Catch Fire edition | Friday and whatnot #54

A recent browsing of the Asian Man Records web store had me thinking about Alkaline Trio’s Maybe I’ll Catch Fire album again. It was one of those cds that lingered in the car for days on repeat. The album flips the ender “Radio” into the record’s, and today’s, first track.

Alkaline Trio “Keep ‘Em Coming”

If the cd reference didn’t tip you off, hold on for this obvious indicator of my oldness. I once had the lyrics to the first verse of this song set as my Away Message on AIM. Standard. My mom went to use the computer when I was gone and saw the message up on the screen.

14 hours ahead – a head that’s heavier than lead
And I’ve got toothpicks in my eyes
A smile more yellow than the sky
I’ve got a song stuck in my head
One that I miss more than my bed
It’s a song sung from a fallen milkman
Who’s drinking bleach instead
I’m much like him
Alkaline Trio

My mom wasn’t prepared for her son to be out drinking bleach. She was getting worried, as I don’t think she caught the reference to The Dead Milkmen track “Bleach boys” in there. Well, another great thing about the ancient customs of AIM, your personal profile showed up right under the away message. So of course, I’d posted the rest of the song’s lyrics there. They included the following:

I’m now huffing gas and sniffing paint,
To take away this buzz that I call you
Well crafted Skiba lyrics, not a confession of my vices

We “needed to have a talk” after school special style when I got home. It was about my apparent bleach drinking, gas huffing, and glue sniffing. She didn’t take kindly to how hard I was laughing. My brother and I would always crack up at her serious mom voice, which she couldn’t stand. Very similar vibes to that. She was apprehensive about it, but gradually adjusted to the absurdity of the whole thing.

Rainer Maria “Thought I Was”

Judgmental teenaged me grabbed this album off of i2hub and immediately labeled it “too emo”. I wish I would have channeled that self-doubt, cognitive dissonance, and anxiety in more positive ways. But, they always say, if you look back and cringe that means you’ve grown. Grown me digs exactly as emo as this song is. I’m a better version of me (like the album title).

Fun Fact: The band is named after Rainer Maria Rilke, an Austria poet and novelist know for his lyrically intense work.

BAD OPERATION “BAD OPERATION”

You have to be a certain amount of badass to be able to pull off naming your band, album, and song the same thing. That’s right, this track “BAD OPERATION”, by the band BAD OPERATION, appears on the album BAD OPERATION.

Well, this New Orleans new tone band is that badass. Their black and white aesthetic bleeds through in the videos, stills, cover art, merch, and the line up of the band. Their lyrics are heavy with honesty and social commentary. Further proving the “extra mozzarella stick music” and silliness of ska don’t define the genre.