Those of you with youngsters will either find this funny or horrible, or possibly some strange combination of both:

Okay, I can see why people get hooked on “Heroes.” I’m only two episodes in and I know I’m fucking hooked. Very few shows have this good a writing staff. I’ll be curious to see if they can keep it up, not only over the course of a season, but over several seasons. So long as they don’t make it up as they go like I hear the guys at “Lost” are doing, then this show can go on as long as the creators can keep making us care. If only “Smallville” would learn this painful but extremely necessary lesson and just. Fucking. Die already.

I should also mention that the acting is top-notch. Every actor gives his or her role nuance and depth. Couple that with interesting and meaningful character development, and an ability to craft an intriguing cliffhanger at (presumably) the end of each episode, makes “Heroes” one of the best shows on television. I’m just happy I have another 16 episodes on DVR to catch up with.

JAB

Looks like this summer Ben Weasel will be releasing a new album, entitled “These Ones Are Bitter”:

A bunch of people have written to ask what the new album (These Ones Are Bitter) is like. That’s a hard question to answer because I’m about the last guy who could answer that objectively. Using my past records as a measuring stick, it’s more in the melodic/poppy My Brain Hurts camp than, say, Wiggle or Emo. Lyrically, most of the songs involve the ugly break up of a relationship (hence the title) though there a couple of sidetracks. It’s very polished and produced but not really in a Bark Like A Dog way. I think “Bitter” is more aggressive than that one. I Love Bark like A Dog but this one has a different feel and sound.

[...]

There are fourteen songs on the album. Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor from the All-American Rejects played guitar and drums respectively (Mike also recorded most of the album and produced it). Dan Andriano from the Alkaline Trio played bass. The tracking and mixing should be done by the end of the month and released in early June.

This is exciting to me because Screeching Weasel remains one of the handful of bands whose CDs I still take out a couple of times a year and listen to. Aside from old-school Incubus*, Reggie, and a couple of others, that’s pretty much it. Ben Weasel released a solo effort that came out at the beginning of the millennium, and it was pretty damn good too, so “These Ones Are Bitter” is a (hopefully) tasty treat that I’m really looking forward to.

JAB

* It should be noted that by “old-school Incubus” I mean mostly “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” and, occasionally, “Make Yourself.” Everything that came out after the latter licks my taint.