In season 2, episode 11 of The Sopranos (aka episode 211) everyone is trapped. Junior is trapped in house arrest, trapped in his old body, and trapped in the garbage disposal. Dr. Melfi is trapped treating Tony and trapped in a spiral of alcoholism. Tony is trapped with Richie Aprile in his family and in being the boss. It’s both probably the most Scorsese episode and the first episode where Dr. Melfi’s storyline is one of the better ones. Dr. Melfi’s son, the intellectual Napoleon Dynamite, even makes a brief appearance, in a scene that is an absolute masterpiece of classic Sopranos comedy, where every character is uniquely terrible.
Joining us this week is Twitter-lebrity (*dodges tomato*) and huge Soprano-head Bobby Bigwheel, helping us talk through all your favorite Pod Yourself A Gun segments, from Bada B Stories, Da Real Gangsta, It’s The 90s, Malapropism Corner, and Gabba Va Vongool. We also answer your listener voicemails.
As always, your Pod Yourself A Gun hosts are Matt Lieb from Newsbroke and me, Vince Mancini. You can leave us an email at [email protected] or a voicemail at 415 275 0030. Don’t forget to leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. We hope you love every minute of it, and until next week, don’t stop believin’.
Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.
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Car Seat Headrest — Making A Door Less Open
Topping off our list of the best new indie music this week, Car Seat Headrest has returned with his first new music since 2016’s endlessly impressive Teens Of Denial. Since 2016, Will Toledo spent most of his time re-recording his 2011 album Twin Fantasy for an updated version. It was cool, but definitely didn’t replace the desire for something truly new to sink our teeth into. Enter Making A Door Less Open, a record that Steven Hyden writes “succeeds modestly because Toledo opts to not top his masterwork, instead carving a deliberately bumpier, less consistent path beyond it. This won’t be your favorite CSH record, but it will probably be the one you’re tempted to defend as ‘underrated.’”
Diet Cig — Do You Ever Wonder About Me?
After kicking off the year with a teaser of new music, Diet Cig has returned with Do You Wonder About Me?. Anchored by Alex Luciano’s infectious vocal stylings and Noah Bauman’s powerful percussion, the duo tears through ten power-pop tracks that showcase the band’s finest songwriting to date. It’s an album about lost love, but Do You Ever Wonder About Me? is bursting with enough love itself to make you feel warm.
Boston Manor — Glue
On the heavier end of the spectrum, UK punks Boston Manor’s third LP is peppered with riffs and hooks that pull from the peak of Britpop, with distortion pedals kicked all the way into high gear. It’s reflective and aggressive, diving into many of the issues plaguing the world today (including the fear and effects of isolation), resulting in a powerful statement from one of the UK’s brightest punk acts.
Petey — High Life From The Bottle On The Beach
One of the most exciting new projects we’ve come across recently, the latest EP from Petey features two versions of the same song, but they don’t sound anything alike. The highlight here is “More To Life Than Baseball,” one of those songs that is able to capture even the most passive listener and force them to rewind and listen again.
Pup — “Anaphylaxis”
In their first sampling of new music since last year’s epic Morbid Stuff, Pup tells the story of getting attacked by killer bees. As such, it’s “a song about fear, anxiety, and allergies,” writes Carolyn Droke for Uproxx. In typical Pup fashion, however, the song rollicks and thrashes until there’s almost nothing left.
2nd Grade — “Dennis Hopper In Easy Rider”
The latest entry from this exciting Philly upstart group, “Dennis Hopper In Easy Rider” is a breezy indie-pop tune that arrives just in time for the weather to warm up. Sonically and thematically, this one is interesting too: Carolyn Droke writes for Uproxx that “a catchy guitar riff provides an open space for lead singer Peter Gill’s lighthearted musings where he recites his ABC’s and lists off the cast members in the 1969 cult classic film.”
Jessy Lanza — “Face”
With the officially announcement of her third album All The Time, dance-ready producer Jessy Lanza has shared the shuffling new single “Face.” It’s a fitting preview of the party-bound (if there are ever parties again) album, wherein “crunchy synths and digital tones are at the forefront of Lanza’s off-kilter track,” writes Carolyn Droke for Uproxx.
Retirement Party — “Compensation”
The second single from Retirement Party’s upcoming LP Runaway Dog is accompanied by one of the most anxiety-inducing videos I’ve ever seen. The band’s van rolls thru the desert while the members climb out of the window and onto the roof, where they play the track atop of a moving vehicle. It’s fitting for a track that’s about weighing the possible financial benefits of letting a car hit you. “I’ll always know to look both ways before I cross the road / If I get hit all that means is compensation,” Avery Springer sings on the chorus.
Khruangbin — “Time (You And I)”
After blowing our minds with their collaborative project with Leon Bridges earlier this year, Texas trio Khruangbin has announced their third full-length album Mordechai and shared the endlessly funky new track “Time (You And I).” One of the more exciting tracks heard this year, “Time (You And I)” is another entry in “the group’s cross-genre catalog and is peppered with influences spanning from reggae to East Asian surf-rock,” Carolyn Droke writes for Uproxx.
Samia — “Is There Something In The Movies?”
Her first official release of 2020 after a string of singles last year, Samia’s “Is There Something In The Movies?” is what Carolyn Droke calls for Uproxx a “heart-tugging track,” one that discloses Samia’s ever-present feeling of disenchantment in the music industry and showcases her gorgeous, swooning vocals.
Remo Drive — “Star Worship”
In 2017, Midwestern indie rocking brothers Erik and Stephen Paulson released Natural, Everyday Degradation, a fun effort full of bops and riffs that gained them a solid following. Coming from the DIY punk scene, Remo Drive has a big of a lighter touch that gives them an edge to grow outside the scene. “Star Worship” previews their new album A Portrait Of An Ugly Man and continues on the indie-rock trend, a track that sounds more like Modest Mouse than Modern Baseball.
Fenne Lily — “To Be A Woman Pt. 2”
A month after “Hypochondriac,” her debut single with venerable indie label Dead Oceans, 23-year-old singer-songwriter Fenne Lily has returned with “To Be A Woman Pt. 2,” a track that shows her songwriting versatility. “While ‘Hypochondriac’ was a peaceful tune,” writes Derrick Rossignol for Uproxx, “‘To Be A Woman Pt. 2’ is less restrained in its approach, carried by its calm rumbling verses that lead to storms of guitar.” Get in early and add Fenne Lily to your Artist To Watch list for 2020.
Sweet Whirl — “Patterns Of Nature”
Another impressive project coming out of Australia, Sweet Whirl’s new album How Much Works is already shaping up to be one of 2020’s best. Esther Edquist calls the tender piano-based number a “Carole King moment,” featuring gorgeous vocal harmonies and light percussion beneath Edquist’s contemplative lyrics that deal with the desire to resist traditional gender roles in a relationship.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Thanks to a very revealing teaser, it’s no longer a secret that David Harbour‘s Chief Hopper survived the ending of Stranger Things 3, and fans of the show can expect to see the chain-smoking sheriff punching faces in Russia whenever the Netflix series returns. (Production is currently on hiatus like most everything in Hollywood.)
While the details of Stranger Things 4 are being kept tightly under wraps, IndieWire has discovered recently unearthed footage of Harbour from the Liverpool Comic-Con in March where the actor dropped some revealing news about the upcoming season. According to Harbour, the Duffer Brothers seeded some very specific clues in Hopper’s attic where Eleven found boxes labeled “Dad,” “Vietnam,” and “New York.” What those three words mean to Hopper’s backstory will be explored in season four.
“I’m so excited about revealing this aspect of the character,” Harbour added. “It’s one of the things that I’ve known since the first frame of the first shot, and we haven’t expressed it yet. And finally we’re gonna express it in a big way. It’s my favorite thing about him that you guys don’t know about him yet, but it has to do with these backstories of New York, Vietnam, and dad. And I’m really excited for you guys to know more about that, and it relates, of course, to things he’s doing with Eleven and Joyce and things like that.”
As for the teaser showing Hopper being held prisoner in Russia, Harbour recently addressed Marvel and Stranger Things fans who came up with an interesting theory that tied Harbour’s sheriff to his upcoming role as Red Guardian in Black Widow.
I’m not saying that Hopper is brainwashed and becomes Red Guardian, but my head canon is going with it. https://t.co/FUzt6aqnG2
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Harbour sympathized with eagle-eyed fans and genuinely felt bad for how the whole thing looks. “I know, it is a very surprising, annoying coincidence, and I apologize to the entire internet,” he said. “There is no rhyme or reason for it, I promise you.”
Inglewood natives D Smoke, SiR, and Issa Rae team up to stick up a strip club owner in the Jack Begert-directed video for D Smoke’s Black Habits single, “Lights On.” While the video tells a relatively straightforward story, it does so in reverse, opening with the three stars making a dramatic getaway and narrowly avoiding retribution for their daring robbery and follows Issa in the role of a fed-up stripper who sticks up her boss with a gun in her purse.
D Smoke, the winner of Netflix’s first season of Rhythm + Flow after impressing hosts Cardi B, Chance The Rapper, T.I., and guest judge Snoop Dogg, has been steadily rolling out videos from his 2020 debut album, including title track “Black Habits” and the aggressive “Gaspar Yanga,” solidifying his spot in the rap game after his splashy entrance on Rhythm + Flow. Meanwhile, his brother SiR recently dropped the animated video for his Chasing Summer single “John Redcorn,” reimagining the members of Black Hippy as characters from the cartoon sitcom, King Of The Hill.
As for Issa Rae, you won’t see her sticking up any strip clubs in real life. She was recently announced as executive producer on another new show at HBO alongside Dwayne Johnson, even as her own Insecure continues to dominate the social media discussion despite competing for eyeballs with ESPN’s Michael Jordan miniseries The Last Dance. She’s also the producer on an HBO Max show about a female rap group that sounds a lot like the origin story of City Girls by way of Dave or Atlanta. It’s safe to say all three stars of “Lights On” have been enjoying the spotlight and making plenty of money thanks to their various skills.
One fun aspect of The Last Dance, ESPN’s 10-part docuseries on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, is that it has given media folks from that era the opportunity to tell a bunch of delightful stories. One of the people most well-equipped to do this has been Ahmad Rashad, who served as the longtime host of NBC’s NBA Inside Stuff.
Unlike most broadcasters or reporters from that era, who had professional relationships with Jordan, the former Pro Bowl wide receiver struck up a legitimate friendship with the Bulls’ star, something that comes through a whole lot in interviews given by Rashad. Not everything can make it into the documentary, though, so on Tuesday, Rashad took to Twitter to discuss something he saw first-hand during his time around Jordan and the Dream Team.
As Rashad told it, he was in a hotel room with Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, and Magic Johnson. The group discussed who had the best team — Bird, as Rashad tells it, told Barkley and Ewing they can’t lay claim to this due to their lack of championships — before moving onto a conversation about which of Bird, Johnson, and Jordan was the best player, with two members of that group getting especially into it with one another.
“Michael and Magic got into it,” Rashad recalls. “They were talking back and forth with each other, and it was really funny. I was sitting over there with Larry Bird and we were just watching. Then finally, Michael gets very upset and says, ‘Listen, all I’m telling you — I’m telling you, Larry, and I’m telling you, Magic — if you don’t quit, every time I see you next year, I am busting your ass. When I come to your arena, I’m busting your ass. I’m warning you right now, you better quit.’”
Rashad says that eventually, Bird told Johnson that they “were then,” while Jordan “is now.” It is a marvelous story, one that touches on something that episode five of The Last Dance covered: The Dream Team, in a way, served as Bird and Johnson passing the baton to Jordan as he became the face of the league. Jordan didn’t get a chance to specifically go head-to-head with Bird and Johnson the following season — Bird announced his retirement shortly after the Olympics, while Johnson had already retired — but Chicago did go on to win a championship, so things worked out quite well for him.
The Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation in the southwestern U.S. have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. With a third of the population having no running water, proper virus-avoiding hygiene is nearly impossible. Access to groceries is limited, and the community has a high number of elderly and individuals with health conditions that put them at higher risk of complications from the virus.
A GoFundMe fundraiser was organized on behalf of the Rural Utah Project Education Fund to raise money for groceries, water, health supplies, and other necessary items in these Native communities. And this week, they have received a huge influx of donations from a seemingly unlikely source—Ireland.
If you’re wondering what would prompt part of an island across the Atlantic to send money to a specific community in the U.S., the answer is simple. Gratitude.
In 1847, the Choctaw and Navajo people were struggling to get established after being forced to relocate from their homelands during the cruel and shameful Trail of Tears. The tribes had suffered greatly and had very little. But when they heard about the suffering of the Irish people during the potato famine, they pulled together a donation of $170—around $5000 in today’s dollars—to send to Ireland.
That collective act of sacrificial generosity was not forgotten. And now people in Ireland are repaying that gift many times over in a beautiful expression of historic human connectedness.
The GoFundMe currently sits at more than $1.8 million of a $2 million goal, thanks in no small part to a flood of donations from Ireland. And as the donations of $10, $20, $30 keep rolling in, Irish people are leaving lovely messages of gratitude, solidarity, and hope along with them:
“Ireland remembers the Navajo kindness in her hour of need.”
“In remembrance of the kindness shown to my country by your fellow native Americans, the Choctaw people, during a time of dire need. Gach rath oraibh uilig.” [Translation: “Best of luck to you all.”]
“I donated because when you had nothing, you gave something to help Ireland.”
“Yá’át’ééh from Ireland. The Native American donation all those years ago was never forgotten. There have been songs written about your generosity. I am glad to be able to return the favour in some small part. Ahóá!”
Vanessa Tulley, one of the fundraiser organizers, acknowledged the outpouring of love and money coming from Ireland in an update:
“Several of our recent donations for our GoFundMe campaign have been inspired by the Great Hunger Famine in Ireland which started in 1845.
During this difficult time, in 1847, the Choctaw Nation provided $170 of relief aid to the Irish to help them (today that is the equivalent of $5,000). Not long before the Great Hunger Famine in Ireland, 60,000 Native Americans, including the Choctaw people, had suffered through the experience of the Trail of Tears. The death of many people on the Trail of Tears sparked empathy for the Irish people in their time of need. Thus, the Choctaw extended $170 of relief aid.
173 years later to today, the favor is returned through generous donations from the Irish people to the Navajo Nation during our time of crisis. A message from Irish donor, Pat Hayes, sent from Ireland across the ocean: “From Ireland, 170 years later, the favour is returned! To our Native American brothers and sisters in your moment of hardship.”
The heartache is real. We have lost so many of our sacred Navajo elders and youth to COVID-19. It is truly devastating. And a dark time in history for our Nation. In moments like these, we are so grateful for the love and support we have received from all around the world. Acts of kindness from indigenous ancestors passed being reciprocated nearly 200 years later through blood memory and interconnectedness.Thank you, IRELAND, for showing solidarity and being here for us.”
Absolutely beautiful. Humanity wins the day once again.
If you’d like to donate to help the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation in their COVID-19 fight, you can find the GoFundMe here.
Ever since the first trailer dropped, Cats made it abundantly clear that it would be a very strange ride featuring celebrities transformed into surreal, if not nightmare-inducing CGI felines. Since then, the film has achieved a cult following for its trainwreck qualities. It’s also become a curiosity watch during these social distancing times.
While very few actors have broken their silence on filming the critically panned adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical, Dame Judi Dench has opened up about her experience in an interview with British Vogue. She, uh… she’s not a fan. In fact, she hasn’t even watched the finished film, but she is aware that the final product has somehow found an audience with a generation who enjoys a good disaster.
Dench visibly prickles at its mention. “The cloak I was made to wear!” she cries. “Like five foxes f**king on my back.” Filmed in green screen, and with her eyesight impaired, Dench has yet to see the film in full but was far from pleased at how her Old Deuteronomy turned out looking in the pictures she’s seen. She’d hoped she would look rather elegant. Instead: “A battered, mangy old cat,” she says, appalled. “A great big orange bruiser. What’s that about?”
Unfortunately, Dame Dench didn’t comment on the elusive “Butthole Cut” that captivated social media after Seth Rogen got high and live-tweeted the film during the early days of the quarantine. According to legend, there’s a version of Cats where the characters had, let’s just say, very detailed posteriors, but the CGI team was ordered to remove it. What really happened is that the fur simulation software accidentally made some of the character models look like they had certain female parts, and that’s what the VFX team had to alter. Of course, if you think people still aren’t clamoring for a release of that version of the film, you obviously haven’t been on the internet very long.
With the large variety of music being released during quarantine, it can be hard to comb through it all. Thankfully, Uproxx is here to provide a list of this week’s best new pop music. This week, in particular, boasted a handful of big-name mash-ups. Halsey linked with electronic producer Marshmello, Summer Walker tapped Khalid for a slow-burning remix, and Nicki Minaj breathed new life into Doja Cat’s most recent hit.
A Marshmello and Halsey collab is tailor-made for inclusion among the best new pop music. After releasing her album Manic earlier this year, Halsey teamed up with electronic DJ Marshmello to spread positivity through the cheery track “Be Kind.” In a statement, the Marshmello praised Halsey for her work on the single. “As soon as we finished the song, I was instantly obsessed!” Marshmello said. “Halsey and I connected and were both on the same page with what we wanted the final outcome to be! And it turned out great.”
Doja Cat — “Say So (Remix)” Feat. Nicki Minaj
After “Say So” garnered viral fame through TikTok, Doja Cat decided to coax Nicki Minaj out of retirement for a remix. The rapper added her own spin on the groovy track by mixing the instrumentals to more appropriately accompany her hard-hitting verses, which she recently had to clarify were not throwing shade at Wendy Williams.
Summer Walker — “Eleven (Remix)” Feat. Khalid
Khalid released his sophomore album Free Spirit just over a year ago. The singer returned at the beginning of the new year with his first solo single since the record, “Eleven.” Khalid enlisted the help of Summer Walker for a smooth remix of his track. Over a lulling, down-tempo beat, Walker’s soaring vocals narrate her enamor with a blossoming relationship.
Kehlani — “F&MU”
This week, Kehlani announced her highly-anticipated sophomore album It Was Good Until It Wasn’t arrives soon. Kehlani trailed her album announcement with the steamy single “F&MU.” An acronym for “F*ck And Make Up,” the bumping single features Kehlani’s enchanting vocals divulging details about a flirtatious romance.
Max — “Missed Calls” Feat. Hayley Kiyoko
Earlier this year, Hayley Kiyoko announced she would be canceling her North American tour in order to focus her time on her sophomore album. While she hasn’t released any new solo music since the announcement, Kiyoko now returns with “Missed Calls,” a collaboration with Max. The buoyant tune is a sugary-sweet pop anthem about recovering after a particularly difficult breakup.
Haim — “I Know Alone”
The latest single off their upcoming effort Women In Music Pt. III, “I Know Alone” is a reflection on isolation. In a statement, lead vocalist Danielle Haim said she had written the lyrics pre-pandemic, but the song has since taken on a completely new meaning: “Now with everything going on ‘alone’ feels like a ritual. only I know my own little secret routine on these days of being by myself and I almost take comfort in it. It’s my own way of staying sane in my alone-ness and it’s really helping me get through this.”
Dixie Chicks — “Julianna Calm Down”
Dixie Chicks recently announced a monumental return to music with their upcoming album’s eponymous single “Gaslighter.” While the record has been shelved due to the pandemic, Dixie Chicks continue to preview the record with the emotive single “Julianna Calm Down.” Produced by Jack Antonoff, the single is an empowering message of self-respect for women everywhere.
JoJo — “Comeback” Feat. Tory Lanez, 30 Roc
JoJo released her comeback record Good To Know Friday. With it came the enchanting and carnal track “Comeback.” In her own words, JoJo said the ladder part of her album is about accepting herself and her journey: “Toward the end, I knock on the door of self-love. Accepting where I’ve been and meeting myself where I’m at.”
Quinn XCII — “Coffee” Feat. Marc E. Bassy
While his sophomore record was released just over a year ago, Quinn XCII is gearing up for his next release. The singer shared the lovelorn track “Coffee” from his upcoming album, A Letter To My Younger Self. The effervescent tune features snappy instrumentals under the singer’s captivating lyrical delivery.
Faouzia — “Secrets”
Hot on the heels of a release with Kelly Clarkson, Faouzia returns with the triumphant number “Secrets. In a statement, Faouzia described her inspiration behind the track: “I was contemplating the emotional strain that comes when someone you care about isn’t able to be honest with you. Whether it’s about how they’re feeling, what they’re going through, or maybe something heavier. This song is about letting them know that they can come to you in times of need, no judgment, only support; and no matter what they tell you, you will always be there for them.”
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
What’s Kazuchika Okada‘s next move after losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship? The answer could be tag team wrestling.
Before New Japan Pro Wrestling went on hiatus – the company hasn’t run any shows during the COVID-19 pandemic and has committed to not laying off its workers – there were shake-ups in multiple title pictures, including Tetsuya Naito becoming the first person to hold the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles at the same time and the new-ish team of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi winning the heavyweight tag team championship. Tanahashi and Ibushi’s win gave the tag title picture an injection of star power and, Okada said in a recent interview, made the scene a lot more appealing.
Okada explained:
The prospect of guys that I’ve fought so hard with in singles being tag champions, that’s intriguing… And wrestling the two of them together, that’s something different to singles matches we’ve had before. I know I only just lost my title to Naito, but if it’s a question of wrestling for the tag titles or a double IWGP championship match, the tag titles are more interesting to me.
That’s obviously a kayfabe answer, but Okada goes on to make some legitimate points about Ibushi and Tanahashi winning the tag titles and about tag wrestling in general, along with some hints about the next stage of his career:
It’s something new. It’s a breath of fresh air. I really feel that I want to show something new, so there is something appealing about being in a tag team championship situation. It’s something I’ve never done, rather than try to take my belt back from Naito…
Plus, we don’t see tag title main events these days. Maybe at Korakuen, but not often for major cards. I’d like that. Tag is something that makes pro wrestling distinct from other martial arts. Not in boxing, not in MMA. It can be something we point to and say, ‘Pro wrestling is a level above anything else.’
Who would Okada go for the tag titles with? He says it would have to be Yoshi-Hashi. “We’ve been together since we were both starting out in New Japan. We fought each other on our return match, but we get along really well. It’s easy to speak my mind with him, there isn’t any sempai/kohai stuff. I never get tired of teaming with him.”
There’s a few teams in the tag title mix already – Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. were clearly gunning for the champs before the pandemic began – but maybe we could see Okada and Yoshi-Hashi with gold whenever New Japan starts up again.
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