March right into this article and take a seat because it’s time to check out some cool stuff for cool lifeforms for March 2023.
Music
Miss Grit – Follow the Cyborg
Kinda fucked up how good a debut LP this is, but maybe that’s to be expected. Miss Grit’s first two EPs (Talk Talk and Impostor) were incredibly polished for a new artist, but there was also something a little precious about them. They were MISSING a certain amount of GRIT to them. Follow the Cyborg doesn’t have that problem. Many of these songs explode out of the pretty moments and then come back again, something hinted at in songs like Talk Talk’s The Bride and expanded upon in Impostor. Others see groove and throw otherworldly noises at you without ever fully breaking out. The extra weirdness is more than buoyed by perfect pop hooks that grab you and hold you even as these songs move through stranger places than Miss Grit had ever adventured previously. This album is cool as shit.
Black Country, New Road – Live at Bush Hall
What a weird year or so for this band. Their frontman Isaac Wood quit the band for mental health reasons just as their second album was about to drop. This new album is a live show full of new songs where the members of the band share fronting duties. Despite all that change, Black Country ends up sounding… exactly like Black Country. If anything, this album highlights how much the band’s identity rests with the band itself and not Wood, as good as he was. Maybe he would have elevated these songs to heights not reached here, but these songs are so good that it’s a moot thought exercise. This is the best collection of Black Country, New Road songs to date.
What’s more, the multiple lead singers give me hope their future albums are able to utilize that in creative ways going forward. My only gripe here is that they do the my turn-your turn thing with the vocals. You have multiple singers, bring them in on the same songs more often. This is my recommendation for any band with more than one lead. Come on.
Television
We Are Lady Parts – Peacock
It’s a TV show about a British punk band of all Muslim women, and it’s dope as shit. For anyone who is a Killing Eve fan, Anjana Vasan (who plays Pam in the final season of that show) is fucking amazing as a virtuosic guitarist with extreme stage fright. Those who aren’t Killing Eve fans, watch the series and then read the books and then watch We Are Lady Parts. They also name their band Lady Parts, a great punk band name.
Board Games
Power Grid – Rio Grande Games
A lot of people talk about their love for board games yet have shit fucking taste in board games. If you think Risk or (god forbid) Monopoly or Settlers of Catan (good, but basic) are the height of strategy games, pick up Power Grid and throw those other games in the garbo (don’t really – those games are fun… even Monopoly sorta…). It’s a game where you compete against other players to be the most dominant power company in a country. And there’s nothing I can say that’s going to make that sound cool or fun, but this is my favorite strategy board game for a reason. It combines the area control fun of Risk with a resource management and upgrade system that is an absolute joy in practice. I love this game. It’s perfect. It’s a strategy game where you’re a power company. If that sounds remotely cool to you, you’ll probably love this.
Fuck, I didn’t even feel like writing this article this month, but now I’m pumped because that was a lot of cool stuff. You’re welcome. Now, go share cool stuff with anyone who will listen. And don’t be a pretentious dick about it.
If you’re a cool lifeform who enjoyed the cool stuff of March 2023, please consider previous installments here.