Grab Bag: 2023 Wrap Up aka The Wrap Bag
"This conversation’s worth a celebration"
Previous Wrap Bags
A Letter From The Editor
Is this thing on…?1 (Adjusts dials, checks notes) Yup, it’s still on.
When last we conversed, three trimesters ago on March 18th 2023, I left off by letting everyone know that Negative Progression was, going into cryostasis to be awoken as needed and that I was gonna “travel, relax, vibe out and listen to some fuckin’ power-pop!” (I did ‘em all - that’s me in the cover photo enjoying a beutiful spring day in Maine) and that “maybe 2023 is going to be the year that 2020 was supposed to be.” So, I must ask, how was your 2023? Did you travel, relax and/or vibe out? More importantly, did you listen to some fuckin’ power-pop?
Much as I hoped/predicted, 2023 kinda was the year 2020 was supposed to be, for me. Even with some truly depressing late innings curveballs, 2023 is still probably the best year I’ve had in these here 2020s2. I traveled. I relaxed. I vibed out. I spent valuable time with friends and family. I mastered the art of the Mai Tai. I listened to some fuckin’ power-pop.
After all that relaxing, vibing and Mai Tai drinking, perhaps I have regained some creative flow and cracked a couple ideas for future posts so while this will probably not end up a regular publication anytime soon, I would be surprised if we hit nine months between posts again. For now, we round out the year with the now traditional Wrap Bag, so please enjoy some stray thoughts, presented in the house style we call the mélange of musings~!
PS - Tell your loved ones you love them before the year is out. Never know when you wont get another chance. Or, as my friend Chris often says “call your grandmother”.
One Perfect Album
Wait, One Perfect Album? Isn’t this series called One Perfect Song3? (Checks notes, again.) That’s correct, but since last we spoke I have discovered the rare Perfect Album and we must discuss it. Therefore, I present to you: Turn It On! by Romero.
This is the best record I have heard this decade. It is possibly the best record that I have heard since the first Royal Headache record in 2011. Best is nebulous as fuck though, ask me in a year and I might wanna rewrite all of that.
What I actually mean is that no record has grabbed me and gripped me in the way this one has since that debut Royal Headache album did. Readers with good memories may recall what I wrote about Royal Headache in the Best Of The Teens issue: “Best band of the decade, and you can quote me on that”.
But like I said, best is nebulous. Perfection is easier to define, and while it is, of course, subject to the ear of the beholder (my A+ perfection might be your B- mediocrity) this album is labelled as perfect because I have no notes for Romero. I wouldn’t change anything on this record. This record is pristine as-is.
I wouldn’t drop a song, I wouldn’t add a song, I wouldn’t change the track order, I wouldn’t shave a single second off a song, I wouldn’t change a riff, a drum fill or a bassline. The production, mix and recording are also exactly what they should be. And now we must get to talking about Alanna Oliver’s remarkable voice, which is deployed with such incredible precision and show-womanship that to describe this merely as singing is to do a dis-service to what happens across these 11 songs. This is use of an instrument (her voice) at the level people speak of with, say, Jon Bonham’s drums or Jimi Hendrix guitar.
Without going full scuba-gear deep dive (“do your own research4”), the secret sauce here is that she is a classically trained soul singer, who spent time touring Australia in a Blues Brothers cover band. Take that and add it to the power-pop/punk mix here? It’s a perfect mix of form and function, creating a record as addictive as nicotine, with none of the health risks.
But let us not lose sight of the rest of the band, because all the other instruments are carrying their weight and all get their chance to shine, whether it’s Dave Johnstone’s precision drum parts, Justin Tawal’s melodic bass lines, or the twin guitar attack of Fergus Sinclair and Adam Johnstone. The guitars are real high in the mix at times and some of these riffs could exist without the stellar vocals and rhythm section and still just crush by themselves.
Outside of a forensic track by track breakdown, which the Wrap Bag doesn’t have time for, there’s really not much more than I can say than please do yourself the gift of buying this album and falling in love with it, because…….we may not get another one.
Yeah, there is bad news, which is that on October 17th 2023, Adam Johnstone passed away, aged 32, after a 4 year battle with cancer.
It sounds trite, but I hope he knew he made a perfect album before he passed and I hope his bandmates, friends and family know it too. It’s already at the top of my list for album of the decade (2020s) and #2 ain’t close.
Romero - Turn It On! - Cool Death Records / Feel It Records - 2022
RIYL: Royal Headache, The Shivvers, Martha, The Strokes, Big Star, Swearin’
Wrestling Wrecap: All Together, Again
I first learned that Japanese wrestling was a big deal in the 1990s. I learned this from reading quotes, interviews, etc. that were provided by American wrestlers who would go on tour there. A common theme of these quotes was that the Japanese crowds, in contrast to American crowds, would be ‘pin-drop’ quiet during the matches because they were polite, were rapt with attention and would only make noise at the end of the matches. Without easy access to footage in those times of yore, I took that at face value.
It may surprise you to learn this, but it turns out professional wrestlers are professional liars. They lied to us all about these alleged quiet and polite crowds in Japan. Very likely because what they were doing in the ring sucked shit and was being greeted with the silence it deserved by more discerning fans used to higher quality wrestling. The truth is, many of the greatest crowd reactions I have seen and heard are from fans losing their minds in any of the legendary venues across Japan.
These legendary crowds, combined with Japan being a country with a more repectful approach to public health than the US, is why Covid-19 had the biggest impact across the wrestling world in Japan. Cheering/Booing was banned by the Japanese government, replaced by clapping and “cheering inside your heart.5” Venues were reduced to small percentages of their full capacity, etc.
It was like taking a movie filmed in technicolor and dolby surround sound and turning it into a black and white silent movie. It had its moments here and there (silent movies aren’t all bad, afterall) but mostly it sucked for everyone involved; wrestlers, fans, anyone else.
Since late last year/early this year, that has all gone away, and slowly but surely Japanese crowds came back in full force, especially in Tokyo, and what a difference it has made. Especially, for me, someone who is well past the point of amusement with the (let’s be polite and say) quirks of American crowds, who at times are more interested in dumb chants than what is happening or who are not discerning fans and like the wrong stuff. (Yes, I am a wrestling snob.)
As the year drew on, I found myself drawn more and more into the thrill of the Japanese crowds and their emotional investment in the matches, and the buzz that overtakes an arena as the match hits its peak or even afterwards to see people openly weeping when their hero got the big win.
The single greatest crowd of 2023 was the 8,283 fans who filled Ryōgoku Kokugikan (Tokyo’s Sumo Hall) for the final night of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax Tournament.
During the main-event - to determine the tournament’s winner - they produced everything you could want out of a crowd, taking an already great match and elevating it to legendary status. I’ll be hearing them chant “nai-ie-to” for Tetsuya Naito - before the match, during the match, after the match - in my brain for a very long time. I got chills thinking about it while writing that sentence. It was a perfect pro-wrestling moment.6
I couldn’t be happier that we are All Together Again, and maybe one day, it can be me losing my mind in Korakuen Hall, Ryōgoku Kokugikan or Nippon Budōkan.
Playlist: Best of 2023
Ah, the classic year-end list. A concept stale beyond belief and yet here I am, back at it again. May as well repeat last years self-defense / self-repudiation of making year-end lists:
…the year end “best of” list has long been a personal go-to for a playlist, even though it’s a super hacky concept. It does at least serve a valuable purpose for me (if not for anyone else) because it allows me to keep track of my musical moods/vibes/tastes each year and how they (d)evolve over time.
Also, as noted in the intro, when I signed off in March I noted my plan to listen to a lot of power-pop, and little did I know how much of it would be new - I assumed it would all be from the 70s - so that was a nice piece of prescience on my part.
As is now tradition, this list is presented without any inherent rankings, merely in alphabetical order, and as “favorites” and not “bests”, with a playlist sampling each album that you can stream here:
Chris’ Favorite Records of 20237
Allah-Las - Zuma 85 - Innovative Leisure
Class - If You've Got Nothing - Feel It Records
Guardian Singles - Feed Me To The Doves - Trouble In Mind Records
The Hives - The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons - Disques Hives
Lifeguard - Crowd Can Talk / Dressed In Trenches - Matador Records
The Prize - First Sight (7”) - Anti Fade Records
RMFC - Club Hits - Anti Fade Records
Sweeping Promises - Good Living Is Coming For You - Feel It Record
The Tubs - Dead Meat - Trouble In Mind Records
TeeVee Repairmann - What’s On TV? - Computer Human Records
Uni Boys - Buy This Now - Creation Records
The Whiffs - Scratch ‘N’ Sniff - Dig! Records
Some brief notes on the list:
I caught live shows from many of these groups this year:
The Hives remain an all time live band, always better live than recorded.
Lifeguard are absolute teenage phenoms and their show was part of possibly the most fun night out all year8.
Uni Boys, in support of The Whiffs, was the first time in a long time a support band convinced me to buy their record with the quality of their live show. It made a 4 band bill that ended around 1am worth it.
I haven’t checked the numbers exactly, but Mikey Young (Eddie Current Suppression Ring, Total Control) may have mastered fully 50% of these records.
The Prize have made a couple of killer singles, hope we see an LP soon. Melbourne has been some fertile fuckin soil for bands this last decade, damn.
Class, features production and some harmonies (and probably a lot more) from our old pal Matt Rendon of The Resonars. This reminds me I need to write about The Resonars.
Likely there are many things that came out this year that I haven’t listened to that would be on this list if I had. Blame the Romero record which has been on heavy, heavy rotation. It isn’t on the list because it came out in 2022 but I didn’t find it til this year, proving, after all, that these lists are dumb and pointless.
Rick Froberg Forever
Death took quite the toll in 2023. On society at large, for dear friends, for family and personally.
The loss of Rick Froberg on June 30th, precisely half way through the year, was a real shock and a real gut punch. I’ve been listening to Rick’s music for over 20 years at this point, almost half my life and at a certain point you just take it for granted that these people are foundational aspects of your life, even if you only know them peripherally, or don’t know them at all.
There’s an abstractness to deaths such as these, where the death happens and the person is gone, but they are never actually gone because their art is permanent and they can be in the room with you at the touch of a button or the drop of a needle. It’s very different to the deaths of real people you know and love. And now there’s been two in a few years, with Dan Sartain in 2021 and now Rick in 20239.
After six months, I still don’t know how exactly to write about Rick. The little I know about Rick from talking with him and from the similar experiences of others would be that a long and flowery write up of his artistic output likely wouldn’t be his style.
Despite those reservations, and because I was surprised I didn’t see what I thought was the definitive writeup of Rick’s musical career, I feel I should do something I always try to not do: following the motto “if you want a good job doing, do it yourself.”
So, yes, I am planning on making an all-encompassing Rick Froberg Forever playlist and associated write up. It also may end up being a ‘zine issue if I feel like I do a good job. We will see.
In the meantime, I do want to draw attention to this excellent piece that Sub Pop published, in which they had many people pick one of Rick’s songs from his various bands and explain why they picked it, which I would encourage everyone to read.
I’d like to tack on one song that I was surprised no one else called upon when asked: Super Unison the fifth track from Drive Like Jehu’s sublime second/final album Yank Crime:
Super Unison stands out as the high water mark of sonic dynamics on an album whose entire purpose seems to be to perfect the art of sonic dynamics. The build up, build up, build up of ticking time bomb tension that begins around 4:48 before peaking into a explosion of guitar noise is an unmatched payoff of sonic tension across modern American “rock music”. It’s akin to the rains that must come after days of hot and humid weather or, frankly, the orgasm that must come after a build up of sexual energy10. In the deep cannon of Froberg/Reis collaborations, it is a top 3 all time song and true to name, an actual Super Unison.
Until I publish the aforementioned new piece, there is always time to revisit the Best Of Hot Snakes compilation that I made:
Downstroke Warlords: The Greatest Hits Of Hot Snakes
The Greatest Hits compilation seems to be a maligned concept and I both understand why that is the case but also hate that it is the case. I have about 15 greatest hits CDs in my car at this exact moment. Sometimes all you need from a band is their hits (see: Phil Collins, Creedence Clearwater Revival) and sometimes a band’s hits are the best jumping of…
That’s all, folks. Have a happy winter break, however you may spend it. Don’t forget to call you grandmother and tell her that I said she should listen to the Romero record.
How would I truly know if this thing on other than throwing in a footnote on the first sentence? For no reason other than to do it? We are SO BACK.
Let’s check in on my personal 2020s power rankings: 1. 2023, 2. 2022, 3. 2021, 4. 2020. Oh no, that’s a positive trend, up and to the right. Do we have to change the name of this publication? NEVER! (And I do NOT have high hopes for 2024, so that trend won’t last.)
J/K I did not become a conspiracy theory guy during the last 9 months and you don’t really need to do any research, just read this: https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/romero-turn-it-on-interview/
This is not be doing a bit, this is a real quote, I just forget who said it first.
Naito also acheived one of the very few perfect pro wrestling moments in 2020 - as detailed in the original Negative Progression ‘zine.
In addition to this years, list here’s some older ones:
Best of 2013 (live Radio Show recording)
Best of 2014 (old blog post)
Best of 2016 (old blog post)
Best of 2017 (old blog post)
Best of 2019 (YouTube playlist)
Best Of The Teens (Negative Progression post)
Best of 2022 (YouTube playlist plus notes in last years Wrap Bag)
Who amongst us wouldn’t agree?
And these are just the two biggest in my world, I’m sure there are many others
So many of you are upset with that line. WE ARE SO BACK
Thanks for sending this out. You posted about the Romero record a while back and I put it on and love it. So good! I would have never heard about this one, so thanks. Happy New Year!