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Tag: Rock

  • Johnson Road (Music Video)by Friends In Real Life

    Johnson Road (Music Video)by Friends In Real Life

    Note From The Editor: This article was written by my 13 old son. We both share a love for the work of Patrick Schneeweis. Naturally my son was super hyped about the new Friends In Real Life album and thought he would try his hand at doing what I do. Please enjoy his review.

    Artist: Friends In Real Life

    Album: ??? ??A??????

    Music Video: Johnson Road

    Released: March 06, 2026; Self Release

    Johnson Road is the first single from Friends In Real Life’s new album, and if it’s anything like the first album, it will be bliss. The song brings upbeat, cheerful story telling despite being on real world issues. The song focuses on a nature loving office worker, as said by the description of the official music video, who faces a difficult decision that changes his life.

    The horns and upbeat music really transfer you into the moment. It makes you feel what it means when Pat says “I got a low fuel light down on Johnson Road”. As the story progresses, it goes on to say that sure, not everyone has time, but you gotta be in the moment and witness the world’s “marvels”. The song is very chill, Pat has a calming voice and it is just the kind of song to listen to if you need to get out of a funk. 

              Due to Datacorps plans, the office worker stands up and quits. This particular action really lets us see the person he is because sure, he could just let them build the datacenter, and they probably still will, if this was real, but it’s actions like these that really drive home that he wants to protect the nature that he loves. It made me realize in a way that maybe more music is like storytelling. Pat could have written it, so if he didn’t stand up, the datacenter was built. 

    Theme, see the theme would have changed because of it. It could have gone from cheery and upbeat to sad and reconciling, but Pat didn’t write it like that and due to that the song has a stronger narrative and overall impact.

    Friends In Real Life’s Johnson Road shows the challenges we face in society and the things we can do to handle it. The music video shows great cinematics and further explains the story they are trying to tell. Despite all of this, the story is incomplete because it is but one of a series, so I can’t wait to listen, watch and maybe even review the others.

  • Dead World Building by How I became Invisible

    Dead World Building by How I became Invisible

    Artist: How I Became Invisible 

    Album: Dead World Building 

    Release: March 6, 2026; Anthropic Principle Records 

    How I Became Invisible is back with more Sci-fi infused emo punk rock. “Dead World Building” picks up where the previous release “Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost” left off. It continues with the themes of trans struggle. However, while the last album delivered more of a zeal to fight a changing world, this one instead settles on themes of building something positive in a world that is dead or dying. In a sense, you get the feeling that the fight from the last album was lost and we are left here dealing with the aftermath.

    The initial track “Dead Astronauts, Pt. 1” goes a long way to set the stage for the feeling of a battle lost. The lo-fi crackles and pops make the song seem like a lost transmission. I can’t help but imagine an astronaut floating in the void to space, signing off for the last time having become resigned to an “inevitable” fate.  Then, in “Dead Astronauts, Pt. 2” instead of the lo-fi crackles, you are greeted in the first notes of the song by a piano. The notes are soft, sweet and beautiful. As the song progresses, you begin to feel that perhaps things are not as bleak as the first part had led us to believe. Then,  the second verse hits with a rather poetic metaphor and ends with the line ‘That we are not the problem and we’re not gonna die for you’. This is a line that is reprised from “We Are (NOT) The Problem” a song from the last album. I described it as a trans resistance anthem and a fight song. This is the point where the astronaut I imagined from the first song decides that fate is not inevitable and that a better world can be built and fought for. These two songs act as flag posts for the themes of the album. Pt. 1— continued struggle. Pt. 2—the active choice to build something positive in a world that is falling apart around you. 

    Up until the song, “We Are (not) Okay”, I think a lot of the trans struggle has been couched in metaphors of sci-fi. A fantastic move as sci-fi makes it easier to consume for the masses. While, giving a wink and saying—If you know you know—to its real target audience. This song however drops the sci-fi set dressing and just flat out lays it all on the line. It is a heart wrenching song. I hope cis people like me, listen to this song and begin to understand that the present struggles of trans people will be the the future struggles of everyone. If we allow oppressors to steal the human rights from one group, they will not stop until no one has human rights. This will be everyone’s future if we roll over and allow it to continue to happen to our trans neighbors.

    This is not a surprise to anyone who knows me but “Mosh Pit In The Wawa” is my favorite song of the album. It is a relentlessly catchy punk rock celebration of putting a past relationship behind you and moving on. I love so much about this song from the intro delivered as if it were a page broadcast over the intercom system of the titular Wawa, to the verses that end in the lyrics “The world I love is waiting for me, and I am stronger than I thought I’d be.” I just find it an incredibly empowering statement especially how it is sung. Emily’s ability to pen these inspirational one liners is a highlight of her writing for me.       

    “Judicious Bloodletting” is a top notch instrumental song. “Harley and Ivy” isn’t technically an instrumental piece but is still an impressive composition that is laid over a spoken word piece that I feel is very meaningful. You kind of have to dial in to hear it all but it is definitely worth the extra attention you’ll have to pay. For anyone unfamiliar with How I Became Invisible’s back catalog, these 2 tracks are a great introduction to Emily’s instrumental work and really sells her prowess for composition.  

    “Dead World Building” is another fantastic addition to the How I Became Invisible discography. I appreciate the expansion on what “Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost” gave us. It is a refinement of themes as much as it was a continuation of the story. It may be bold of me to suggest, but I think this album is best listened to in its entirety directly after listening to the whole of “Everything Not Safe Will Be Lost”. In fact, during an interview I did with Emily way back in 2023, she said that all of How I Became Invisible’s albums tell an interconnected story and I think that with these last 2 albums that has become perfectly clear.