#39. Several Songs and You

Something slightly different, but mostly the same!

Hi everyone,

First of all, thanks so much to everyone who helped SELL OUT the DC Improv last night for a heck of a show (and for raising $596 for the Entertainment Community Fund through poster acquisition). The show was sold out a day in advance, which was very exciting for me. It was also soothing, because I didn’t have to promote it over and over up until showtime. More of my shows should sell out in advance, imo, if only for my peace of mind. Your move, Nashville and Charlotte (this Tuesday and Wednesday respectively). I’d planned to slow down with touring a little bit once my September dates pass, but with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA still on strike, I’ll probably add a few more cities into the fall! Is there a place you’d like me to tell jokes? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll try to make it there!

Last Monday was my twelve-year anniversary of living in New York City, and the past year or two I’ve finally allowed myself to feel a little New Yorky. New York takes in so many transplants but is constantly questioning their/our authenticity, and it’s only recently that I’ve gotten bold enough to claim a NYC sports team (the Liberty, who got a huge win yesterday) and get a little bit of New York-centric art for my office (assuming I ever work in an office again?). I still feel extremely “from Massachusetts” but I now feel like I’ve got two hometowns in a way I didn’t know that I ever would. I don’t feel like I’ve lost my connection to where I’m from, but I definitely have roots where I am too, and that’s nice in a way I hadn’t expected.

Here’s what else is up this week: I’m going to do a pep talk for a reader, as usual, but instead of a newsy or culture-y pep talk + a pick-me-up song, I’m going to talk about a whole bunch of new music that came out last week. There are a few reasons for that:

1. Several of my favorite bands/artists put out new singles or released full albums on Friday, and I want to share all of them instead of picking just one. And, since it’s my newsletter, I can do that! Being a petty tyrant is fun sometimes. I can see why so many politicians and vice principals are into it.

2. Because of the aforementioned strike (prolonged by the studios’ refusal to negotiate in good faith with writers and actors), I’m not supposed to talk publicly about movies and tv shows I’ve been watching, which is difficult! All I ever want to do is make cool stuff and talk about other people’s cool stuff! Lately I’ve seen a couple of movies that I’ve enjoyed a ton, gotten extremely psyched about many of my favorite shows returning to tv, and seen a whole bunch of comedy specials I’ve wanted to recommend. (Not to mention trailers for movies that some of my favorite writers/performers have been involved with!!!) I don’t have any quibble with the strike rules. It wouldn’t make sense to promote work done by/for the studios during a labor stoppage. But, in the immortal words of Jim Gaffigan: “I wanna talk about it now!” (And, if you know me in person, I’m always eager to chat one-on-one about these things!!! I think that’s okay?) I wrote one newsletter that (sort of) found a loophole in the rules, but it didn’t seem like that premise had the legs for a second iteration. There’s no rule against talking about music, though! So I’m GONNA.

3. All of these artists are people I’ve worked with/performed with at least a little bit in the past! I hope I don’t seem too name-droppy, but one of the greatest joys of working in a creative field is getting to meet and collaborate with so many artists whose work means a lot to me. So I’m going to use my little platform to make a little fuss about the people and things I like and admire!!!! Thank you for indulging me this slight one-week digression from the norm, readers!!!

SOME NEW MUSIC YOU MIGHT LIKE

Speedy Ortiz rules. They just started a big tour and have a new album coming out on 9/1. Their music rocks really hard in a way that doesn’t quite sound like anyone else. And, if you watch this video (directed by Alex Ross Perry!!!), you might notice me in it for a few moments. (I riffed MANY alternative rock/nü-metal puns that did not make the cut, my favorite being “Synodogue, the Orthodox Jewish Temple of the Dog cover band.”) The best thing I can possibly say about a song is true of “Ghostwriter,” which is that I heard it like 25 times in a row during the video shoot, and I still want to listen to it! It was so much fun to dress up in my best approximation of early aughts cosplay with a bunch of friends and jump around (although my neck was very sore for two days after, which now happens to people who were alive for the early aughts). Thanks so much to Sadie, Andy, Audrey, and Joey of Speedy Ortiz for including me in this video!!!

Also, the great Ted Leo released a Digital 7” on Bandcamp that is really really great. (You can find Ted in the “Ghostwriter” video looking alternately like himself and fully Slipknot-ified, in a face-covering hood that I cannot believe he kept on for the length of the shoot.) Ted has some upcoming tour dates, most of which are sold out. Boston you’ve still got a chance to grab tickets though!!! I think I last saw Ted play live when I was in school at Brandeis where he performed a solo set at Chum’s. Chum’s was a coffee shop in the campus’s weird-ass castle that was also a dorm, and people who are slightly full of shit liked to claim that the Friends creators based Central Perk on it. I feel like people call his music “spiky” a lot, but to me it’s got a real satisfying crunch and a ton of melody too. It’s also super personal and political and full of great lyrics and big thoughts!!! Ted’s voice is really strong and distinctive, and his solo music (as well as his work with The Pharmacists and his collaborative album with Aimee Mann) are all immediately recognizable in a great way! Listen to Ted Leo, people! (Many of you probably already do!)

Look at how happy I was to be in a video with Sadie and Ted! I should really learn a cooler picture smile! (Photo credit: Emilio Herce)

Chris Farren is just terrific! I used his song “Human Being” as the opening and closing music for my c*medy sp*cial which I will not link to on account of strike rules. Chris writes some of the catchiest songs in the world that are also packed to the gills with Heavy Feelings. He is also legitimately one of the funniest musicians working. It’s frankly unfair that when the Oreo of life twisted apart, Chris got the half with all the talent creme. His new album Doom Singer is probably his best one yet. I am going to miss his upcoming New York City show because I’ll be out of town, and I’m already feeling FOMO a month in advance.

I used Annie Hart’s video for “What Makes Me Me” as a pick-me-up song of the week in a recent newsletter, but guess what??? She’s got a NEW video out that is so weird and funny and charming that it’s ALSO going in the darn newsletter. Her brand new record The Weight of a Wave spans the spectrum of feelings from Wide-Eyed Optimism to Wincing Melancholy. The musicality is somehow both spare and plush, like one luxurious couch in the middle of the forest.

I have been a fan of Annie’s since seeing her at MaxFunCon East in 2017, and when I heard she was doing an in-store performance and signing at the new Rough Trade Records store in Rockefeller Center (why?) I scooped up a ticket immediately. The songs all sounded so beautiful live! I can’t really vouch for the quality of the store (other than to say that the employees were nice) because I picked up TWoaW and had already received Chris Farren’s album in the mail that day, so I wasn’t really in a shopping spree state of mind. I’ve also kind of…forgotten how to shop for music in person. I order albums by bands I like online, but my record player is basically a children’s toy, so even if I spot a record I want in the wild, I’ll probably just buy it on iTunes because that’s where I listen to most of my music anyway. (Is it even called iTunes anymore? Or is it Apple Music? As we’ve covered earlier: I’m old!) I cannot be the only person who has this problem. Or maybe I am. Either way, I kind of walked around noticing racks of records and books without really remembering how to engage with them.

Annie posted this picture, so I’m gonna post it too!!! Photo credit: Me, obviously. That’s why my arm is positioned like that.

I am kind of in a rut with finding new rap music lately! (If you have any recommendations, I’m all ears!) Travis Scott’s album is vast and ambitious, but for some reason it feels like listening to a neighbor’s party through a shared wall, like someone else’s fun I’m almost but not quite a part of. That’s my fault, not his!

Fortunately, Open Mic Eagle (whose last album was one of my favorites of 2022) has a new record coming SO soon! This first single features Eshu Tune (aka Hannibal Buress) as well as O.M.E.’s frequent collaborators Video Dave and Still Rift (whose work I also enjoy and recommend)! Mike raps with a multi-verse of flows that drills corkscrews into your brain. “WFLD 32” features a beat that I’d describe as “my exact style” (wicked heavy drums and woozy blaring horns). I am so happy to have new rap music to listen to and more new rap music to look forward to! (Mike is also great live, and you should see him if he comes to your city!!! He and Video Dave sometimes perform a song about going to prom that I love but is not on any records!!! With how much art is consumed online, I am obsessed with little experiences that can’t be replicated or haven’t been recorded, and this song is one of my recent favorites! They also performed a cover of De La Soul’s “Stakes is High” on this year’s JoCo Cruise that I think I wrote about in March, but it was very fleeting and beautiful to get to see.)

PEP TALK FOR A READER

(This writer really nailed it and I didn’t change anything about their request except for appending a nickname to at the end.)

I really could use a pep talk. I have not been to the dentist in a long time. Like, years. I know it is something important but due to some anxieties, I have been too nervous to even make an appointment. What if they yell at me and tell me I'm a bad person for not taking care of this sooner? I'm feeling embarrassed for putting this off for so long. Any encouragement you could provide would be appreciated. 
- Can’t Handle The Tooth

Reader…I see you, I hear you, I am you. I’ve been where you are (and maybe currently am there), and I’m confident that you can get over the anxiety hurdles and make it to the finish line of dentist appointment. This will absolutely be one of those unpleasant tasks that you put off for three years and complete in three minutes. That’s the easy part. You’ll call the dentist, and they’ll for some reason already be booked up for months and offer you an appointment on a Tuesday morning in November and you’ll be like: “Yeah, sure that works. I have no plans for Tuesday mornings in November. Why would I? I’m not a dentist.” This to-do will weigh on you like a murder you’ve gotten away with and will feel impossible until you complete it, and then it will have felt like the simplest thing in the world.

As for the appointment, dentists can be critical of your oral hygiene, sure. But here’s something to remember: Nobody gets to make you feel bad for not knowing how to do their job. This is like when you go through TSA, and the agents are snapping at people to comply with some weird airport-specific instruction. “Put your jacket UNDERNEATH your laptop in the bin!” they may shout, or “Each shoe goes in its own tray!” HOW WOULD I KNOW THAT? IT’S NEVER BEEN THE CASE BEFORE!!! They get to set the rules. That’s fine (well, it’s bombastic security theater, but let’s say for the purposes of this discussion that it’s fine). But what they don’t get to do is make you feel ashamed that you don’t know how to do their job when they’re there all day, and you’re only there for fifteen minutes twice every month or so. They are allowed to be frustrated and even curt. They’re human beings, and they’re at work; we all get like that sometimes. But you don’t have to internalize that frustration. You just have to do the thing they’re saying and move on. Because you don’t work at TSA. (Note: TSA Precheck helps with this too.)

It’s the same with a dentist. They don’t know your life. Maybe you’re addicted to popcorn, did they ever think of that? How dare they try to make you feel ashamed for not being good at performing dentistry in your free time. “Hmmm…looks like you haven’t been flossing.” “You know what? It slipped my mind. With all due respect, why don’t you floss me up, boss? My insurance doesn’t cover this shit, and I want to make sure I get my money’s worth.” (Note: I personally floss once if not twice a day. It is, aside from “remembering to eat vegetables,” possibly my only healthy habit. Also, probably don’t be rude to the dentist, but this is what it would sound like if you sassed them the way they sass you.)

Could you be doing better at keeping your teeth clean and scheduling regular check-ups? Almost certainly. Will belittling you be the way to incentivize those behaviors? Almost certainly not. I don’t know why so many dentists decide to be the Gordon Ramsay of gums, berating their patients. They can’t possibly teach them that in tooth school. You don’t have to feel bad because of what some dentist says about you. He’s not your dad. She’s not your boss. All they know about you is your teeth, and your teeth don’t define you. Although you really should floss and spend a little more time brushing the backs of your molars. BUT THERE’S A NICE WAY TO GET THAT ACROSS, DENTISTS. And maybe your dentist will be nice! Either way, you will be fine no matter how many snide comments they make whether it’s zero or one for every tooth in your head.

Also, I should probably make a dentist appointment too.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

I’m in the middle of the second leg of my 1900s Kid Tour, and the first few dates are listed here! The rest of them so far are of course on my website!

8/8 - Zanies in Nashville

8/9 - Comedy Zone Charlotte

8/31 - Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me in Ann Arbor (sold out!!!)

9/8-9/9 - House of Comedy Detroit

9/29-9/30 - Laugh Camp St. Paul (several shows!!!)