Pride Month: Pansy Division
In a word, Pansy Division is an exercise in crassness. But as one of the first openly out queer punk rock bands, I’d say they earned that right. Coming out (so to speak) in the early ’90s, they had to…
Pride Month 2012: Amy Ray — Lung of Love
I’m just gonna put it out there that it took me a good long while for Amy Ray’s latest release to sink in. Here’s the thing: I like the Indigo Girls, but I always prefer Amy’s songs to Emily by…
Pride Month: Town and Country — “Everyone Wants to Say I Do”
Where would the LGBTQ community be without straight Allies? Critiquing each other’s clothing, that’s where. For reals, though, building bridges across communities is important for any political movement. Studies show that people across the US accept marriage equality — regardless…
Concert Review: Dar Williams — Bryn Mawr Gazebo, Bryn Mawr PA
I went to a college full of gentle, self-conscious, socially awkward people. Our “sister” college was Bryn Mawr. This was my first introduction to Dar Williams (no need to watch past 1:48): I’m somewhere off the left-hand edge of the…
Pride Month 2012: Brandi Carlile — Bear Creek
Let’s not mince words: Bear Creak is Brandi Carlile’s finest effort yet, and I’m not even done listening to it for the first time. It’s much more Americana-inflected than The Story, which will never ever be something I complain about.…
Pride Month 2012: Sleater-Kinney
No celebration of queer rock is complete — nay, valid — without a nod to Sleater-Kinney. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the heartbeat of riot grrl. Part of that is because they’re the first riot grrl band I…
Pride Month 2012 — High Dive (Redux)
Howdy, readers! In case you haven’t noticed, it’s June. And June is Pride Month. For our first Pride Month entry I’m re-posting my review of High Dive. Why? The long and the short of it is that even though things…
The Successful Failures — Here I Am
Something happened in the ’90s. I guess as a reaction to grunge, slacker-rock bands like the Refreshments made bank. The songs should have been sad — they were about alcoholism, service economy-induced unemployment, and dysfunctional relationships. But things were going…