Long Distances – Lovesong for an Apocalypse
Can you imagine how much work must go into fashioning a world-class athlete? Think about all of the hours of training, visualization, and mental strengthening. And is that not just something that the athlete has to do? There’s so much work that all of his trainers need to put in. Let’s not forget about the commitment of the fans as well as they cheer the athlete on.
It’s a similar thing, really, for the bands that progress to arena-rock status. People tend to think about all of the work that the band has done and the good fortune that has befallen them. But what about all of the sound engineers, producers, managers, promoters, etc., that worked to get them there? And what about us, the fans who got used to seeing them play arenas? Once the band is done, a bit of us retire as well.
The Cure have been playing arenas for a long time, but not as often in the recent couple of decades. I have to tell you what happens with time. Long Distances are fresh and young. They’ve studied bands like The Cure, and they have a proposition. What if “Lovesong for an Apocalypse” could be a new start for all of you fans of somber, dramatic arena rock? It may seem like a long shot, but it all has to start somewhere. Long Distances are putting their application in.
Nicole Marxen – Thorns
This morning, I took the train to the outskirts of the city to make a connection. Should I have been late, he wouldn’t have waited for me, and I needed to score. I came upon a sorry sight. Tens of people were staring at each other with mad eyes reddened with lack of sleep. There was only one thing that they had on their mind, and their sorry cohorts were the only ones that could provide some relief.
All of these people were football card collectors and were willing to do anything to complete their collections. I felt sick to my stomach of what I had allowed my self to become.
But the long train ride home allowed me the time to think things over. At least, this was something I, and all of the other card freaks, could control. It was something to complete, to replace, or to throw away at our leisure.
Life doesn’t give us much of a license to control what happens to ourselves. In many ways, the sinister, well-designed “Thorns” by Nicole Marxen is about the absence of power when faced with life’s big challenges.
It also happens to be a very soothing sound, in the way that only goth and goth-adjacent music can be. It’s something that can be arranged, put in order, labeled, and stuck in inventory. Goth, like card collecting or other, more dangerous activities, allows us to exert some control over terrible things.
