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| Flowerland on Price Avenue in the Cobbham neighborhood of Athens known for its interesting sign messages. Photo by me, September 2026. |
The early 1990s are so still so prevalent in this year's fall fashion once again and I am not opposed to that except for pleats and boxy pants. The colors are something I am glad to see and most of the styles too. I picked up a new pink flannel shirt at J. Crew in the clearance section over the weekend. I am ready for flannel, sweater and barn jacket weather. Now if I could only feel as young as I did at eighteen in 1991.
Loafing in Athens over the weekend, a common occurrence, I thought about my work in progress novel and changes and inspiration. I have taken a writing break during the month of September to think and I have been out of state a lot and that made writing anything more than notes impossible.
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| The beautiful Seney-Stovall Chapel built in 1885 in Athens on Milledge Avenue. If you have ever seen the 1986 documentary Athens Inside/Out then you have seen this building when it was in a great state of disrepair. It was featured prominently in the documentary and R.E.M. performed inside it for the film. Photo by me, September 2026. |
Stopped in Mother Lode on Baxter for the first time in a year or so, not my favorite store, and browsed. It is one of those “vintage” places where most of the merchandise is okay if you are a UGA student looking for an ironic Halloween costume or believe early 1970s interior design was the height of home decor – something I do not believe. I fondly remember the seventies, but not for most of the decor. When I hear someone say "vintage", I gag the same as I do when I hear "curated" or "bespoke." All of it is one long miserable smug pose.
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| Cutthroat from Shame |
The soundtrack for the weekend was the
album Cutthroat from one of my favorite bands, Shame. They are a
South London post-punk band who have been around since 2014. Their
third album, Food for Worms released in 2023, is my favorite from the
band. Cutthroat came out a year ago this month and I am only recently
getting around to listening to it. Shame on me.
It is an odd album drawing
references from Blur, early Depeche Mode, Slint, Nirvana and of course Gang of Four. The chorus of the song Plaster reminded me of Weezer, who were good for an album
or two in the 1990s. There is still plenty of scorching pleasure and fun in
the album, but I cannot say I am enjoying the glossy and sometimes auto tuned production. The album is all over the place and is less
cohesive compared to earlier albums. Some will argue that is growth,
the band is maturing and blah blah blah, but it reminds me of
Interpol who lost their way with their fourth album. I still love the band and look forward
to hearing what turns up next from them.
The songs I like are Packshot, Spartak, Quiet Life, Axis of Evil, Plaster and Cutthroat. Lampiao is so terrible that I never want to hear that song again. I like six out of twelve songs and the rest are forgettable.
Ranking their albums from best to worst:
Songs of Praise (2018)
Drunk Tank Pink (2021)
Cutthroat (2025)