Hell… 1988. Where was my head at in 1988? I think I’d mostly rejected post-punk and what might have fallen under the category of “goth” as goth was considered back then. It’s one of those weird things that I rejected the scene because I honestly thought the scene rejected me. It seemed artsy, upper-class and androgynous and that’s probably because my exposure to it was more from the university/liberal arts crowd, those who had the privilege of a better educational background… a better arts background… and so on. Well, this wasn’t meant to be a confessional, but there you go. It’s just a bit of my own history regarding this music. I didn’t look good in eyeliner.

So, NORMA LOY is another French export and it’s never even really occurred to me that the French would have been doing the same shit the rest of the Western world was, but this is headed into another confessional, so… They are definitely more solidly in the Cold Wave vein than Marquis de Sade, and that suits me fine. They also lean deeper into a nearly dystopian, industrial tip. It’s harder. It’s darker. It’s nearly… threatening. Closest comparison for some of the songs would be Suicide and I’ve read that Alan Vega actually gave them their name

The sense of danger is a large part of the appeal for me. It’s more honest if you’re going to explore darker emotions and thoughts. It’s definitely not something you sit and chill out to. That suits me fine too. I’m not even chilled out when I’m chilling out. And you can insert a laughing emoji there if it suits you. I’m laughing as I write this.

Cold rain may or may not inhibit my movement today. There are a few domestic tasks that need to be attended to at some point over the weekend. They may or may not be attended to. I don’t know. None of it seems pressing in any immediate sense. The basket of laundry isn’t giving me anxiety. The dust is starting to, so…

Anyway, my gift to the world today, for those who haven’t heard it, is Normal Loy. Someone posted this on Youtube about a year ago and the view count is still under 600. Damn shame, really. What the hell are people listening to?

I shouldn’t ask that. I think I know.

Oh, does it bear mention that it’s Friday the 13th in the midst of what has been a very unsettling year? People on social media seem to be making of big deal of it It’s Friday the 13th in 2020. We’re in the midst of another spike in the pandemic. There is a hurricane flooding the Southeast. There was an earthquake in New England a few days ago. A lot of people in the world still think we’re a bunch of cunts here in America and there are probably a few waiting to taunt us with that.

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.