Smallhouse Log

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
"If grave-robbing is a crime, then yes I am guilty, but only of disagreeing with a society that hates tap-dancing reanimated monsters!" -Penguin, 08/20/2008

So I made another pie today. I mean, I made the same pie again, but everytime I do it seems a little bit better. It was well-received. In fact, I now have place to live for September and an in on a possible job that doesn't involve selling out. Don't you like not selling out? Working for money is for fools. Fools and liberals.

Maybe it's the familiar jokes, maybe it's the pixellated blush effect, (maybe it's the fact that I just watched Wall-E and everything seems cute right now,) but I find this strip adorable. Maybe I should get a[nother] black T-shirt and hit on girls with dreads.

To continue on to yet another unrelated thing, I finally got my grubby little pseudopods on the retail version of Stay Positive, and I've been listening to the bonus tracks. I gotta say, "Slapped Actress" was a strong way to end the album, and these three songs would be far better off in the middle. After looking forward so hard to "Ask Her for some Adderall", it was kind of... disappointing. It lacks the energy of the live version, and without it, the instrumentation seems a lot more repetitive, even boring. There's also a couple weird bridges that weren't there before? It's still a rockin' song though, and if I'm not perfectly satisfied with it, then I'm at least happy to have it around. Of the other two tracks, the second I found lacklustre in the same slow, dreamy way as a couple of the other songs dragging this album down. But the final bonus track, "Two Handed Handshake", surprised me. After one listen, I thought, "I like this." After two, it was bumped up to constant rotation on iTunes. After three, it was five stars and I was hooked. A cautionary song about the modern modes of life, it makes me feel a little guilty everytime I hear it. Totally just what I need, right. But it speaks to me. Sings to me. Whatever. So.

Despite my initial soggy review of the album, it did grow on me, a lot, even the sad slow boring songs. It's not the album to buy if you want to learn to love the Hold Steady (that's still Separation Sunday), but it's probably about as good as Boys and Girls in America overall, if you get the retail version with the bonus tracks.

When did I start reviewing albums? I gotta keep things like this in check.

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