NEW MUSIC: Mitski, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Let’s Eat Grandma

This week in New Music: Compelling indie heartache from Mitski, a mostly successful change in direction for Red Hot Chili Peppers and a beguiling debut from English horror story teens Let’s Eat Grandma.

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Mitski – Puberty 2

Who, you ask?

While not quite in the stellar circles of PJ Harvey and St Vincent, New York-based Mitski (above and right) could soon cross the line from fringe indie rock to as close to mainstream success as an artist this original can.

Puberty 2 is Mitski’s fourth album following on from 2014’s Bury Me At Makeout Creek. Her first two albums Lush and the sublime Retired from Sad, New Career in Business were recorded while Mitski Miyawaki was studying at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music.

On opening track “Happy,” Mitski is in buoyant mood welcoming someone home for tea and sex but alas her heart is broken when the cad leaves her high and dry.

“Happy came to visit me, he brought cookies on the way.

I poured him tea and he told me ‘It’ll all be okay.’

I told him I’d do anything to have him stay with me,

So he laid me down and I felt happy, come inside of me, he laid me down.

I was in the bathroom, I didn’t hear him leave,

I locked the door behind him and I turned around to see

All the cookie wrappers and the empty cups of tea.

Well I sighed and mumbled to myself again, I have to clean

I sighed and mumbled to myself.”

The album continues in that same slightly uncomfortable mode, akin to the pain present on Harvey’s Rid of Me.

On the gorgeous “Once More To See You” she sings “If you would let me give you pinky promises kisses, then I wouldn’t have to scream your name atop of every roof 
in the city of my heart.” On “Fireworks” her mood hasn’t improved: “One morning this sadness will fossilize and I will forget how to cry.”

In the middle of the album comes single “Your Best American Girl” in which Mitski reaches a vague level of self acceptance.

“Your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me

But I do, I finally do

And you’re an All-American boy

I guess I couldn’t help trying to be the best American girl

Your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me

But I do, I think do”

Towards the end of the album, musically at least Mitski quiets down. The devastating closer “A Burning Hill” encapsulates her heartbreak.

“So today I will wear my white button-down

I can at least be neat

Walk out and be seen as clean

And I’ll go to work and I’ll go to sleep

And all of the littler things

I’ll love some littler things”

Often uncomfortable but never less than exhilarating listening.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Getaway

Thirty years and eleven albums into their career, Red Hot Chili Peppers have gone for a change in direction, dumping the services of producer Rick Rubin in favor of Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and Radiohead collaborator Nigel Goodrich.

Defying critics, the Chili Peppers have been a huge, huge success with their brand of fuck you rock-funk-rap-punk shenanigans.

A band you generally love or hate, the Chili Peppers are often derided for their irony-free posturing. Burton and Goodrich add to a new freestyle writing process that results in an album as eclectic as ever and by far their best in years.

The lyrics are as daft as ever (“Take me to the river where we do a little storming / Hallelujah, I feel it warming”) and the album would have benefited by culling 3 of the 13 tracks. However, songs like “Feasting on the Flowers” and “Dreams of a Samurai” are a reminder of how good the band can be when they hit the Californication sweet spot.

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Let’s Eat Grandma – I, Gemini

Firstly, please ignore the ridiculous band name.

Made up of two 17-year-olds from England, Let’s Eat Grandma describe their sound as “psychedelic sludge pop.” If you could pin it down so easily that would be wonderful. However – and I don’t say this lightly – I, Gemini is entirely unique. Possible because of their ridiculously young age, Let’s Eat Grandma are entirely without ties to any one formula or sound.

Opener “Deep Six Textbook” introduces the listener to a creepy sound that would work on the soundtrack to the Twin Peaks revival, especially given the scary-child-horror-film vocals. Following is “Eat Shiitake Mushrooms” which it is pointless to attempt to describe – bad rap, creepy vocals, tinkly-vague keyboards and bubblegum pop all in one.

On “Sax in the City” and “Chocolate Sludge Cake” there’s an element of Tricky trip-hop while “Chimpanzees In Canopies” is best described as horror folk (or something).

It’s frankly a mess but a compellingly bewitching one.

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100 NEA Members Visit HRC to Honor Orlando Victims

Post submitted by Mary Beth Maxwell, SVP of HRC’s Foundation

Last week we shared a note with coalition allies about the devastating act of violence in Orlando and transformation of our building here in Washington, memorializing the 49 LGBTQ people and allies — almost all Latinx. Yesterday, more than 100 members of the National Education Association (NEA)– which has worked closely with us and other LGBTQ advocates on behalf of their members and the students they serve — came to pay tribute.

Starting at dawn Friday morning HRC began hanging large-scale images of every victim in 49 windows of our building, looking out toward 17th St. Passersby have been invited to share on a remembrance board messages honoring the victims, and HRC is also handing out memorial programs with the photos, names and ages of the victims. All day and all weekend visitors stopped  – in person, via phone and virtually. 

Yesterday’s visit by 100 brothers and sisters from the NEA, including Executive Director John Stocks, who came in person to pay their respects to the 49 lost in Orlando was a special visit. What a powerful moment to see Vice President Becky Pringle and Secretary Treasurer Princess Moss lay a wreath at the Memorial.  

We shared hugs and tears and a deepened resolve to fight together to say yes to love and no to hate. It was a message NEA President Lily Eskelsen García led with in a powerful blog post responding to the Orlando tragedy. 

Thank you NEA. And thank you to all teachers — teachers all over this country who are on the front lines making safe spaces for all our young people regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. 

Based on many many requests  we have decided to keep the Memorial up at the HRC headquarters through next Sunday, the two-week anniversary of the tragic shooting at Pulse. All are welcome.

Photos Courtesy of Sewell Johnson/NEA

www.hrc.org/blog/100-nea-members-visit-hrc-to-honor-to-orlando-victims?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

HRC MS Statement on Federal Judge’s Refusal to Block Discriminatory H.B. 1523

Today, HRC responded to news that a federal judge refused to block Mississippi’s discriminatory H.B. 1523 law, one of the most draconian and hateful pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation passed in recent history. H.B. 1523, deceptively titled “The Religious Liberty Accommodations Act,” enables almost any individual or organization to discriminate against LGBTQ Mississippians at work, at school and in their communities. HRC Mississippi State Director Rob Hill issued the following statement in response to U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves’ decision not to block the bill from taking effect next week on July 1:

“H.B. 1523 represents the worst of Mississippi. If allowed to go into effect next week, it will lead to widespread discrimination against LGBTQ Mississippians at work, school and in family life.  The business community — including local and national companies and organizations such as Nissan, General Electric, the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Manufacturing Association and more — has roundly condemned this dangerous bill. It will do harm to our community, our families and our economy and we must not allow it to stand. In the coming weeks, HRC will continue our ongoing efforts to ensure this bill is ultimately struck down or repealed.”

Earlier this year, hundreds of fair-minded Mississippians — including representatives from faith communities and civil rights organizations — rallied against the bill outside Gov. Phil Bryant’s residence alongside HRC and its allies. H.B. 1523 will go into law on July 1. Read more about the law here.

As LGBTQ people across the state brace for H.B. 1523 to take effect, media report the Ku Klux Klan has flyered several communities with threatening anti-LGBTQ leaflets.

Hill added, “This is another example of just how dangerous this hateful HB 1523 law is; it sends a message that LGBTQ people are second class citizens in our own state, and it lends credence to groups that prey on hate, ignorance and fear.”

In 2014, HRC launched Project One America, an initiative geared towards advancing social, institutional and legal equality in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. HRC Mississippi continues to work to advance equality for LGBTQ Mississippians who have no state level protections in housing, workplace, or public accommodations. Through HRC Mississippi, we are working toward a future of fairness every day — changing hearts, minds and laws toward achieving full equality.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-ms-statement-on-federal-judges-refusal-to-block-discriminatory-h.b.-152?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

GLAAD working in Orlando with families affected by gun violence

www.glaad.org/blog/glaad-working-orlando-families-affected-gun-violence

Christian Pastor Hopes God “Finishes The Job” And Kills Orlando Survivors

One of the many unfortunate aspects of the Pulse nightclub massacre is the number of antigay wingnuts and all-around creepos crawling out of the woodwork in order to capitalize on the attack and make a name for themselves as timely hate merchants.

A recent case in point: Pastor Donnie Romero of Stedfast Baptist Church, who Raw Story reports told his congregation he agrees “100 percent” with Roger Jimenez, the Baptist pastor whose recent sermon suggests taking the survivors out to a firing squad to “blow their brains out.”

Related: Pastor Rick Scarborough Will Set Himself On Fire If The Supreme Court Legalizes Marriage. Partaaaay!

Impossibly, Romero has added horrific new depths to this already inhuman sentiment:

“These 50 sodomites are all perverts and pedophiles, and they are the scum of the earth, and the earth is a little bit better place now,” Romero said on Sunday.

“And I’ll take it a step further, because I heard on the news today, that there are still several dozen of these queers in ICU and intensive care. And I will pray to God like I did this morning, I will do it tonight, I’ll pray that God will finish the job that that man started, and he will end their life, and by tomorrow morning they will all be burning in hell, just like the rest of them, so that they don’t get any more opportunity to go out and hurt little children.”

In other key moments of Romero’s sanctimonious hate-mongering, he calls Sodom and Gomorrah the first ever “queer mass murder,” and says he thinks other mega-churches are soft-pedaling the antigay rhetoric and should step up on the unstoppered evil.

Related: Man Sues For The Right To Marry Laptop In Effort To Dismantle Gay Marriage

Unsurprisingly, The Southern Poverty Law Center has categorized Romero’s church as an anti-LGBT hate group.

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Doctor Explains Why You’re Addicted To Grindr

“Your phone is an addiction machine,” Dr. Greg Carson, a psychologist based in Los Angeles, writes in a new article titled Are You Addicted to Your Phone? “It’s like having a casino in your pocket with lots of little slot machines (apps) that continually beg for your attention with buzzes, dings and flashes. Then it rewards you for glancing at it with treats in the form of texts, pics and likes.”

OK. So what exactly does this have to do with us?

Well, it turns out that gay men are especially susceptible to becoming addicted to their phones because of dating apps.

Related: Scientific Survey Confirms Boston Bisexual Boom, Seattle Blowjob Addiction

Dr. Carson explains that there’s this thing called Variable Ratio Reinforcement, or as he describes it, “a fancy psychological term that means your treats come in an unpredictable pattern (just like slot machines). So the more you play, the more your brain thinks something good is just around the corner. Eventually you’re hooked.”

“Dating apps are the worst offenders,” he continues. “Much like the more generic slot machines of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, dating apps give you unpredictable reinforcements like woofs, unlocks and matches—and lots of ‘Hey’ and ‘Sup.’ But unlike those other platforms, dating apps center around one primary goal: sex.”

“The resulting sexual arousal when looking at these apps makes us feel more powerful, more alert and more alive,” he continues. “That makes them the most enticing slot machines (slut machines?) in your pocket casino.”

Related: Pastor Spends $60K Of Church’s Money To Feed His Addiction To Gay Dating Websites

Of course, it’s not just dating apps feeding our addictions to our phones. Dr. Carson says apps, in general, contribute, as well as good old fashioned text messages.

So what can be done about this?

The answer: Not much. Sure, you could delete your Grindr account, but you’ll probably just download it again next week.

“I’m not saying you need to enter rehab or give up apps altogether,” Dr. Carson says, “but I am saying you might want to wake up to the fact that you’re less in charge of your obsession with that little brick in your pocket than you think. It’s hijacking your brain.”

Noted.

Thanks, Dr. Carson.

Related: Guys Fed Up With Grindr Turn To Whisper To Release Steam

 

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Vandals Desecrate Gay Texas Man’s Memorial to Orlando Victims – VIDEO

One gay Texas man’s tribute to victims of the Orlando terror attack has been repeatedly vandalized in an apparent hate crime.

Scout Register, 20, erected a rainbow flag outside his family’s home in Tomball, a conservative suburb of Houston, in the wake of the attack. But less than 24 hours later, the flag was stolen.

Register, a student at Texas Tech University, immediately replaced the flag. “You can take my flag, but you’re not going to take my pride,” he told KHOU-TV.

But the second flag was also stolen, and this time it was returned hours later — cut, burned and spray-painted with a swastika.

“They threw the flag out and were yelling gay slurs and other profanities, honking and screaming,” Register said.

Register posted a photo of the desecrated flag that’s been shared more than 3,200 times on Facebook.

“This kind of backfired for them,” he said. “Now I feel stronger than I did before. … This just makes me want to put out as many flags as I can. You’re not going to stop me.”

Watch KHOU’s report below.

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Frank Ocean Pens Emotional Response to Orlando Shooting

Frank Ocean has penned an emotional response to the Orlando shooting on his Tumblr page, which meditates on LGBT oppression and the suffering it causes.

“Many hate us and wish we didn’t exist,” Ocean writes. “Many are annoyed by our wanting to be married like everyone else or use the correct restroom like everyone else. Many don’t see anything wrong with passing down the same old values that send thousands of kids into suicidal depression each year. So we say pride and we express love for who and what we are.”

Ocean’s full post:

I read in the paper that my brothers are being thrown from rooftops blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs for violating sharia law. I heard the crowds stone these fallen men if they move after they hit the ground. I heard it’s in the name of God. I heard my pastor speak for God too, quoting scripture from his book. Words like abomination popped off my skin like hot grease as he went on to describe a lake of fire that God wanted me in. I heard on the news that the aftermath of a hate crime left piles of bodies on a dance floor this month. I heard the gunman feigned dead among all the people he killed. I heard the news say he was one of us. I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty. That was the last afternoon I saw my father and the first time I heard that word, I think, although it wouldn’t shock me if it wasn’t. Many hate us and wish we didn’t exist. Many are annoyed by our wanting to be married like everyone else or use the correct restroom like everyone else. Many don’t see anything wrong with passing down the same old values that send thousands of kids into suicidal depression each year. So we say pride and we express love for who and what we are. Because who else will in earnest? I daydream on the idea that maybe all this barbarism and all these transgressions against ourselves is an equal and opposite reaction to something better happening in this world, some great swelling wave of openness and wakefulness out here. Reality by comparison looks grey, as in neither black nor white but also bleak. We are all God’s children, I heard. I left my siblings out of it and spoke with my maker directly and I think he sounds a lot like myself. If I being myself were more awesome at being detached from my own story in a way I being myself never could be. I wanna know what others hear, I’m scared to know but I wanna know what everyone hears when they talk to God. Do the insane hear the voice distorted? Do the indoctrinated hear another voice entirely?

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