As you’re noticing so far, much of Pop Culture Diary tends toward the sneer/snicker end of the spectrum, looking for the unintentional humor or unintended consequences of things. But it’s impossible to find a KDOC New Year’s Eve special every day. Some days, we just like things here — hence, Let Everybody Know! (named for the Chuck D exhortation in Sonic Youth’s unparalleled “Kool Thing,” in which we praise things without trying to get all Pitchforkian/rock-critic-ese about them.
Let it be said: We (royal we) LOVE the new Your Youth EP. Hailing from Brooklyn Land of Hipsters, Your Youth [(FB page) (MySpace page) (Wait, bands still have these?) (Bandcamp page)], they’ve recently released a five-song EP, Battery, that’s a burst of awesome.
Think: joyful, not dissimilar to fellow two-piece-that’s-louder-than-a-two-piece Japandroids, Thermals, Built to Spill, Quasi. Spotify gives you the full five-song package in the order they intended, but there are a few places on the Internet to troll for freebies. We found:
“What Smarts,” the EP’s opener
“Fresh Film,” song #2, which definitely has that “dream of the ’90s is alive in Portland” vibe to it — and I really mean that in the best way possible
“Brain Swimming,” the third song, which brings the inevitable Nirvana comparisons — as they do the repeated hook-line into full-out-rock move very well here.
“Thick Gold (Bodied),” the fourth song, which Spinner featured last month — including this quote about what the song means:
“It’s about that weird feeling of being half out of control of your own destiny, drifting a little more than you’d like, but finding yourself simultaneously unnerved by, and yet okay with, that. Floating, and then snapping back into focus and grabbing at whatever’s in front of you. And then floating again. Basically the way you feel when you actually handle that weird woven fake gold. It’s strange because it’s cold, but it’s got this great texture, so you want to keep holding it. But you also just want to put it down.” — Guitarist AJ Wolosekno
I know EXACTLY what you mean. (That is, to say: Not at all.)
“Lush,” the last song, which is not only a great closing song, but evokes memories of Lush, though I don’t think that was their intention.
So: Your Youth. Totally enjoyable. Who knows how hard they’re trying? Let’s hope hard enough to get a tour together soon.
Pop Culture Diary 
Oopsie-Daisy Homophobe: Stephen Colbert and Alan Cumming Combine for Awesomeness
Not sure what Stephen Colbert was doing with the bucket-cam in Times Square last night, but one night prior, he scored bigtime in skewering Brad Paisley and LL Cool J’s “Accidental Racist.” He pointed out some of the issues we pointed out in an earlier post, but took it to an amazing new place by bringing Alan Cumming on to do a parody called, “Oopsie-Daisy Homophobe,” employing the reductiveness and sketchy rhyming of the original. He even employed a cowboy hat in the making of said parody. (Which, needless to say, brings its own extra level of hilarity.)