summer is finally here
Welcome to...
...
...FOOFARAW!
I hope you enjoyed a nice, relaxing weekend like I did while my wife was in Chicago. This week we have a ton of new music to talk about, along with some shows that have potential.
More importantly, the NBA Finals kick-off on Thursday as the Indiana Pacers—who miraculously made it this far—play the Oklahoma City Thunder, who I imagine have to be the heavy favorites. The optimist in me wants to say it will go six games, but I think I have to go with OKC in 5.
But you aren't here to talk about basketball... so let's get into it.
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📺 New shows
⛳ Stick S1 (Apple) — 3 June
Following the Ted Lasso playbook, Apple is back with another sports comedy, this time with Owen Wilson as a washed up pro golfer who tries to coach a kid he thinks can be a rising star in the sport. It's got the same feel good vibes of Ted Lasso and even some of the same cheesiness, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your opinion of Ted Lasso. To me, this feels a bit too close to the themes of TL, but I'm willing to give it a go, especially since the cast also features Marc Maron, Judy Greer, and Timothy Olyphant.
👹 Predator: Killer of Killers S1 (Hulu) — 6 June
A limited animated series(/movie in three parts) from Dan Trachtenberg, who also has his second Predator movie coming out later this year. It looks like three stories told across three 42m episodes of a Predator going up against a viking, ninja + samurai, and a WWII pilot. Count me in.
👟 Power Moves w/ Shaq (Netflix) — 4 June
I'm not a big reality tv person, but this one caught my interest. People outside basketball circles might not know that when Shaq had his own signature shoe, he ensured they were under $50—basically half the price of others—to ensure as many kids as possible would be able to afford them. Because of that, they might not have ever become the "it" shoe, but it sheds a light on the type of person he is. So when I saw he has a show with Allen Iverson about trying to reinvigorate Reebok's brand in basketball and find the next rising star to rep the brand, it sounded like it might actually be fun.
📝 What else?
- Tires S2 (Netflix) — 5 June
- Resident Alien S4 — 6 June
- Wylde Pak S1 (Nickelodeon) — 6 June
Tuesday
- Stick (Apple) 1:1-3
Wednesday
- Nine Perfect Strangers (Hulu) 2:4
- Adults (FX/Hulu) 1:3
- Power Moves w/ Shaq (Netlfix) S1
Thursday
- Poker Face (Peacock) 2:7
- Murderbot (Apple) 1:5
- Duster (HBO) 1:4
- Welcome to Wrexham (Hulu) 4:5
Friday
- Predator: Killer of Killers (Hulu) 1:1
Sunday
- Last Week Tonight (HBO) 12:14
- Lazarus (Adult Swim) 1:10
- Rick & Morty (Adult Swim) 8:3
Way too many good albums this week. Plus I decided to check out some EPs which I typically ignore. So there's no way I will do justice for all the albums I want to highlight, but I highly encourage you to check them all out throughout the week.
💽 Release of the week
🦌 Cover the Mirrors by Ben Kweller
Kweller has been around for awhile, but I only came across his name in January when I read Coconut Records (aka Jason Schwartzman) was in the studio working on his next album with Kweller (Schwartzman is also featured on a track here). Kweller has a cool indie-alt singer-songwriter sound that isn't too dissimilar from Coconut Records. The whole album is great, but Dollar Store, Depression, Don't Cave, and Optimystic are probably my faves.
🏃 Runner-ups
🐢 Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles
I absolutely hated Alan Sparhawk's first solo album where he went very electronic. He goes in the opposite direction with this one as he brings in the folk band Trampled by Turtles to back him up. His heavy, raspy voice is the perfect contrast to the TbT backing band.
🕳️ Black Hole Superette by Aesop Rock
I give short shrift to hip-hop and rap here as I find it a lot harder to sift through the noise, but this new Aesop Rock record is something you shouldn't be sleeping on if you like old school, lyrical rap.
❌ Self Centered and Delusional by The Red Flags
Just some serious punk that goes hard with some metal vibes at times. It's an all women, Dutch band, which just makes it that much cooler.
😨 IF I COULD KILL YOU (I WOULD) - EP by Leisure Hour
Alt-pop-punk like the good old days. Reminiscent of early Hellogoodbye when they went a little harder and tons of fun melodies that don't get overly poppy.
🐌 All Feelings, No Technique - EP by Sloe Noon
Sloe Noon brings us back into the pocket with the fuzzy indie rock that we absolutely adore around these parts.
⛲ Nickel on the Fountain Floor - EP by illuminati hotties
More pop-punk that absolutely goes hard. Plus they have a track featuring PUP, whose record we loved earlier this year.
📝 What else?
I told you... soooo many good albums.
- Oar On, Penelope! by The Minus 5
- your brain is in the sink by Gilanares
- Parody of Paradise by Little Green
- 2 by Foxwarren
- Rain Money Dogs by Miynt
- The Noise by The Noise
- Possession by Ty Segall
- Get Sunk by Matt Berninger
- Hope We Have Fun by Mt. Joy
- Return to the Roots by Tash Sultana
- Let All That We Imagine Be The Light by Garbage
Big Marvel week for number one's and given Marvel hasn't really been my jam lately, I don't have much to say...
🦸 No. 1's
🚀 Imperial (Marvel)
This is the big one for the week, setting off the new event for Marvel from Jonathan Hickman and artists Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini. It's a giant, galactic book with multiple hulks and other loved Marvel space heroes like Nova and the Guardians.
🕷️ Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion (Marvel)
Deniz Camp is setting off a little universe collision of his own in the Ultimate world with Spider-Man.
🗡️ Marvel Knights: The World to Come (Marvel)
And lastly, another pretty big book as Christopher Priest and Joe Quesada come together to dive into the future of Wakanda with T'Challa gone.
📝 What else?
- Farmhand #22 (Image)
- Kaya #27 (Image)
- Monkey Meat: The Summer Batch #4 (Image)
- The Moon is Following Us #10 (Image)
- Absolute Green Latnern #3 (DC)
- Absolute Superman #8 (DC)
- X-Men #17 (Marvel)
- ThunderCats #16 (Dynamite)
- The Terminator #8 (Dynamite)
🎥 New movies
🕴️ The Life of Chuck
While he's still adapting Stephen King here, this is the first real writer/director effort from Mike Flanagan that doesn't appear to dive into horror. It's based on a "genre-bending" novella from King and tells the story of a "regular guy" through three chapters in his life.
🩰 Ballerina
I feel like all I ever heard about this movie was how awful the production was. I could be mistaken, but I feel like they had to do massive reshoots to get Keanu more involved as John Wick to ensure people would actually want to see it. So it has that going for it, I guess...
🎭 I Don't Understand You
A queer romance, horror-comedy starring Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells sounds pretty great, if I'm being honest. Kroll and Rannells play a couple taking their last big European vacation before adopting their baby. They end up in some tough situations and the turmoil around them escalates. And hopefully, hilarity ensues.
📝 What else?
And don't forget, Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme opens wide this weekend!
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