The Useless Critic 2.0

Another song I enjoyed from 2023 was the throwback banger "Blame Brett" by the Canadian band The Beaches. How this song didn't get ANY bigger, I don't know. (Apparently, it was quite big on TikTok but for me I didn't get that full effect.) The garage rock and even faint "Riot GRRL" vibes are strong in this one.  This song is so much blissful fun and a considerable hit from The Beaches, who followed up with a great album: "Blame My Ex." There are some other standout tracks on their second album, like "Edge of the Earth." But also isn't it great that Brett is a REAL guy who dated the lead singer and is in the band The Glorious Sons? (Actually, it's really not that bad. One time I texted a girl I liked who I got into it with - and she was very environmentally conscious - that I really loved straws, so. Um. We all have our moments.) Happy listening! I hope to share a few more songs before 2024 arrives.

This has quickly become my favorite part of Fridays. When I can engage in the bottomless supply of No Doubt trivia I have accumulated throughout the 23 years of my life.  Today, I decided to go back to the album of No Doubt's I've been most neglecting (and arguably their most important) Tragic Kingdom . Yes, this 1995 classic is what brought the group to mainstream attention. It's their last somewhat ska-influenced album and also the last that the founder of the band (and big bro of Gwen) Eric Stefani played on. He abandoned No Doubt to chase dreams of being an animator, and dude was relatively successful, getting a stint on the Simpsons.  by the way, he even drew No Doubt into a Simpsons episode: anyway. The big deal/deciding factor behind Tragic Kingdom- an album with art far too concerned with the orange supply of SoCal- was Gwen's break-up with bassist Tony Kanal. The two had dated from the late 80s til like 93/94. The whole album is basically a "f...