Weekend Whats

What to Hear: The back to back Vs are just about the only thing I don’t like about the Canadian band Alvvays. Like their other fans, I’ve been waiting for this new album for years, and thankfully, it doesn’t disappoint. Check out Blue Rev. And I absolutely love the new and much-anticipated album from the Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I added an extra Yeah, because the single Spitting Off the Edge of the World is that good). Listen to Cool It Down.

+ What to Read: “His feet exploded inside his shoes. His tibias and fibulas exploded like shrapnel through his slacks. His knees went in different directions. Then his butt hit and that exploded, too. Then his spine: Four of his vertebrae blew out and every rib, front and back, cracked. And then he fell to his right side and broke everything there: the bones in his hand, the bones in his wrist, the bones in his elbow and his arm and his shoulder—all destroyed.” Joshua St.Clair in Esquire: Mike Conner v. The Pain. “Appreciate what you have left, Mike told himself. Appreciate the breeze and the trees and the birds and the arm that you can move. If you can move, move. If you can make sounds, talk. If you can tell someone you love them, say it loud.”

+ What to Doc: “A powerful new documentary, follows Lebanon’s first all-female metal band as they battle sexism, censorship, and themselves. Filmmaker Rita Baghdadi’s intimate portrait celebrates creative triumph over political oppression.” A couple years ago I decided to start investing a little money in documentaries, one of my favorite forms of content. My first check was written for a film called Sirens, and it’s been getting great reviews like this one from Pitchfork.