NEW YORK — Journalist Cherie Estrada is finally willing to compromise her dream of covering wars from the frontlines and settle for writing weekly recaps of Saturday Night Live skits for HuffPost, confirmed sources close to Estrada confirmed that reported she sounded kind of sad when she took the job
“I’ve always wanted to do work that mattered,” said Estrada. “Shedding light on the struggles of the oppressed, so I could open up the eyes of people around the world to the atrocities happening on a daily basis, that sort of thing. But I got sacked during a recent media buyout and I could use a little security. If that means waking up on Sunday and describing how Kenan Thompson once again stole the show, or how the host James Brolin gave it his all but ultimately the writing fell flat then so be it. I may not be on the front lines in Ukraine, but I am at the forefront of Please Don’t Destroy criticism, and I’m proud of that.”
In response, members of HuffPost’s staff shared their willingness to work with Estrada.
“We’re always looking for people to cover important cultural zeitgeists like SNL,” said Danielle Belton, Editor-in-Chief for The Huffington Post. “This journalism is integral for our culture and goes above and beyond the usual clickbait that other news outlets publish. But it’s nice that so many of our readers do click those articles! And while they are on the page, maybe they could click on another article. Or maybe you could just click on this little article over here. Come on, just give this one a click. Just a little click, it won’t hurt. Don’t forget to throw us $2 to keep this whole thing afloat.”
“We need this,” added Belton.
However, critics from the journalism community have spoken out against Estrada’s decision.
“Selling out to the lame-stream media is gross,” said Truman Duarte, a self-described gonzo journalist. “Dedicated journalists like me need to do the REAL work of exposing America to the TRUTH. And that’s what I’m trying to do, but no one ever talks to me after they realize I publish everything on Substack. So I usually make up things I think my sources would say if they hadn’t threatened to call the cops on me. But I do THAT in a TRUTHFUL sort of way. Which HuffPost apparently can’t handle, since they ignore all of my pitches.”
As of press time, Estrada was hoping her bosses would take notice of her good work and consider her for a positioning recapping season three of “The Bear.”
When one thinks of the 1980s, 1960s movie stars like Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello are not two people that often get name-dropped by the general public, or General Public for that matter, but “Back To The Beach” changed that for a moderate amount of big kahuna burgers and pre-murderous Orenthal James Simpsons’ in their local drive-in movie theaters. Even moreso, its curiously spectacular soundtrack featuring, and we kid you not, Eddie Money, Aimee Mann, FISHBONE, and freaking Pee-wee Herman puzzled cool cats, mockers, rockers, and skankers of all ages in the best way, and truly needs 1987 more streams from you and your other brother Daryl stat! If you can make it through the film, mazel tov, but you can most certainly breeze through all ten tracks of its soundtrack effortlessly, rinse, repeat, and do so again on every sandy shore moving forward. Absolute perfection; wipe out.
And now for something completely different, a movie that DEFINITELY couldn’t be made now, unless its creators wanted to blacklist themselves from all things arts/entertainment, “Caddyshack”…. Anyway, we can wax poetic about Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and the candy bar that doubled as poo, but this piece is about underrated ‘80s soundtracks, and “Caddyshack: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack” is most certainly not as discussed as the film it submerged, despite the fact that it was a minor success on the charts. The oldest movie/soundtrack listed here was seemingly sponsored by Kenny “I Do Other Soundtracks Too” Loggins, but also featured Journey, Paul Collins and the Beat, and Hilly Michaels, a former drummer for both Sparks and Michael Bolton. Yep. The movie “Caddyshack” was an outstanding success and many claim that it’s the best sports movie ever, whereas the soundtrack was its direct support cousin.
Speaking of movies that would never have been greenlit in 2024, let’s get into “Just One of the Guys”! The film’s lead, Joyce Hyser, may not ring a bell for you now or ever, but she definitely checked all of the then-stereotypical boxes in the mid-’80s with her Ralph Macchio-esque vocal and aesthetic inspired role in this gender bender of a cinematic masterpiece, or cringe comedy. The soundtrack itself is ten tracks of deep cuts from such acts as Ronnie Spector, Shalamar, Berlin, and Moscow, and it even has a bonus track by The Stooges. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie film and peruse its soundtrack song by song on YouTube, as many tracks aren’t available on DSPs like Spotify, Apple Music, or Kazaa; how punk rock is that?
Demolition’s Smash may be the most popular repo man in the land but Charlie Sheen’s duck brother comes close! A cult favorite to every human on earth, “Repo Man” is a dark/often comedic tale involving aliens, a Chevy Malibu, Chevy Chase, and “Chasing Amy”… Honestly, if we’re being honest we can write 150 words or less about the movie film, but its musical media laserdisc of a punk soundtrack is what got you here and it does NOT disappoint. Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Iggy Pop, and Brokencyde assist in blasting through eleven tracks that all work as a gut punch to your dad bods. Fun fact: Michael Nesmith of The Monkees was the executive producer of this flick, so you can thank daydream believers, Davey Jones, ‘60s TV like “Back to the Beach,” and animals that will defecate on your corpse for this one.
Nerds, nerds, neeeerds! The screwball (if that’s still a word) comedy that spawned various sequels that you never saw known as “Revenge of the Nerds” featured John Goodman, a dude from “Married… with Children,” a bunch of pocket protectors, and various jokes you can’t say in public or private ever again. However, NO one ever writes about its soundtrack but us; yeah. Track five, the film’s title track by The Rubinoos is easily the ‘80s version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and said song would have been enough to include this album creatively known as “Revenge of the Nerds – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” here. Also, speaking of Queen, three of the best songs to pee to from said band, Tito Jackson, and CBGB Domes have songs in the film, but not on the actual soundtrack as they would each cost an arm from the same executives that brought you ABC’s “Phenom”.
Easily one of the more enjoyable and laugh out loud “screwball,” yes, screwball comedies from the ‘80s, Mel Brooks’ “Spaceballs” not only featured the king of voice manipulation and bleep bloops similar to grindcore act of all act’s alt-J’s bloop bleeps known as Michael Winslow and THE Pizza the Hut. Both its theme and title track to the movie’s soundtrack are better than the one from “Star Wars” and the late pleasant Joan Rivers’ voice. Anyway, President Skroob endorses this soundtrack as well because of tunes from Van Halen, The Pointer Sisters, ‘80s soundtrack superstars Berlin, and Senses Fail. In closing, stream or buy this soundtrack, buy its official lunchbox, wax poetic with all of the geeks in Druidia except the great, great Prince Valium, and break the fourth wall with all things space, balls, rock, roll, and symphonic charity!
It’s a toss up between this film and the second last to be mentioned in this piece as to which one is the gold medal movie film covered here, but we’re literally and figuratively seated by you stating what may be known to all except your most bitter, bitter enemies: Stephen King’s “Stand By Me,” based on his novella “The Body” has an incredible “classic” soundtrack, and the story itself was one of four in “Different Seasons,” which also included what became “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Apt Pupil,” and “Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol.” Anyway, back to the movie featuring a young Kiefer Sutherland, an even younger River Phoenix, the voice of Mr. Holland sans opus, and chopper, sic balls. “Stand By Me (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” consists of catchy tracks from cradle robber Jerry Lee Lewis, the (tasty, tasty) Chordettes, Buddy Holly, and Davey “Lardass” Hogan’s cousin Petunia.
Not to be confused with the 1996 Richard Linklater film, Penelope Spheeris’, who later directed “It’s Pat: The Movie,“ monster classic “Suburbia” came out in 1983, and its eponymous soundtrack was released the following year in the year of our lord known as a Van Halen album. Said soundtrack (recording) also features your cool uncle Ricky Canicky’s golden goose bands The Vandals and T.S.O.L., and his great aunt Doris McGoris’ least favorite BY FAR, D.I.. If you don’t know everything about this flick, the three aforementioned acts, and its literal soundtrack, you’re not as punk as you tell everyone that you are, and if you do, you still will affirm that this mention is technically underrated. Fun fact: Watch this film and marvel/stare at Mike B. The Flea. Yeah, California.
Coming out at the tail end of the 1980s by a smidge, Weird Al’s classic snuff film “UHF” may have tanked at the box office in not-so-glorious fashion, but it has lived on long past Hollywood Video ever dreamed of lasting, and its original motion picture soundtrack featuring other stuff also has cultish acclaim, despite not topping the Billboard 200 Charts like “Mandatory Fun”. What’s not to like? What’s not to like? Fans of the sequel to Gandhi, spatulas outside of suburbs, yelling “Stupid! You’re so stupid!” out of a broken window, and Minnesota circles live for these three letters, and so does David Bowe without an “I”. Anywho, stop reading this piece right now and watch this flick front to back regardless of how many times you’ve already done so before, and then listen to its soundtrack in its entirety immediately afterward; you’re welcome, mops.
You made it this far, why stop reading this damned thing now? Don’t answer that, and listen to “The Wild Life (Music From the Original Motion Soundtrack)” after this regularly scheduled internet work delaying program, but DO NOT, we repeat, do not watch the movie. Trust us; Rick Moranis couldn’t even save it. Still, freaking Eddie Van Halen wrote and performed the score for “The Wild Life,” so find a way to mute the dialogue and amp up all of the guitars to ELEVEN! The soundtrack also features tracks by Steppenwolf, Little Richard, Madonna, and Eiffel 65, so that ain’t too shabby! Anyway, Cameron Crowe should be ashamed of himself but Bananarama shouldn’t; hey yo. In closing, The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood played a character named, wait for it, wait for it, Refrigerator Raider in this cinematic something, so that’s all we have to say about that. Come. Of. Age.
It can be hard to rank the albums of a band that’s never put out a bad one. Inevitably a good or even great album has to be ranked last. And that can feel harsh, because “[Untitled]” is a solid album. There’s nothing wrong with it, and given more time, it’ll probably move up this list a little further. It also would’ve been fascinating to see where the band would’ve gone after this. Like all mwY albums, it starts great. But the album’s high mark is the second track “Julia (or, ‘Holy to the LORD’ on the Bells of Horses).” A heavy, mid-tempo banger that features mostly singing, but hits an emotional peak at the end with Aaron’s signature scream. The song also had a great “Back to the Future”-themed music video, showing the band’s humorous side. And age. The rest of the album is still killer, but it never feels like it hits the high point of this track again.
mewithoutYou’s triumphant (for some) return to their more classic tried and true style following a dabble with a lighter sound, “Ten Stories” is a concept album about a train of circus animals that crashes. You know, that old chestnut. Along the way, screamy Aaron shows up after a (sort of) absence on the previous “It’s All Crazy…” blending that album’s fable-like lyrics with more personal ones. Not to mention a few guest spots by Hayley Williams of Paramore. This album also marks the official entry of new guitarist Brandon Beaver of the immensely underrated Philly band Buried Beds, which seemed to breathe new life into the rock elements of mwY’s sound. A solid album, but when you’re a band that has no misses, this one falls behind a few of their stronger efforts.
Albums about the apocalypse can kinda go either way. Thankfully this one fucks. Aaron certainly has some yelps and screams in their prior album “Ten Stories,” but nothing gets to the vocal cord-shredding level of “Red Cow.” This album sort of feels like “Brother Sister’s” grim sibling, as they are both best listened to in their entirety. Where “Brother Sister” seemed to find some semblance of hope in the waning Bush years, “Pale Horses” showed up during the rise of Trumpism, and essentially abandons all hope (at least as much as mwY is willing to). And like any album that should be experienced as a whole, this album ends on a hell of a song. “Rainbow Signs” starts slow and dreamy, but halfway it switches to a doomy fist-pumper about the world ending. Always fun to watch artists you love give up on humanity. And I defy any other band to make the lyrics “two pounds of barley, six pounds of buckwheat” seem as hopelessly grim as mewithoutYou.
Sometimes debut albums are an embarrassing glimpse at the past. Other times they are an early high water mark that is impossible to reach again. Luckily “[A-B] Life” is neither. It’s a solid post-hardcore record with raw energy, emotional (albeit sometimes too emotional) lyrics, and a sound that, at the time, felt both unique and familiar. This album came out the same year as Norma Jean’s “Bless the Martyr, Kiss the Child,” and for many, their introduction to Aaron Weiss was his guest part at the end of “Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste” otherwise known as “the cool part at the end of that one Norma Jean song (it really is the best part). So much of this album could come off as pretentious. But it just doesn’t. Instead, it’s a genuinely emotional album by an (at the time) young band, who seemingly didn’t even know they’d struck gold.
From what we can tell most punks have some sort of hippy phase. Whether you rebrand it as living in a vegan commune, taking part in environmental direct action, or dabbling in “folk-punk,” it’s really just a hippie phase, and there’s nothing wrong with it. mewithoutYou’s hippy phase was “It’s All Crazy.” And like a genuinely good hippy phase, it was both a surprise and also not at all a surprise. Folky jams with lyrics filled with symbolic lyrics about vegetables and gardens, along with Aaron’s typical questioning of.. everything. At the time some fans were not very stoked about the somewhat quieter and sing-songier version of the band. But as time has passed, much of this album became indispensable to the live show, and this album is now looked back upon as a successful dabble in new directions.
For those of us who saw the brilliance in “[A-B] Life,” this album was vindication. This album put them on the map, and it totally makes sense. Taking the raw energy of their first album, mwY brought an arguably new element to their sound: an undeniable rhythm section. While the drum and bass were hugely important on their first effort, they are what makes this album. And that’s saying something because this album has a vocal performance that made anyone skeptical of Aaron’s styling an instant fan. The instrumentation on the album threads all the needles perfectly. There’s what’s essentially a 16th note breakdown at the end of “Paper Hanger” and it is so simple, that it shouldn’t work. But it goes harder than any pig-squeal, downtuned, deathcore breakdown you’ve ever heard. It’s kinda messed up how good this album is. Nobody sounds like mewithoutYou. And this is the album that solidified that sound.
Many would say “Catch For Us the Foxes” is the band’s best album. But we’re feeling sassy today, so it’s “Brother, Sister” for us. There are a few songs on this album, that on their own, don’t necessarily deliver. And yet, as a complete album, this is the high point for the band. Front to back this album is an experience. Taking the instrumentation and musicality to the next level, the band expanded on the rhythmic buildup of “Catch For Us the Foxes” by adding more melody and overall catchiness to their formula without sacrificing any of the power of their earlier work. Much of this is due to Ricky Mazzotta, the band’s drummer. He had been integral to the band’s sound on their first two full-length albums, but on “Brother, Sister” his simple but engaging drumming is a feature that makes you return again and again to songs. And a couple of very well-placed guest spots from Sunny Day Real Estate’s Jeremy Enigk bring two of the album’s strongest songs to a legendary level. The vibe is just right for this album. It isn’t necessarily hopeful per se, but it has elements of hope. But there’s also anger, fear, sadness. All the things. If you don’t “get” mewithoutYou after listening to this album, you never will.