Category: News

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

Summer songs are normally associated with feel-good party jams perfectly suited for warm weather months. But the season is also a good fit for the opposite of feel-good party jams, the sort of luminous music you play at dusk at the end of the year’s longest days.

A Color Of The Sky is an album like that. The third LP by the Brooklyn indie band Lightning Bug has been in constant rotation for me ever since I received a promotional copy a few months ago. But now that A Color Of The Sky has finally been released today, Lightning Bug’s blend of blissed-out shoegaze guitar tones and singer-songwriter Audrey Kang’s wistful indie-folk melodies sounds even better in late June. It captures the melancholy of knowing that seemingly eternal daylight will soon give away to the rigors of winter before too long.

For Kang, however, listening to one of the year’s most beautiful indie albums isn’t always pleasant. “It’s a painful experience,” she says of the record. “I feel like I always cry.”

For one thing, it wasn’t clear if A Color In The Sky was even going to be made. After 2019’s critically acclaimed The October Song, interpersonal problems in the band seemed to portend doom for their future. But instead of breaking up, Kang and her bandmates — including original guitarist Kevin Copeland and engineer Logan Miley along with new members Dane Hagen on drums and Vincent Puleo on bass — faced their issues head on, recording together in a room as a live band for the first time.

The result is a beguiling listen that feels very much like its own world. While you can make general comparisons to other acts — Mazzy Star comes immediately to mind — A Color In The Sky ultimately feels like no other indie album I’ve heard this year.

“I think people have a hard time classifying us in a genre,” Kang said. “They often resort to like shoegaze or dream pop, which isn’t, I don’t think, exactly correct. I think our genre is DIY rock or DIY pop because we record, we engineer, we produce and even mix it ourselves. So I think there’s a coherence to how everything is coming from us that makes the world hopefully sound very all encompassing and complete, like you’re really entering into our space.”

I spoke with Kang about the making of A Color In The Sky and how the album essentially saved the band.

This album sounds like the most band oriented of the Lightning Bug records. Is that a fair assessment?

The previous records were very, very disjointed. The first record was never meant to be a record. I didn’t know I was a songwriter at that point. I didn’t even know I was a musician. We made it very DIY in Logan’s bedroom and recorded everything track by track.

Obviously I know that I can write songs, but they come so suddenly. It feels like a higher power is helping me do it. Beverly Glenn-Copeland speaks of this force called the UBS, the Universal Broadcasting System. It’s like a radio station of songs to be written and you’re able to access it and they come to you. That’s sometimes how I feel because I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no technical knowledge at all.

You’ve said that before you made this record you thought the band was finished. Why is that?

We were just emotionally exhausted. The October Song, the one we released in 2019, wasn’t an easy record to complete. It actually took us four years. And Kevin and I used to date and we were really, really close and we broke up. And obviously that’s very difficult to deal with and still be in a band. And then Logan’s between all of that and all of that drama. And it just felt like we weren’t able to create a healthy environment for music between the three of us anymore.

How did you get through that?

I think this record is actually me getting through that. I really grew. I realized, basically, if you love someone or something enough, you can change. You can find the willpower in you to be who you really want to be. I think a lot of times people will say, “I feel how I feel,” or “I react how I react and I can’t help it because these are my emotions and this is how I feel.” But I actually don’t think that’s true.

Basically you fall into these cycles of behavior with people you’re close with. Kevin, Logan, and I have fallen into these pretty toxic cycles of behavior in the way we interacted. And then I realized that that didn’t have to be the case. You actually could make a change for that if you really, really wanted to. Kevin was someone who’s worth keeping in my life. I really wanted him to be in my life, so I had to change. Writing the songs actually really helped me get me there, emotionally. And having songs to work on that everyone was excited to work on, gave us the excuse to come together again.

But throughout making the record, it was still a process of also healing within interpersonal relationships. Everything wasn’t, “Oh, we’re all good. Let’s just record this record now.” The whole entire process was a process of, I guess, healing.

Do you feel like the band came out stronger after going through that difficult period?

Oh, definitely. I think we still always have room to grow and we still have stuff to work on. But, I mean, to be honest, I think the root of everything was me. I was always the biggest problem. I don’t think I was a very good person. I was very volatile, angry, and had a lot of just destructive patterns of behavior. And so really it was my fault. I was really the one who had to grow and change. After I decided to grow and change, then everything moved towards a healthier path in general.

When you listen to this record, is it a cathartic experience?

It’s a painful experience. I feel like I always cry. And performing too, I’m a little nervous because I feel like sometimes I will begin to cry. When we were recording up in Vermont, I did cry while playing a few of the songs because they just hit, they really… Especially when you find that you’re making the same mistakes that you are sort of referring to.

I mean — tell me if this is just too much information for you — but all we had this big fight due to just lack of communication. And I don’t think I dealt with it very well. I was sort of volatile and a bit emotional about it. And then pretty much right after, we had to record “The Return,” and there’s some lines that referred to it I say, “The times I should have let it go, but instead I blindly fought.” I was like, “Wow, I’m so much wiser as a songwriter than I am as a real person in real life.”

Are you the kind of artist who feels that there needs to be some emotional crisis you’re working through in your art?

Yeah, definitely. I have to have something to say. I can’t just conjure it up. I always have to be working through something in myself, and then the song is my answer where I arrive at. Always.

A Color Of The Sky is out now via Fat Possum. Get it here.

Marvel dropped the latest trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings during Thursday’s night NBA game, and the new preview noticeably kicked things up in every department: Action, magic rings, Michelle Yeoh, and a completely unexpected Marvel cameo. Tucked in the final moments of the trailer, a huge hulking beast is seen wrecking his opponent in a cage fight, and it didn’t take long for social media to explode with fans saying it’s the Abomination.

The character was last seen in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, where he was played by Tim Roth and battled Edward Norton’s Hulk. Granted, Norton was replaced by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers, but the film is still MCU canon. Interestingly, the Abomination has been poised for a Marvel comeback. Roth was cast in the upcoming She-Hulk series for Disney+, but absolutely nobody expected that his return would be teased in Shang-Chi. It’s an absolutely random choice on Marvel part, and if it’s a sign of how unexpected Phase 4 will be, we’ll take it.

But while the Abomination’s presence seems to be a pretty cut-and-dry situation, the underwater dragon thing has Marvel fans confused. In the trailer, Shang-Chi can be seen floating in the water while a massive dragon swims up to greet him.

The immediate reaction is that the dragon is the classic Marvel Comics character Fin Fang Foom. However, Shang-Chi star Simu Liu has already stated in interviews that Fin Fang Foom is not in the film. On top of that, Lego sets are already available featuring the dragon character, and it’s labeled as The Great Protector. Is there a possibility that this is a whole lot of misdirection on Marvel’s part and the dragon really is Fin Fang Foom? Maybe. But it seems like a whole lot of trouble just to hide a character that, well, isn’t that hidden.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings lands in theaters on September 3.

LA-based singer-shoegazer The Blossom (whose real name is Lily Lizotte) released a feisty new video for their song “Spike Collar.” Directed and edited by Danielle Nemet, the camera trails Lizotte through the Lower East Side, scowling in bulbous boxing gloves, baring their metallic teeth, and going ham on a bunch of innocent cardboard boxes. Or are those boxes so innocent?

“I’m finding real cruel ways to show you / Sh*t could be fine, I’ll be your whole crew,” Lizotte sing-threatens the various inanimate objects. If “California sober” had a sound, it might be The Blossom’s. Their laconic alt-pop teeters between playfulness and real pain. Lizotte purposely blurs that line.

“It’s the song I sing when I’m silently and secretly burning up inside,” they said in a statement. “It’s the hotheaded sweetness of every insecurity I have. Perpetually passing my feelings on to somebody else. The video Dani Aphrodite and I shot together portrays rage and bliss. An expression of my true opposing nature. The production is a hybrid of my sonic influences. My Dad produced it out with me, along with Simon Alex. It’s warm and comforting for me. I wrote it for myself to chill the hell out sometimes. A hot head’s kind of lullaby.”

“Spike Collar” appears on The Blossom’s recently released EP 97 Blossom, a work Lizotte said is about gender dysphoria, insecurity, and anxiety.

You can watch the “Spike Collar” video above.

Nielsen, the 98-year-old research firm that is practically synonymous with television ratings, recently rolled out a new metric it calls The Gauge. The Gauge can effectively now determine how many viewers consume television on streaming platforms as opposed to the old-fashioned way. What Nielsen learned may be surprising: 64 percent of viewers continue to watch television the old-fashioned way, on cable or network television, while only 26 percent of their time is spent watching television on a streaming platform.

Granted, streaming platforms are growing at a brisk clip, gaining about six percent on cable and network television each year. Nevertheless, the numbers are surprising to anyone who follows the television industry because all of the attention remains fixed on streaming television series. The conversations online almost always concern streaming shows. Ted Lasso has been a huge break-out hit in this last year, Bridgerton on Netflix is reportedly its most popular show ever. Lupin is a massive global hit. Seemingly hundreds of posts each week are dedicated to Marvel series on Disney+. Kaley Cuoco had a massive hit with The Flight Attendant on HBO Max, and Amazon has, well, seven seasons of Bosch. Meanwhile, practically all the major awards these days are given to streaming series while broadcast network television has been practically shut out.

And yet, broadcast network television still commands a much bigger audience, especially relative to everything else. Mare of Easttown, for instance, is probably the most talked about show online of the last few months, but the number of viewers who watched it topped out at around 3 million over the Memorial Day weekend. Meanwhile, NCIS fetches an average of 12 million viewers, while Grey’s Anatomy is quietly seen by over 8 million viewers a week in its 17th season. Over 90 million people watched the Super Bowl this year — a down year with a blowout win — which means that the ceiling for network television is still at least 90 million viewers!

In other words, network television is still the biggest game in town. It is technically free and has a reach that far exceeds any of the streamers. And yet, it continues to fade as viewers increasingly turn their attention toward the streamers. Hell, even the networks themselves often seem to be more interested in their streaming networks — Peacock (NBC), Paramount+ (CBS), Hulu (ABC) — than they are in their 100-year-old properties.

Yet, with all the advantages of network television, it almost seems as though they have conceded the fight to the streamers already. Each season, the networks seem more determined to play it safe in an attempt to cling to as much of their dwindling audience as possible instead of directly challenging the likes of Netflix or Disney+. CBS has 11 one-hour police procedurals scheduled for the fall, including three FBI series and three NCIS series. NBC has booked a full night of Chicago series and another night of Law and Order dramas, while ABC seems determined to run The Bachelor series and Dancing with the Stars fully into the ground. Fox, meanwhile, is basically the NFL and The Masked Singer or bust.

Network television has essentially given up. It’s dying, but instead of seeking treatment, it’s decided to continue doing the same thing until its heart gives out. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There’s no reason one of the networks couldn’t take a defibrillator to its chest and resurrect itself. There’s no reason Ted Lasso couldn’t have aired on NBC, where it could have been seen by millions more than on Apple TV+. The Netflix hit, Sweet Tooth, could have fit right at home on one of the networks, where it could have grown its audience week over week. ABC could have resurrected Cobra Kai, while even John Krasinki’s Jack Ryan series could’ve fit right in over on CBS. Apple TV+’s family-friendly mystery series, Home Before Dark could’ve found a welcome home on Sunday night on network television while Girls5Eva could have played just as well on NBC as on its streamer, Peacock.

Even when the networks try, they only do so with half a heart. NBC gave it a shot with Manifest and Debris, but they were watered down so much in an effort to appeal to broader audiences that they ultimately failed. ABC’s Big Sky has the DNA of a good show, but it insisted on being an interesting show for network television instead of simply an interesting show. It would probably help, too, if the networks stopped letting their biggest talents leave for the streaming world (Kenya Barris and Shonda Rhimes, to name two) and instead fight (and pay) for top-tier talent. It’s not like they don’t have the money. Audience sizes aren’t what they used to be, but it’s still by far the biggest name in town, so advertisers are still all willing to pay top dollar to exposure their products and services to the largest amount of people.

The Big Four are still the Big Four, for a few more years anyway. There’s no reason one of them can’t decide to try and stop the bleeding by curating better content and putting shows on the air that are designed to attract buzz and critical acclaim. What do they have to lose? It’s not like any of them have a potential The Office or Seinfeld currently airing. They would only have to peel off three or four shows from the streamers to reinvent themselves as a network worthy of watching again. If Fox can build its entire schedule around The Masked Singer, there’s no reason a network couldn’t also do so around Shadow and Bone or You or the next, great true-crime series. Instead of losing millions of viewers each year while trying to cater to the largest audience possible, one of these networks should take a risk and decide, instead, to make great television and wait for the audiences to come to them.

After months of falsely sounding the alarm that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen,” and that total loser Donald Trump was the real winner, karma has finally caught up with fellow loser Rudy Giuliani. On Thursday, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court temporarily suspended Rudy Giuliani’s law license. And few people seemed more excited about this development than Stephen Colbert.

On Thursday night, Colbert used Rudy’s professional problems to try out some pretty choice descriptions of the man formerly known as “America’s Mayor” who once (knowingly) married his own cousin. Among them? “The paparazzi shot of Dorian Gray,” “a goblin who ate your teeth,” and (our personal favorite) a “big toe with dentures.” The Late Show host got even more poetic when describing the actions that led to Rudy’s momentous downfall. While reminding viewers of the infamous Four Seasons Total Landscaping Debacle (as if anyone could forget), Colbert described the actions that led to his disbarment as Rudy attempting to “screw American democracy. And that’s not a metaphor, because he did it next to a sex shop. Well, now, ladies and gentlemen, the dildos have come home to roost.”

This news was met with an enthusiastic enough response that even Colbert seemed surprised. Fortunately, he wasn’t done yet:

“This is a dramatic fall from grace. In the city he was famously mayor of, Rudy Giuliani can no longer practice law. And if the last year has proven anything it’s that when it comes to law, Rudy needs a lot of practice. Giuliani was America’s mayor. Before that, he was the crusading federal prosecutor who busted up La Cosa Nostra. Now he’s lost his career—how’s he going to eat? And, more likely, drink? Well, if he needs cash, he can always sell the fracking rights to his skull.”

But Rudy wasn’t the only Giuliani Colbert wanted to have a little fun with. Because Andrew Giuliani’s poorly framed video defense of his dear ol’ dad seemed to suggest that the dumbest apples never fall too far from the tree.

You can watch the full clip above, beginning at the 1:20 mark.

Lucy Dacus! Modest Mouse! Pom Pom Squad! Tyler The Creator! Lightning Bug! Free Throw! Faye Webster! All of these albums drop today, and that’s just the beginning of the list. Steve and Ian got in front of this week’s onslaught of releases by discussing the new Modest Mouse LP in last week’s episode. Even with advance preparation, it was difficult to choose just two albums to dig into this week, so they decided to tack on a third. The latest efforts from Lucy Dacus, Lightning Bug, and Faye Webster stand above the rest of the laundry list of releases this week, marking creative high points for all three artists.

In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Ian is digging Butterfly 3000, the latest in a string of 2021 releases from prolific Australian outfit King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Steve wants to spread the good word about The Veiled Sea, the new effort from indie jam band Six Organs Of Admittance.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 45 on Apple Podcasts and Spotify below, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts here. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

New Frank Ocean music is a rare thing. His last album, Blonde, came out in 2016, and he’s only released a handful of songs since then. However, today brings new music from Ocean that we weren’t expecting, as he makes a surprise appearance on Call Me If You Get Lost, the new album from Odd Future associate Tyler The Creator.

Ocean pops up on “Lemonhead,” although he doesn’t appear to be credited for it on streaming platforms. Ocean comes in during the latter half of the two-minute song. As Tyler sings, Ocean offers a few spoken-word lines, saying, “My bro is runnin’ his finger around th-the Ai Weiwei, Ai Veivei bowl. I got that sh*t sittin’ on my counter like a fruit bowl, that’s like a hundred racks. I like the color green, in every shade. I like life. Mine, like, my life. Don’t f*cking bite, y’all n****s love to steal.”

Ocean’s lyrics reference artist and activist Ai Weiwei, whose work titled “Bowls Of Pearls” — which consists of two porcelain bowls filled with pearls, made to look like bowls of rice — sold for $391,500.

Listen to “Lemonhead” above.

Call Me If You Get Lost is out 6/25 vie Columbia Records. Pre-order it here.

“Let me just start off by saying, I love you, Conan.”

Those were the first words out of Jack Black’s mouth as the final guest on the final episode of Conan, the TBS talk show that Conan O’ Brien has been hosting since 2010. The Tenacious D singer continued to praise Conan for being funny and kind, all while slumped in the guest’s chair. That’s unusual for Black, who’s usually bouncing around the set (or his backyard). It turns out, he wanted to do a “big musical number” for the final episode that would end with him faking an injury and paramedics attempting to take him to the hospital, but “the crazy thing is, I actually injured myself for real,” he said.

Black rolled his ankle, which is why he came on stage with a cane. Again, this was not a bit. “The funniest part is, we had an ambulance there and so I’m yelling at these two guys, ‘We got to help him. We got to help him.’ And they were like, ‘No, we’re actors,’” Conan said. But the fake paramedics in the fake ambulance still picked up bandages for Black. “It was a really quick run to CVS. They made it in record time,” he joked.

The School of Rock actor was bummed because he “wanted to be the best guest of all time for your final episode. But instead, I’m literally the lamest guest of all time.” Conan had a different take on the matter. “To me, and I’m sorry you got hurt, and I know you’re going to get better soon, I felt so terrible when you fell, but also, I have to say, it felt fitting for our show,” he said. “Here we are, when Carson and Letterman and all these legends go off the air, everything is meticulous. Of course we would think of a bit with Jack, where Jack pretends to get hurt, and while shooting it, Jack gets hurt. We’re the only show that would ever do that.” And that’s why we love Conan — and Jack Black, who mustered enough strength to sing a song for the retiring host. Watch it above.

Official summertime means that Netflix programming is cranking up the heat, too. At least, it’s doing so with an extra-hot-and-bothered-yet-never-satisfied dating show. In addition, as you can see from the above film still, there’s a movie (starring Liam Neeson) that’s cooling down the atmosphere, if you’re into that sort of thing onscreen. A new anime series also awaits, along with a romantic comedy and a very dramatic series about how daydreaming (and journaling about it) can lead to all sorts of trouble. Yep, these selections are light and fluffy and an excellent incentive to stay inside (for at least part of) this weekend and binge to your mind’s content.

Here’s everything else coming to (and leaving) the streaming platform this week.

The Ice Road (Netflix film streaming 6/25)

Did you want to see Liam Neeson in another snowy film, as in The Grey? Or did you even want to see him once again playing a trucker in another snowy film, as in Cold Pursuit? Well, you’re in luck then because Neeson is doing the latter type of movie, and his big-rig ice-road driver is attempting to lead a rescue mission atop a frozen ocean, but there’s a storm and thawing water, and yes, good luck, Liam Neeson

Sex/Life: Season 1 (Netflix film streaming 6/25)

This show revolves around a love triangle, but it’s an atypical one between a woman, her husband, and her past while grappling with her current life as a stay-at-home suburban wife. Billie realizes that she misses her wild New York City life while still enjoying domesticity in Connecticut. This leads Billie to do something perhaps unwise: take up journaling about her past sex life. Then, of course, her husband finds the journal, and you should probably expect a ton of drama.

Too Hot To Handle: Season 2 (Netflix series)

This frustratingly horny dating show’s all about figuring out whether any of the sexy singles can withstand the no-kissing and no-heavy-petting and no-masturbation rules of the house. It’s somehow sexy but not-sexy at the same time, and the show’s inspired by a Seinfeld episode, in which Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer all tried super-hard to withstand the urge to self-pleasure themselves. I dunno, man. Questions of proof abound, but people sure are entertained by this Netflix show.

Good On Paper (Netflix film streaming on 6/22)

Comedienne Iliza Shlesinger wrote and stars in this romantic comedy film that co-stars Ryan Hansen and Margaret Cho. Iliza plays the heroine and a stand-up comic who’s finally looking to prioritize something other than her career, and then a disarmingly perfect nerd persuades her to let her romantic guard down. Then there’s a wild-goose chase to figure out who this dude really is, so it’s a bit of a caper that’s apparently based upon real life.

Godzilla Singular Point (Netflix anime series streaming on 6/23)

A grad student and an engineer team up to battle an unimaginable and ominous force that could very well bring down the globe. This Godzilla design arrives courtesy of legendary Ghibli animator Eiji Yamamori, and more character designs come from Blue Exorcist‘s Kazue Kato.

The House of Flowers: The Movie (Netflix film streaming on 6/22)

Get ready for some soap operatics here with a family member heading into a delicate surgery while there are secrets afoot. Not only that, but there’s a buried treasure and a secret room and a murder that still hasn’t met justice, and confessions, and a nanny and vengeance, and yeah, this is a good candidate for helping to forget all about pesky reality.

Here’s a full list of what’s been added in the last week:

Avail. 6/22
This Is Pop

Avail. 6/23
Good on Paper
The House of Flowers: The Movie
Murder by the Coast
Too Hot to Handle: Season 2

Avail. 6/24
Godzilla Singular Point
The Naked Director: Season 2
The Seventh Day
Sisters on Track

Avail. 6/25
The A List: Season 2
The Ice Road
Sex/Life

Avail. 6/26
Wonder Boy

And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:

Leaving 6/27
20th Century Women
Tales of the City (1993): Season 1

Leaving 6/28
Bratz: The Movie

Leaving 6/30
30 Minutes or Less
A Bridge Too Far
Acts of Violence
Back to the Future
Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future Part III
Bonnie and Clyde
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Enter the Dragon
Fiddler on the Roof
From Paris with Love
Gothika
Immortals
Invictus
Jason X
Leprechaun
Scarface
Tayo the Little Bus: Seasons 2-3
The Accountant of Auschwitz
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure
The Roommate
The Twilight Zone (Original Series): Seasons 1-5
Training Day
Twin Peaks: Seasons 1-2
Two Weeks Notice

On Thursday, in a move that feels years overdue, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court temporarily suspended Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s favorite hand puppet, from practicing law in the Empire State. The decision came as a result of Giuliani’s repeated—and very, very false—claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump. And Rudy… well, he’s not taking the decision very well.

On Thursday night, the man formerly known as America’s Mayor appeared on Newsmax (yep, that’s still happening) to discuss the latest blow to his reputation as a lawyer—and his head didn’t leak once! When asked how he felt about the decision by host Greg Kelly, an uncharacteristically low-key Giuliani had this to say:

“I don’t know exactly what I can say and what I can’t say. All I can tell you is, America is not America any longer. We do not live in a free state. We live in a state that’s controlled by the Democrat Party. By Cuomo, De Blasio, and the Democrats. We have a double standard. There’s no doubt if I was representing Hillary Clinton, I’d be their hero.”

We can practically hear Hillary laughing from here.

While, according to the courts, it was Rudy’s “false statements [that] were made to improperly bolster respondent’s narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client” that got him in hot water in the first place, he couldn’t help himself from doing more of the same later in the interview, when he gave his take on the court’s maneuver:

“I represented my client so effectively, that they’re trying to get me to shut up because they know what’s going to happen—because they did it—they know what’s going to happen in Arizona, and they know what’s going to happen in Georgia. And they want this mouth shut.”

Yes, that totally must be it.

To make matters worse, Trump has yet to even pay Giuliani for the very legal services that got him suspended. You can watch a clip of the interview below.

(Via Mediate)