Three years ago, when they released their last album, I had Pulley pegged as something I’d toss in the "okay" bin of my collection. Now? I’d buy ‘em all a beer or two for taking me down one of the happier alleys of memory lane.
Not to sound like a total homo, but Matters is the kind of record that reminds me of the bulk of my better Summer memories. Most of which involve drinking and/or punk rock, and some friends I really don’t see all that often.

Hey there! Time for another thrilling installment of Reading Between The Panels! This month, I’ve got three little items I want to talk about, all of them involving my favorite things (other than poontang): movies and comics. Two of these bad boys come out this month: Hellboy and The Punisher. The other, Dawn Of The Dead, in theatres now, strikes a topic I would like to address: horror in comics.

Player One: Staff Member #716
You know, I’ve never really been sure what the criteria is for choosing the games The Bork and I review in this column. We’ve just always written about whatever it was that we were playing that month. We cover new games now and then, and other times you’ll find us talking about something that’s two years old. It just seems like whatever is occupying most of our free time is the game that winds up getting reviewed. So it’s in that spirit that we’ll be waxing nostalgic this month about a bunch of old school games we’ve been revisiting lately.

Seven years ago, I heard Malik Yusef spit a piece of lyrical jazz called "My City" on Common’s One Day It Will All Make Sense. Seven years later, I get The Great Chicago Fire... A Cold Day In Hell. Instantly, I struggled, trying to figure out why the name seemed so familiar. Then I played the record. As soon as Malik stepped to the mic, I remembered.

You know, were I a grownup when Sesame Street made its debut, I might have been awestruck by Big Bird. I mean, introducing an eight-foot-tall walking, talking canary to teach children is, well, different. Nobody else really tried something so odd as that. But they weren’t content just being different. They wanted to trump it. So they introduced Mr. Snuffleupagus. Now, that eight-foot-tall, walking, talking canary had a best friend: a big, hairy, walking, talking, slightly effeminate woolly mammoth. Biggest difference was he was prettier than Big Bird.

A couple years ago, my brother heard this song he dug on NPR. It reminded him of Ben Folds, who we’re both big fans of. He missed who the song was by, so, being a go-getter, he called the station, got the playlist, and discovered it was Ben Kweller. He then bought Kweller’s first solo album, Sha Sha. I think I heard it once at his house, but that was about it.

Sometimes there are films that should have been monster cult hits, but, for whatever reason, never found their audiences. One such Freak Film whose lack of success I never understood is Bobcat Goldthwait's 1992 opus Shakes The Clown. This should have been the film that turned the public perception of Bobcat from "that guy who screams all the time" to comic visionary.

Eighteen songs. Nine bands. Eenie Meenie Records. To give each band a mention, structure is in order:
1. HIGH WATER MARKS - Oh, me likey. Lil' alt-rock-pop-whatever with a sweet sounding, high-pitched female vocalist. Oop... there's her sensitive male friend singing along. Dig.
2. IRVING - Techno-ey start gives way to poppy drums and guitar. Nice. Wait! Are they British? One of 'em might be. I detect an accent. Well, I like their sound, so I won't hold that against them.

With a name like Dope Smoothie, I didn’t know what to expect. I definitely didn’t have high hopes, because the ratio of good to bad is about one out of every ten CDs we get.

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard an album and had it be anything more than just listenable. It is fucking hard to find good music on the radio in this day and age. In a world where Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, radio-friendly Metallica, and all the other corporate whores seem to reign supreme, it’s hard to find something that is worth a shit.
Well, for all those out there looking for a great metal album, check out Devil With Cheese. I have no clue what the name means, but, nonetheless, these guys are really impressive no matter how you look at it.