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What even is “normal” anymore? For me, the past few months of living in New York City, my days have become a seemingly never-ending cavalcade of pretty much doing the same exact thing every day. So long that this is now normal. I know a lot of people say they forget what day it is – you know, that momentary mental error, then a quick correction – for about four hours on Tuesday of this week I thought it was Monday. Like even to the point where I thought, “Is that right? Yes, that is right, today is Monday.” I was like Dwight in that episode of The Office where Jim convinced him that it was Friday when it was actually Thursday, only there was no Jim to exacerbate this idea. It just happened naturally. It made me actually pause and think, hmmm, this might be a problem.

Movies have been surprisingly resilient so far, which has been nice and in my new normal, but there are still new movies every week. Sure, we aren’t getting the big-budget blockbusters we are used to, but at least we still get something. Who knows how much longer that can last? But it sure seems like quite a while? At least, it certainly feels like Netflix has an infinite number of movies to release. I picture a room the size of the Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse filled with stacks and stacks of thumb drives filled with new releases.

But what’s great is, this week’s new release, Gina Prince Bythewood’s The Old Guard actually has that summer feel to it. That certain something that at least made me feel like, oh, this is the kind of movie that would be coming out right now regardless. The movie is good, but that feeling that a big new action movie was coming out in, what’s most likely, the worst July in all of our lives, strangely felt even better. Yes, the world is going to hell, but at least for a couple of hours I get to watch Charlize Theron kill some bad guys. It was cathartic.

Loosely based on a comic of the same name, Theron plays Andy, the leader of a group of (almost) immortal beings, who live a very long time, and spend that time doing very violent good deeds. Andy starts having visions of a U.S. soldier, Nile (KiKi Layne), who will be joining them as an immortal. So Andy sets on a mission to recruit Nile (well, it doesn’t seem like Nile has much of a choice in the matter) and explain to Nile why she didn’t die when she had her throat cut open by an enemy combatant.

While this is all going on, an evil man named Merrick (Harry Melling) has figured out the powers of Andy’s group and wants to siphon some of that off for himself. He’s enlisted a scientist named Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to help him, but Copley has his own sympathetic motivation for getting involved in all this. Anyway, whatever! All good fun!

We have heroes with magical powers. We have a bad guy. We have action. We have Charlize Theron fighting her way through countless bad guys. It may be a pretty abnormal summer, but at least this feels like summer. My recommendation is to make a whole thing out of it: fire up some popcorn, order your favorite movie theater candy* (you’ve got a week for these supplies to get to you before this movie comes out), and make a whole thing out of it because this is as close as it’s going to get to a “summer movie” for the considerable future.

(*When quarantine started, I ordered a bunch of movie theater-style candy. The kind that comes in the same style boxes that you find in theaters. I even ordered stuff I don’t really like, like Sno Caps and Mike & Ikes. And what’s weird is, I don’t even really eat them, I just kind of like that they are here.)

My other favorite thing about The Old Guard is, for a movie that features immortal soldiers, it’s a pretty tight script. When we meet Andy’s team, they are already in action and the intricacies of their immortal powers is sprinkled in throughout the movie. This is a movie that screams “there will probably be a lot of exposition” that somehow avoids most of that and doesn’t get bogged down in its own mythology. From the start, we know who the heroes are and what they want and what the villain wants from the heroes. This is all anyone really needs in a summer action movie. So, soak it up while you can, because it’s probably the closest we will all get to that feeling of the “summer movie theater action movie.”

‘The Old Guard’ begins streaming July 10th on Netflix. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Following his untimely death earlier this year, Pop Smoke’s posthumous debut album was released today. Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon is already a lengthy album, with 19 tracks that account for nearly an hour of music, but even more could be on the way.

Mike Dee, a close and longtime friend of Smoke who was with the rapper shortly before his death, took to Instagram to celebrate the release of the new album. He also suggested that a deluxe edition of Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon could be released by the end of the month, in celebration of what would have been Smoke’s 21st birthday on July 20. He insisted, though, that the standard version of the album would have to earn a Platinum certification before the deluxe edition would be released.

Dee wrote, “Long days long nights you was a beast at this sh*t you never slept you always had us in the studio all night but all that work paid off, and you worked hard for it Forever my heart forever my dawgz we gonna keep that name alive forever. album out now this whole tape has to go platinum by his birthday july 20 and the deluxe will drop.”

It’s not clear if Dee meant the deluxe album would drop on the 20th or if it would come out the next Friday, on July 24 (or another time altogether). Either way, there could be more from Smoke on the way, so stay tuned.

Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon is out now via Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records. Get it here.

2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Foo Fighters’ self-titled debut album. To mark the occasion, Dave Grohl recently sat down with Apple Music’s Matt Wilkinson to discuss the band and its origins. During the chat, Grohl revealed that writing “This Is A Call” was a big moment for him in terms of coping with the death of Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain.

Grohl explained how writing the song was “like an exorcism”:

“Most of the songs on that first record had been around for a while. There were a couple that were newer. ‘This Is A Call’ is probably the one song that… it had a different feel. It was a bit more uplifting than the other stuff that I’d written before. And especially coming after Kurt’s death, ‘This Is A Call,’ it was like a renewal or a reawakening where I actually found joy in playing and writing. So it’s strange because when you’re in that moment and you’re in a period of loss or grief or mourning, it’s like you pick up an instrument and that just spills out.

And it serves this… like an exorcism where it feels good because you’re purging a lot of these feelings, but then it’s also a bummer. Every time I pick up a pen or a guitar and I’d start writing something, it was just depressing. And after a while, I’m like, “Oh God. Is that all I got?” And then ‘This Is A Call’, something like that really… it just felt okay. Even a song like ‘Good Grief.’ I think that one might’ve come later. That one was maybe after Kurt had passed away. I’m sure it was, at least the lyrics were. But that was meant to represent the joy of sadness in a way, just feeling good about feeling bad.”

He also explained the steps he took and the state he was in right after Cobain’s death:

“After Kurt passed away, there was a period of everyone just hiding from the world and our whole world was turned upside down. So there was grief, there was mourning. We all rallied together. I remember hanging out with Krist Novoselic and the two of us making sure that we were okay. And then I did a little bit of traveling. I remember going… I took a trip to the UK. I don’t know, I just did a lot of driving around and thinking. And eventually, I started getting calls from people to ask if I wanted to play drums with them or join another band, and I just didn’t see that happening at the time.

And I’d always come home from tours and recorded songs by myself, but that feeling was gone. I didn’t really want to write or even listen to music, much less join a band and play in one. So it was strange, when your life is just pulled out from under you like that. I don’t think anyone really thought much about what came next. You were stuck in that moment. So eventually, I just pulled myself off the couch and thought, ‘Okay, I’ve always loved playing music and I’ve always loved writing and recording songs for myself. So I feel like I need to do that just for myself.’”

Watch the full conversation here.

The cover art for Pop Smoke’s new posthumous album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, was shared earlier this week. That reveal was a bit of a fiasco, as Virgil Abloh was widely criticized for his effort (or lack thereof), which some called “lazy.” Shortly after the art was unveiled, it was quickly announced the cover would be changed.

Sure enough, the album is out today, and the aesthetic of the new art is decidedly more minimal: This one features just a metallic rose on a black background. Notably, the new art was designed by artist Ryder Ripps, who accused Abloh of poorly ripping him off for the first version of the art. Ripps previously shared a design that’s similar to the new cover as an album announcement and explained, “The idea was to take something impermanent and put it in a fixed state, chrome flower.”

The new art is certainly a different direction than the previously revealed cover, but some fans still aren’t on board with the new design. Some accused the new art of not being much more creative or effort-intensive than the previous one, if at all.

Others wondered why the official art isn’t as good as one of the many fan designs made after the initial reveal.

Ultimately, though, the consensus seems to be that regardless of the album art, the quality of the music is still there.

Steven Victor, head of Victor Victor Worldwide, shared the art last night and wrote, “Pop’s music belongs to everyone. This album is a celebration of where Pop was headed and where he wanted to be. The process of working on this album with all our friends, peers and heroes has been amazing and we thank everyone for their support.”

Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon is out now via Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records. Get it here.

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.

If you’re the sort of person who once attended rock shows packed inside sweaty clubs on a regular basis, the album Survival by the Canadian band Wares will no doubt give you an intense shot of melancholy. The record opens with a furious 80-second fuzz-punk anthem called “Hands, Skin,” in which singer-songwriter Cassia Hardy recounts an assault over a frantic riff and pulverizing blast beats, instantly evoking the greats of cathartic indie guitar pop. (Think Husker Du, Sonic Youth, and Titus Andronicus). It’s a thrilling moment that demands to be heard live, with dozens of fellow fans bopping up against each other. But sadly (for the time being at least) it won’t.

Fortunately, Survival more than compensates for this lack of visceral, in-person immediacy. Every year, there are albums that I’m surprised haven’t made a greater impact on the larger indie-rock discourse. In 2020, the biggest sleeper LP for me is the latest from Wares, which dropped Survival in April. At that time, the world was understandably distracted by the early, explosive spread of coronavirus. So many of 2020’s music releases have been swallowed up by the news, but Survival ought to stand out, because Hardy has expertly assembled one of the year’s most emotionally overpowering and melodically satisfying rock records, and also written words that explicitly address the need for outsiders and underdogs to band together and defeat corrupt systems.

Dedicated in the liner notes to “decolonial activists, anti-fascist agitators, [and] prairie queers fighting for community and a better life,” Survival could be interpreted as a political record that seems especially fitting for this precise moment. “Fight like a dying species, rejecting parasitic scum / before everyone you love / gets used up,” Hardy sings on the rousing title track, which closes the album. It sounds like a protest song, an irresistible call to arms set to insistent drums, swirling guitars, and surging synths.

For Hardy, however, Survival comes from a personal place. The 27-year-old Edmonton native transitioned into a woman in the early ’10s, and while she resists categorizing Survival strictly as a “transition” album, the album’s narrative arc “about human beings overcoming trauma, overcoming their past and the things that have hurt them” stems in part from her own feelings of alienation as a person who, for many years, didn’t feel as though she belonged. Eventually, Hardy found community in Edmonton’s politically active music scene, which lends to the feeling of hope that concludes this oft-scathing yet catchy and compulsively listenable album.

I recently phoned Hardy to discuss the album, her love of fellow Canadian rockers the New Pornographers, and how “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath was an “early radicalizing force” for her.

You sympathize with outsiders and underdogs in your songs. How did that influence the album thematically?

This album is the most personal thing I’ve put out. And a lot of my story is coming from this place of knowing that I was different in some way. I made the decision to shut myself up. I feel like this is true for a lot of other queer people: I lived the first part of my life as not a true representation of myself. So the real story of this record beyond anything around me transitioning, is about human beings overcoming trauma, overcoming their past and the things that have hurt them to join together and form community bonds, because that’s how the world is changed. It’s direct person to person interaction and love.

I wouldn’t call Survival a concept album exactly, but it does seem like the songs are connected, and the overall record does have a kind of dramatic arc from the first song, “Hands, Skin,” to the climactic title track. Did you conceive of Survival as a complete album, as opposed to just a collection of songs?

Yeah, for sure. I definitely wrote it as a whole album. I love listening to entire records. I’m not much of a playlist or shuffle person. The last album in 2017, I tried to have more of a melodic arc. The lyrics are personal, but they’re not as narratively driven. A few of the tunes on Survival were actually written around the same time that the first album was being recorded. I just knew I wanted to hook them back because something about them felt different to me. I think the oldest tune is from 2014, which would be “Jenny Says.” Just knowing that the little crop of songs I had going in was so personal, it really drove me to follow that lead and try and make sense of a broader narrative.

I wanted to stay outside of a traditional transition narrative. I’ve read so many trans women’s memoirs from the ’70s and onward, and they’re an important resource, but that’s not the kind of sound I wanted to make.

Why?

Because I think it’s been done. And I wanted to make something a little more timely. I think it’s more important than ever that we reject the impulse to stay isolated. Because the people in power benefit a great deal from an isolated and disorganized population. I think the most powerful thing we can do right now is sort through our own trauma and our own hurt, meet with other people with that same energy who have done the work on their end and think about the ways that we can stop that harm.

Ultimately what I love most about Survival is you have these very sensitive and thoughtful lyrics about your personal experience, and it’s also just a really satisfying and melodic rock record.

It’s what I wanted to do. As far as the melody, that pretty much always comes first to me. Often I’ll have a song fully written on guitar. “Survival” was actually like that. I was bashing my head against the wall about the title track for actual months. I didn’t figure out what it was about until this sort of auspicious day when I was uniquely angry about something that the premier of our country said. I actually wrote it a couple of days after that.

You’ve called Survival a hopeful record, and I feel like that sense of uplift comes from the music, which is beautiful and epic and rooted in this grand guitar-rock tradition. Survival has been compared to The Monitor by Titus Andronicus. I’m also reminded of albums like Siamese Dream and Daydream Nation. Are any of those albums influential for you?

I like Sonic Youth. I feel like such a newbie saying that Daydream Nation is my favorite record but it is. I feel like it stands apart as a beautiful album. I love power pop. I suppose my first really proper spate of bands that really spoke to what I wanted to accomplish musically was probably The New Pornographers. I like all the people in that band but especially Neko Case and Dan Bejar, and the way they molded that band around their existing vocal and songwriting styles. I saw them at a formative age, and The Mountain Goats opened, which was like a big, big show for me, just as far as energetic songwriting coupled with narratively driven lyrics.

You were also a teenage metalhead, right?

I was obviously, like, brutally depressed for most of my teenage years, so I was attracted to that kind of music. I guess it was the intricacy of the guitar work that was appealing to me. When I first started going to guitar lessons. that’s the kind of sound that I wanted to make. I wanted to go to college as a guitar player. And it took me a while to process the things that drew me away — the machismo and the competitive aspects of what could be played faster, as opposed to writing the song. But there’s a lot of stuff in that genre I really like. I can point to “War Pigs” as an early radicalizing force, or “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?”

Is that why you play a Flying V? It seems very metal.

It’s a really fun shape. I just like how it looks. It’s got a background in metal, but I think Ray Davies had one for a while. Jimi Hendrix, Albert King. I love that kind of mid-century futurist look. I love my V.

Survival is out now on Mint Records. Get it here.

Netflix just will not stop (and thank goodness for that) with the much-needed content buffet during these quarantine times. If you’re looking for true-crime indulgence to distract from invisible threats at hand, then the revival of an iconic series has got you covered. Meanwhile, the comic-book crowd will enjoy an adaptation of a kickass manga series, and there’s a fresh stand-up special to bring some laughs.

Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix this week of July 3.

Unsolved Mysteries (Netflix series streaming 7/1)

This revival should satisfy fans of the original and newcomers alike. Yes, there are some key differences between the show that ran for 14 years, but it feels fresh while still maintaining familiarity. That is to say, these cases will still thrill and chill and captivate the true crime-buff audience, so enjoy this six-episode batch with more to come.

Warrior Nun (Netflix series streaming 7/2)

This manga-comic-book adaptation does indeed contain warrior-ing and nunn-ing, but it’s much more than that, including a superhero origin story, a coming-of-age tale, and an often-schlocky creation that arrives with certain expectations from the title itself. The action takes some breaks, but when it’s on, expect some serious butt kicking of demons.

George Lopez: We’ll Do It For Half

Somehow, this is Lopez’s first Netflix comedy special despite his storied stand-up roots. In one hour, Lopez dives into lessons that he’s learned from the Latino community, along with issues related to emotional support animals, gender reveal parties, and elevator etiquette.

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

Avail. 6/26
Amar y vivir (Netflix Original)
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix Film)
Home Game (Netflix Documentary)
Straight Up

Avail. 6/29
Bratz: The Movie

Avail. 6/30
Adú (Netflix Film)
BNA (Netflix Anime)
George Lopez: We’ll Do It for Half (Netflix Comedy)

Avail. 7/1
AnneFrank: Parallel Stories
A Bridge Too Far
A Thousand Words
A Touch of Green: Season 1
A Walk to Remember
Abby Hatcher: Season 1
Airplane!
Ali
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Charlotte’s Web
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Cleo & Cuquin: Season 2
Cloud Atlas
David Foster: Off the Record
Definitely, Maybe
Delta Farce
Donnie Brasco
Double Jeopardy
Fiddler on the Roof
Frida
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Killing Hasselhoff
Kingdom: Season 1-3
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
Mean Streets
Million Dollar Baby
Paranormal Activity
Red Riding Hood (2011)
Schindler’s List
Sleepless in Seattle
Sleepy Hollow
Spaceballs
Splice
Stand and Deliver
Stardust
Starsky & Hutch
Sucker Punch
Swordfish
The Art of War
The Devil’s Advocate
The F–k-It List
The Firm
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid Part II
The Karate Kid Part III
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
The Town
The Witches
This Christmas
Total Recall (1990)
Trotro
Winchester
Chico Bon Bon: Monkey with a Tool Belt: Season 2
Deadwind: Season 2
Say I Do (Netflix Original)
Under the Riccione Sun (Netflix Film)
Unsolved Mysteries (Netflix Documentary)

Avail. 7/2
Warrior Nun (Netflix Original)
Thiago Ventura: Pokas (Netflix Comedy Special)

Avail. 7/3
The Baby-Sitters Club: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Cable Girls: Final Season Part 2 (Netflix Original)
Desperados (Netflix Film)
JU-ON: Origins (Netflix Original)
Southern Survival (Netflix Original)

Avail. 7/5
ONLY

Avail. 7/6
A Kid From Coney Island

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

Leaving 7/4
Blue Valentine

Leaving 7/5
The Fosters: Season 1-5
The Iron Lady

Leaving 7/8
Solo: A Star Wars Story

Leaving 7/9
47 Metres Down

Leaving 7/11
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III
The Adderall Diaries
Enemy
Ginger & Rosa
Locke
The Spectacular Now
Under the Skin

Leaving 7/12
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain

While 2020 only produced one project that he admitted was not his best effort, 2020 has been one hell of a year for Tory Lanez. The Toronto act kicked off the year saving the world from quarantine boredom with his Quarantine Radio show via Instagram Live. While the activities that took place on the livestream got his Instagram account suspended, the show proved to be a huge boost to Tory and it helped semi-promote his most recent project, The New Toronto 3. The project would also be his last with Interscope, allowing him to embark on independence after its release. Continuing work on his next body of work, Tory supplies a track to the soundtrack of the upcoming Fast & Furious 9 film.

Sliding through with Kevin Gates by his side, the two rappers rev their engines for the latest single off the Fast & Furious 9 soundtrack. Opting against a hook, Tory and Kevin put their bars up to bat as the two artists drop lengthy verses on the song. Tory kicks off his verse with sheer confidence rapping, “I cannot stress this bitch no more / 50 racks came outside from the mall / Still come kick down your door.” Lending the mic to Gates follows suit with his own braggadocios bars, “Lifestyle of the rich and the famous / Close quarters in a whip and a gangster / Pipe down up in here ‘fore I spank you.”

The new collaboration arrives weeks after Tory Lanez shared his most recent single, “Temperature Rising.”

Press play on the video above to hear “Convertible Burt.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Following years of disappointment and dissatisfaction with her former label, Tinashe broke free and claimed her independence in 2019 and quickly began to lay the foundation for her fourth album. Nine months later, backed by managerial support from Roc Nation, she delivered her fourth album Songs For You with help from 6lack, G-Eazy, and more. The album was received well and signaled that Tinashe would thrive with her newfound independence. Months after the album’s arrival, the “2 On” singer heads back to her fourth album for a new remix.

Calling on Zhu, Tinashe shares an enchanting remix of her Songs For You cut, “Die A Little Bit.” Adding on to the song’s original version, which features British rapper Ms. Banks and presents a dark house track that promotes nighttime fun in an elevated state, the updated take brings a bit more rhythm to the mix thanks to the addition of Zhu. The track marks the second collaboration between Tinashe and Zhu, as the two artists connected for “Only” earlier this year. The “Die A Little Bit” remix also marks the second remix to arrive from Songs For You. The first came last week as Tinashe collaborated with THEY., a producer-singer duo comprised of Dante Jones and Drew Love, for a remix of “Hopscotch.”

Listen to the “Die A Little Bit” remix in the video above.

The NBA return is right around the corner, and scores of players have been traveling from far and wide to rejoin their teams in preparation for the games in Orlando this summer. One question that’s been on everyone’s minds is just what level of conditioning we can reasonably expect from the players after a more than four-month absence.

The answer is that it will likely be a mixed bag, even for those who have been diligent about their diet and exercise regimens. The diaspora that happened in the wake of the pandemic meant that some players found themselves in situations where they didn’t necessarily enjoy the same access to the type of state-of-the-art exercise equipment that they are normally accustomed to.

Take Steven Adams, for instance, who left Oklahoma City soon after the hiatus and returned to his farm in New Zealand so he could be close to family. In a recent Zoom call with Thunder beat reporters, Adams talked about how he’s been spending his free time during the shutdown, joking that he’s turned to his farm animals to mimic the conditions in the post.

Via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman:

While at home, Adams took a break from wrestling Western Conference centers and joked that he stayed in basketball shape by “boxing out cows” on his farm.

Adams and the rest of his Thunder teammates are participating in mandatory individual workouts at the team’s practice facility before they fly to Disney World next week for training camp. The Thunder (40-24) will resume the season Aug. 1 against the Utah Jazz.

The Thunder, with Chris Paul at the helm, had been one of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises before the season shut down. They head into Orlando having clinched a playoff spot as they sit at No. 5 in the Western Conference standings.

(The Oklahoman)

It was less than five months ago that the hip-hop community took a huge blow as Pop Smoke was tragically murdered in the wee hours of the morning. Murdered in his Los Angeles home, his death arrived just days after he shared the deluxe version of his Meet The Woo 2 mixtape. His death was mourned by many in the hip-hop community including Lil Tjay, Joey Badass, and more. Granting the world one last opportunity to hear what was and what could have been in the life and career of Pop Smoke, the Brooklyn rapper’s posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon has arrived as promised.

Shortly after the untimely passing of Pop Smoke, 50 Cent vowed to finish the deceased rapper’s debut album. While it was never confirmed whether or not 50 Cent played an executive role on the album, he does appear on the album alongside Pop Smoke and Roddy Ricch for their collaboration “The Woo.” A phrase that became a trademark saying in Pop Smoke’s music, the track is a well-meshed collaboration of the past and the present. Pop Smoke was often compared to 50 Cent due to their similar sound as well as a “Many Men” remix that was released earlier this year. On the other hand, Roddy stands as one of the most popular newcomers in the music industry and he and Pop could have very well held that title together if things had played out differently.

As for the rest of his album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon clocks in with 19 songs including “Dior” and “Make It Rain” and sees appearances from Lil Baby, DaBaby, Future, Polo G, Quavo, Swae Lee, and more. The album also arrives with a new cover after the original design, created by Virgil Abloh, was ripped apart by fans on social media.

Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon is out now via Victor Victor Worldwide and Republic Records. Get it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.