I Just Got Off An Aeroplane

Earth Day blues and music from Momma, Hooky, Friko, Quiet Light, and more

Photo by The Deseronto Archives / Unsplash

I hope everyone had a blessed 4/20 and Earth Day this week.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em. Reduce Reuse Recycle. Eat your vegetables.

The Earth itself has been taking a beating recently. Been taking a beating since we all came around way back whenever actually. Not the first of us but the next few rounds of us and the current round most certainly. It's frightening how often those in power continue to toss the planet aside for monetary gain. Frightening not surprising.

Specifically over the past month I was pretty pissed with the whole "restructuring" of the U.S. Forest Service. Restructuring here can be interchanged with gutting, murder, destruction or any other related term that equates to bad news:

One hundred and ninety-three million acres of your national forests. An area larger than Texas. The largest public land agency in the country. Just handed, on a silver platter, to the people who’ve spent their entire careers trying to destroy it.

And they did it with a press release on a Tuesday.

Then just two weeks after that Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted to revoke protections for the Boundary Waters so they can move forward with a proposed Twin Metals sulfide-ore copper mining operation:

This is a very dark day for public lands. It sets the precedent that any land protection in the United States — any withdrawal, any public land order — can be retroactively reclassified as a "rule" and erased by a simple majority vote. Grand Staircase-Escalante is next. They're already lining it up. Every protected landscape in this country just got less safe.

Instead of looking out at the sunset in awe like you're lucky to be a part of something bigger these people are already crunching the numbers for how much it might cost to build a new casino over this portion of the forest. Well they're not doing the math themselves they probably have their numbers guy on speaker phone. Fuck that guy too.

Stay up to date on this by following Save The Boundary Waters on Instagram and support them directly here if you are able.

You can also check out More Than Just Parks (they wrote the first 2 articles shared here) who provides great coverage on environmental legislation and news. They even created an interactive Public Lands Scorecard for Earth Day so you can see where members of Congress and states as a whole stand when it comes to the important issues.

Okay I didn't intend to go on this long about this stuff today but the Earth is really important! I wanted to share some good music I've been listening to this week. Let's get to that part.

Song of The Week:

I just got off an aeroplane
I said Jesus Christ, not this again
I said all these cities look the same without you
They look the same without you

Box For Buddy, Box For Star from This Is Lorelei (Nate Amos) was one of my favorite albums of 2024. Then Amos put out the deluxe version which had a few new renditions of songs by other artists – MJ Lenderman, Snail Mail, as well as his dad and sister, Bob & Sarah Amos.

Now we've been gifted a full-on Box For Buddy, Box For Star Super Deluxe album and I am in heaven. Its got reimagined songs by Waxahatchee, Tim Heidecker, Jeff Tweedy & more. I was practically giddy when I saw Momma was on here giving their take on "A Song That Sings About You." They've been one of my favorite bands of the last like 5 years.

The song absolutely rules. It carries a wistful tenderness that makes you want to go grab your partner's hand and sit in the sun before time passes you both by.

WORLD MUSIC - Hooky

Philly duo Hooky dropped this Monday night out of the blue. I sent it to my friend, who we'll call Scott, and he responded: "bleep bloop music for real." Then he pointed out how the album was listed for purchase at $4.20. Lol. 420.

If trippy & glitchy digitized-guitar music sounds like a cool time then this would be for you. Let it take you for a ride. I dig it. Favorite track: "Virginia Slim"

New Racehorse - Media Puzzle

I got put onto this one by Stereogum. Shout out Stereogum. This one runs through a variety of stylings in the punk gene pool. New Racehorse is whacky, rippin' and a damn good time.

Media Puzzle is from Lismore, New South Whales, Australia. Their name comes from the Irish race horse who won the 2002 Melbourne Cup. He was put down due to injury in 2006. Rest easy Media Puzzle. Favorite track: "Out Of The Rain"

Something Worth Waiting For - Friko

This will probably end up as one of my favorite albums of the year. I first heard of Chicago's Friko after 2024's Where we've been, Where we go from here and they immediately became a band for me to keep an eye on. Their follow-up is bigger and bolder, showing a band reaching new heights in hair-raising fashion.

Something Worth Waiting For is powered by dramatic builds that peak with elegant and boisterous moments of rock. Every emotion on the album is laid bare for us to taste. You're front row at the theater and have just been hit with the sweat and tears of the performers. They've given it their all. It's truly extravagant. Take a bow, Friko.

Favorite track: "Guess," "Seven Degrees" – IDK it's hard to pick just one.

Blue Angel Sparkling Silver 2 - Quiet Light

Quiet Light, the moniker of producer/singer/songwriter Riya Mahesh, unleashes a beaming ray of dreamy & experimental pop on her latest.

The music moves like a smack of jellyfish in an underwater current of technicolor. Not sure if that even makes sense but that's how it feels. The sound carefully meanders around post-rock guitar, glimmering synths, dance beats, and drum machines as Mahesh's voice cuts in with these gorgeous harmonies. Before long you're in a trance. Favorite track: "Berlin"