LJ Sleeze – Dead Or Alive
I look forward to new LJ Sleeze songs, the way that a pervert stuck on a desert island waits for the tide to wash in porno mags. It’s not something that I’m entirely proud of, but something that I need.
What makes an LJ Sleeze song great? None of the things that make other songs great. Preferably, the guitars and singing will just be a little bit of tune. The lyrics will sound like they were written by a 12-year-old who has been given detention. And the production is confidently lo-fi.
What rumors are that LJ Sleaze is the modern version of Ramones? That’s a bold claim, but let’s look at the data. Ramones made short songs about strange topics and played them fast and committedly.
LJ Sleeze’s “Dead Or Alive” is more boasting for some of rock’s greatest liars. Listen, is there a real art in perfectly dumbing down things? LJ Sleeze have that. And I doubt if you could teach anyone in the best music school in the world to sound exactly like they do. A breath of stale city air!
Jacob The Horse – The Black Hand
Similar artists: PUP, Pkew Pkew Pkew, The Hold Steady, Titus Andronicus
Genre: Punk, Garage Rock
There are many historical monuments in Sarajevo. Nearly all of them recall a history of cooperation and understanding brought to an abrupt end by an army that climbed up a hill, slowly, deliberately torturing the population below.
And that’s because all of that business of cooperation was never an easy thing to accomplish. It was easy to miss when Sarajevo was a cultural hub and trading post, and it had street lights and electric lights back when the Vienesse were still riding around in horse-drawn carriages.
But there’s one monument that you may have missed if you ever had the good fortune of visiting Sarajevo. It’s set between apartment blocks in a children’s playground. It’s of a tiny, sickly man with bleary eyes. That’s Gavrilo Princip, and he changed history when he shot the overly enthusiastic Franz Ferdinand and his long-suffering wife. I admit, it was the first place I went when I visited Sarajevo.
One man’s terrorist is another man’s hero. But maybe that’s not the point. The point is that a lot of people are very angry, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re right or not or whether they’ve seen the walls through the mosques and churches in Sarajevo. Jacob the Horse does enough to make you want to break furniture with the “The Black Hand,” but it may also make you want to crack open a book.
