I need a new drug...

...well not really. Huey Lewis sang that and I think his 1984 song's message applies to me too. He needed a change and so do I.

I need some new tunes. Times are tight and I don't have the loot to spend on the hit-or-miss music endeavors that expose me to new sounds. As much as I'd like to dig through the just-arrived record bins or grab that CD that the mag wrote about, I just can't afford to take the chance on its coolness.

So lately, when buying music, I tend to dig deeper into the catalogs of bands that I already like. Or I'll just buy an old album that's been deemed irrefutably classic. Even though I always win with these purchases, it's still not as thrilling as discovering something new or grooving to an old 45 by someone I've never even heard of.

Case in point: When I was thirteen, I bought The Clash's London Calling. I had never read about or listened to The Clash. I stumbled on the image of the iconic sleeve and reasoned that anything with that cool of a photo on the front must be the bee's knees. Turns out that judging that book by its cover was a good move.

Since those days are behind me, I'm calling on YOU, loyal danger-seekers. Please comment with music suggestions new and old. Though I have been known to be a bit of a music snob, those days too are now behind me and I will consider each suggestion with deference. Judging by the amount of hits this site gets, I'm banking that a few of you have a fairly good idea of what I dig.

PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

At the slow bar

They're playing 'gimme danger' at the slow bar.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

time to pretend

I know that all the year-end, best-of lists have already been put out there but I'm finally ready to make my claim.

The best album of 2008 is MGMT's Oracular Spectacular. With its woozy essence and space-disco pulse, the album is a work of staggering genius—not bad for a couple dudes from Brooklyn. Not only does the whole shape-shifting thing rock a room full of party people, it’s alternately effective alone, in headphones, where the soundscapes truly come to life.

By mixing modernist electro with time-tested psychedelic and world music, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden crafted a debut with enough hooks to snag a sea of indie ears. "Time to Pretend" and "Kids" are so catchy that they'll be playing in your head long after the drugs wear off. “The Handshake” and its multiple parts are comfortably disorienting; the opiate sheen of the first two minutes awesomely sets up its pounding conclusion and the whistling on the fadeout caps the song. The guitar solo on “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters” recalls the freakout at the end of the 13th Floor Elevators’ “You’re Gonna Miss Me” while the aboriginal groove of “Electric Feel” calls to mind Men at Work’s hit “Down Under.”

Still, the album as a whole is refreshing. Nothing else that came out this year sounded quite like it. And despite what could be perceived as their apparent apathy, MGMT make their intention known on “The Youth,” singing “This is a call to arms to live and love and sleep together.” It’s a simple message that resounds across its ten tracks and one that seems more appealing now than ever. That’s what’s so great about it and that’s why it’s GimmeDanger's album of the year.

GO BUY IT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.

NYC? Try Portland.

I saw so many of these cookie-cutter dudes last summer.

PPS Disorder

Another year has passed. I’m a year older, maybe a bit wiser and definitely more sobered by the weight of the world. Still, I read something the other day that not only applies to me and my ephemeral youth, but to many others at times, and not even within the realm of skateboarding.

The Guest Ed column in The Skateboard Mag is usually written by a washed-up old pro who usually talks about kids these days, how things used to be back in the day, or the generally unexplainable virtue of skateboarding. The most recent issue however, contained a piece written by a young dude who I don’t know. Greg Robinson writes:

If you skateboard and are over the age of eighteen, there is a high likelihood that you suffer from Peter Pan Syndrome. Commonly referred to as PPS Disorder, Peter Pan Syndrome tends to thrive in fully grown adults whose lives are a complete and total synthesis between children’s fantasy and adult reality.

…Peter Pan Syndrome is based on the fictional behaviors and mannerisms of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. As with the inhabitants of Never Never Land, those who suffer from PPS Disorder experience a perpetual reluctance to grow up and engage in the expected norms of adult society.

…Without proper treatment, those diagnosed with PPS Disorder will experience a general disconnect from the established social order and eventually lose grip on the public’s concept of reality. In the end, the subject will completely devolve into a sort of carefree man-child, strutting through life with the easy-going attitude of a boy and the physical attributes of an adult.

…Skateboarding [or whatever your bag is] is a rickety old vessel that’s going to lurch on well beyond all of our years combined. Only mutiny can properly govern the crew, and it’s that constant revolt that’s kept the ship spotless since day one. Any bullshit is scrubbed down; anything unnecessary is thrown overboard. Seeing as how such a huge chunk of life has already been dumped into scrubbing the decks, every skateboarder has eventually got to ask the following:

Do I abandon ship and swim for land, thus putting my PPS Disorder into complete and total remission?

Or do I remain a Lost Boy aboard the Jolly Roger and go down with the ship in the seas of Never Never Land?

FIND THE BALANCE