"Ooh, Way-ooh, The Coooo-ral Fang"

I'm in love with the way Brody Armstrong Dalle sings the chorus to the title track from the Distillers' latest, Coral Fang. I'm also in love with the way she sings "baby, you make my heart beat faster," in the chorus of the wonderfully Joan-Jett-y eighth track on the CD. It's really a pretty fucking great record.

Maybe three or four times a year, if I'm lucky, I encounter an album that I just can't stop playing-- on my headphones on the way to work, on my computer *at* work, on the way home, *at* home, at friends' houses... Coral Fang is such an album. I can't get enough. It has an absolutely flawless blend of pop and rock (with a ballsy emphasis on the latter, so don't go sobbing "sellouts!" just yet, tiger), and a fantastic assortment of styles and influences among the eleven tracks that all boil down to one really great, solid rock record.

In other news, I discovered a couple keen sites through my referrals: Dr. Balls Underground Music Review and Anti-Anti-Flag.com. Two great new flavors for you to enjoy! (Unless you're a socialist college trust-fund hippie activist progressive scumbag.) Check them out. They know the score.

Oh, and the Yankees lost. When the Yankees win a series, it's like the Berlin Wall collapsing again or something-- anthemic singalongs of "We Are the Champions" and all. But where are all the "We lost!" people? Am I a callous asshole for asking why, when this team loses, the fact is quietly acknowledged and then quickly and summarily dismissed? Or why there's such a huge difference in intensity between their happiness when "they" win and their sadness when "they" lose? Is it because "they" aren't actually playing the games or having any measurable effect on the outcomes at all?

Yes. To many Yankee fans (and sports fans in general), a team loss is like a family with a pervert relative-- "ssh, we don't talk about Uncle Frank." It's like a family shame. I want to hear some fans take personal responsibility for the Yankees' loss, the same way those same fans were ready to take personal responsibility for the Yankees' victory, should things have turned out that way.

But then, I don't know what I'm talking about.