It's been a quiet start to the year over here in Collections Headquarters, and I can't quite put my finger on why. There's certainly been things I've wanted to write about, I just haven't figured out the best way to publish those thoughts. It feels like there's a ton going on in my head, but I'm not quite sure how to get it out. Now, here we are, at the ultimate crossroads of "fuck it" and "let's just see what happens": The Brain Dump. In here, you'll find various takes at various temperatures, all of which make up what's been on my mind at any given time. The plan right now is to have this come out weekly, but I reserve the right to miss a week if things slow down, or if I catch the inspiration to do something else. Let's start with something I'm sure a lot of people are thinking very logically about:
This Bring Me the Horizon/ Ed Sheeran collaboration is fucking awesome. Yes, BMTH just lost all their cred. Yes, Ed Sheeran just made one of the most left-field decisions a top-5 pop star has made in a long, long time. On paper, this is a weird move for both acts, but that's the beauty of it. Maybe all this ever becomes is one of those things you say "Hey, remember when..." about with your friends, but for now, it's a really cool take on a perfectly fine pop song, something we've known Bring Me the Horizon has wanted to experiment with for some time now. Are they actually friends with Teddy now? I doubt it. But I'd like to think Sheeran is getting in everyone's ear now, trying to get them to collaborate with metalcore acts, so let's get really weird with this: Dua Lipa touring with her backing band Underoath; Billie Eilish and Knocked Loose on tour together; Taylor Swift replacing Keith Buckley as the vocalist of Every Time I Die. Let's send this thing straight into the ground. Who says no?
Underoath are better than they've ever been. I was about to come out of album review retirement to talk about how much I love Voyeurist. That's how good it is. I swore of the practice entirely in the mid-2010s, and after two listens through on Spotify and spinning the album on my turntable, I was ready to throw away my entire psychology on the form to gush over how good this band is, and always has been. After getting the most mainstream recognition and attention they've ever had with Erase Me, I was certain we'd get more melodies and choruses, but the band have zagged once again, opting for an ambient, expansive sound that harkens back to the band's instant-classics like Define the Great Line and (They're Only Chasing Safety). It's always such a treat knowing that Underoath is about to release new music, not just because of the certainty you feel that what you're about to listen to is going to be of the highest quality, but it's also going to find new ways to take you by surprise.
The NBA All-Star Weekend is broken. If this isn't the final nail of the Dunk Contest losing its place as the event headliner, I'm not sure what will. They've failed to get big-name dunkers for years now, and the 3-point contest, thanks in large part to the shifting ideology in the actual games and the implementation of analytics, has overtaken the throne. I'm not even sure if the Dunk Contest should be after the Skills Competition at this point, though the Skills Comp has its flaws as well. While I enjoyed the team aspect of it, and would be interested to see it continue as long as the host city gets a team, there needs to be either more teams, or a guarantee that every player not on the home squad is from a different team. And, all due respect to the Antentokounmpo brother from the G-League, let's make sure we're getting players who've spent most or all of their careers in the NBA, okay? Either way, I think the 3-point contest needs to be moved to the last slot, but if they're able to get guys like Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards, or--heaven forbid--Zion Williamson, the NBA can always change the order of events every year, as a sure-fire way to get fans to join the entire event.
My 2022 in movies in a nutshell: Good, not great.
So far this year, every time I've thought about seeing a movie, I've asked myself a very difficult question: Should I see this new movie, or should I just go see Spider-Man: No Way Home again? To the surprise of no one, Spidey won out more times than not, and you can likely thank me for how high the movie's climbed on the all-time list. February brought the first instances where I fought off the urge to feed into the fan service, as I saw Death on the Nile and Uncharted (though I feel like that may not count, considering its star). While neither movie is going to move the needle too much, they were both perfectly fine movies, and kept you interested throughout. Kenneth Branagh is clearly having the time of his life playing Hercule Poirot, and I'm hoping he gets at least another chance at it. As far as Uncharted goes, it's important to note that I have never played a second of any of the 4 video games in the series. I'm about as unbiased as can be. So when I say that I thought it was a fun journey, and that Tom Holland Mark Wahlberg are a great pair to hopefully turn this into a franchise, I obviously have no idea if this movie stay true to its source material. For me, though, it worked just fine.
You should be paying attention to Limbs. Aside from the reminder that it's always a good idea to check yourself for any nicks or bruises, I am talking about UNFD's latest diamond-in-the-rough find in Limbs. After releasing their debut Father's Son a few years ago, they found themselves opening for the aforementioned Underoath, and shortly after found themselves in need of a new singer. Boy, did they find one, as Austin Mcauley has propelled this band to a level I wasn't sure they had. It all started with the release of "I Used to Be You" last year, when the band showed off their ability to write a catchy chorus while maintaining their riff-oriented, crashing guitars. Now, they're back with "Spirit Breaker," a song that's constantly evolving and switching things up. There's almost certainly another full-length on the way from these guys in 2022, and if you haven't given them the chance yet, now's a really good time to buy in.
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