Editor’s Note: Usually, I use Sundays to rant and rave about just about anything and I’m just as likely to discuss broad topics about music as I am my cat or wrangling at Home Depot. I’ve been fairly off the radar for the last couple of weeks while Brian, Rob, James, and Justin have been covering the album review duties superbly. Rob’s debut review of The Ettes earlier this week was solid and we’re glad to have him on board. Justin’s finally getting over his Canadian hangover and Brian has officially shaken the flu. Wrap all of this together with James’ news that he’s attempting to make the big move to The Big Apple and it all signifies a pretty hectic week at Citizen Dick. To update our regular readers, we’ve seen another spike in readership and we’re super stoked to have all of you on board. Several emails we’ve received this week have humbled us and we appreciate all of the positive feedback y’all send our way.
This photo of a local Home Depot could have been taken right here in Cleveland. The facade of the store looks entirely similar to the one down the street from me. The Massachusetts home improvement warehouse is exactly like the Cleveland Home Improvement Warehouse. I’d imagine these two dudes are about to get royally screwed regardless of which entrance they choose. See, my local Home Depot doesn’t have this many patrons. The parking lot is usually half full and the employees wander aimlessly around the store looking for something to do. You’d think they’d be able to span the idle time helping the few customers that DO need something. Unfortunately this isn’t the case, and I’ll never purchase another thing from this clusterfuck of an organization. We’re now going on day 30 of my carpet installation project. I made the horrible decision (much like these two gentlemen) to go through Home Depot to purchase carpet for my basement, and while the company had no problem coming in and ripping the old carpet out, installing the new stuff seems to be less of priority. As I type this post, the installers have now skipped their third scheduled installation appointment at my home, and if I had a blowtorch and jug of petro, I’d make a pyre out of my local Home Depot and drive to Massachusetts to take this one out just for fun. Seven-day installation guarantee, my ass. I’ve skipped a golf outing, a date, and a night of binge drinking to sit around and wait for the carpet van that never comes. I’d heard the naysayers urging me to go direct from a carpet outlet, but I fell for the name game, and I’m paying the price for it. I mention all of this for no other reason than to urge our reader-base to join in on my boycott. We could have fifty feet of snow here and Cleveland and I’d shovel my driveway with my hands before I’d give them one cent for a shovel. If I could yell at these east-coast dudes to turn the fuck around, I would. If they don’t show for a fourth time, I’ll walk in and start chucking full paint cans at the employees.
Luckily this weekend found me in my hometown of Cincinnati, catching some high school football (my dad’s a coach), and the long drives afforded me plenty of time to catch up on my listening pile. It was also good to get away from the nonsense drama of teaching high school kids. It’s homecoming season and the cut-throat importance of electing a king and queen seems to supersede the gift of obtaining a good education. I needed to get out of my school for a couple of days and relax. If I hadn’t, I’d be the teacher on the news getting fired for rolling into a dance with a spiked bottle of fruit punch tucked under my blazer. All kidding aside, kids are nuts. End of story. In any event, the long drive down I-71 is usually pretty care-free, as the straight shot from Cleveland to Cincinnati is a cruise-controller’s dream. Before I left, I snagged a lot of the new MP3′s we’ve been jamming to and created my playlist. I spun this exact list several times through during my march to southern Ohio and figured I’d share the wealth. The Sunny Day Real Estate reissue is coming out soon, and they’ve allowed “Seven” for download. Neon Indian’s been on constant repeat and Palomo’s remix of Au Revoir Simone’s “Another Likely Story” kept the ride pretty energized. There’s a healthy mix of post-punk sneer and light hearted fare on today’s Radio Dick. This entire playlist kept me fueled up for the 8 hours of driving and even though I didn’t realize I’d head back to the Home Depot debacle, but maybe a few run throughs of this can keep me from torching the place.
Enjoy the tracks and head back on Monday for a week of emerging music reviews. Enjoy the work week, folks, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
Supercluster – I Got The Answer
Los Campesinos! – The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future
Tempo No Tempo – The Rat (Part One)
Hard Drugs – Bad Ideas (Don’t Give Up)
The Gates of Slumber – Blood and Thunder
Au Revoir Simone – Another Likely Story (Neon Indian Remix)
