Album Review: Crazy & The Brains - Let Me Go

This album came out back in May, but I have yet to review it because I'm an ass. This is the first full length release from Crazy & The Brains, a band I know very well. The music is infectious. It is a pioneering form of "party punk", and at times, the songwriting is downright genius.  It was released on vinyl, cassette, and digital download through Baldy Longhair Records. So let me just get right into it.

Virtually every review that has been written about this album until now talks about how fun this record is. People have invariably called it weird and wacky. But the prevailing consensus is that Let Me Go is a whole lot of fun. They are not wrong in their summations. But I'm going to take this from a different angle.

Let Me Go has a real undercurrent of sadness and struggle. If you scratch the surface of each track, if you look past the jovial jangling of the xylophone (it's actually a marimba and glockenspiel) you will see what I mean. This album tells the story of the uncertainty and difficulty of being a male in your 20's, trying to carve out your place in the world. Just look closely at the content. "King Kong" is about seeking epic retribution for a vicious assault. The title track, "Let Me Go", details the aftermath of a bad break up. The song itself sounds triumphant but the subject matter is still a kick in the dick. "Mexico" talks about the absolute pain of seeing one's love move very far away. It also features a verse from Adam Green of the Moldy Peaches. "Box Room" is about a close friend who has withdrawn from society. "Interlude" conveys a frantic state of mental anguish, and it's composition is sort of operatic. "It's Alright" describes being bored to fucking tears, which is a pretty horrible thing to be. You should even consider the album cover and title; the two work perfectly together. The picture is of a baby reaching out (it's a baby pic of the bassist). It suggests a "letting go" of everything: youth, love, hate, anger, control. Sometimes it's all you can do.

As I've said, I'm friends with all of the guys in this band. I grew up with the singer. So this album has encapsulated the past 5 years for our circle of friends. The singer of this band is like the bard for our whole crew. We're pretty fortunate in that regard. But that is of no use to you. What's important for you is that this record is incredible. I guarantee you have heard nothing like it. It's strange music by strange guys from a strange land. So pick this up, crack a 40 oz. of Olde English, and everything will be alright.

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http://crazyandthebrains.com/

Diana Nyad Just Owned Us

Recently, a woman named Diana Nyad swam from Cuba to Key West, Florida. She did this by herself, without a shark tank, and while being flat-out 64 years old. It is a distance of about 103 miles and it took her roughly 53 hours to complete. Thanks a lot, Diana. 

Diana Nyad is closing in on her Golden Years and she just made a fool out of all of us. From the average runner in the park to professional athletes, we are all now lazy slobs. Just today, I decided to not cook myself eggs; simply because I didn't want to wash the pan afterwards. For Christ's sake, look at the footage of when she approached the shore. The scores of people who had gathered on the beach all began running towards the water to receive her with shouts of praise. Many people were out of breath from that short, silly jog. She swam 103 miles and I get annoyed at the thought of driving a car over such a distance (which is comparable to driving from NYC to Philly). Diana is mocking us. 

More importantly, can you imagine doing ANYTHING for 53 hours straight? Nothing sounds appealing for that long, not even things that are really fucking cool. It's a challenge in and of itself to merely stay conscious for 53 hours. I remember this one time in college that I stayed awake for maaaybe 40 consecutive hours. I was convinced that I had developed Down Syndrome and the damage was irreversible. I don't even like reflecting on those nights that I had a long paper to turn in the next morning. They were grueling, all night battles from hell. When faced with a seemingly insurmountable pile of schoolwork, I would undergo a very strange phenomenon. An eerie chill would envelope my body and I would take hundreds of 3 minute naps until the paper was somehow complete. Seriously, the cold feeling typically lasted for hours. So I did shit like that, and this old geezer swam the whole bloody sea. Great.

There are loads among us who will undoubtedly draw inspiration from this woman and her incredible feat. They will try, in less extreme fashion, to adopt her mantra of never, ever giving up. And that's fine. But I view this achievement in a different light: Diana Nyad has made me a little embarrassed at the large swaths of nothing that I have achieved...Enough of this crap, I'm tired.