Flotsam and Jetsam: January 24, 2026
Here we are again, deep in the doldrums of winter. But January bleakness doesn't get me down. I braved the great Chicago Polar Vortex of 2014, I'll have you know; I have strategies. The key to bucking seasonal depression, at least for me, is to just leave the house anyway. See that movie, go to the bar. Watch a playoff football game and get surprisingly invested. Watch another you don't care about to chase the high.
Unfortunately the Big Man Upstairs must have sensed that I was handling the darkness and cold too well because he struck me down with a mysterious ailment. Now I'm "going doxycycline mode" as the kids would say. I'm sipping non-alcoholic Kolsch and texting the groupchat things like, "do you think I could microdose psilocybin while on antibiotics?"* I'm surfing the web for the latest and greatest non-streaming tunes. I'm typing from my couch to share them with you.
*Consensus was, overwhelmingly, yes. This is not professional medical advice. None of my friends are doctors. Literally not one.
will schwester - soft drinks of choice
Will Schwester is the mastermind behind the cult-emo band Plague Skater, a New Jersey-based project that threads the needle between lo-fi charm and perma-clipped intensity. If you're seeking solely things of that nature, I'd direct you to the awesome cover of "Boys Don't Cry" by The Cure and suggest you maybe leave it at that. soft drinks of choice is a grab-bag of whatever Schwester has cooked up and deemed worth sharing over the years, and it admittedly doesn't all work. I find the Family Guy-sampling "'brian, look out!' type beat" actively unlistenable and the 27-minute "scumbag theories" starts spinning its wheels by the halfway mark (though I appreciate "a ludicrous amount of alcohol" being formally credited as a co-writer).
But for the most part, soft drinks is a portrait of a relentlessly creative artist who is able to traffic in myriad different genres under a reasonably unified sonic palette. The prog-emo of "bile futures are tanking," the relatively faithful "eccojam," the four-on-the-floor thump of "flood," the shimmery, looping "vivian"; such disparate extremes should not come remotely close to cohering. But with Schwester's numerous talents and scrappy approach, this otherwise unwieldy data dump becomes remarkably congruous.
U.e. - Other Girl
A companion album to last year's Hometown Girl that the artist often known as ulla neglected to upload to DSPs. Other Girl retains the otherworldly homespun quality of its predecessor but is comprised more of songs in the traditional sense, with lyrics, choruses, and repeated motifs. It's very cool to see her continue to find new crevices her in sound to burrow into and refine into little worlds.
Shane Parish - Shane Parish Plays Chet Baker Sings
First off, I want to note that Chet Baker Sings is a certified classic around these parts; I've loved it since I was a teenager. And since I first encountered Parish via his work in Bill Orcutt's guitar quartet, I assumed that this reinterpretation would be an Orcutt-esque violent deconstruction of a cherished favorite. Instead Parish approaches the material faithfully, using the original album as a framework for eight very pleasant guitar duets. I gave it a spin the other night walking around lower Manhattan in the freezing cold on my way to the movies, it was lovely.
Little Whirls - Rearrange the Comfort Zones
As you can maybe tell from the name, Little Whirls worship at the altar of Robert Pollard. I'm generally down to listen to any semi-competent GBV ripoff act, but Little Whirls transcend rote imitation in two particular ways. First is the uncanny valley lyricism that comes from songwriters working in their non-native language (e.g. "Write Us for a Statue"). Second, Comfort Zones is shot through with a healthy dose of Orchid Tapes-style melodic sensibility which adds a unique character to the stew (e.g. "How to Avoid Target Panic"). For these reasons and more, I'd suggest giving Little Whirls a big whirl.
Some brief thoughts on the paywalling of Pitchfork:
Haha, just kidding. Could you imagine.
Recommendation Corner:
READ:
Frank Deford "The Ring Leader" - I'm enjoying the clips from Bill Simmons's recent podcast output as much as the next guy, but I saw a tweet about how sports writing was "bad" pre-Simmons which reminded me of a time in college when my friend Ford told me about Frank Deford and how amazing sports writing actually used to be. I obviously loathe Boston sports but this piece is beautiful
WATCH:
Two Night Stand (dir. Max Nichols 2014) - I've been referring to the inclement NYC storm as "Two Night Stand weather" much to everyone's chagrin. I had a running bit back in 2018 where I would suggest this every time my friends wanted to watch a movie. They always said no so eventually I watched it alone. It's not very good
