"If I had to pick just one, I would say the particular micro-genre of song that most speaks to me is one that focuses on alcohol and music as two forms of self-medication — one at best a dangerous palliative, the other transformative. My favorite example is “doublewhiskeycokenoice,” as performed by the singer-songwriter Dave Hause on his fall 2020 EP Paddy. Hause’s cover of what was originally a bombastic punk song pares back the bravado to reveal vulnerability and an ambivalence between self destruction and solidarity. The song’s narrator feels beaten down by a hostile world, contemptuous of people at home in that world, and unable to put these feelings into words. These in turn add up to a sense of isolation which he copes with by drinking too much."
That's the opening to a thing I wrote that's now up at Tropics of Meta, talking about online gigs. I'm pleased about this. The rest is over there.