A Non-Comprehensive Guide to Aaron's Non-Chumbawamba Music Taste

I’ve already written a rather extensive guide to my favorite band and frankly the greatest band of all time, Chumbawamba, and I’ve been thinking a lot about music lately so I figured I would write a guide to some of my favorite non-chumbawamba artists, albums, and songs. This is all purely opinion and none of this is intended to be legitimate review or critique, just my thoughts on the artists. 

I generally like music that kicks me in the chest, whether that be sonically or emotionally. All the music here has kicked me in the chest in one way or another. 

Artists 

These are mostly artists that I’ve listened to a large chunk of their discography. Unlike Chumbawamba who’s studio discography I have listened to in its entirety on more than one occasion, I am not as thorough with these artists. However, I still have listened to enough to feel that I can recommend them 

Against Me! 

The soundtrack of my parent’s divorce and my budding political radicalism in the last years of high school, Against Me!’s music has been a consistent refuge for me. A mix of Punk and Folk and of course Folk Punk, there is no lack of variation in Against Me!’s discography. 

“The Ocean,” “Stop!,” and “White People for Peace” are my favorites off of New Wave. “Baby I’m an Anarchist!,” “Walking is still honest,” and “8 full hours of sleep,” are my favorites from their classic Reinventing Axl Rose. I believe Against Me! Is at their absolute best in their album Transgender Dysphoria Blues, with honorable mention to White Crosses. I have too many songs from both albums that I consider my favorites, but “Black Me Out” on Transgender Dysphoria Blues and the title track from White Crosses would be the first songs I’d recommend off either album. Songs like “Cliche Guevara,” “Cavalier Eternal,” and “Joy” and “Miami” deserve recognition as standouts on their respective projects. 

Skatune Network/JER 

The Messiah of a new era of Ska, Jer is, in my opinion, fast becoming an icon of the genre. Jer is incredibly knowledgeable on the history and development of ska as a genre, and if you go to their TikTok, always has incredible recommendations on new ska, punk, and alternative bands led by BIPOC and Queer people. Beyond Jer the influencer is JER the artist, and of course Skatune Network. 

Jer has only released one full album under the name JER, 2022’s Bothered/Unbothered which is my album of the summer. Hard hitting ska, with many other influences twisted in, it is a wonderful cocktail of musical flavors. The political messaging of many of the songs also hits home. “Decolonize Yr Mind” is of course the highlight of this. “Clout Chasers,” one of the other singles on the album, is another absolute bop of a song. It’s impossible to listen to Bothered/Unbothered without wanting to get up and move and maybe burn down a police precinct while skanking. 

Skatune Network, the other piece of Jer’s musical production, has been more prolific thus far. Top 40 covers that are put out on their youtube every week, as well as a curated collection in the album Burn the Billboard are a staple of Skatune Network. Their Halloween and Christmas albums are also instant classics in my mind. 

Utah Phillips 

Utah Phillips is a folk singer who has released a great number of union and worker’s songs that are all classics. As his name suggests, he is from Utah. In fact he went to the High School where High School Musical was filmed before it was called the “High School where High School Musical was filmed.” Many of his recordings feature anecdotes and stories of workers’ and union activism and struggles. Utah Phillips is the epitome of music that inspires action. Perfect for any picket line or organizing meeting, Utah Phillips is a titan of union music. 

His version of “The Popular Wobbly” is what introduced me to him and I was hooked in an instant. “All Used Up,” “We Have Fed You All For a Thousand Years,” “There is Power in a Union” are all wonderful songs that outline what is, and what could be for the workers of the world. Utah Phillip’s Wobbly ideology is celebrated throughout his songs and his prolific recording means there is still much for me to pick through and discover by him. As of yet, “The Telling Takes Me Home” is by far my favorite song I’ve discovered by him. In due time there will likely be a “Beginners Guide to Utah Phillips” published on this blog

Akintoye 

Akintoye is by far my favorite rapper right now. In the introduction I stated I like music that kicks me in the chest in one way or another, and Akintoye always manages to kick me in the chest in new and interesting ways. I was of course introduced to his music over TikTok where a jingle he wrote stating “I’ll be damned if I listen to words up out the mouth of a man with an unwashed ass” went viral. In the way viruses work, I was infected and have been a fan since. 

Whether it's through forceful lyrics like in “Ease Up” and “Off the Lot,” or melancholy melody and lyrics in “Taking on the World Tonight” or “Talk right now,” Akintoye has got music for every mood. His 2021 album “Centerpiece” is my favorite of the two full length albums he has released thus far in his career. I look forward to seeing whatever Akintoye comes out with next. 

Deserving of mention: 

The Longest Johns, Pat the Bunny, Cœur de Pirate, The Altogether

Albums 

Tai Verdes - TV (2021) and Olivia Rodrigo - Sour (2021)

An artist who has only released one full-length Tai Verdes has yet to produce a song I don’t like. His album TV is full of songs that are upbeat, high energy, and often heartwrenching all at the same time. Easy to listen to, and fun to sing along to TV was a fantastic debut album, and I look forward to HDTV, the upcoming second album from the artist. “A-OK” and “Momma told me I’m gonna be” are my favorites from the album. 

Another artist who has only released one studio album, but the release is an absolute masterpiece. Most of the songs on the album speak for themselves but I want to take the moment to give “Brutal” and “Good 4 u” their flowers as my favorites on the album. 

Stan Rogers - From Coffee House to Concert Hall (1999)

This 20 song, 70 minute album is made of live recordings of Stan Rogers’ performances before his untimely death in 1983. The opening song “Guysborough Train” is beautiful and haunting. “Love Letter” is a heartfelt song of homesickness and the weariness of travel. The nautical folk classic “Leave Her Johnny, Leave Her” gets the Stan Rogers treatment on the album as well. The crown jewel of the album to me is the closing song, Stan’s performance of “Down the Road,” written by Mary McCaslin. The album is full of his rich vocals and gentle guitar, and is overall a wonderful listen. 

Apes of the State - This City Isn’t Big Enough (2016)

A bonafide folk punk classic, this album is a major part of my musical awakening. Full of economic and social and romantic angst and strife, the album isn’t always an easy listen, but it certainly delivers a kick to the chest. “Bill Collectors Theme Song” touches on the economic anxieties and alienation of the modern day young adult, something I know far too many people who can relate to. “Plate Glass Apology” and “On to the Next” sing about the messy parts of breakups and moving on. “I Listened” is my favorite Apes of the State song. It’s a song full of yearning and heartache and the frustration of having a crush on someone and figuring out how to express that.

Left at London - Transgender Street Legend Vols 1, 2 & 3 (2018, 2020, 2022) 

So, technically not one album, or even three separate albums, but Left at London’s three Transgender Street Legend EPs are collectively and individually outstanding. Off the first volume, “I Don’t Trust U Anymore” and “I Split My Ribs Open”  are my personal favorites. Volume 2 brings us “Do You See Us” and “Choke” as standouts on an thoroughly incredible EP. Finally Volume 3, released only a few weeks ago features “I’m Not Laughing Anymore” and “My Old Ways” as highlights. 

We Are The Union - Ordinary Life (2021)

If you thought I wasn’t going to include a ska album in my recommended albums, you were wrong. Ordinary Life is a bittersweet and angry and energetic album. “Morbid Obsessions” and “Boys Will Be Girls” are both very gender if you will. “Make It Easy” and “Ordinary Life” along with the two aforementioned songs are my favorites on this bopping Ska album. 

Deserving of Mention: 

The Proclaimers, Sunshine on Leith; Pink Williams, Country Songs for a Broken Country; Morray, Street Sermons; Lil Nas X, Montero; 

Songs

"Lemon Water" - Yani Mo

Yani Mo, a self-described “countryqueersoul” artist, released this gem of a song in May of this year and it was an instant classic for me. 

"The City of New Orleans" - Arlo Guthrie

If you’re reading this far into any blog post, you probably know that I love trains. And this song is a love letter to a train, and for that I love it. 

“Shirt of Blue” - The Men They Couldn’t Hang

The angst of fistfighting your childhood friend who became a cop when you became an industrial worker? Sign me the FUCK up. 

“The Author” - Luz

Introduced to me by the TV show Love Island last year, I instantly fell in love with the song. Luz has yet to release a full length studio album but I eagerly await the day she does. 

“ROUND HERE (PART 1)” - Tobe Nwigwe 

This song belongs in the hall of fame of songs that kick you in the chest. Just a full King Leonidas in 300 kick to the chest in pure musical form. 

“Joli Rouge” - The Dreadnoughts

I’m a sea shanty girl living in a sea shanty world, what can I say? A hell of a drinking son and just a good vibe. 

“Come Out Ye Black and Tans” - The Wolfe Tones

Fuck england, enough said. 

 

The Abortion Ban-Welfare Capitalist Connection

Recently I’ve been seeing tweets and other online media about companies that are providing support to their employees who may need help in getting access to abortions. The above image, an internal news relase from Dicks Sporting Goods exemplifies just that phenomenon. I cannot help but cringe when I see these stories and hear about the ways in which welfare capitalism continues to rear its ugly head. I am writing this piece to hopefully provide some clarity and historical background for why companies picking up the slack and providing support to their employees in getting access to abortions is terrifying and in the long run destructive for the working class. 

Welfare Capitalism 

To begin, a baseline historical understanding of the development of welfare capitalism is important. Welfare capitalism emerged in the US in response to a swelling of pro-union sentiment and high rates of turnover in large factories and industrial settings during the early 20th century. Companies started stepping in and offering welfare programs such as insurance, pensions, and financial aid to students themselves. 

It was in the interest of these companies to provide things like healthcare, pensions, and insurance directly to their employees. By providing those welfare programs, the companies achieved several things. Firstly, these efforts in part curtailed unionization pushes. Business preempted the demands of the unions, and this can still be seen in practice now as companies like Starbucks and Amazon begin raising wages and offering better benefits to dissuade Union organizing. Companies fear an organized workplace more than they fear offering benefits to their workers. Secondly, it made workers dependent on their employers and not the state for access to important welfare programs. This gave employers an immense amount of power over workers, and continues to give incredible leverage to companies. Third, the growth of welfare capitalism reduced turnover rates and allowed companies to keep a consistent workforce, cutting their costs. 

Welfare capitalism is a way to consolidate company and capitalist power over workers through offering benefits like insurance and pensions contingent on employment with the company. 

Abortion Bans as Class War

Understanding that every law made by a capitalist government and a capitalist state is done with the class interests of the capitalists in mind, it becomes apparent that the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the abortion bans that will enter effect in the coming weeks are parts of the class war. The capitalist class has the simultaneous need for labor costs to be as low as possible to maximize profits, and a ready pool of laborers to draw from. As capitalists have spent the last several decades creating anti-regulation and austerity neoliberal policy, state and company support for new families has dwindled, and raising children has become an increasingly larger economic burden on families. 

Now as workers are unable to financially support families, regardless of their desire to have families, the birth rates in the US are declining. There are several reasons for this, beyond just the socio-economic state of the nations. But, the fact remains that to capitalism, anything other than constant growth and expansion is death. Declines in birth rates and decline in labor pool are death to the capitalist, and utterly unacceptable to the capitalist class. 

So instead of allowing themselves to be taxed in the pursuit of state-sponsored social programs like universal healthcare, paid parental leave, and free public education through the university level, the capitalists have elected to ban abortions in many states. 

Welfare Capitalism and Abortion Bans

So given that abortion bans are an act of class war, and that welfare capitalism is not done in the interest of workers, it should be clear that the supposedly benevolent corporations promising to provide funds for abortion access are not acting in our best interests. 

Because when these companies provide these programs, they weaken workers' connections to any non-corporate entity. The response to the banning of abortions in certain states has been calls for the building and growth of grassroots cross-region networks to provide abortion access by and for the people. And this is entirely unacceptable to the capitalist class. These organs of working class power and connectivity directly challenge the capitalists’ hegemony. 

So in providing access to social programs and healthcare that states are unwilling to provide, the capitalist continues to consolidate their power. The capitalist undermines community-based alternatives and increases worker reliance on companies providing access to essential healthcare and social support. 

As more companies release statements about supporting their workers seeking abortions, do not take it as progress or as a unprecedented act. It has over a century of precedent and over a century of harming working class power. 

Where Do We Go From Here? 

We build and we grow. In places where there are already networks of people working to provide access to abortion care to those in need, enter in these spaces carefully and help them grow. Build these networks in places they don't exist. 

Grow Unions. If you're involved in your union, get involved in the governance of it. Grow your region and your city's central labor councils. Create organs of working class power that are not beholden to capital and capitalists. 

It is of the utmost importance to grow and build these communities and organizations. Because the corporations are not going to save us, the parties of the bourgeoisie are not going to save us. No amount of voting blue can interrupt the gears of the system. Build working class power, build dual power, build independent labor parties, because only the working class can defend the working class!

Bit By Bit

Bit by bit. 

On march 17th, 2020, I moved to Boise Idaho. I moved in with my dad who had moved there in August of 2019. Passing through for a week in august of 2019 on my way to my freshman year of university was the only time I’d been in boise. I’d hardly seen any of the city beyond my dad’s neighborhood and a couple of neighboring neighborhoods. But in March of 2020, I found myself suddenly living in the capital city of the Idaho Capital of North America. That summer was brutal. Incredibly hot, without any friends in the city, and unable to make any friends in the area, I was largely alone. Except for a tenacious, raunchy group of folks on twitter. HFT, in its heyday, was so much more than frisbee players and frisbee-adjacent people being horny on twitter. It was a community of people getting through the pandemic bit by bit. Weird, absurdist, gen Z humor, compressed into the weirdest goddamn bits I’d ever taken part in. 

But HFT fell apart, bit by bit. Real life drama, the slow release of covid protections that allowed people to return to a slightly more normal life, and a goddamn shanty changed the ways HFT interacted internally and externally. There’s more to it than that, but that’s what I saw. In all honesty, I don’t think the shanty did much to contribute to HFTs downfall. I think it was just a blip on the radar of frisbee twitter in general. Nothing worth remembering, nothing worth forgetting. Indeed as life became more normal and HFT dissolved, bit by bit, I felt alone. 

By March of 2021, I still didn’t have any friends in Boise. It wasn’t until April or May that I first started to consider some of my teammates friends. They were the first people I’d met in Idaho, and the first that I socialized with in a more normal way in a long while. I went back to Madison for much of the summer of 2021, and I became less reliant on twitter, bit by bit. Fall 2021 into winter and spring of 2022, I became happier and happier. Bit by bit. It didn’t come all at once, but for once, for every bad day, there were several more good days. I missed my friends in Canada, but was able to visit them over my spring break and reconnect with them. It was great to hang out with them again, it was a wonder and made me remember why they were my friends when I was there. I got to reconnect with them, bit by bit. 

And now, on the precipice of the summer of 2022, I push forwards in life, bit by bit. Today I visited a potato hotel. I referenced a bit that’s almost 2 years old because I remember how it got me through those times. And if I could keep anything from the horrid years of the pandemic that continues to plague us, I’d keep those bits. I’d take the bits that kept me afloat, that put a smile on my face, and that I still can look back fondly to. 

It’s a tough life, in a tough world, but I know I can get through it with my friends, bit by bit.

 

A Poet and the Moon

Hanna’s grandfather was a poet. He danced with the words he spoke and the words he wrote. He melded syllables and rhymes and double entendres. Smashed them all together, ground them into dust, and blew them into glass all in an instant. To Hanna, her grandfather’s words were the most beautiful in the world, even when she didn’t understand them. On a warm summer’s evening, her grandfather said something that Hanna knew to be beautiful, but she didn’t understand it. 

“Never turn your back on a smiling moon,” He said, leaning back into the rocking chair so that he and Hanna, still small enough to sit on his lap, could see the stars better. On this particular day, the moon was a sharp crescent, almost horizontal in the sky. Hanna could easily read a smile into the celestial body thousands of miles away. But it was curious to Hanna how someone was supposed to never turn their back on a smiling moon. Because the moon was up all night and she had a bedtime. She simply couldn’t stay up all through the night and watch the moon. 

“What do I do when I have to go to bed?” Hanna asked. 

Her grandfather chuckled. “Smile back, say thank you, and be grateful for her beauty. And when the time is right, keep the moon with you.” This made good enough sense to Hanna. So later that night when it was time to go to bed, Hanna and her grandfather smiled as big of smiles as they could, and said their thanks. As Hanna lay in bed, she turned her grandfather’s words over in her head again and again, writing them deep in her heart. 

☽☽☽

Over time, Hanna’s grandfather lost his words. He could no longer dance, much less dance with the words that flowed from his mind. That river of poetic strength had slowed its pace to a crawl. Eventually, it stopped altogether. The flow of his words turned to the flow of his loved one’s tears. Hanna’s grandfather had asked to be cremated, with all the poems and letters and writings his family loved most to be used as the kindling. They sprinkled his ashes into the creek behind his house. The same one where he had passed so many words of wisdom on to Hanna and her siblings. 

The night after the spreading of the ashes, Hanna sat alone in the rocking chair on the porch. It was fall, and the cold wind sunk its teeth into her, refusing to let go and grant her the solace of warmth. Hanna stood to return inside, and cast her gaze up to the sky. Inky gray clouds were forced along by the wind. A crescent moon pierced the cover for a brief moment. A beaming moon sat before her. Hanna smiled and she shuddered, from the cold and from the sobs that racked her frigid frame. 

“Thank you” she forced out, between sobs. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She murmured. By the time she had regained control of her body and looked to the sky once more, the moon was buried deep beneath the clouds. She gathered all the strength she could into the dozens of small muscles in her face and crafted a smile. “Thank you” she said, one more time, knowing that the moon was smiling back tonight. 

☽☽☽

A couple of years later found Hanna several hundred miles away from the porch and the house and the spaces she shared with her grandfather. Hanna often found herself biking about in the moonlight. Whenever a crescent moon smiled down on her, she made sure to smile back and say her thanks to the moon and to her grandfather. On this particular night, Hanna was indoors. It was winter and the sun went down early in the day. Hanna and her friends had gotten takeout from the Chinese restaurant that everyone on campus recognized as the greatest food to ever bless the earth. Hanna and her friends shared rice and chicken and pork and beef and vegetables. Happy for the company and happy for the memories being made. Together, they all opened the complementary fortune cookies.

“It is time to turn advice into action” was printed on the thin paper slip. Hanna read the fortune aloud and then turned the paper over in her hands, again and again. Writing the fortune into her conscience. 

The chinese food was only the opener for the night. Hanna drove across campus to a party with her friends. The moon that night was full. Hanna never had the mind to project a man into the scattered craters that could be seen on particularly clear nights. Though the moon didn’t smile at her, she still smiled as she gazed up into the sky.

The party was loud. This wasn’t surprising of course. Most parties tend to be loud, colorful, chaotic affairs. Hanna wasn’t a huge fan of those features of parties. But Hanna did love dancing and meeting new people. And those were things Hanna could do at most parties. After a few extremely intense rounds on the dance floor, Hanna excused herself and found a seat on the back patio. It wasn’t a particularly cold night, and the cool air felt good to the well warmed Hanna. A few moments after she sat down, the door to the patio opened and a girl Hanna hadn’t yet met stepped out. Wearing high heels and a silvery dress, she approached Hanna. 

“Hi, I saw you dancing and I wanted to say that you’re really pretty and you seem really nice and fun.” She smiled. Hanna smiled right back 

“Thank you, I’m Hanna by the way” She said, reaching out a hand. 

“Nice to meet you Hanna, I’m Luna.” They shook hands, which was a rather platonic greeting. However their fingers lingered together in a particularly gentle way, and Hanna knew the time was right. 

Please Hold On-Reflections on a Voyage Back

Please Hold On-Reflections on a Voyage Back

After 2 years away, I finally made it back to the Vancouver, BC area. On March 17th, the 2 year anniversary of me leaving canada during a wild twist in my freshman year of college, I landed back at YVR airport. I worked my way through the terminal, customs, and out to the skytrain. 

God I missed the skytrain. I missed it so much. Being able to get around the area quickly while just sitting back and letting the trains go is so nice. It’s something I struggle to live without. Good public transit has become so important to me, and will be incredibly important for whatever city I choose to move to. 

When I got to my hotel in surrey, I was immediately reminded of what a microcosm of capitalism Surrey Central is. Homeless people sleeping in the shadows of High rises and luxury hotels that stand a couple dozen stories high. Consumption intersects with labor, boom intersects with bust, the ivory tower and the slum are next door neighbors. Surrey gets a bad rep, but it’s a fine city. So long as you can keep track of the human in among the wealth and poverty, it’s an incredible place. 

Good food is abundant across the lower mainland. The Vancouver area has a lot of wonderful local chains, small businesses, and so much outstanding Asian food. In a week I had Chinese, Japanese, and Thai food, and was impressed every time. The diversity of the population reflects the variety of food. Going from Boise, ID (90% white) to the Vancouver area (<50% white) is a radical shift in who I’m around. 

Being around the friends I made during my half a year in the area was incredibly refreshing. I’ve missed just sharing space and chatting with them. I cannot entirely quantify what they mean to me. But I know without them, Vancouver wouldn’t feel like home. 

Vancouver feels like home, but visiting as a tourist is pretty sweet as well. Science world rules. The Museum of Anthropology at UBC is fascinating. There’s no lack of things to do and places to see. Getting back to transit, the ability to get around without being able to rent a car is a necessity for all cities in my opinion. 

I’d be remiss if I wrote anything about Vancouver without mentioning Simon Fraser University. The university that brought me to the city for the first time over three years ago. The university that got me out of Madison at the age of 17. The university I still kinda love. The sustainable energy engineering program I started out in wasn’t for me. I’m not cut out to be an engineer. But it was great to be back in the SEE building and sitting in on classes I didn’t have to try to understand. The SEE building is sick as hell and I love being in it. The Burnaby campus is incredible too. Fresh mountain air, incredibly views, and more brutalist architecture than anyone could ever possibly need. Being back makes me want to apply there for Grad School. 

Though I’ve been considering grad school really since this semester started, being back on the SFU campus has really busted open that can of worms. However it keeps me thinking: am I considering grad school at both SFU and UBC because I really want to go, or because I want to live in Vancouver again? Of course I’m still considering grad school as a whole, and there are several American schools that have my eye (hey there Utah). Grad school is still a big question mark on my future. But then again my whole future is a mess of punctuation anyways. 

Returning back to Vancouver and being faced with the reality that I was only there for a week and would settle back down in Boise also opened my eyes to my attitude about Boise. For quite a while, I thought I disliked boise cause it couldn’t live up to the standard set for me by Madison. But really the standard that Madison set for me paled in comparison to just how much Vancouver feels like the right city for me. A large, multicultural city with good transit and incredible food that despite its size isn’t overwhelming is an unfair bar to judge Boise against. I’ve been unfair to Boise, I think internally the more that I hated boise, the more it affirmed that I had made the right choice by going to Vancouver for school. It made the regrets I felt primarily associated with having to leave, and not with the fact that Vancouver, despite all my love for it, was not at all perfect. I wasn't a perfect person living a perfect life while I was there. I made mistakes, I have regrets about my time there. But by erasing those regrets and instead attributing all of my sadness about Vancouver to the act of leaving I could absolve myself of blame for anything that happened there. There are things I should have done, there are people I should have talked to more. But we live and we learn. And I’m going to keep living and keep learning in Boise for the next couple of years. 

I’m just about to touch down in Boise. So my final thoughts are this: 1) Vancouver is incredible, the people, the food, the atmosphere, all incredible. 2) I’ve still got a lot to learn about myself and the city of Vancouver. And I’ll keep learning about myself through the city of Vancouver. 3) grad school is a big decision I’m gonna have to make pretty soon. 4) Boise is a good place for me to call home.  

Musings on the 14th of February

 It’s been a while since I’ve posted any of my writing here. I’ve been so focused on my essays for class that I haven’t done much introspective writing. 

Today I don’t know what I'm going to write. It’s 11:36 p.m. on a school night when I’m starting this. I certainly won’t be done until the morning of valentine’s day. I should be in bed and I should be asleep but There's just some things that I need to get out there and into the world.  I've got a lot of thoughts right now none of them are particularly constructive or good but maybe this rambling text will become something coherent by the end of it.  

I guess the first thing on my mind is that I feel like there are people who I should be able to call my friend and that I would maybe like to call my friend but either I'm not putting in enough effort or they just don't like me or who the hell knows. There's just not that connection there and there's something missing. It makes me feel bad even though I know it shouldn't make me feel bad. And that’s the worst type of melancholy cause it sticks in your teeth and digs at your gums until you bleed and there is a faint taste of iron in your spit. But it's just as much their fault as mine, at least I want to think it is. Because it also makes me feel bad for my friends who are there for me. Who don't make me question where I stand with them and that I know that I can trust. It feels like it isn’t fair for them that I'm questioning my friendship with others more than developing our friendship. 

I think another part of it is that I tend to have these Cycles. I start hanging out or interacting with a group of people and you know things start off good. I like the people, they like me and then I start getting overwhelmed. And when I get overwhelmed I shut downm and when I shut down I retract, pull back, isolate. Then through no fault of their own they move on and they keep connecting and forming those bonds with each other. Meanwhile I'm just not engaging in that group and that means that I fall out of the circle.  

It's been, at this point, over 750 days since I last went on something that I could call a date. That has been kind of hanging around me. That I haven't been able to have that type of connection in a long time. That's just how it goes though there's some context in there and most that has been during a pandemic that is devastating this country. But such a round Milestone number of days, and the realization that it's over 2 years. That just has just been staying with me. Because I know that my value isn’t determined by that. But maybe those 750 days are a monument to the realization that there's work that I have to put in if I want to live the life I want to live, and if I want the people around me to be able to lift the type of life that I think they deserve. 750 days it's a hell of a lot of days. And this isn't to be on any sort of incel bulshit that women don’t want to date me cuz I'm a nice guy or bull s*** like that. And I certainly don't want pity or anything like that. I understand that the problem isn't in the women that I am interested in. I'm not concerned about being dating material or anything like that. I'm just concerned that I’m not where I'm supposed to be and it's causing issues. I can't be in the right headspace to pursue that type of stuff if I'm not happy where I am and if I'm not willing to put in the work to be happy where I am. It’s a very realistic possibility that I go another 750 days before I go on another date.

I always, always, always try and remember that history is for the living. It really truly is. I guess I need to remember that love is for the living as well and that relationships are for the living and that I need to live. I need to do what is necessary for me to finally take the leap. I need to breathe in the air and smell the flowers and take the steps that all lead me to wherever I'm going. There is a proverb that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I think that's the biggest thing. Maybe a streak of 750 days ends with a single step. Or maybe a single sentence, who knows. 

I don't exactly know what the right term for what I'm going through is. Could be alienation, could be seasonal affective disorder finally coming around and kicking my ass like it always does. I might just be here, writing through a sad moment. That's okay. I hope that when I go to bed and I wake up in the morning and I just go throughout my day that I'm going to feel better. I don't think there's any guarantee of that, but maybe the hope for it is all that I need. 

Happy Valentine's Day y’all. 

With Love, Aaron 

The Beginners Guide To Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba, photo from Getty Images 

The last few years/months have seen something of a renaissance for the archetypical one-hit-wonder Chumbawamba. Many people online have realized just how rad chumbawamba was. Their music was radical and political, their non-music antics just as brash as their lyrics. If you’ve only ever heard the one hit Tubthumping, this is the place for you. If you can chant along about getting knocked down and getting back up again, but have never heard Dance, Idiot, Dance you’ve come to the right place. If you know the weird creepy album art of a Baby Doll on a Bright Green background, but don't know about the album art that's a woman actively giving birth, then welcome. This post will break down a bit about Chumbawamba’s career, make suggestions about where to start with their music, as well as offer personal recommendations for songs I enjoy. 

A brief Chumbawambography 

For those who don’t know, Chumbawamba had one massive hit with “Tubthumping” in 1997 which reached #2 in the UK and #6 in the US charts. The album it was on, “Tubthumper,” sold over 3 Million copies. 

Many people view Tubthumping as something of an anomaly of Chumbawamba’s career. It was their only majorly popular song, it wasn’t indicative of their musical style, and it was a deviation from the strong political messaging apparent in their other works. Though the viral popularity of Tubthumping was a deviation from the rest of their extensive discography, those other two sentiments don’t hold up when examined more closely. 

Chumbawamba’s musical style was incredibly varied throughout their career. I generally group it into three broad styles. Those categories are Punk-Pop, Dance Pop, and Folk. 

First, they started off with an experimental punk-pop style. This was exhibited in their first few albums: From their debut How to Get Your Band on Television, to their next 3 original albums Never Mind the Ballots, Shhh, and Slap!. The latter half of their album Swingin’ With Raymond also fits into this style, though it certainly sides more on the punk side of punk-pop. 

The Punk-Pop morphed into Dance Pop with the group’s most popular albums: Anarchy and Tubthumping. As well as their next three original LPs, WYSIWYG, Readymades, and UN. The aforementioned Swingin’ With Raymond also features a couple of songs on the first half of the album that match the upbeat pop of this time. This era provides the most pushback to the idea that “Tubthumping” is a stylistic outlier in Chumbawamba's career. Hard hitting, upbeat songs that are easy to jam out to are abundant in this period. 

The band’s final era was their folk era. The first folk-adjacent songs appeared in their collection of english rebel songs. Most of the first half of Swingin’ With Raymond also falls into this category. The band’s last handful of albums: Singsong and a Scrap, The Boy Bands Have Won, and ABCDEFG all fall into this category. These all feature melodic and incredibly catchy songwriting and performances. 

Despite the stylistic variation of Chumbawamba’s vast discography, there are two main trends that run through the entirety of the band’s work. First being the heavy use of samples, often from bizarre origins, and the second being biting, heavily political, and brash lyrics. Tubthumping isn’t as biting or brash as some of their other works, but it does have political characteristics. The album liner notes for the song make it clear that it is a declaration of joy, of drunken bliss in spite of the bleak nature of the world. Joy is a political action when the established system feeds off of our alienation and is empowered by our apathism. Even if Tubthumping wasn’t particularly political, it would not be the only song by the anarchist band that didn’t live up to the highly political standard of their music. Songs like The Morning After, Be With You, and Home With Me, to name a few, are more romantic and heartfelt than they are political. 

Where to Start if…

Not sure where to start your dive into the vast world of Chumbawamba’s Discography? This section will give some suggestions on where to start based on what you like or dislike about Tubthumping, musical genres, and the world as a whole. The suggestions are not exhaustive, I’m sure I’ve missed some perfect examples for each category. For that I will defer to the handful of people out there who are more well versed in Chumbawamba’s discography than I am. There are also many more categories that I deemed unfit for publishing, so if you want more suggestions and recommendations, feel free to DM me on Twitter @aaron_2718. 

You LOVE Tubthumping. 

If you really love the most popular Chumbawamba song ever, here’s where to start. First, if you haven’t already listened to the non-radio edit of the song, do that. The original adds a bit of flavor and feels more like a regular chumbawamba song. After that, give Tubthumper a full listen. If you don’t have time for that, listen to Amnesia, the second song on the album. Other songs with similar vibes include Jesus in Vegas (WYSIWYG), She’s Got All The Friends That Money Can Buy (WYSIWYG), We Don’t Want to Sing Along (UN), and Mouthful of Shit (Anarchy). 

You think Tubthumping is too pop and want something more Punk

If you want something grittier that really kicks you in your chest, I’d start with The second half of Swingin’ with Raymond, starting with the song All Mixed Up, though you could maybe skip Waiting, Shouting. Further, Mary Mary (Tubthumper), More Whitewashing (How to Get Your Band on TV), and Bad Dog (Anarchy) are all more in the Punk vein. Also check out any of the albums mentioned in the paragraph on Chumbawamba’s Punk-pop era of music. 

You think Tubthumping is too pop and want something more Folk 

First, check out the paragraph on Chumbawamba’s Folk era. That will guide you to the albums Singsong and a Scrap, The Boy Bands Have Won, and ABCDEFG. All of which are primarily folk songs. Some specific songs from those albums: Underground (ABCDEFG), Laughter in a Time of War (Singsong and a Scrap), Buy Nothing Day (UN) and Word Bomber (The Boy Bands Have Won) are all good places to start. Songs not from those albums that might scratch that folksy itch include Rebel Code (UN), 

You’re looking for good feminist music

Chumbawamba has written quite a few excellent feminist songs. They are about legitimate women’s liberation and not just wishy-washy bourgeois feminist girlboss anthems. The songs This Dress Kills, Not The Girl, and This Girl, off of Swingin’ With Raymond are all classics. Bad Dog (Anarchy) and Mary Mary (Tubthumper) Both cover the unrealistic expectations and pressures put on women. Compliments of Your Waitress (The Boy Bands Have Won) and Georgina (Anarchy) are both about women taking power back from abusive people in their lives. 

You’re looking for love songs

The Morning After and Love Can Knock off of Swingin’ With Raymond, Home With Me (Readymades) and Be With You (UN) are all fantastic songs to listen to when you’re yearning for that special someone. Following You (UN) and When Alexander Met Emma (Singsong and a Scrap) both tell beautiful stories of love blooming in radical movements. 

You hate elections and electoral politics 

Never Mind the Ballots is the perfect album for any election year. Additionally, songs like This Year’s Thing (Anarchy), Love Me (Anarchy), and Amnesia (Tubthumper) are all deeply critical of the expectation that bourgeois politics will change anything. 

You really hate Margaret Thatcher

Chumbawamba wrote a whole EP about Thatcher dying, sold it on pre-order, and then once Thatcher finally kicked the bucket, sent it out to everyone who ordered it. The EP In Memoriam, Margaret Thatcher is available on youtube. The song So Long is an absolute must for anyone who hates the Iron Lady. 

You hate cops and fascists 

Oxymoron (Swingin’ With Raymond) and Don’t Pass Go (Readymades) both expertly point out the hypocrisy in policing. Enough is Enough (Anarchy) is all about shooting fascists, and Chumbawamba puts their own spin on classic anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao (Singsong and a scrap). 

You love sick guitar riffs

Not straying far from Tubthumping, the songs Mary Mary and Creepy Crawling (both on Tubthumper) have incredible guitar parts that are bound to get stuck in your head. Bad Dog (Anarchy) also has a very gritty riff undercutting it. 

You are deeply disturbed by suburbia 

You’re going to want to listen to the songs Ugh Your Ugly Houses (Swingin’ With Raymond), Smalltown (Tubthumper), and Celebration Florida (WYSIWYG). 

Personal Recommendations

Now for my personal favorites of what Chumbwamba has produced, as well as chumbawmba-related media. These are purely suggestive opinions and I’m sure somehow, someway, this is going to piss off some chumbawamba superfan I’ve yet to have the pleasure to meet. Anyways here we go: 

Albums 

UN: My personal favorite of Chumbawamba’s albums. I think it accentuates the best parts of chumbawamba, the high energy and highly political songs. I think this is the most complete album from start to finish in Chumbawamba’s discography. 

Readymades: This is probably one of Chumbawamba’s least popular albums, but everytime I listen to it I find something new to admire about it. This album also features one of my favorite songs that I’ll get to in just a moment. 

Swingin’ With Raymond: Another often overlooked album in Chumbawamba’s Discography. The format of the album, broken into two halves with drastically different styles, “Love it” and “Hate it” (sometimes referred to as Love and Loathe), works for me. I like the sharp turn from folksy pop songs to hard-hitting punk. 

Anarchy: The second-most popular chumbawamba album after Tubthumper, and deservedly so. Anarchy was one of my first introductions to the band beyond Tubthumping, and it’s no surprise the album got me hooked. There is no lack of great catchy songs on this album. 

Songs 

Jacob’s Ladder: Off the album Readymades, I generally consider this my favorite Chumbawamba song. It is just an incredibly beautiful song that always gets me bopping my head and swaying about wherever I am. 

Hull or Hell: From The Boy Bands Have Won, this is another genuinely beautiful song. The lyrics never fail to strike home and put me in a wistful mood. 

Pickle: Chumbawamba’s last studio album ABCDEFG has some absolute gems of songs. Pickle is one of these. A gentle piano melody in harmony with lyrics about the nature of music. 

Mouthful of Shit: My favorite song off of Anarchy, this song just rocks. It’s loud, it’s brash, and it gives absolutely no fucks. There’s not much I can say other than go listen to the song!

When Fine Society Sits Down to Dine: In a similar vein as Mouthful of Shit, When Fine Society Sits Down to Dine is all about human waste going places. In the case of this song, the crown jewel of UN in my opinion, is all about pissing in the wine of high society. A classic Chumbawamba song with a classic Chumbawamba narrative. 

I Want More: Probably my favorite song on Tubthumper after Tubthumping and Amnesia. This song is all about the obnoxious entitled nature of the upper class. Just another way of saying fuck you to our class overlords. 

Learning to Love: One of the best songs from A Singsong and a Scrap, is a gentle melody all about taking action and not waiting for your lover to come back from the war. It is a subversive take on the emotional ballad sung by a young woman waiting for her lover to return from their military duty. It’s truly an incredible song. 

Jesus in Vegas: From WYSIWYG, the follow-up album to Tubthumper is full of upbeat songs with catchy lyrics. Jesus in Vegas is a perfect example of that. Everytime this song comes up on a playlist I’m instantly energized. It’s hard not to belt out the chorus to this song. 

Other Chumbawamba Stuff 

Chumbology, a Chumbawamba Anthology Podcast: This deep dive tackles Chumbawamba’s entire discography. It’s hosts, as knowledgeable about chumbawamba as they are prone to tangents, have gone song by song, album by album through the entire chumbawamba discography from How to Get Your Band on Television up to the start of WYSIWYG. If you’re looking for thoughts on Chumbawamba’s music that aren’t your own, Chumbology is probably the best place to start. You can find the podcast at https://www.chumbology.rocks/.

One Hit Wonderland, Tubthumping by Chumbawamba: One Hit Wonderland is a series by the Youtuber “Todd in the Shadows” Where he takes a look at the entire career, from start to finish of a one hit wonder and offers his thoughts on their music and career. If you want a quick intro to Chumbawamba’s career (that isn’t this post), this is a great start. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/WiZr87g6rNo 

What is it about poets and the moon?

I love a new moon 

A blue day and a blue night that holds all the potential of the world

An empty seat in a dark concert hall where all those who play each night are the headliner

I love a crescent moon

A small sliver that must fight with all its strength to shine through

A smile, a smirk, subtly cast down from the heavens as I wander through the streets

I love a quarter moon

A divided glass of milk in the inky depths 

An omen to the smiling optimist and the frowning pessimist

I love a gibbous moon

A strong crater in the darkness

A plump grin well upon its way to dominating the sky

I love a full moon

A beacon of realized self 

An entity in its complete and unrelenting form 

I love a gibbous moon

That hangs lazily in its victory 

That need not compete for the onlooker’s attention

I love a quarter moon 

That still holds the growing dark to a tie

That keeps a balance at night with no villains and no heroes 

I love a crescent moon 

That has become weak and has wilted away, but is still celestial 

That winks to me as it slowly sinks deeper, for it has forgotten how to swim 

I love a new moon 

That makes me miss the light simply for it has a temporary absence 

That blank slate that still holds the strength to shape the ocean’s waves many miles below

Danny's Light

 Growing up, when Danny wrote, they wrote of city lights. The city was many miles away, and Danny had never visited. But on clear nights, they could look out the window of their room, down into the valley, and see the lights that beckoned them. Every year, the edge of the city crept closer and closer to the cabin where Danny lived with their family. And every year, Danny grew closer and closer to leaving home and taking off for the city. Eventually, the day came that Danny awoke in their childhood home, but did not return to sleep for the night. 

That day Danny’s parents drove their child into the center of the city, and dropped Danny off at University. When Danny lived in the city, they wrote not of the towering monuments of capitalism, not the office buildings or the LCD billboards. Instead Danny wrote of the streetlights that cast golden pools onto quiet sidewalks at night. Danny wrote of the blue and red and green shine of LEDs from their neighbor’s windows. Danny wrote of the humble lights that shone only for themselves. After four years in the city closest to their home, Danny moved to a new city, one many miles away. 

The new city was not in a valley in the center of a landmass, but nestled along the coast. When Danny moved to the city by the sea, they wrote of new lights. Now Danny wrote of the lights that danced along waves. The light at sunset that swayed and flowed with the tides of the ocean. Danny would sit on driftwood logs, bleached and worn by the sun and the waves, and scribble away at a notebook, attempting to capture some small fraction of the incandescent beauty of a light shining on the water. One day when Danny was sitting and writing, they met someone. 

When Danny met this woman, they wrote of a new light. This woman became the light of Danny's life, and Danny could not find words to describe anything but her. Danny and the woman talked, the two grew close, moved in, and eventually exchanged vows. Now when Danny wrote of the city lights, they were always illuminating their lover. Danny’s lover, she spoke of Danny’s beauty, of their warmth. When Danny wrote of the lights that glinted on the waters, they were outshone by their lover. When Danny’s lover spoke, she said words that filled Danny’s heart, and moved their pen to write even more. Danny’s writing revolved around their lover’s light. 

Over many years, the light grew dimmer and dimmer. The light’s reflection was no longer brilliant, but dull and coarse. Danny wrote less and less. Where Danny used to write weekly, sometimes months, or even a year would pass without them writing. One day Danny could not bring themself to write another word of their lover’s light. It was a long, drawn out split. Danny no longer saw the light in their lover. And their lover no longer spoke of the beauty in Danny. It was a natural end. There were no more words to be said or to be written. Only tumultuous thoughts that lead nowhere. 

Early in their relationship with their lover, Danny had moved with her to a smaller town. It was cozy, and beautiful, but it did not shine iridescent like the cities that Danny had always written of. Danny found themself moving to a new city. This one where a river fed a large lake. When they first returned to city life, Danny could still not bring themself to write of the lights. When they put pen to paper, they found themself writing of the shadows. Writing about the dark corners and alleys tucked away out of sight in cities. Writing about the deepest, coldest parts of the ocean. The writings about sunrises and sunsets were replaced with writings about storms. Danny became angry at themself that they could not write the way they used to. They couldn’t find the words to describe the bright and the illuminating. 

Danny lost confidence in their written voice for many years, ceasing to write entirely.. The years of slowly falling out of love had left a toll on Danny. Their hair had much more gray, their skin many more wrinkles. Over the years that Danny had not written, they still carried around a small notebook. One that fit into their pocket along with a blue pen. One day, Danny found themself sitting at a bus stop late at night. They had been visiting a friend for dinner and talked much of the night away. When Danny boarded the bus, they found themself alone except for the driver. Gazing down the center aisle of the bus, the interior lighting of the bus struck Danny. It was a new, strange, type of beauty. Not bright and shimmering, not cold and roiling. It was calm and peaceful, a melancholy harmony of shadow and reflected light and a cool atmosphere. Danny meandered to the back of the bus, sat down, and began to write of a new type of city.