Dear Friends,
I learned a new word yesterday. “Retromingent” which basically means pissing backwards. I like it a lot.
I’m reading a book about writing by a poet/novelist named Kim Addonizio. I’m not sure if I like it as much as I like the word, retromingent, she shared, but time will tell. It’s very gratifying in some ways, to read about someone who has had books published but worries about the same things I worry about.
Things like where are the ideas going to come from, or am I done? Have I written all the words I am meant to write? Is this just a pile of shit? Was it ever not a pile of shit?
What is shit, anyway?
I forget sometimes that I am an actual writer. I get paid to write and I’ve published a lot of articles and interviews and such. The book hasn’t happened yet, but it will. I just need to finish one. Apparently, many writers worry about these things, and I should feel fortunate that I’m out there, byline after byline.
I sit here feeling like I have let another month in the forest get away from me and I haven’t written any fiction yet. I want to get back into The Bet so badly, but I am undisciplined. Soon, I will not have a whole lot of spare time again. Phoenix is beckoning with all kinds of projects for me to tackle and a new school year, to boot.
Yet I sat there last night and listened to Liam firing off round after round of shots from his cap guns that he bought while we were out parading around with his sister. I did this instead of writing about Friday and Marcy and Jimmy and the others. I barely remember their names.
I promised myself that I was going to go back and review what I have been writing these last three years, but I haven’t. I need to, though. I need to revise these first drafts and make them into something. I have made these promises time and time again.
Now I have a new idea that I want to work on…I’m great at starting things but finishing them is not my strong point. This new thing is going to be very cool, though. 2025 might be a horror show on a national level, but it just might be an amazing year for my writing.
I will do all 366 records, though.
I will continue this daily blog until the end of 2024. I don’t anticipate having the time to do a daily thing next year, but who knows. It might be a really hard thing to quit.
These are the things I think about when left to my own devices.
*****
Sometimes you flirt with a band for a long time before you consummate the relationship. It was like that for Naked Raygun and me. We danced a little bit here and there, exchanged furtive glances, but never really figured out how to get together until not that long ago.
I had this compilation in 1985 called the Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Vol. 2 (which I will have to write about) and Naked Raygun had the track “Metastasis” on it. I love that track. It’s one of my favorites from that comp and that comp is chock full of good songs.
Over the years, every time I heard Naked Raygun, I would make that mental note. You know the one.
“I like this band a lot. I should pick up (insert record name).”
But I never bought any of their records until I found Throb Throb at Zia a few years ago on CD. It was used and only cost a couple bucks. Admittedly, I had dabbled here and there on YouTube and Spotify, but I needed to own it for myself, I suppose. I wasn’t even really looking for it that day.
I put the CD in the car right away and there it stayed for a good long while. I’m sure those of you who actually read these are not shocked. That is my M.O. when I get a new CD. In the player it goes and in the player it typically stays for at least a few weeks.
Throb Throb is a really good record. I’m still partial to “Metastasis” because it is a great song, but the whole thing is full of punk rock goodness. The energy level that Naked Raygun had on their first record will reel you in real quick.
In under the nine minutes, you get blasted with “Rat Patrol,” “Surf Combat,” “Gear,” and the previously mentioned “Metastasis.” The record (CD in my case) just blisters along. Last year, I was chatting with some friends about possibly doing a set of these songs for a big Halloween show that happens every year in Tempe, but our last Father Figures show derailed that plan.
It would have been a blast to cover this record, although some of the songs that feature the saxophone would have been very tough to pull off. Speaking of the saxophone, I really like how much it adds to the record. There is an element of noisiness on Throb Throb that is super pleasing to my easily jaded ears.
“Leeches” is a fun one. I thought it would be really cool to figure out and rock. Maybe someday we will revisit the idea, but for now, it’s fun to think about. “Leeches” reminds me what Flipper would have sounded like if they were sped up and that’s another fun thing to think about.
Another thing about Throb Throb that makes it a much more interesting record is the guitar playing. I was today year’s old when I learned that the same dude played guitar and sax on this record, so I appreciate it even more. I’ll have to explore more of the stuff he played on. Apparently, he was in Pegboy, too. I only know their name.
“Libido” is a good one, as is “Only in America.” I would be really stoked to have a 7” with those being on each side. I suppose I can dream. Either way, though, the last half of the record is bad ass because of those songs. I also like “Stupid” a lot. It reminds me of Dayglo Abortions, for some reason, and that always works for me.
I wish I would have been enjoying these songs for the last almost forty years, but what can you do. As I mentioned the other day and will again, music is always new to someone.
*****
See you tomorrow.
AI says not to worry.
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