Apparently, Bacon was cool, but isn’t anymore. I’m not really buying it, because its bacon. Its something you eat, not something you wear or watch or collect or whatever, but I guess these days anything can be cool, or conversely, not cool. So tell your grandpa to stop fucking with bacon if he wants to be cool on the internet. Or just tell the internet to fuck off.

There are a few writers here at Synthesis who swear by Omaha noisy indie-rockers Cursive. Personally, I’m on the fence about them, having seen some hit-or-miss shows. But they’re at least worthy of a listen, and with their new album dropping this April, I plan on letting them have another shot at winning my heart.

Cursive - Mama, I’s Swollen - CD/Digital March 10, 2009, LP April 21, 2009

…Mama, I’m Swollen is an album brimming with the universal, questioning the human condition, social morality, and the ”Peter Pan Syndrome” of grown men. From the charging bass lines of album opener ”In The Now” to the quiet first chords of confessional closer ”What Have I Done?,” Mama, I’m Swollen is a natural progression that remains distinctively Cursive: a fluid amalgamation of the band’s sound past, present, and future – a band that both your punk kid sister and English lit grad student best friend can call their own.

They’re on tour this March, with a stop at SXSW. You can peep Cursive’s last tour video diary HERE. There’s a lot more Saddle Creek news. Sure, you can find all this info and more at http://www.saddle-creek.com/…but you could also just check out more after the jump…which is far more badass.

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Photos by Aaron Seals

Our own Daniel Taylor, tipped off by our own “Good Baby” Bonnenfant, has of late been repping a T-shirt that seems to be causing quite the displeasure with the conservative right. Read, and then grab a shirt of your own at crucialbrutal.com.

McCain as we know is an old fashioned guy (Republican= old ideas, values, yada yada) where Obama speaks to the “youth” (Democrats and more opened minded individuals) of America just a little more clearly. So it is no suprise to me that Mr. Obama would support a requirement for both men and women to register with the Selective Service (even though he doesn’t agree with a military draft to be put into place), and McCain to of course oppose, stating that he doesn’t believe women should have to register.  Personally I would love to not have to register myself for the Selective Service, but honestly is looks like a gender inequality issue. I mean its only fair to make both men and women to register, they are both allowed to register freely as is anyways aren’t they? Come on McCain this is 2008, really get with the current times and learn how to use a computer already!!!

So I got back from Reggae Rising 2008 (previously Reggae On The River) on Monday night and I barely live to tell my adventures! Took what we were told was a “shortcut” from Chico to Garberville, California. The 36 is the most treacherous route I have ever taken in my life. After the four + hours of driving around windy curves, almost crashing during blind turns and no lines in the middle of the road we came down the hill into Garberville and the blew the transmission. F the Ford Taurus.

Got towed only five miles because I don’t have some kind of premium AAA card. Randomly met the nicest, most non-creepy guy ever on the side of the road who took us and ALL of our stuff to the festival in exchange for some herb. Dropped us off inside the festie with our huge pile of camping gear where I managed to talk some recycling dudes into putting all our stuff in their truck and hauling us to our friends site for a warm Coors in a water bottle.

Met a man named “Prophet Mark” who decided he would find some local tweaker for us to fix the tranny. BAD IDEA. The guy had no tools or teeth. Went to the shows and had fun anyways and decided to leave the car on the side of the road. Luckily no one works in Humboldt during Reggae so we weren’t towed. Some asshole stole our cooler with all our food and our table but it was cool because we camped with the BBQ King.

UB40 disappointed me because the singer wasn’t let into the country. They had a replacement who wasn’t nearly as good and were pretty cheesy with terrible facial expressions and coordinated dance moves. I have to say, Junior Reid killed it. Black Uhuru reunited and played a short set with Sly & Robbie. Don Carlos may be old but he can still bust out the hits. He looked fly in a red leather jacket and the gnarliest beard of my life. Every dancehall artist had serious swagger with full silk suits and Mr. Vegas threw down some mad lyrical skills and hyped up the crowd despite the heat. Collie Buddz performed for his second year, with a band this time, and his song “Blind To You” had everyone going crazy. His “riddims” were off the hook as he blends hip-hop and dancehall. Sizzla played every song I wanted to hear and his set was super high energy. He is Jamaican dancehall. I’ve always loved Turbulence’s vocal style and he was definitely shown tons of love from the ladies. There are a few videos up on YouTube already so keep checking back for more!

Took our essentials home and left the rest for dead because we had to carry everything to the bus. Took the bus and found our car, which no one would work on until the next week. Had it towed, hopefully, to some dealership 60 miles away and convinced my boy’s mom to come from Berkeley to Garberville and then drive us to Chico. Got stung by something weird and my foot is double the size of my other one so I had to get a shot and it royally sucked. I felt incredibly dirty and tired by the time we got home and found out my hot water doesn’t work so I couldn’t shower. I am now a dirty hippie trying to sit in the sink and wash my feet. Ew. It was still amazing and I had a blast floating down the river all day on the “Mega Station” fully equipped with two coolers, couches and little docks. By far the craziest trip I’ve ever been on but I can’t wait for next year!