Pop Culture Blog: Music, Movie and Humor

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Archives for February 2006

Battlefield Somerville.


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We’re off to the wars tonight somewhere in Somerville for a paintball tournament that my company is sponsoring. A little brand-recognition, a little intern recruitment – and a lot of oozing welts. It’s mainly Harvard students, with a few outsiders like myself thrown in, and the theme is Democrat vs. Republican. So basically I’m going to try and make as many of the little bastards cry tonight as I possibly can. Peden shot me in the neck from two feet away once, and I know first hand where to aim for maximum damage to smart-overpriviliged-twats.

I don’t know what team I’ll be put on, but if I get to choose I’ll be gunning for Moonbats like my name is Van Helsing and pretending they all look like Carolyn Parrish. I’m bringing my new camera, which is probably extremely ill-advised, and I hope to post a few good shots up here tomorrow. I look forward to lots of pizza, beer and post-traumatic stress this evening. Suppress, move, flank and goon.

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Wednesday Wadio: Lush’s ‘De-Luxe’.


in Wednesday Wadio

“In a sense, the beginning of Lush was as inevitable as its ending was not.”

This song is senior year at Concord-Carlisle for me. So many memories surrounding it. Lush opened for Jane’s Addiction that year at the Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg. We rented a bus, filled it with our best buddies (and underclassmen girls), before having one of the best times of my life. The whole shebang kicked off at PJ’s with kegs. We filled 2 litre milk jugs with beer and moved the bender to the bus. The show was amazing, and in between moshing with Mike Duffy – and watching Tombeno get thrown out and sneak back in 3 times – Lush rocked the rink with this awesome tune.

“When I sat down to listen to Ciao!, it had been at least seven years since I’d last listened to Lush, and probably five since I’d even thought of them. But by the end, I was digging out the old discs again– not out of an obligation to research and refresh, but because I wanted to relive and remember.” – Pitchfork

Lush has long since gone the way of the do-do (the drummer even killed himself), but they released 3 solid albums in the 90’s and I have every one of them on my iPod. They’re considered to be part of the “shoegazing” genre – Shoegazing is characterised by the use of distortion and the fuzzbox, droning riffs and a Phil Spector-esque wall of sound from the noisy guitars. You’ll understand the classification when you hear ‘De-Luxe’, which was their breakthrough hit in America. ‘Ladykillers’ fared better a few years later, but it isn’t anywhere near as cool as this etherial little ditty.

This song also reminds me of driving to a party in Carlisle at Sarah’s house with Triconi in my ’84 BMW 318. We videotaped the party, and you can see Doug and I singing along to De-Luxe as we navigate the windy dark roads. We still sing that song to eachother, and it’s admittedly extremely gay to be doing so. Enjoy the song – it’s a great little timecapsule.

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