Jacksonport’s “California Gold” Explores an Elusive Golden State Dream
The prompt, onerous, and ultimately devastating period of westward expansion that defined most of the nineteenth century remains one of the most dramatic and crucial chapters in American history. Even today, removed as we may be from the blinding ethnocentric hubris of the likes of John O’Sullivan, whose rousing words in the pages of the […]
Alyson McNamara’s “Waiting”: To Want and Not Have
“The feelings that hurt most,” opined the famed Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa regarding the dilemma of unrequited love, are those that are “absurd” and “create in us a painful landscape, an eternal sunset of what we are.” About ill-fated and one-sided romantic affairs, Virginia Woolf similarly stated in the modernist classic To the Lighthouse that […]
Erin Ash Sullivan’s “Take It From There” is a Warm-Hearted Reassurance
As the cliched adage affectively reminds us: “home is where the heart is.” And from the long list of hackneyed five-and-dime maxims, one could certainly pull out the equally cloying and superficial “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Yet, for Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Erin Ash Sullivan, no matter how trite or archaic these truisms might seem, they’re […]
Shae Tull on “Bedsit”, Her Influences, and Advice
Picking up and moving on after a hurtful or traumatic experience is never an easy thing. And sometimes, the pain and the damage suffered can be so profound and lasting that reconciling with one’s frail and vulnerable state might feel like the only feasible option. In such instances, regret over past actions can often feel […]
“Lilacs That Morning” by Bill the Pony: Tender Sincerity and Regret
There’s a moment near the end of every relationship when it becomes apparent that the tide has changed. A moment in which we notice the shift in the current, and with it, the ill-fated course of our love affair. One that’s equal parts unhappy and lucid, when we perceive the gradual vanishing of a once-potential […]
Winter Beach’s “When You’re Ready”: Home is Where the Heartache Is
In Chuck Palahniuk’s 2007 novel Rant, there is a scene in which one of the characters voices his opinion on the place that small towns occupy in our collective imagination, particularly in the minds of those born and raised in such locales. He says that “the big reason why folks leave a small town, is […]
The Stress of an Active Mind: “Overthinking” by Rikas
Appearances, as we’ve heard said many times throughout our lives, can be deceiving. And sometimes, detrimentally so. That’s because it’s difficult, or near impossible, to address a situation if you are entirely unaware of it. To successfully tackle a problem, first you must be able to identify it. As we’re all well aware, issues are […]
GoodLuck’s “Back in the Day We Used to Run”: Wistful, Breezy Nostalgia
As the year draws to a close, the urge to look back and take stock of all that’s transpired becomes understandably irresistible. After enduring what has felt like one trial and hardship after another for the better part of the last twelve months, the notion of comparing our current and weary selves with the doe-eyed […]
“Mint” by Glom: Tackling Personal Disappointment
Disappointment certainly ranks high as one of life’s most unpleasant experiences. As someone who has lived through more disappointing moments than I’d care to recount, I can confirm that there is nothing worse than having your expectations dashed by the brute and impersonal force of reality, particularly if there was a good amount of emotional […]
Retrospective Review: The Sugarcubes’ “Birthday”
“We loved each other with a premature love, marked by a fierceness that so often destroys adult lives.” This is a statement likely to rouse popular affinity because its sentiment is widely relatable. Many of us, have at one point or another, been victim to love’s vampiric seduction and bear concealed scars that we relish […]
