Good & Good Fridays 1.12.24
Waiter, a bottle of your finest Joshua
Howdy, and welcome to Good And Good For You, a newsletter about music and feelings. Sometimes on Fridays, I’ll put out a music, memes, and pop culture roundup. I hope you like it!! Also, if you’re a new follower who came from LinkedIn: first of all, hello and thank you for subscribing! Second, who tf posted my newsletter on LinkedIn???? I am so confused LOL. Confused, but……..nevertheless, so very glad you are all here!
What the hell has been going on with Paramore?
Real heads know that this Substack started out as a Paramore newsletter, because I’m working on a book about them. So, in that spirit, here’s a little band update.
On December 26, Hayley Williams’ birthday-eve, all of Paramore’s social media accounts—including the band’s Instagram and Twitter, and Hayley’s personal Instagram account—suddenly got wiped, leading to speculations about the band breaking up. Their website, paramore.net, also went down (and still is!), and then the next day they canceled a late January festival appearance.
Then, on Wednesday, they posted a trailer teasing their involvement with A24’s “Stop Making Sense” Talking Heads tribute album. The teaser features Hayley running in, looking absolutely miniscule next to a giant (or perhaps regular-sized?) cardboard box, and pulling out a big grey blazer before telling bandmates Taylor and Zac, “I got a tape I’d like to play you,” and popping a Stop Making Sense casette into a boom box.
In the clip, Hayley debuts a new hairstyle—a mullet of sorts. It bears uncanny resemblance to my hair I had in high school when I cut it myself in my bathroom in an attempt to emulate her Riot-era hair. Can I get an ouroboros in the chat!!
The end of the video drops a few seconds of a Paramore cover of “Burning Down The House.” HUGE development for not only Paramore fans, but also those of us whose introduction to the Talking Heads was Matty’s dance routine to “Burning Down The House” in 13 Going On 30.
OKAYYYYY, so in retrospect it seems pretty obvious that their social media wipe and festival cancellation weren’t as dire as some of us had thought. Their 20-year (??!!!!!) contract with Atlantic Records just ended, which is, especially now with this Talking Heads project announced, the likely reason they seemed to drop off the internet the other week. I’m kind of an idiot when it comes to music business but from what I understand about the record deal—the first of its kind for a new artist, and one that resulted in years of band strife and stress—it kinda sucked and it’s probably a good thing that it’s over. The current hypothesis is that their website being down, etc. is something to do with legal stuff. Here’s hoping they get everything resolved to their liking!
P.S. If you’re interested in following along with updates on my Paramore book, the best way to do it is to subscribe to THIS very publication, the one you’re reading RIGHT NOW~~
Linda Ronstadt biopic
We’re getting a Linda biopic! I love Linda. I was just listening to Heart Like A Wheel the other day. I’m a bit skeptical of the Selena Gomez casting choice, but I’ll try to be open-minded. Here’s my favorite picture of her with some piggies:
Josh Wine
For those of you not pathologically online, I wanted to share the moment that Josh Wine is having on Twitter. Here are a few of my favorite Josh Wine tweets:
And last but not least, the one that made me laugh the hardest for some reason:
Bands that will re-enter the music zeitgeist in 2024
Been thinking about this lately. Here are my predictions:
Beck
Foo Fighters
Coldplay???
Imogen Heap (like, her whole catalog/her as an artist, not just “Hide and Seek”)
If you have other artists/bands to add to the list, I’m curious to hear them.
Hanif Abdurraqib’s Very Good Playlist
I’ve listened to quite a few people’s EOY playlists the past few weeks, and this one has REALLY stood out to me. By “loosies,” he means like, singles or one-offs. Not only is it bangers on bangers on bangers, but SO MANY of them I hadn’t heard before. Hiiiiiighly recommend, and it’s shuffle-friendly.
Music I’ve been vibing with
There hasn’t been a ton of new music in my rotation recently—there are a few albums coming out in the next few weeks that I’m VERY hype about, but currently I’m in a new music lull—so here’s the (mostly) older stuff I’ve been listening to:
“Right Back To It,” Waxahatchee ft. MJ Lenderman (the only new one on this list) - Okayyyy we get it, true love is sooo amazing, yada yada!!!! No seriously, this song is really lovely and I’m VERY excited for the album. And wow, I’m convinced Katie Crutchfield’s voice can turn any harmony into magic.
“Mirror,” IDER - Rediscovered this when I was listening to a 2018 playlist the other day. I never felt super passionately about anything else this band did, but this is really one of my favorite songs of the 2010s, and it’s been nice to bring it back into rotation.
Knock Knock, Smog - I’ve been on a bit of a Smog kick recently, and this album is really hitting. Its meandering melodies have a way of slowing down my anxious mind.
Highways, Denetia - I remembered this 2022 album earlier this week. While her soft, crystal-clear voice doesn’t bear much resemblance to Katie Crutchfield’s twang, I def recommend this album to anybody who likes Waxahatchee’s 2020 album Saint Cloud—they’re both dreamy, zen-forward folk-country bliss.
Bananasugarfire, Golden Apples - This album smacks of a very specific type of late 2000’s/early 2010s jangly indie rock that I’m SUCH a sucker for. And it came out just a few months ago? What a time to be alive!
Well, that’s all I’ve got this week… Thank you for hangin’ around! I hope at least one really nice thing happens to you this weekend.
With love,
Katie
My introduction to Talking Heads was indeed through Matty in 13 going on 30