Faster Than I Can Think

Welcome back to Former Clarity. I had some topics I wanted to explore up top here, but I don't want to wade into the muck on those things right now. Instead, I want to direct you to a couple of items that I think are worth your time

Leatherface

I wouldn't lie to you

New music, old music, new thougts.

Pile

Talking creativity with Pile's Rick Maguire

By now, it's well-documented that I'm a huge Pile fan. I've written about them a ton, interviewed the band's songwriter Rick Maguire several times, and just generally championed Pile whenever the opportunity has presented itself. This week, less than a year after

The Former Clarity 2023 year-end recap

And I feel… not so fine.

The joys of healthcare in America

Four years in one gulp

Looking back and moving forward.

SSD

Al and Nancy Barile on documenting the past and setting the record straight

Talking to two hardcore legends about bringing history to the present.

The year rolls on: Your fall music report

Some thoughts on new music that I've been digging.

Pat Flynn

Talking with Fiddlehead's Pat Flynn about hardcore's historical record

On the influence of Sinead O'Connor, Rage Against The Machine, Crass, and so much more.

A 2023 midyear report

Some very good records came out this year and I'm highlighting a select few just because I can.

Crass

The Former Clarity guide to Anarcho-Punk

Do they owe us a blog post? Of course they do!

Postcards from the end of the world

After a bit of an extended hiatus, I've decided to fire up the old newsletter to write about everyone's favorite topic: generative AI. Now, far be it from me to position myself as an authority on a topic that many, many others are more well-equipped to

Unwound

What I See Is The End Of The End

Unwound's reunion just feels different.

Turning the screws

No, that's not just a clever title, this is a very real descriptor of what I've been doing the past couple of months. For those who don't know, I spent the end of 2022 tearing down my finished basement after some minor flooding and

The Former Clarity guide to Japanese hardcore

From Gauze to Burning Spirits and beyond.

Alex G

Good music from the second half of 2022

Some of my favorite albums and EPs from 2022.

Dazy

A mid-year list of good music

Records I liked from the first half of 2022

Fugazi

Can an observer be a participant?

What's worth being documented and why.

Here's some music I liked this year that you might too

I hope you like them too

Thunder in the night forever

You don't expect forces of nature to die. You expect them to always be there, lingering in the distance, no matter how far away you may have gotten from them. That's how I always felt about Gared O'Donnell and his band, Planes Mistaken For

Militarie Gun

Addicted to disappointment

You know how sometimes you hear a song and it gets lodged so deep inside your brain that it feels like it's playing on a constant loop no matter what you're doing? That's what's been happening with me and Militarie Gun's "Big Disappointment."

Dan Ozzi

Dan Ozzi is a Sellout

SELLOUT is a book that finally understands punk's myriad contradictions and hypocrisies, embracing them for what they are instead of dismissing them in some overly simplified, offhand way.

Dazy

Get lost in the fuzz with Dazy

Big fuzzy hooks never sounded so good.

Laura Stevenson

Talking With Laura Stevenson About Her New Album and Learning How To Be a Person Again

There's this thing that some writers say that I find very true, and it's that the hardest artists to write about are the ones you love the most. For me, that's been true of Laura Stevenson more than almost anyone else

Hurry

Talking With Hurry's Matt Scottoline About Making Real Art in a Fake World

A conversation about Matt's new record, his new book, and how to make people pay attention in a crowded landscape.

ska

Ska-Core, the Discourse, and More

Why defending genres is goofy, but necessary.