Week of 7/28: The 1975, The Hold Steady, Slipknot,
Eric's icy heart warms up to a song they hated, Miranda highlights a Hold Steady deep cut, Eli memorializes Slipknot's Joey Jordison, and Michael gets hyped on a new Boldy James/Alchemist joint.
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him), Eric Bennett (they/them), Michael Brooks (he/him) and Miranda Reinert (she/her). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. On Substack, we’re also a weekly roundup of songs. Our format is simple: each of our four hosts picks a song they love and writes about it. There will be one free post every week, and more at the end of every month for paid subscribers. For the sake of your wallet, don’t start a paid subscription on Substack. Instead, sign up at the 2$ tier or higher on Patreon and we will gift you a subscription.
The 1975 - “Love It If We Made It”
Eric Bennett:
I need to begin this with some context for those of you who don’t already have an intimate knowledge of my tastes. I hate The 1975. I thoroughly, unequivocally hate them. I think Matty Healy is a pompous, self-involved pseudo-intellectual who offers little more than his family money and nice swoopy hair. Before the pandemic, I almost bought tickets to see Phoebe Bridgers open for them, and had planned to leave after her set before they went on.
Now that we have that out of the way, we can get on to the crux of our story today. A few weeks ago, my roommate and I were bored and watching music videos, alternating control of the Roku remote. On one of my turns, I played the video for ”Bad Friend” by Dirty Hit Records signee, and eternal favorite of mine, Rina Sawayama. My roommate saw the video for The 1975’s “Love It If We Made It” in the suggested next videos, and pressed play. I remember when the song came out, and the storm surge of praise that followed A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships in the latter half of 2018. I listened to it, and well, you read the first paragraph. I found “Made It” to be catchy but ultimately unimpressive.
This time, though, something changed. I suppose this just happens as one’s musical taste evolves and time passes; I find my cold heart softening on things all the time. This time, I really got this song. Sure, Healy is a quarter of an inch deep, but here he is planting down as many flags as he can in those shallow depths. The vast range of topics might have once felt like it didn’t amount too much, but now it was a collage. I think there are moments that his throaty shout of a vocal performance works perfectly. I’m drawn to how he says “poison me daddy” and how it sounds like he’s building up the force to shout a line our former president delivered without care, “I moved on her like a bitch.”
I will not give much credit to Healy’s political valence, but I have to say that it’s impossible to disagree that “modernity has failed us.” I am fascinated by my sudden appreciation for this song. “Love It If We Made It” is among the group’s most popular, and structured less like a rock song and more like a pop song, though it’s big enough to fill a stadium either way. I knew it was catchy even at first pass, but my defenses have worn down for it. I feel comfortable saying that I like this song, maybe even love it at the right moment. I don’t have any plans to delve further into the group though, I’m content to let this be the musical equivalent of “Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point.”
The Hold Steady - “Separate Vacations”
Miranda Reinert:
“Separate Vacations” is a song off the so called Super Deluxe version of Heaven Is Whenever that was released for the 10 year anniversary of the album. A lot of the first Hold Steady songs I ever liked are on that album, but it definitely sounds like an in between point for them. There aren’t any of the keys that define Boys and Girls in America and the songs feel more weary and it doesn’t always work. “Separate Vacations,” however, feels like a more settled version of The Hold Steady, closer to what the band would become on (very good) albums like Thrashing Thru the Passion and Open Door Policy.
I’m so drawn to this song maybe half because it falls into a very narrow genre of songs about watching someone know they’re settling in a marriage. The other song in this microgenre of topic is, of course, “Cath…” by Death Cab For Cutie. But it’s also one of the more catchy Hold Steady songs. It’s got maybe the best chorus of any of their songs and evokes a perfect, quieter version of feeling like you’re drowning in your own life— or watching people around you drown in theirs— that I find compelling about a lot of The Hold Steady’s music.
The Hold Steady fandom website (which is a thing that exists) says it remains unknown why the band did not include this song on Heaven Is Whenever and I have to say it just doesn’t make sense.
Slipknot - “Eeyore”
Eli Enis:
I’m writing this a half hour before I clock into my job as a metal journalist, in which I know that I’ll be spending all day writing and thinking about Joey Jordison, the co-founder and, at the time of his death, former drummer of Slipknot. As you probably know even if you only have a cursory interest in metal, Jordison died yesterday at the way-too-young age of 46. Other than DMX earlier this year, which was preceded by an excruciating week-and-a-half of misinformed death notices, it was the first time a major artist had suddenly died while I was on the clock as a news writer, and I had to scramble to write up a quick obit while I tried to process my own thoughts on the whole situation.
I’m not going to pretend like I was ever the biggest Slipknot fan, but I loved them as much as any other millennial metalhead does in 9th and 10th grade, and as I aged out, disowned, semi-ironically returned to, and now unabashedly re-embraced the metal music that made me as a young teen — much of which is, or at least was, considered corny or lame among the bottom-feeding “elites” of metal fandom — I’ve had an absolute ball getting back into Slipknot. I genuinely think they’re one of the greatest metal bands of all time, and I think Jordison’s drumming on those first four records — specifically the early ones, but All Hope is Gone fucking cranks, too — is unparalleled.
What’s so amazing about Jordison’s presence in Slipknot is that it’s actually extremely easy to identify him on a given song. The band has two other percussionists, two more doing an array of keyboard/turntable maneuvers, two menacing guitarists and, at his best, one of the most charismatic, menacing, ferocious and downright terrifying vocalists in the genre’s history. Despite all of that ruckus going on around him, Jordison was always the engine of the band and you could fucking hear his industrial-strength power at any given moment.
He may not have been the first to bring blast beats and death metal savagery into nu-metal (see: Sepultura’s Roots in 1996 and John Dolmayan’s drumming on System of a Down’s 1998 debut, which both preceded Slipknot), but Jordison quickly became the leader of the pack. His thunderous double-bass kicks, dizzying fills and instinctual grip on when to hold back and simply ride the groove are a significant source of Slipknot’s early heaviness. He had the musician’s coveted snake eyes of style and form, and “Eeyore,” a bonus track from Slipknot that’s one of the most crushing songs in the band’s playbook, is a perfect example of his mastery.
One last thing. I’m already starting to see people subtweeting the snobs who’re using this opportunity to let out another scoff at Slipknot, a band who were utterly “uncool” in pretty much every underground metal circle until a few years back when millennials finally got their turn at the helm of the nostalgia wagon. I say this as someone who’s never fit snugly into any one musical subcultural (metal, punk, indie-rock, etc.), but I don’t think you’re a true metalhead if you don’t at least respect Slipknot. And honestly, if you don’t fuck with at least the first two records, then I’m wary of your investment in heavy music at all. This is beastly, angry, vengeful, callous, dejected, damaged and yet resoundingly triumphant fucking music, and Jordison somehow translated all of those emotions from behind the kit. Rest in fucking Power Joey Jordison.
Boldy James and The Alchemist - “First 48 Freestyle”
Michael Angelo Brooks:
Last February, Boldy James and The Alchemist teamed up to release The Price Of Tea In China, kicking off an unforgettable run from Boldy who dropped four projects last year. The only other person in rap who seemed to have as much on his plate as Boldy was The Alchemist, who went on to produce new projects by Conway the Machine and Freddie Gibbs, and of course the most recent Armand Hammer record which dropped back in March. The Price Of Tea In China was my favorite album of 2020, and to be perfectly honest with you, I wasn’t expecting to hear new music from the pair anytime soon. So I was pleasantly surprised when they announced their new album Bo Jackson, which drops next month, and I’m really digging “First 48 Freestyle,” our first taste of the new record.
The older I get, the more I realize how hard it can be to maintain relationships with your friends as you enter adulthood. I’ve got a lot less going on than either Boldy or The Alchemist and I still struggle to text back my friends within a week of receiving their message. Thankfully, these guys have it figured out though, because whenever they combine forces something really special happens. The Alchemist can conjure up any mood you want at the drop of a hat and his work on “First 48 Freestyle” picks up right where the pair left off last February—it’s dark and moody with plenty of space left for Boldy to rap. And that’s exactly what Boldy does here, his bars so intricate and full of details that it’s impossible to look away whenever he steps up to the booth. I’m very excited to hear the rest of this record whenever it drops, August can’t come soon enough.