Not Sure What To Say; Plus a Trek Debate, Sucky Corporate Rock, and a Commitment to Two Spaces
The entirety of this newsletter was written prior to the school shooting in Uvalde, TX. I honestly don’t know what to say or think about the tragedy or the fact that these things keep happening in our country.
Old vs. New: The Trek Debate
I recently watched an exchange between film critics John Campea and Robert Meyer Burnett over the first episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that, to me, really captured the essence of the old vs. new Trek debate.
Campea is a casual Star Trek fan while Burnett is a lifelong Trekkie (or does he call himself a Trekker?) and the difference in their interpretations of Strange New Worlds cuts right to the heart of things.
I first got into Trek as a child when the Original Series was on in syndication. My Mom was also a big fan. I saw five of the six original films in the theaters (Wrath of Khan through Undiscovered Country) and watched the premiere of The Next Generation the night it first aired. Eventually, I did fall off of Trek but during lockdown, I watched the first season of Star Trek: Picard and fall back in love all over again. Right after that, I rewatched TNG and for the first time took in Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and Discovery. And you know what? I loved all of it.
Recently, I started following some Trek-related podcasts and YouTube channels and witnessed first-hand the divide. Sometimes that divide is super toxic and other times it is cordial and friendly, like the Campea/Burnett exchange. A lot of the divide is political but sometimes I wonder if those railing against new Trek for being too “woke” realize just how rebellious and liberal old Trek truly was. I don’t know. Something to think about though.
That said, like what you want to like and don’t like what you don’t want to like, just don’t be an asshole to those who hold differing opinions.
Not Gonna Do It
I saw this on a friend’s Facebook page.
My Response: Nope. Screw that. I am a two-spaces guy…
Pick of the Week: Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records by Jim Ruland
From Goodreads —
A no-holds-barred narrative history of the iconic label that brought the world Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, and more, by the co-author of Do What You Want and My Damage
Greg Ginn started SST Records in the sleepy beach town of Hermosa Beach, CA, to supply ham radio enthusiasts with tuners and transmitters. But when Ginn wanted to launch his band, Black Flag, no one was willing to take them on. Determined to bring his music to the masses, Ginn turned SST into a record label. On the back of Black Flag’s relentless touring, guerilla marketing, and refusal to back down, SST became the sound of the underground.
In Corporate Rock Sucks, music journalist Jim Ruland relays the unvarnished story of SST Records, from its remarkable rise in notoriety to its infamous downfall. With records by Black Flag, Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Screaming Trees, Soundgarden, and scores of obscure yet influential bands, SST was the most popular indie label by the mid-80s--until a tsunami of legal jeopardy, financial peril, and dysfunctional management brought the empire tumbling down. Throughout this investigative deep-dive, Ruland leads readers through SST’s tumultuous history and epic catalog.
Featuring never-before-seen interviews with the label's former employees, as well as musicians, managers, producers, photographers, video directors, and label heads, Corporate Rock Sucks presents a definitive narrative history of the ’80s punk and alternative rock scenes, and shows how the music industry was changed forever.
This book RULES! It is brutally honest and thoroughly detailed in plotting the wild course of one of the most important independent record labels in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.
One Band, 5 Songs
Jenny Lewis is a singer-songwriter, musician, and actor who musically came to prominence as part of the Los Angeles indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Originally from Las Vegas, NV, Lewis was a child actor in the 1980s, eventually appearing in the teen (tween?) films Troop Beverly Hills and The Wizard in 1989. Her first solo album Rabbit Fur Coat, a collaboration with The Watson Twins, was released in 2006. Since then, she has released three additional solo albums, two side-project albums (I'm Having Fun Now by Jenny & Johnny, and the Nice As Fuck self-titled debut), a handful of collaborative non-album singles, and appeared on multiple soundtracks. Her solo material generally falls within the indie rock, Americana, and indie folk genres, but even those signifiers do not do justice to her body of work.
Look…Our Shit is Fucked
So please, be safe, be kind and