Short Attention Span Review: Green Room (2015)

Short Attention Span Review: Green Room (2015)

Like most anyone who has been in a band and performed live, I've certainly seen my share of bad gigs.  Most of these lousy affairs make for funny stories, but The Ain't Rights (the struggling punk outfit at the center of Green Room) aren't so fortunate.  No, the bad gig that paves the way for this grim and wildly intense horror film is no laughing matter.  The movie takes its time with the opening reel, introducing us to the band and letting us get to know them a bit as they stagger through the last few stops on a humbling tour.  This pitiful venture is so profitable that the band has to siphon gas to keep their ragged van in motion, and while it may seem like quite the struggle, it's merely an appetizer for the carnage that Green Room unleashes after the band takes on a sketchy gig in the outskirts of Portland.  It is there that a gruesome struggle for survival will unfold as our likable heroes are hounded by some truly fearsome villains.  These bad guys are led by Patrick Stewart as a heroin-selling white supremacist named Darcy, and the man many know as Captain Picard or Charles Xavier makes for quite the icy fiend.  Stewart's performance here is undoubtedly one of Green Room's greatest assets.  Of course, the entire cast does a great job, with the late Anton Yelchin shining as Pat, the bassist and emotional center of the band.  Yelchin was one hell of a talent and he will be missed.  Other standouts in this dire shocker include Alia Shawkat as one of Pat's bandmates and Imogen Poots as a stranger who is stuck in the same dire predicament as The Ain't Rights.  The movie looks and sounds great--obviously, a picture like this needs a killer score, and I think the soundtrack is yet another tremendous asset to Green Room.  The violence is shocking and potent but never gratuitous, and the leisurely beginning really pays off as the movie grows darker and more vicious in the second and third acts.  There are no annoying characters we want to see killed off, so each death is a tragic blow given our affection for the players involved.  Writer and director Jeremy Saulnier is obviously a gifted cat, and while some may peg this as more of a thriller, I'm ready to anoint Green Room as the best new horror film that I've seen in 2016.

Final Grade: A 

Post Pop Depression - Iggy Pop (released 3/18/16)

I know it's early, but I'm here to tell you that it's entirely possible that the best album of 2016 has hit the scene.  Pairing punk rock icon Iggy Pop with groovy guitarist Josh Homme proves to be a wonderful idea on Post Pop Depression, a masterful release that fires on all cylinders.  Dean Fertita and Matt Helders round out the band, and they surely hold their own on bass and drums.  In fact, while I'm not a big fan of the Arctic Monkeys, I found the groovy percussion courtesy of Helders to be a bit of a revelation here.  Homme does some killer work on guitar (no surprise there) and provides some nifty vocals as well, and Fertita is also on point throughout, but make no mistake: this riveting gem is all about Iggy Pop.  There are rumors that this may be his last release, and if that is the case, Iggy is definitely going out on top.  The last track is about as fitting a swan song as one could imagine for a frontman with Pop's presence and vigor.  There isn't a bad track in the mix, and the album deftly weaves a plethora of styles together, covering new ground when it isn't revisiting bygone eras with the sort of expertise and power that should humble most modern acts looking to make their mark in any of the same territories.  Highlights include the invigorating odyssey that is "Sunday," the Bowie-esque "Gardenia," and "In the Lobby," a spunky and morbid affair that would have meshed nicely with all the rollicking tracks that made Funhouse* such a classic.  However, it's that grand finale ("Paraguay") that really sets this one apart, and this vicious and operatic farewell may be the best punk song I've heard in a decade or so.  It's 100% Iggy Pop, and it stands as a brilliant way to close out an extremely cool album from one of music's most vibrant performers.  In truth, I have to note that as a longtime fan of this brazen artist, the previously-mentioned Funhouse is the only recording Iggy has blessed us with that I would rate higher than Post Pop Depression.

Final Grade: A

If Post Pop Depression is the last entry in Iggy Pop's catalog, the dude is going out in style.

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*If you dig punk rock and you have never listened to Funhouse, you're doing it all wrong.  I know that most people in the know would probably anoint Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols as the best punk album ever (and it is positively sublime), but I have a hard time putting it above Funhouse.

Short Attention Span Review: The Return of the Living Dead (Soundtrack) - 1985

 
I frequently express my affection for Return of the Living Dead, a vastly underrated picture that is not only my favorite zombie flick, but one of my favorite horror films in general.  Hell, it's one of my favorite movies.  One of the things I like most about this outlandish gem is the incredible soundtrack.  The movie itself is very punk, so while it might seem bizarre on the surface, a soundtrack with songs from The Cramps, The Damned, Tall Boys, and The Flesheaters meshes well with the zombie carnage that ensues in the film.  Not only that, but most of the selections are awesome songs.  The movie's anthem, "Partytime," comes courtesy of 45 Grave, and it would probably be the highlight of this gnarly album if not for the song The Cramps brought to the party: "Surfin' Dead."  I dig the whole album and I do believe that it was integral to the movie's success.  I'll use this space to recommend the movie to any poor soul hasn't seen it, but my primary objective is to show the soundtrack some love.  It rocks--correction: it punk rocks.  Show your ears some love and give it a listen if you haven't already.