Author: Travis Shosa
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Two Poems by Mike Bagwell
Jimmy Two-Toes and Romance I think it will be okay, but I’ve beenwrong before. Bad news from upriver:the plastic surgeons are unitedin their efforts to remold Shelly,and will stop at nothing. It’s only fair to tell youI have a second circulatory system.I call it goodbyethankyoueven though it is mostly origami. Listen, I’m part sin-man part…
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Laughing Backwards: On Whitmer Thomas’ The Older I Get the Funnier I Was
Whitmer Thomas | The Older I Get the Funnier I Was | Hardly Art | October 2022 In an Instagram video announcing the release of The Older I Get The Funnier I Was, Whitmer Thomas says that the album contains “a lot of embarrassing stuff.” “If I feel like that, it usually means I’m on the right track,” he justifies. True to…
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Gotta Beat Your Record: On Marjorie -W.C Sinclair’s 22nd Chances
Marjorie -W.C Sinclair | 22nd Chances | Self-released | September 2022 Orion Ohana has established a cult following over the past half-decade, drifting from place to place as a minstrel of mayhem. Initially adopting the moniker of housepett before joining Reptilian Club Boyz in 2019, 2020 saw Ohana develop two new alter egos: Evanora Unlimited and Marjorie -W.C Sinclair. What delineates…
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Rock On Forever: On The Lemon Twigs’ A Dream Is All We Know
The Lemon Twigs | A Dream Is All We Know | Captured Tracks | May 2024 In the 2000 film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, Rob Gordon opines about the role that pop records have played in his life: “Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery, and…
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Spreading Their Wings: On Polkadot Stingray’s odoru yō-ni
Polkadot Stingray | odoru yō-ni | Universal Music | September 2022 Since their debut in 2015, and especially since Harushi Ejima was scouted as lead guitarist Muro’s replacement in the lineup shortly after, Fukuoka’s Polkadot Stingray has been a guitar band. It was declared loud and proud on their first nationwide single “Telecaster Stripes.” Songs such as…
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Nothing on the Page: On SPRINTS’ Letter to Self
SPRINTS | Letter to Self | City Slang | January 2024 With the opening line of Irish punks SPRINTS’ “Heavy,” vocalist/guitarist Karla Chubb lets us know that she has “a simple idea” and that she’s “going to make it stick.” It’s one of the most concrete statements on the band’s debut album, and it’s only half true.…
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I Want You to Know: On Dmitriy Kogan’s Scotty Plays Guitar
Dmitriy Kogan | Scotty Plays Guitar | serious-lit | August 2026 | 33 pages The debut chapbook from Dmitriy Kogan, Scotty Play Guitar, is what I would call sneakily good. Its prose is consistently unadorned and matter-of-fact, its protagonist is something of a misogynist-lite dipshit failson, living with his parents in his thirties while he evades work…
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Leave the Lights On
Tom Bodett’s folksy voice oozed through the dashboard speakers. We’ll leave the light on for you. It floated across the red clay dirt before the radio cut out in a static death rattle. My Ford Focus said, “Hold my beer.” It wheezed, giving up the ghost on the shoulder. Engine dead. 200,000 miles. No surprise.…
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Pure Classic Pop Craft: On Bob Cummins Jr.’s Good American Songbook
Bob Cummins Jr. | Good American Songbook | Big Secret Records | October 2023 There are two goosebump-inducing moments within “…But That’s My Life,” the opening track from Dallas-based singer-songwriter Bob Cummins Jr.’s Good American Songbook. This is a reserved estimate: you may get chills right when he opens his mouth. But the first indisputable one is…
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Johnny’s dad’s shagging my gran, that’s the band’s name
All we ever wanted, Johnny and me, was to be in a band. We didn’t want to grow up and not growing up and being in a band was as close as you could get to being the same thing, said Johnny’s dad. Don’t grow up, he said. He said growing up was the worst…