir Terry Pratchett. A world renowned British author, satirist and knight, Sir Terry Pratchett weaved his own world into the pages of novels in a collection called “Discworld”.
Terry Pratchett published his first of the Discworld series, “The Colour of Magic”, in 1983 when he was 35 years old. The series grew to be 41 books in length, and it features many locations and time periods within Discworld itself.
I won’t ever be able to give a proper explanation of what Discworld is, but Pratchett’s website can straighten out all the details I don’t mention.
“The Colour of Magic”
“The Colour of Magic” as the first installment of the series is perfect. The story features a disgraced wizard, Rincewind, and a tourist vying to travel all over the Disc with his magical luggage, Twoflower.
Rincewind and Twoflower battle dragons, pirates and demons while having no real goal except exploration and survival, which adds to the hilarity of the misfortune the incur.
By the end of the novel, it leaves readers the drive to crawl all over Discworld to interact with the crazy people that reside there. This want to explore Sir Terry Pratchett’s fantasy haven is from his extraordinary capability to imagine a world of chaos and magic that feels like it could exist.
Worldbuilding Artistry
I regard Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld to be one of the finest works in worldbuilding. He weaves readers, characters and time together to create a fine thread of tales so thick and dense that it would seem impossible to understand, but in reality it isn’t difficult to understand.
It’s fun to pick up one of the Discworld novels and explore the diverse array of characters, landscapes or cities that exist there. The realism and creativity Pratchett uses to blend his narrative style into his own universe is beautiful and breathtaking at times.
Pratchett is not the only one with this gift. There are a few well known Game Masters (or GMs) that run tabletop roleplaying games that can elicit a similar response through their own worldbuilding techniques.
Matthew Mercer and Aabria Iyengar both have extraordinary skills in storytelling and worldbuilding. The worlds these two GMs fantasize and pop into existence are built to explore. Players and characters have to live through dangerous dragon hoard raids, political plot twists and crazy complex puzzles that GMs make.
The End of the World(building)
Worldbuilding makes our own real world bigger too. By having an audience tour small patches of life an author makes, we get a sense of how unique and wondrous our own planet is.
Seeing crazy characters some writers might imagine lets readers wish and find similar characters that mill about around the world.
Many writers and creators of worlds make their fantasy universe to fix or even highlight problems in our own world. Their worlds can be used as mirrors and we can see our blemishes and scars that need fixing and healing.
I love drawing inspiration for new ideas from the most radical corners of literature as they themselves draw from some of the strongest wells of imagination.
WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 hosted its first video game event, a 111-entrant Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament on July 15 at the NC State’s 111 Lampe Drive.
With players traveling from all over the Southeast, WKNC’s “Rock N’ Roll With It” gave world-class players like Lima, Peabnut and Anathema a sneak preview of the NC State campus before the Just Roll With It two-day tournament in Talley Student Union on July 16 and 17.
More than $500 in proceeds from Rock N’ Roll With It entry fees was donated to Girls Rock NC, a youth-centered organization dedicated to building community and power among girls, transgender youth and gender expansive youth through musical collaboration, political education for social change and creative expression. Sales of posters specifically commissioned for the event by artist Cactulio added another $150 to the overall donation. Posters are still available for sale from the WKNC swag store for $10 each.
“Rock N’ Roll With It serves as a glimpse of the avenues in which WKNC hopes to provide the local community while providing high-quality fun events for the NC State Wolfpack,” said Adrian Lopez, WKNC program director and the tournament organizer. “While making WKNC a known name throughout Smash Ultimate communities spanning from Ohio to Florida, Rock N’ Roll With It and Just Roll With It also gave a welcoming atmosphere to many who are interested in joining the community and competing among Raleigh’s best and beyond.”
NC State also hosts regular Smash events including Dair 2 Care, a biweekly charity tournament in Talley Student Union and a tournament held at 111 Lampe Drive every other Friday during the fall and spring semesters.
I recently came to know the true meaning of “Chicken Tendies” by Clinton Kane. The title “Chicken Tendies” was given to this track as a joke, but once Clinton Kane decided to officially release this song he wanted it to sound as real as possible and the genuine message behind it to remain serious.
It’s about his mother, who he had a rocky relationship with and how he felt about not being close with his mom. However, the impact of her passing influenced the song that allowed Clinton Kane to jump-start his music career.
The song is sweet and melancholic on its own. About hoping that his mom is in a happier place now.
“Chicken Tendies” got its title inspired by the verse, “I thought I caught a glimpse of me and you | In our kitchen, where I cooked your favorite food | And if I’m being honest, I was a fool | So say the word and I’ll come running back to you”
He teased the verse on the internet and fans flooded the comments about naming the song chicken tenders as a joke. However, his mom’s favorite food was in fact chicken tenders.
The sentiments and stories that go behind a lot of musicians’ songs it what I love about being a fan. Music can teach you so much about someone’s past and trauma without them having to sit you down and explicitly tell you. A lot of the time you don’t realize that an amazing song could have stemmed from a hard time in an artist’s life.
My favorite verse of the song is the beginning. “I saw someone who looks just like you | In the back seat, with her hand out the sunroof | I swear it was the dress that I gave you | And I wonder, is your favorite color still blue?“
It’s moments when you start seeing someone you lost touch with everywhere you go, that make moving on that much more difficult.
He describes that the dress he saw someone wearing was the exact dress he gave her. You can’t help but get lost in the past when you think you’ve seen someone you once had a strong relationship with. Especially in his case, if it was his own mother.
The song is simple and sweet. Clinton Kane’s vocals are powerful and passionate and his pain is almost tangible.
I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next from Clinton Kane and how his music journey progresses.
What good is a vampyre story? Sure, they provide some entertainment and create a little bit of mystery in our history, but what do these stories provide for humanity’s culture?
The vampyre started out in many cultures as a being to fear. According to an article from History.com, many cultures across western Europe and India frequently referred to blood sucking demons that hunt in the night. Vampyres resided in villages and were thought to be the center of demonic cults.
How did the vampyre become a mainstream media staple?
I’d like to think a lot of the fascination behind vampyres, ghouls and all the undead tropes came from Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and other gothic romantic writers. Their nightmarish stories exploited the human conditions and emotions of fear and death to look at parasitic immortality and rotten flesh. The attention these authors received
Stoker’s novel, “Dracula”, inspired many of the modern day vampyre stories like “Nosferatu the Vampyre” by Werner Herzog, “Twilight” and maybe even Playboi Carti’s “Whole Lotta Red”. The following stories are only a select few of the hundreds that are inspired by the vampyre.
Succulent Stories
“What We Do in the Shadows” by Taika Watiti is probably one of my favorite comedy films and vampyre flicks I have seen to date. This mockumentary is set in New Zealand and criticizes the common vampyre tropes by making the vampyre community a welcoming place and explores roommate relationships too.
Here’s a great clip from the film (it does involve a bit of swearing):
This scene is from YouTube, uploaded by IGN.
I have written an article that looks at another vampyre film, “Only Lovers Left Alive”. I love this film and story because of how it looks at the music culture and influences of vampyres on the world from the shadows. If you want to read more about this film, you can read my article.
Another one of my favorite and more culturally unique vampire films is “Thirst” by Park Chan-wook, an elegant Korean director. This vampire film treats the affliction more like a virus that has spread rather than romanticizing the bloodthirsty nature in more common myths.
It focuses more on the romance and relationship between the priest and Tae-ju, which means Park Chan-wook uses the vampyre affliction as a medium of storytelling rather than a central plot point.
Here’s a clip from “Thirst” in which the priest and Tae-ju first start their relationship:
This video is on YouTube, uploaded by Focus Features.
Bland Bloodsucker
There are a lot more really great vampyre films, but I am going to focus on how some directors and authors don’t use the setting well.
I found Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” boring. I have never been a fan of found film or the book version, letters and found writings, as an interesting way to tell a narrative. I would have much preferred Stoker’s massively influential novel to be more narratively focused, but at least it created more vampyre stories that I enjoy far more.
One cool thing I found recently is a website/ company that will email the original Stoker story piece by piece as it follows the dates of the story. Dracula Daily might be a better way to experience the original Dracula story than his novel, so if that interests you, be sure to check it out.
Undrinkable Narratives
“Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter” is one of the worst vampyre adaptations I have read. I still am not sure why I decided this book would be a good idea to read cover to cover, but it was extremely tropey and also blames most of American slavery on vampyres. I haven’t seen the movie and nor do I plan to.
In “Dracula Untold” and “Dark Shadows”, these films involve vampyres just for the sake of entertainment. I found them to be lazy additions to the original “Dracula”, and if they tried to do something new to the story, it wasn’t handled well.
Bad Blood but Fun Times
“Twilight” is not a good film, but it provides enough entertainment that the movies are almost watchable. Just look at these clips of Kristen Stewart and Billy Burke interacting as father and daughter.
https://youtu.be/b29rJuF6nOE
This video is on YouTube, uploaded by OFFALICK.
The acting is fine, but their script is awful and cringey. These are not normal teen to parent interactions, but they’ve made the relationship funny to watch and gawk at.
Another rough but enjoyable vamp flick I’ve seen is “The Lost Boys”. There’s a whole lot going on in this movie, but between the fun cast, music and cheesy scenes it’s hard not to enjoy it. The trailer puts on a show and makes the movie seem a bit better than it actually is, but if you like tropey 80’s goth and vampyres, then you’ll probably enjoy the movie.
Into the Sunrise
Vampyre aesthetics seep into music culture, architecture and clothing too. The romanticized gothic architecture of Dracula’s Castle is seen worldwide and the dark, dreary and sleek coats and styles that people wear all add so much beauty to the horrific nature of a vampyre. It’s interesting how much people love a bloodsucker and serial killer.
All these vampyre stories have enough differences in them to add to the beauty of the vampyre genre. They create mystery, spill blood and have some beautiful costumes and aesthetics. The vampyre genre adds more than entertainment to the world. It adds a sense of glory and love to death and immortality.
Michelle Zauner is an extremely talented songwriter, and her talents especially shine on Japanese Breakfast’s 2021 album, “Jubilee.” The third LP released by Japanese Breakfast, “Jubilee” is a sickeningly sweet and at times devastating record that Zauner herself says is meant to be joyful.
This is my favorite work of Japanese Breakfast’s as I’m a sucker for an indie-pop record and this is a masterfully-made one. With ten songs that clock in at just over 37 minutes, this Grammy-nominated album is one I’m sure will continue to soundtrack my early 20s.
Although Zauner says the album is meant to be a joyful one, a lot of the lyrics seem like they’re more adjacent to yearning than joy. “Be Sweet,” the album’s most popular song, has lyrics that beg for kindness and attention: “Be sweet to me, baby / I wanna believe in you” and “Make it up once more with feeling / Recognize your mistakes and I’ll let you back in.” “Kokomo, IN” begs the desperate question “These days I can’t shake the awful feeling / I’m missing something I can’t place, is that you?” in verse two. The feeling of longing is littered throughout the album, making even your first listen to it a painfully nostalgic experience.
The production, done by Michelle Zauner and Craig Hendrix (Japanese Breakfast’s drummer), is dreamlike and nostalgic, at times large and sweeping and at times intricate in a smaller and more subtle way.
Upon the album’s release some critics said that the album fell short in the back half, and while I agree that tracks like “Sit” and “In Hell” aren’t the strongest, the album is tied together fantastically with one of my favorite songs of all time, “Posing For Cars.” It is the album’s final track and is nearly seven minutes long (the back half of which is 3 minutes of the most beautiful guitar solo you can imagine) and is just absolutely devastating in a way that could bring anyone to their knees.
So while I don’t agree with Zauner that “Jubilee” elicits much joy, it does feel summer-y: wide open, nostalgic, filled with the highest highs and lowest lows.
