The last refuge of the lazy blogger

Enjoy these You Tube videos. 100% guaranteed to rock your face.


Dropkick Murphys -- "The Gauntlet"

Currently featured on the sidebar under Lyric of the Week. Raging Boston Irish punk rock. These guys are coming to the Majestic Ventura Theater in February. I'm there! "Stand up and fight/And I'll stand up with you."


Ted Leo & the Pharmacists -- "Me and Mia"

This is one of the few songs in the world that, every time I listen to it, I must immediately listen to it again. One of my primary feel-good songs. Something about it just triggers all the right chemicals in my brain, and I'm suddenly grinning like a fool. "Do you believe in something beautiful?/Then get up and be it."


Therapy? -- "Screamager"

The hardest rockin' band out of Belfast. Though the video, and the appearance of the musicians, are very much of their time -- which would be circa 1993. And the budget was about $150, it appears. The lead singer reminds me strangely of Ricky Gervais here. "With a face like this I won't break any hearts/And thinking like that I won't make any friends."


Tool -- "Aenema"

Guaranteed to give you the kind of nightmares Jan Svankmajer has after watching a David Lynch marathon. Much like every video from Tool. An incredible outpouring of hatred toward California in general and L.A. specifically, with a simple solution: sink it all into the ocean. "Fuck L. Ron Hubbard and fuck all his clones/Fuck all these gun-toting hip gangster wannabes/Fuck retro anything, fuck your tattoos/Fuck all you junkies and fuck your short memories/Fuck smiley glad-hands with hidden agendas/Fuck these dysfunctional insecure actresses." Learn to swim, see you down in Arizona Bay.


Bill Hicks

And since the "Arizona Bay" bit is taken from one of his routines, here's a great fan-video sampling of the hilarious vitriol of Bill Hicks. The term "Arizona Bay" doesn't pop up until 7:18, and the whole bit is dated to the Rodney King verdict, but it's all worth listening to. And no, I can't explain why The Doors' "When the Music's Over" plays in the background.