Atlanta Hawks coach Nate McMillan has apparently considered resigning from his position. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, McMillan, who ascended to the position in March of 2021 after the team decided to fire Lloyd Pierce, has “seriously” weighed ending his tenure with the team amid their 17-18 start to the campaign.
Charania did note that, ever since Landry Fields took over basketball operations, “there have been only positive conversations with McMillan about the direction of the team this season,” and that there’s nothing imminent on the horizon regarding McMillan possibly stepping away. But apparently, McMillan sees the writing on the wall regarding his future, whether that’s in the immediate future or after the season comes to an end.
McMillan’s job status came into question across the NBA after his exchange with Hawks All-NBA star Trae Young at a gameday shootaround. His job status has been considered safe, and the Hawks have wanted to finish out the season with McMillan on the sideline, sources said. But McMillan, 58, appears to be near the end of his tenure with the Hawks after the season — unless there’s a resignation before then.
After head coaching stints in Seattle, Portland, and Indiana, McMillan joined Pierce’s staff ahead of the 2020 campaign. He’s gone 87-68 during his time as the head coach in Atlanta and helped get the team to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.
One of the most viscerally upsetting scenes in all of college football occurred on Friday afternoon. The Maryland Terrapins beat the NC State Wolfpack, 16-12, in the only bowl game sponsored by a condiment, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. As a result, Maryland coach Mike Locksley participated in a recent tradition that happens to the head coach of the winning team: getting an entire cooler of mayonnaise dumped on him.
The problem is that Locksley appeared to, you know, not wanna get too saturated in that famous emulsion of egg yolks, oil, and other stuff. As a result, Locksley looked elsewhere in the DMV area and took inspiration from Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson, as he put on a gigantic hat while the whole thing happened.
The tradition began last year, when South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was on the receiving end of this after the Gamecocks beat North Carolina in the game. At the very least, Locksley can take a ton of pride in knowing that his entire football team seemed to believe this was the funniest thing in the entire universe, which, if my boss got a huge cooler cooler of mayo dumped on him, I would probably also think this. Anyway, with the win, the Terrapins finished the season 8-5, which goes down as the best record that Locksley has had during his four-year tenure in College Park.
The 1990s was a very good decade for action crime movies, and for the people who love to watch them. For those same fans, the 2000s also had some excellent viewing options to choose from. Whether it’s blood-drenched sword fighting, comic book carnage brought convincingly to life, or fast cars being stolen and driven in a race against the clock, here are 10 of the best action crime movies that the 2000s has to offer.
Dreamworks
1. Collateral
Year: 2000 Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo, Genre: Action, Crime Rating: R Runtime: 120 minutes Director: Michael Mann Trailer:Watch here
Michael Mann returns once again to his adopted home of Los Angeles for another unconventional and darkly compelling crime story. This one focuses on a hitman (Tom Cruise) who arrives in town to kill five people on his hit list, forcing a cab driver (Jamie Foxx) to drive him around as he carries out his assignment. Tense moments follow, such as a gunfight in a Korean nightclub set to the music of Paul Oakenfold’s “Ready Steady Go” and a simple exchange where two armed robbers hear the phrase “Yo, homie!” before realizing that they chose the wrong person to steal from. Overall, the film shows us how both characters affect one another while drawing out some of the best performances of both Cruise and Foxx’s careers.
Year: 2003 Cast: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu Genre: Action, Crime Rating: R Runtime: 111 minutes Director: Quentin Tarantino Trailer: Watch here
Inspired by the martial-arts movies and revenge flicks he grew up watching and loving, Quentin Tarantino created The Bride character (Uma Thurman), a former assassin who goes on a roaring rampage of revenge against her former teammates who betrayed her and left her for dead. This includes her ex-boyfriend, Bill (the late David Carradine). The film’s final chapter is absolutely not for the squeamish, as The Bride shows just how dangerous she is with a sword in her hand, no matter the odds. One of Tarantino’s finest works that features one of Thurman’s very best performances as well.
Year: 2006 Cast: Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell Genre: Crime, Action Rating: R Runtime: 132 minutes Director: Michael Mann Trailer:Watch here
Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx play detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs in this feature film adaptation of the NBC crime drama of the 1980s. Despite what many critics and fans believed when it was first released, the film is every bit as dark and intense as the television show itself. And Mann isn’t shy or lazy in showing the physical and psychological toll of undercover work, while also giving his audience the thrill of seeing white supremacists getting much-deserved beatdowns in the expertly choreographed gunfights that he is known for.
Year: 2004 Cast: Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Dakota Fanning Genre: Crime, Drama Rating: R Runtime: 146 minutes Director: Tony Scott Trailer:Watch here
Denzel Washington is known for his numerous collaborations with the late Tony Scott, and in this one, he gets to show off a mean streak while playing one of the good guys. Washington plays an ex-CIA agent who agrees to work as a bodyguard for a young girl (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico City, and declares all-out war when she is kidnapped by a mysterious entity known only as “The Voice.” Scott films every scene in the film as if it’s an acid-fueled documentary that grabs the audience by both shoulders to demand attention, and it works quite well, as we see Washington exact cruel and inventive acts of revenge in order to find who he’s looking for.
Year: 2005 Cast: Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson Genre: Crime, Thriller Rating: R Runtime: 124 minutes Director: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez Trailer: Watch here
Comic book writer-artist Frank Miller’s black-and-white tribute to film noir and pulp novels is skillfully brought to life by director Robert Rodriguez and a large ensemble cast including Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, and Rosario Dawson. Three stories about betrayal, honor, revenge, survival, redemption, and smashing the patriarchy with guns and samurai swords fill a bleak and corrupt metropolis in a film that, while not right for the whole family, still stands out as a comic book adaptation that’s worth your time.
Liam Neeson’s career got an unexpected shot of adrenaline thanks to his starring role in this action thriller (and franchise starter pack) about a retired CIA operative (Neeson) who discovers that his teenage daughter (Maggie Grace) has been kidnapped while vacationing in Paris. Much of the thrills from seeing Neeson turn words into actions as we see him dish out ferocious tactics against a parade of enemies while saving the day in this film that helped to keep the mid-priced action thriller alive and well at the start of the comic book hero re-boom.
Year: 2003 Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union Genre: Action, Crime Rating: R Runtime: 143 minutes Director: Michael Bay Trailer:Watch here
When Michael Bay made his feature film debut with Bad Boys, it wasn’t exactly known for its subtlety. But its sequel takes everything that fans loved about the first film, kicks it up several notches, and reminds us why his work in the action genre should not be easily dismissed. Martin Lawrence and Will Smith return as Miami detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowry, cops who are as good at cracking jokes as they are at taking down the bad guys, whether on their home turf as they dodge coffins flying at them during a car chase, or in Cuba, as they literally drive through people’s houses during yet another car chase.
Year: 2008 Cast: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman Genre: Action, Crime Rating: R Runtime: 110 minutes Director: Timur Bekmambetov Trailer: Watch here
Almost everyone dreams of living a better and more exciting life, and Timur Bekmambetov’s adaptation of the Top Cow comic book series shows what happens when that dream becomes a reality and quickly becomes a nightmare. James McAvoy plays an ordinary office drone who agrees to join a secret society of assassins after being recruited by one of its deadliest members (Angelina Jolie). The action is far more impressive than the story itself, as the film throws the gauntlet down and shows that it won’t let a little something like the laws of physics get in the way of making sure that the audience is enjoying this particular ride. Think of it as a more grounded and less ambitious version of The Matrix.
Year: 2003 Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Sean William Scott, Christopher Walken Genre: Action, Crime, Comedy Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 104 minutes Director: Peter Berg Trailer: Watch here
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson launched his career as an action star with this action-adventure film, playing a bounty hunter who heads to Brazil to find his boss’ son (Seann William Scott) and bring him back to the U.S., only to end up in a treasure hunt and a battle to the death with a ruthless interloper (Christopher Walken). Peter Berg shows a deft hand balancing action and comedy while taking advantage of the great chemistry between his leads as they bicker and battle through the jungle. A solid debut for Johnson that hinted at his movie star potential.
Year: 2000 Cast: Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie Genre: Action, Crime Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 118 minutes Director: Dominic Sena Trailer: Watch here
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Dominic Sena’s remake of the 1974 exploitation film is much glossier in comparison to the low-budget, hard-edged original. But seeing Nicolas Cage as a reformed car thief who reunites with his former crew to steal fifty cars in one night (and all of the nonstop vehicular mayhem that happens as a result) qualifies as a high-speed, pedal-to-the-metal pleasure to watch. Pretty cars, slick dialogue, and a collection of supporting characters played by Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall, Delroy Lindo, Timothy Olyphant, and a scenery-chewing Christopher Eccleston as the big bad add to the watchability for this 2000s action gem.
The White House was never exactly calm during the Trump administration, but during its last stretch it was a circus. That’s because the big guy lost re-election but refused — and still refuses — to accept it. There were a lot of crazy characters gallivanting about 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., hocking up increasingly desperate (and in some cases illegal) nonsense. One person who reportedly did not enjoy the commotion was the then-First Lady, who was sure some of those idiots would walk in on her wearing only a robe.
As per The New York Post, when she spoke to the Jan. 6 committee, Stephanie Grisham made sure to spill some beans about Melania, for whom she worked as Chief of Staff during her final days in the administration. According to her, her former employer was “very upset” when her husband’s revolving door army of bozos would make their way into the residential area of the White House.
“She hated when people would come to the residence,” Grisham, who these days can be seen on The View, told the House select committee. “That was her home, she wanted privacy. So I do recall, towards the end, her telling me that there were constantly meetings happening in the Yellow Oval, which is the room up in the residence, with various people.”
To make matters worse, no one, not even her thoughtful husband, would give Melania a heads up when some conspiracy theory-spouting twit would make their way into her then-home, where she might be casually walking around in a robe. She didn’t name names — well, except for Sidney Powell, the Diet Dr. Pepper-loving lawyer who torched her livelihood to spread nonsense even Trump thought was wackadoodle. And she named Rudy Giuliani, who did more than burn up his law licenses.
Grisham never said whether or not Giuliani and company ever walked in on Melania while she was chilling out. But the idea of the guy who had black mystery goo dribble down his head during one of his chaotic voter fraud pressers suddenly entering your personal space doesn’t sound nice. No wonder she wasn’t exactly upset when they had to leave.
If 2022 has heralded any large-scale trends in the music industry, then the prominence of the double album is a surefire contender. Over the course of this year, we’ve had double albums from indie stalwarts like Beach House, Wilco, and Big Thief, plus the likes of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Kendrick Lamar, Johnny Marr, Jeff Parker, and even two from Red Hot Chili Peppers. You could count Jack White’s two complementary albums this year, too, if you want. These sprawling, ambitious records have become a noteworthy staple, a major fixture of 2022 that’s become especially apparent as year-end coverage reaches a fever pitch. We’re aware this phenomenon exists, but why does it?
Double albums are not something new. They were particularly important in the 1970s, including seminal titles like Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti, Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, and the Clash’s London Calling, to name just a few. But, they were spread throughout an entire decade. This year alone has seen a concentrated abundance of them. It’s a fruitless task to highlight only one reason for this surge, but the pandemic has likely played a significant role. Tom Schick, who co-produced Wilco’s twangy Cruel Country, mentions it. “With the pandemic, a lot of artists were able to get in a room together for a long time,” he says during a phone call. “There was just a lot of creative energy that was pent up, and the double album is just a natural result of that, at least in Wilco’s case.” Once frontman Jeff Tweedy and co. hit the studio, the music “naturally flowed out of them,” as Schick puts it.
Peter Standish, the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Warner Records (with whom Uproxx shares a parent company, WMG), worked on both of the Red Hot Chili Peppers albums from this year, and he echoed Schick’s rationale. “A lot of the recording occurred during the pandemic,” Standish says. “Maybe people have a lot more time on their hands to write and record.” Still, the SoCal funk rockers had another factor at play. It was their first time writing with guitarist John Frusciante since 2006’s colossal Stadium Arcadium, and the quartet was thrilled about the reunion. “John’s tenacious focus on treating every song as though it was equal to the next helped us to realize more songs than some might know what to do with,” goes one of the band’s quotes from the Return Of The Dream Canteen press release.
Even though touring is still highly infeasible for many artists today, it was completely put on hold during lockdown. This opened up more free time than usual for artists to write new material. It makes sense why so many of these massive albums are appearing just now, considering vinyl supply chain issues affecting the production process. At the time of this writing, Cruel Country is still unavailable on vinyl; it’s slated for a January 20 release date. “It takes forever for when you finish the record for the actual vinyl to come out,” Schick says. “[Cruel Country] came out in the summer. We’re still waiting on the vinyl; I think we might get it this week, which is just crazy.”
Johnny Marr, however, intended to create a double album from the outset. Surprisingly, he had never made one before Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4. Once he realized that, the influential English guitarist charted a course for his foray into more conceptual territory. Making a double LP appealed to him in the sense that it rejected the playlist-based streaming culture we currently inhabit. To Marr, this represents a sense of artistic freedom that’s often scarce.
“Generally, I think people like the idea of taking on something that’s a little less fiercely commercial,” the former Smiths guitarist explains over Zoom. Even in mainstream circles, that notion applies, as he cites prominent, critically acclaimed filmmakers like Wes Anderson and the Coen brothers. “I think Kendrick’s album is a really good example of it. Right out of the gate, it appears to be conceptual and expresses a bigger idea than just how many streams it can hit up.”
A double album can also allow for more expression. While some artists may use brevity as a tool to convey their ideas in a short-form capacity, a long-form project provides ample space to explore a wide variety of styles they may not have otherwise tried. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, for example, shifts from ebullient alt-country (“Red Moon”), to spacious post-rock (“Little Things”), to MPC-driven lo-fi (“Heavy Bend”).
“I can try not to sound immodest, but I think what it suggests is people being inspired,” Marr says. Referencing fellow Odyssean efforts like Once Twice Melody, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, and Cruel Country, “I quite like the company that I’m in with this. I think it’s a really healthy inspiration and a healthy disregard for crass commercialism. Hopefully, that’s true.”
Artists’ reasons aside, however, why have listeners been gravitating toward these notoriously lengthy endeavors? The streaming industrial complex, after all, begets a single- and playlist-focused economy, one that doesn’t prioritize unified experiences like a deliberately sequenced, front-to-back album. Schick points toward a deeper connection with fans.
“For the fans and these artists, it’s exciting to see,” Schick explains. “To be able to sit with it [for a longer time], it’s just a more intimate thing. The double record is ambitious, and it’s exciting. It’s fun for the fans, and it’s fun for music-lovers.”
Length, though, isn’t always the definitive trait of a double album. Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, for example, is shorter than 2015’s To Pimp A Butterfly. Sonic Youth’s influential Daydream Nation, which clocks in at just under 71 minutes, is a paltry appetizer compared to the seven-course meal that is Smashing Pumpkins’ gargantuan Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, whose original vinyl pressing is over 128 minutes long. To put it another way, the qualifications for a double LP are as nebulous as they are malleable. What constitutes an EP vs. an LP, a regular album vs. a double album, has been a long-standing curiosity. Some EPs, like Sufjan Stevens’ hour-long All Delighted People, are much longer than some LPs, such as Pusha T’s 21-minute Daytona.
If 2022 marked such a momentous time for the double album, then can we expect it to fade out of view in 2023? It’s a difficult metric to predict, one that Schick also agrees is inconclusive. “I can speak only from my experience and the people who I’ve been working with, like Jeff Tweedy and Wilco,” he says. “ But I wouldn’t be surprised to see the quadruple album, just from the amount of playing and writing that they’re doing. On my end, I don’t see that slowing down, but maybe it’s a different situation for other bands and other artists.”
As of now, the only major 75-minute-plus record slated for next year is Smashing Pumpkins’ “three-act” statement, ATUM. Maybe this is an ongoing trend we’ll see for the next year or two, or maybe 2022 has simply been an auspicious time for these enormous projects. If it continues, then 2022 has proven that double albums don’t have to be stuffed to the brim with filler. They don’t have to be tedious, monotonous experiences that we listen to all the way through exactly once. As incredible records like Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, Mondays At The Enfield Tennis Academy, and Once Twice Melody demonstrate, an album’s length can easily be justified. The primary draw of a double LP, to begin with, is how different songs resonate with different listeners; seldom is there a steadfast consensus on the absolute best track. Part of that harkens back to what Schick mentions as a crucial raison d’etre for music writ large: human connection.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Interactions with strangers can be the highlight of your day, the reason you’re crying in a bathroom stall at Chipotle or anywhere in between. A user on Reddit wanted to hear about the most memorable moments people had with strangers in what is assumed to be an effort to show the good in humanity.
The question read, “What is the most memorable moment you shared with a stranger who you never saw again?” Well, leave a prompt like that and the internet is ripe with responses ready to go. This particular post has more than 11,000 comments, but it was one comment in particular that stood out and brought the internet to tears.
Reddit user misdolnurs2517 answered the prompt with a story about grief and how a group of strangers came together for a momentary act of kindness.
The user says at the time of the incident her father had passed away earlier that day and she felt like she was doing a pretty good job holding it together. Grief is a strange thing, sometimes it’s delayed, sometimes its immediate and oftentimes it peeks its head up in the most unexpected moments. You never know how grief is going to affect you until it hits, and it’s something you don’t have much control over.
For this particular Reddit user, grief snuck up on her when she took a stroll around Target to clear her mind and buy a few groceries. The commenter recalls getting to the checkout stand with her arms full when she dropped a container of sour cream. It was in that moment, the dam broke. Right in the middle of Target for everyone to see, this grieving daughter began to sob uncontrollably.
She said, “I completely lost control of myself and started to cry. The ugly cry.” Everyone knows that cry and it doesn’t tend to happen over sour cream splattered all over the floor. The shoppers around her knew that something deeper was going on but no one pried.
The Reddit user said she was instantly surrounded by a group of women who took charge of the situation without saying a word. Connecting with someone on such a human level that words are not needed is a moment to be treasured. She said the women cleaned up the mess, someone grabbed her a new sour cream and helped her get checked out.
I’m stereotyping here, but that is some big mom energy coming from that group of women. They saw someone who was hurting and did what needed to be done without shaming, without prying and without talking. The group anticipated the needs of a stranger then anticipated the actions of the other women helping to get a grieving person home.
The story garnered many supportive comments but most were speculating on if a group of moms is called a flock or a gaggle before telling their own stories of how a random mom helped them. No matter what a group of moms is called, the story is a beautiful testament to seeing one another’s humanity.
If you’ve never been on Reddit, there’s a section titled “Am I the A**h*le” aptly abbreviated AITA where people ask for clarification on a difficult situation. The idea is that commenters will help you decipher if you are being the jerk in a situation or if it’s the other person involved that holds the title.
A Jewish dad and his two children took to this subreddit to seek his own clarification. The dad, who doesn’t give his name for obvious reasons, explains that he is a remarried widower who came into his second marriage with two children by his deceased wife. He tells readers that his current wife isn’t Jewish but also isn’t particularly religious while her parents are and have attempted to convince his daughter to be baptized Christian.
Boundaries were set according to the post and the family ate dinner at the in-laws house prior to Thanksgiving. Even if you know nothing of Jewish religion, you know that those who follow religious doctrine eat foods that are kosher, which is something that had been explained to the in-laws and they had always abided by.
After the meal was finished, his mother-in-law remarked, “See, we told you nothing bad would happen.” and upon further clarification, she admitted to mixing bacon into the casserole dishes. While he says the father-in-law appeared to be uncomfortable, he agreed that he knew what his wife had done to the food. The situation resulted in his daughter crying and leaving the room with the child’s stepmother following close behind. The poster’s son, who is 15 had some choice words for his step-grandparents.
The entire situation created a rift between not just the in-laws and the person who posted, but with the wife (stepmother) as well. It seems his wife stayed behind at her parents’ house after her husband and stepchildren left. She eventually returned home to be with the family she married into. But the damage had been done after she supposedly sided with her parents in saying her stepson had to apologize before being welcome to Thanksgiving dinner being hosted by her parents.
The thousands of comments were overwhelmingly supportive and turned the comment section into a master class on confronting antisemitism.
And while I certainly don’t believe tampering with someone’s food when you’re aware of their religious restrictions is subtle, it may not be as clear as some of the more overt examples. But Merriam-Webster defines antisemitic as, “feeling or showing hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a cultural, racial, or ethnic group,” which is exactly what the Reddit poster’s mother-in-law displayed by sneakily adding bacon to the family’s food.
Commenter, Millerlicious said, “Yup. I’m Jewish, my fiancé is from a Catholic family. They might not have always understood my religion or diet, but they would have never snuck pork into my food. That is some disgusting level of antisemitism. I would be reevaluating this whole marriage.”
Another commenter, melloussa wrote, “As a Muslim who doesn’t eat pork I would feel so violated and cry like your daughter. This is just evil disrespect. They are not trying to convert you, they are just trying to prove to you that you are wrong. I would go completely NC. NTA.”
The majority of the commenters did not think the 15-year-old son should have to apologize and many thought the marriage may be too broken to salvage. The update given provided some hope explaining that he and his wife will be attending counseling and he will be speaking to his Rabi. There will be no further contact between his children and their step-grandparents for the foreseeable future.
Now to celebrate her posthumous birthday, Metro Boomin took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute, writing, “Happy Birthday, my Queen, my mentor, my best friend, my biggest supporter, my motivation, my real twin, my hero, the Love of my life, my Mother,” he continued with. “You taught me what unconditional love truly means, and I carry that with me to this day and every day forever after that.”
Before closing out the message, Metro promised his late mother, “I will continue to do everything in your name and shine light throughout this dark world, further building the legacy that You started and achieved so much in. God made You so strong to make me so strong, and I see the bigger picture now. I Love You always and forever and can’t wait to see You again.”
Miley Cyrus has, more or less, promised fans new music in 2023 through “New Year, New Miley” promotional posters and a countdown clock. But she’s also making a few promises to herself. Ahead of her Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party NBC special tomorrow night, December 31, Cyrus sat down with Hoda Kotb to dish on her resolutions.
“My 20s were so much fun. If you don’t believe me, I believe you can google it,” the 30-year-old star said. “It looks as fun as it was, but it’s a different kind of fun. I feel that whatever I had in my purpose to prove, I did that. And now, it’s less about proving to others and more about for myself.”
Cyrus continued, “I think why New Year’s is probably my favorite holiday is because everyone has the same idea that I’m kind of exercising all year around, which is, it’s time for something new. It’s time for a change. It’s time for a new beginning. And I think a lot of us wait until midnight to go, ‘Well, when I wake up tomorrow in this new year, everything will be different.’ But it won’t be different if you aren’t different.”
When Kotb specifically asked for Cyrus’ New Year’s resolution, she admitted that her “instinct is very loud, but I’m not a great listener sometimes. The full resolution, as exclusively reported by Peopleyesterday, was inspired by Dolly Parton’s husband, Carl Dean Thomas.
“Dolly was telling me, her husband [Carl Thomas Dean] says, ‘You’re not hard of hearing. You’re hard of listening,’ and I guess that would kind of be my resolution — to not just listen to myself, but listen to others,” Cyrus said.
“I’ve never seen Dolly actually scared before, but I told her, ‘You know, at the end of the year, I was really wanting to do something different. I think I’m gonna dye my hair brunette,” Cyrus additionally relayed to Kotb. “She acted like I told her the worst news you can imagine. She clutched her pearls, gasped and went back, and she goes, ‘You can’t do that! You are me!’ I am somehow some extension of Dolly Parton, so I will be blonde.”
The musical guests joining Cyrus and Parton in Miami include Fletcher, Latto, Liily, Rae Sremmurd, and Sia. Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will air live tomorrow, December 31, on NBC beginning at 10:30 p.m. EST and lasting until after midnight. It will also stream live on Peacock.
Watch Cyrus’ TODAY With Hoda & Jenna interview above.
Here is what I know, for certain, about Asking For A Ride, the new album from the Louisville, Kentucky garage rock quintet White Reaper: it’s really good.
It could be White Reaper’s best album. It’s entirely possible that the album is flat-out-great, maybe even a classic of its form. It certainly has all the material: hard riffs, lighters-up choruses, sneaky great hooks, and production that makes the songs sound big without sacrificing the raw energy that this sort of thing needs.
The only real issue at hand is that I’ve been listening to this album on a stream sent by White Reaper’s label Elektra. And that’s fine and all, as listening to albums on your laptop is kind of the de facto way many of us take in music these days.
But when it comes to the sort of unadorned, bash-and-pop rock music that White Reaper specialize in, there’s two ideal ways to experience it: live and in a car, and I won’t have the opportunity to do either of those for months, as the album is not out until January 27th, and I won’t be able to visit my parents and commandeer their SUV for further critical evaluation purposes until the spring.
Ok, here’s one other thing I know, for certain, about Asking For A Ride: it wasn’t easy to make.
White Reaper (guitarist-frontman Tony Espositio, drummer Nick Wilkerson, bassist Sam Wilkerson, and keyboard player Ryan Hater) are a boyish band of classic rock aficionados that formed in high school, and began playing at Louisville’s DIY venue Skull Alley, learning how to become a band and how to ride the energy of a crowd, while also learning all about safe spaces, being an ally (and not being an asshole) and all the other things a young band needs to be well-versed in these days.
After releasing their snotty 2015 debut White Reaper Does It Again and the arena-dream 2017 follow-up The World’s Best American Band via Polyvinyl (the first album to also feature guitarist Hunter Thompson, they signed with the WMG affiliate Elektra and released the more polished You Deserve Love in 2019. It earned a number one Billboard Alternative single with “Might Be Right,” but in retrospect, the album as a whole doesn’t entirely sit well with them.
White Reaper were determined to recapture the feeling of their live shows, and even scrapped the first version of Asking For A Ride, which was recorded with a big-shot producer that Esposito declines to name. They started over, recorded and largely self-produced in Nashville with the help of band friend and engineer Jeremy Ferguson. The result finds Espositio largely coming into his own as a singer and lyricist, projecting a new-found confidence that fits the strength of the new songs, which at various points resemble Weezer, Cheap Trick, The Replacements, Nirvana, and The Strokes, but all delivered with a panache that now feels singularly them. Again, I can’t wait to hear this in a car with the windows rolled down.
A week before Christmas, I jumped on the phone with Espositio to talk about scrapping a finished record, what he learned from his first major label album, and the bewildering feeling of scoring a hit single.
So, this album sounds a lot different than the last one. It seems a little bit less ready for radio, and a lot more like it’s ready to tear up a nightclub.
Honestly, making it was very crazy. It just felt like there was a new problem every step of the way. We started writing in October 2020, and it’s gonna come out in January 2023, so it took a long time.
I think COVID definitely played a part in that. I think it was hard to feel creative or inspired at the very beginning of the pandemic, ’cause we were just sitting around. And I really learned that being in transit and touring and constantly seeing things and constantly being stimulated is a big help for writing. But yeah, it really slowed things down when that was out of the equation.
I can imagine how frustrating it must have been, because 2019, you’re having a couple of hits on the radio, you’re having a lot of momentum, some big tours with Weezer and Pearl Jam, and then all of a sudden everything stops.
Yeah, that was pretty crazy. I think at that point, though, we were pretty worn down from touring, so we were pretty excited to get a break. We just didn’t realize it was gonna be as long as it was.
Was the thought that you’d come back and like me, do some more touring for You Deserve Love, and ride the success of “Might Be Right?” Or at what point were you like, no, we should just get to work on the next one?
Around October 2020, I think, is when we kind of were like, “that’s over, let’s get started.” We all met at this bizarre Airbnb in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas. It was the first time we’d seen each other since that last tour. We just tried to write.
Now, what was that moment like when you guys finally reunited in the same room?
It was really hard to be productive because I think we were just really excited to see each other and there was a lot of fooling around and joking around and things of that nature. It was very hard to stay on track.
The trip was about like maybe a little less than 10 days. We spent a good two or three days just messing around, maybe even more.
So this time around, you decided to self-produce. What was the thinking there?
So that’s another kind of cursed aspect of this album is that we chewed through a couple producers on the way to the end result. We had one producer and we went into the studio last November, November ’21, and it just wasn’t the right fit. And we just left there knowing that it wasn’t done and that we didn’t feel good about it. So, at that point, we were like, “let’s just go in with an engineer and just do the rest ourselves.”
What do you think was off about the album, at that point?
I’m trying to like diplomatically say that […] Like just the people we were in the studio with, I just don’t think were right for us creatively. And it was hard to get really anything done that we felt great about. And it was just this weird kind of a labored process that was just super uncomfortable.
I can tell you’re being very polite and diplomatic and I appreciate that, but definitely anyone reading this or any fans of yours is going to say, “okay, so they got paired with some pop producer, someone who doesn’t understand what White Reaper is, and they’re forced to make a pop record that didn’t work for them.” Am I within the vicinity of things?
So you threw the album out, and then did you start from scratch, or were there any songs you thought were good that just got the wrong treatment?
So we kept some, four of the songs on the album were ones that we did record from that session. And then the other six were songs that we either redid from that session or wrote totally fresh to finish the album with.
Now, when did you feel the album was coming together in a way that was up to your standards, and you were really starting to nail it?
Honestly, as soon as we got into the studio with Jeremy in the first couple days there, I think we felt really good. And we had a week of preparation in Louisville before we went to Nashville, and I think at that point, we were just excited again. And it was kind of dark times between then and leaving the last studio. We were in this kind of state of uncertainty about what was gonna happen to us. But as soon as we got together again, we kinda slapped ourselves out of it, and it started to feel really good and exciting.
Once you finally turned the album in, was the label supportive or were they mad that you didn’t go with the more pop direction?
They’ve always been very supportive, weirdly. We were nervous ’cause we basically had to record it twice, so we were like, “oh, they’re probably so pissed off.” But they’ve been very, very supportive and very helpful.
Speaking of major labels, looking back on it, how do you feel about how You Deserve Love came out, now you’ve had time to sit with it.
I feel like recording that record was really fun, because it was the first time we did a big producer thing with Jay Joyce, and he was very into live takes of the band and running through things a bunch. And I think we really liked that. And I will say, though, I don’t know if it’s our favorite album to play live. That is kind of where I sit with it now. There are only a couple songs off that record that we’re stoked to throw into our set. And then a lot of them feel like these pretty polished, poppy things that would feel weird with the rest of our set. But outside of that, I look back on it fondly. It just feels like an awkward sort of puzzle piece sometimes at our live shows.
But at the same time, the album did seem to get you guys onto rock radio. “Might Be Right” was the number one hit, and you had some other popular songs on the radio as well from that album. What was it like to reach a different audience, play to bigger crowds, play festivals, and that sort of thing?
It was pretty crazy. The shows definitely got bigger and it’s pretty funny. We always joked about how the phones come out, on “Might Be Right.” But it was cool to see the growth there, but it was also a little funny.
So tell me how “Fog Machine” came about, because that song is one of the highlights of the album. It’s an absolute ripper, really catchy, but also really raw.
So it was this riff that I had come up with that we had had in our little batch of demos for this new album. But we never could figure out how to get out of that main riff and into a verse or something. It just felt like this riff was looping on the demo we had. We tried it a bunch of different times. And it just stumped us for the longest time. And then finally, like literally the week before we went to Nashville to record, it just clicked at literally the last second. And we threw it in there. It was a buzzer-beater.
I remember when I talked to you a couple of years ago, you said you’re nervous as a lyricist. This one both lyrically and just your voice in general is a lot more forward, a lot clearer in the mix. Do you feel like you’ve grown more confident in yourself as a frontman and as a songwriter?
I’m definitely confident as a singer, but I think lyrics are always tricky ’cause you worry about enunciation or that sort of thing, because for the longest time with our band specifically, they’re like, “I don’t know what he’s saying, but it sounds cool.” I think the lyrics are always gonna be troublesome, because you’re always looking for something better. And it was with “Fog Machine,” the last line of the chorus is “left me hanging in the first place.” We were banging our heads against the wall trying to find something better than that, ’cause like none of us absolutely loved it. But eventually we’re just like,” oh, whatever, that’s what it is and that’s what it’ll be.” But yeah, that’s always gonna be there with every song, wondering if the lyrics are as good as they can be or as good as they should be. And I think that’s just another thing that we do as a band, like when I was talking about seriously self-editing. But yeah, we just think really hard all the time.
Going back to the creation of the album, a lot of the lyrics here seem to have a theme of blowing off authority and realizing you know what’s best for yourself. I’m thinking about “Getting In Trouble With The Boss” or Bozo, just sort of like this real affirmation of yourself. Was that on your mind?
Oh, definitely. And whether it was on our minds consciously or not, I think it was what we were literally dealing with throughout the making of this record. So yeah, that feels like a pretty strong theme, I think, just for us in general. So yeah, I’m glad that you got that out of it.
I know when I talked to you a couple of years ago, you said you guys get a real mix of people, both older people that kind of miss hearing rock on the radio and like younger people who maybe you’re their first band. Does that kind of continue to be the case?
Oh, yeah, it seems like it. I mean, there are definitely a lot of younger kids and it’s weird, it’s either super young or pretty old and it feels like there’s not a lot in between. I would say like from 24 and 18 to 45 and beyond.
It seems like for a lot of kids you might be their first rock band that they got into. How does that feel to be like the introductory group?
If that’s the case, then it’s super, super flattering. And I hope that they can listen to our music and be like, “oh, this is cool, like guitars and drums” and then really find what our favorite records are from us. But if that is the case, that’s super, super flattering to be somebody’s intro.
What do you think you learned about yourself and the band going through this entire process of making the album?
That we just have to persevere. That was the main thing, because there were definitely lots of times when I was like, “what’s the point of even doing this?” Like as soon as we make a decision, we’re going to get some email that’s going to blow everything up and push it back another month. And that just happened time and time again. Like I said, it was dark times there for a minute, but I’m glad that we stuck it out and finished, because it feels great now.
Asking For A Ride is out 1/27 via Elektra.
White Reaper is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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