Hello hello hello. Greetings from Somerville, MA. Sorry I’m late. Moving very slowly today, not surprisingly. And had some actual work things to do this morning before I got to these words. And I ate my Thai leftovers. So now I am hungover and spicy food sweaty. Sitting here in the front window of the apartment in no shirt. Sorry, passers-by.

Four items revisited from Wednesday’s double-edition of GMHHAY:

Item the first: I have been asked why I did not give the double issue two issue numbers and I really wanted to, but I am nearing the 2,000th issue here and I did not a trainspotter to come along and say I wasn’t “really there yet” due to the double issue numbering. This was probably paranoia.

Item the second: I wrote something like “I’ll never remember that the word ‘quandary’ has to Rs.” No secret mystery to that one. I meant two As. Very confusing typo, I apologize. GMHHAY’s editing staff is off for the week.

Item the third: I mixed up my two Supreme-Court-sanctioned executions that were happening this week, and to their credit, the “good” justices did not vote for the Tennessee execution of Christina Pike. They unanimously upheld a different one. That I am having trouble finding now because search results are now flooded with Christina Pike ness since Tennessee botched the attempt, twice. She is, as far as I know, still alive? After two doses of lethal injection. Horrifying. Nope, not cruel at all.

Here is one of those things I will say that I suppose “needs to be said,” even though it feels self-evident to me: I think capital punishment is bad and wrong in all circumstances!

Item the fourth: I made a very oblique joke about Pat Smear and Nirvana. Even more confusingly, I made this joke in close written proximity to another Nirvana mention. The two Nirvana mentions were unrelated. I must have just had Nirvana on the mind. But to explain the Pat Smear joke, I was commenting on their recent VMA appearance and how Pat Smear was the only one who looked or presented like he was actually ever in a punk band. I mean look at this, man. We got your high school principal, a crypto CEO, and… Pat Smear.

Went to a rock show last night. Actually I went to three rock shows, did a trifecta at the Middle East Night Club and Restaurant, going to shows in all three rooms. Haven’t done that in… eh, twenty years ish probably?

I was mainly there for, and came to town for, The Tear Garden, the musical project of Edward Ka Spell from the Legendary Pink Dots and Cevin Key from Skinny Puppy. I have been a big fan of them for, mmm, you know, let’s say 34 ish years? Ever since The Last Man to Fly came out. This band was founded in 1986 and they have never toured before.

Back when Emma and I got married, or began cohabitating maybe? I can’t remember exactly when but as part of the “next step” in our relationship I agreed to stop traveling for every single rock show in America every single day, and that I would only travel for bands that I have never seen before. This has hurt a few times — and I think I have made one or two exemptions in the past decades. But broadly speaking, this has been my MO for a long time now. I wrote out a list and those are the bands I travel for. Some of them I never thought I would see, but have ended up getting to see through the years: most notably Kate Bush, Cabaret Voltaire and Loop. Some remain un-reunited: Simon & Garfunkel (alas), Spacemen 3, Creatures, the Glove, Single Gun Theory, Husker Du, Enigma, Beautiful Pea Green Boat. Some I missed: Midnight Oil, Black Box Recorder, Clock DVA (that one HURT), David Gilmour. One seems a Kate Bushian recluse: Enya.

And one act – Tricky — has a show here in Boston in ten days. It remains to be seen if I can pull off one of these trips for a fourth time in a month.

Join the GMHHAY slack! Reply to this email and ask for an invite if you’re a human who likes chatting with other humans about topics such as these within!

This morning we are listening to the new single from the Montana (I think)-based post-rock group Ranges. It is called “Yours is the Earth and Everything that’s In It.” It is the first track available off of their forthcoming LP entitled If. It is on Bandcamp. The vinyl is not, sadly, and I want the vinyl. And today is Bandcamp Friday. I have only purchased one record today this feels wrong. Bought the new Kate Bollinger EP.

ANYWAY. The show I went to! Tear Garden! Amazing! Turns out they had like three newer albums I did not know about? So I a good chunk of the show was stuff I did not know but that was okay because a) it was all very good and b) they played every song I love by them. They played “White Coats and Haloes” and “Isis Veiled” and “You and Me and Rainbows.”

And, most notably, they played one of my favorite songs of all time, easily a lifetime Top-10, “Romulus and Venus.” And my god, it was so good. I never thought I’d get to see this song live. I have done one solo show in my life, it was in that self-same Middle East night club complex, and I played that song on acoustic guitar like 25 years ago and I got to see them play it.

It’s very weird experiencing something like that where you are enthralled and don’t want it to stop, but you also want to pay attention to everything, but you also want to feel everything, and you only have like four minutes to go through all of those emotions. Intense shit, man. Intense.

After the show Sean and I did some socializing with some old friends for about twenty minutes, which was great, EXCEPT it meant that we missed the headliner upstairs, who we also wanted to see, Unsane. That would have been insane. Because I saw Unsane in 1992 in that SAME ROOM. And it would have been the longest gap between seeing the same band twice. Well, equalled the record I set this year by seeing Bikini Kill again (whom I also saw in 92 in that same room). Except this one would have been the same band in the same room, 34 years later.

We did manage to see our friend Jim Healey’s new band, Alreckque, in the upstairs room, though. They were great. Jim Healy’s old band We’re All Gonna Die features on our legendary Archenemy comp Know Your Enemy from 1999 (!).

We also managed to see the opener at the Sonia show next door. We were trying to see the headliner, the excellently named The Haunt, whom Sean is friends with but about which I know nothing. They had fantastic merch, though, and I am sad we missed them. The opener was called Platinum Moon. They were just little babies, so was the audience, but they were talented and I think their frontwoman will go far if she so chooses.

Excellent night of Rock and Roll.

Though I will say, I miss the way the Middle East complex had set times prominently posted at every door. No one knew when any band went on. All three rooms, the shows were done by 10? On a weekend? It was all very confusing! Things have changed.

After the show our friend drove us to The Hallows to see our friend Daniel DJ. I pestered everyone with too personal questions about past relationships and it was great and everyone was very indulgent of it and we had some excellent talks. Mandy drove us home which was lovely what a responsible sober driver Mandy is. Thank you Mandy. Even though I don’t think you read GMHHAY. Even though I don’t think you even know it exists. I do not talk about my newsletter much.

Flight up from NC was an hour late but otherwise fine. Read some great articles, I will share them with you next week sometime. Also watched some real good youtube videos on Wednesday night but I will save them too. Soon, soon. I need to get back to work here it is getting late.

I miss Jane we had a good drive to school Monday. We added “Scattered Pearls” by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and “Pay for Me” by Whale to the Daddy-Jane Playlist. She lost a little toy in the truck waiting for drop-off and man, neither one of us can find it I do not know where it went. I hope she is over this by the time I get home. Just talked to Emma and it’s a teacher work day, Jane is upstairs playing with her friend. Her friend got her vaccine today so she is pretending her arm is dead. Emma has to take Jane to the doctor soon and I feel bad for not being there and that reminds me I have to schedule the ENDODONTIST god that sucks I do not want to do that.

Okay. No playlist today I will just leave Romulus and Venus for you my god I still can’t believe that happened.

See you Monday!