Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps, Cinnamon Sugar

 

(Snack Factory, 2019-present) So these are already merely pretzel-shaped, but not actually pretzels, because they are crispy chips instead, which is awesome if you can still convince me of their pretzelness. But if you then replace the salt with sugar I am out! I hate to be a Pretzel Truther in these days when conservatism has the worst name it's ever had, but this just ain't a pretzel, and pretzels taste better than this! Oh, I ate it all. But under protest. 

Sunn Trio "Electric Esoterica"

 

(Twenty One Eighty Two Recording Company, 2019) Interstellar psychedelic Middle Eastern jazz, as a rule, should feel like a time-defying mystical incantation calling forth spirits of beautiful, blissful chaos. By that standard, this is a success. Not sure what other standards one might appl, but if they involve a a  snugly fit obi, a cover designed to be a sacred black and gold object, and tasteful oud (or as i call them, the three "O"s), this also checks those boxes. 

Every Night is Saturday Night by Wanda Jackson with Scott B. Bomar

 

(BMG, 2017) Roctober and Chic-A-Go-Go got to meet and speak with Wanda a number of times and she is a delight and a good storyteller, but I had no grand hopes for this book, expecting possibly the co-writer taking over and leaving Wanda voiceless, or thinking her religious views (she went Gospel for a long stretch before the rockabilly revival beckoned her back with open pompadours) might make for sanitized revisionism. But none of that happened. This is a gifted woman with a long, twisting career that was always close enough to the big time to keep it interesting and far enough to keep her story kinda unknown and tenacious enough that she kept working and doing fascinating things over and over and over, making for a compelling read. Her drive to become a working musician as a very young girl; her vision to become a rock n roll pioneer (with a pretty good understanding of the carnal qualities of driving, growling music, even if she does not put it in those exact words); her parallel careers in mainstream Country and rockabilly; her meticulous fashion sense; her pivots to sacred music, Japanese cult stardom, and Jack White; and her honest breakdowns of the economics of rock n roll make this one of the most enjoyable rock reads. Wanda Jackson is one of the best we have ever had and I am so glad she got around to sharing her story.

Behaving Madly by Ger Apeldoorn and Craig Yoe

(Yoe, 2017) Readers of reprints of the early Kurtzman MAD comic books may recall that they frequently made fun of their seemingly hundreds of imitators (they even published one of their own, Panic). When the comic transitioned to a hyper-successful magazine in 1954 the imitations did not stop, they just did not thrive.  In the 70s and 80s there were always low rent MAD knockoffs, including three long running magazines, Cracked, which had a couple of veteran brilliant comics artists elevating the mostly unfunny comics, Sick, which after a brief heyday before my time had weirdly dismal art, and Marvel's Crazy which was weirdly bad before a brief last gasp of semi-relevance when they got a little raunchy and cynical under the leadership of of drunk, dirty clown mascot. But from the launch of MAD as a a mag until the end of the fifties there were a bunch of imitators that lasted one to six issues, and distinguished themselves from their mediocre descendants by more consistently sporting brilliant artwork (or passable artwork by brilliant artists).  Occasionally they seemed to target humor towards actual adults, and sometimes they were even kinda funny!  This wonderful book opens with a brief but thorough rundown of each publication, with impressive research and authoritative critical assessments of Cuckoo, Cockeyed, Zany, From Here to Insanity, and the rest. The remainder of the book is a Best Of, including nutty artwork by Steve Ditko, Basil Wolverton, Jack Kirby (not as fun or funny as his earlier goofy animal comics), Jack Davis, Al Jaffee, Bill Elder, Joe Kubert, and the magnificent John Severin (who would later elevate Cracked out of the crapper for the next seemingly hundred years). There are monsters, movie parodies, some space race ridiculousness, some Elvis goofing, and a lot of swings for the other King. It seems that MAD did a pretty dry article attacking these knockoffs, and (as seen in a special section of this book) the knockoffs answered the article's criticisms very specifically  by skewering MAD with a lot more vitriol than these editors held for Soviets or manipulative advertisers or Frankensteins. Don't get mad...get this book!

Crazy Nail "Flaming Fire"

 (NoSides, ?) Tired: Buzz bands. Wired: Bands that just make buzzing noises!

Button Power by Christen Carter and Ted Hake

 (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021) Who knew that development of a kind of celluloid that could protect a piece a printed paper that could be attached a pin and stick into your clothes did not happen until l896, marking the birth of the pinback buttons that have aorned many a campaigner, punk rocker, Union Man, and Beatles fan? Well, a cadre of collectors knew it, and luckily for lovers of art and culture they saved enough of these beauties to create an art book for the ages. Specifically, two buttoned-down minds made this happen. Veteran button collector/historian Ted Haake (who appears on a few buttons himself in the book) and the Button Gal herself, Christen Carter (who sneaks in a badge of her amazing band Budget Girls --- if you see a copy of their 1997 LP within my under-$35 budget let me know!) curated the button selections and crafted the text in this book, all of which is delightful. While we learn some details about the company that brought pinback buttons to life and the visionary who made them a potent force of hippy protest (and fashion), mostly, in nimble paragraphs, we learn the stories behind dozens of specific buttons...with briskly written summaries of the politics, historical figures, company histories, social movements, big games, crimes, conventions, labor movements, disasters, popular cultural characters, and snake handling circus folk deemed button worthy. And the photographs of the buttons, capturing the rich printing, the poetic corrosion, and the magnificent artwork and design deserves its own button! It would be easy to list how many amazing pins made the cut (Klaus Nomi, Rube Goldberg, Bart Simpson, Major Taylor, Shirley Chisolm, pre-MAD Alfred, mammoth corn cobs, both MJs, Satan, Alvin, Simon, Theodore...) but instead this bizarrely affordable book should just be purchased by everyone so they can them all see for themselves. And with that plug I'll put a pin in it.

The Chicago Boogie Volume 2: This Love Will Last

(Star Creature, 2021) The great record collector Bob Abrahamian used to have the best rare soul radio show, and whenever we would listen my historic wife would point out how you could always tell what was just a little bit off and inferior about these indie also-rans as opposed to the actual dusty hits Herb Kent spun on Sundays. 60s and 70s R&B is one of the rare eras in pop cultural history when the most talented artistts and tastemakers with actual taste seemed to be calling the shots. There was definitely a path, sometimes a quick one, from the bottom to the top for talented musicians and producers, and while many geniuses did not make it as high as they should have, and many independent records showcased thrilling skills, it did not take a sophisticated ear to tell the big winners from the not-so-muchs. One of the best things about the hip hop era was that line becoming erased. Not only did young bedroom producers have their ear to important trends, they also could make something as polished as anyone in a zillion dollar studio. I recall reading about how Manny Fresh and his cohort were prolific in part because they would get standard production money from their major label partner and have to use so little of it to create an album length product (I also recall an underground musician railing against the "unplugged" movement as an attempt to get old school studio pros back in the game). But bridging traditional R&B and hip hop there was the synth-heavy era that collectors call "Boogie," which saw the Whispers and D. Train and Alexander O'Neal (who I once saw live in a tiny club with his band playing racks of over 40 keyboards, like a metal band with fake Marshall stacks) could record electronic instruments direct line, no thousand dollar mics needed. There was still a line drawn between private press/indie releases and major label stuff, but it was getting thinner. The only actual thing disappointing about volume 2 of this series curated and somewhat remixed by the Boogie Munsters behind this label is that they did not call it Attack of The Chicago Boogie Volume 2 (obviously I get my paycheck from Roctober, so I wish they told us more about the artists and original releases, but the beautiful artwork and grooving music let's me forgive that).  Special Touch deliver a slinky party groover that is fully functional. Duke Turner is the highlight of the EP, alternating between a Bootsy funk man voice and a falsetto as he does his best to wife a lucky (?) lady.  On Stage is a nice dose of futuristic funkery with the bass poppin' like Orville Redenbacher is slapping the strings. Kareem Rashad brings it home with the most delightfully dated track, a perfect boogie-era dance track called "Dance" about dancing, with my favorite vocal on the collection. There are a couple of moments here and there on this collection where these vocalists might hit a note that would not have made it onto Motown, but for the most parts Chicago innovation and talent elevate these pieces of private press to treasured tune status. 

White Stripes "aside from that and beside this: Thew White Stripes Greatest Hits"

 

(Third Man, 2020) I am not sure exactly what to say about this one. Amanda Petrusich at the New Yorker (who earned my loyalty with her great book on 78 collectors) responded to this LP with a treatise on Greatest Hits collections in general, and that's just about right, because this is a functional Greatest Hits. Because they were legit playing the shitty clubs and releasing 45s on the same labels as the other underground garage bands in their first years, and because they didn't change or compromise when they became Major Label sorta-superstars, it takes me a minute to remember they had actual real life hits, which all sound really good packaged together. Jack White's songwriting, and their good taste in cover songs, and the band's stripped down energy and good drumming, and the fact that they were the only group since to fifties to remember the value of a two-minute pop song, made their hits actual good songs they did not age poorly and are fun to listen to (individually or together). My broke ass has stupidly been unable to bring myself to quit the Third Man record club, which I cannot afford, but for my bad financial decision making this quarter I was rewarded with the deluxe edition which has a third LP of B-sides, a remix, and Loretta Lynn and Tegan and Sara covers, plus special artwork and a toy, and art prints. I don't necessarily like the design on this more than the photo-centric standard album artwork, but the production of this is bizarre and exquisite (there is printing on the inside of gatefold sleeves, and the one that holds two LPs is wider than the one that holds one, and the red striped white vinyl is  stupid beautiful) so I hope Congress is glad to know my stimulus check was well spent.

Popeye's Island Adventures

 (King Features, 2018) What the hell...?

Pauly Shore Is Dead (directed by Pauly Shore)

 

(LandingPatch Productions, 2003) This movie is so painfully unfunny that it makes me like Pauly Shore more, out of sympathy. To grow up surrounded by comedians and have humor be a cryptic foreign language is a tough cross to bear. In this movie Pauly fakes his death to help his career, and along the way coerces scores of his pals to do cameos (including one dead one, via an impressionist). Runner Up for winning the movie is Adam Sandler who makes Stiller and Sheen and Durst and Mini Me look like chumps for feeling obligated to film their scenes, as Adam only appears as a disembodied voice (Pauly writes a scene where a prison janitor mistakes Pauly for Sandler, which seems like a stretch --- Rob Schneider I woulda believed). In addition to fantasizing that he is Sandler-esque, Shore also imagines that Black people really like him, as it opens with Ja Rule being the only one on earth that digs his TV show, and later features a painful scene of him winning over a Black prison yard clique with repetitions of the N-word. The top performer in the movie is Todd Bridges who decides to play his role as a Koran-reading prison veteran straight and earns his dignity, his props for good acting, and a Redd Foxx doll. Actually, the Redd Foxx doll was the MVP.