Here’s the tracklist:

01 The Creature
02 It’s Alright
03 Life’s a Beach
04 Laughing Stock
05 Downbound Train (Bruce Springsteen cover)
06 (so outta reach)

Listen to lead track, “The Creature:”

I very much enjoyed myself Wednesday night at Turner Hall Ballroom. This was my third time seeing the Hold Steady, and the first time indoors.  I reviewed the show for the Shepherd Express:

“Finn is still the same amicable frontman, strutting and shrugging around the stage, pointing at seemingly everyone in the crowd. Even though he’s been doing the same shtick at every gig, his conviction did not come off as fictitious.” Read the rest here.

My girlfriend and I traveled to Toronto on a whim last weekend. It was a little overwhelming figuring out what to do/what we could fit into 48 hours. The only thing I planned was seeing a Replacement’s tribute night at the city’s most famous club, The Horseshoe Tavern. Perhaps new-city-anxiety threw off my memory, though, because I thought the tribute was on Saturday when in fact it was on Friday. What a bummer.

I looked up the club’s calendar and Saturday was listed as “alt-rock” night, which, you know, sent shivers down my spine. A night of Candlebox covers wasn’t something I wanted to experience.

Since we really didn’t know what else to do, we checked out the place anyway.

We payed the relatively cheap $10 cover and bought a couple $6 Labatt Blue’s. What we stumbled upon wasn’t a nostalgia-driven 90′s show, but a nice Albertan indie-pop outfit. The Fast Romantics was no Candlebox, that was for sure. They were a nice mix between Spoon and Stars.

Listening to them yesterday, they didn’t sound as endearing, more bland and derivative than anything. It sure was disappointing, but I’ll always appreciate them for giving me an enjoyable night, when all I expected was the worst thing imaginable: post-grunge nostalgia.

I reviewed the great War on Drugs record for the also great East Coast-based culture blog, Frontier Psychiatrist. It’s my first submission and there should be more to come.

“Ditching the Americana-label for a gazier, psychedelic drone, Slave Ambient suggests that not every mile is filled with breathtakingly beautiful scenery. The result is long stretches where signs counting down the miles to Joplin, Mo. are much-anticipated milestones. And when there’s nothing to see, all you can do is enjoy the ride.” Read the rest here.

The War on Drugs play Club Garibaldi on Saturday. You shouldn’t miss out on this. I will, but that’s because of a bachelor party, one that includes a bourbon distillery tour through Kentucky. So, we’ll probably have similar experiences.

In order to improve my pop culture writing, I’ve decided to get back in the routine of updating this site daily with reviews, essays and recommendations. I’ll also provide links to my work with other pubs. Well, here we go, and what better way to start than with a song that I’ve been digging lately. It’s “Baby Missiles” off The War on Drugs’ Slave Ambient. That comes out tomorrow.

The War on Drugs “Baby Missiles” from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

Stern’s ex-boyfriend’s suicide influenced this song, but it plays more like a celebration of life than a downtrodden eulogy. The track features bombastic drums, swells of guitars and accessible (?) yelping. Her third, self-titled album drops Oct. 5.

Listen to “For Ash” below:

This guy loves Dilbert. Don't you?

This is the best news Matthew Brock’s heard since PAX debuted Archie’s Weird Mysteries in 1999: Scott Adams’ ’90s-hit, now-whatever comic strip, Dilbert, is making the leap from newspaper to the big screen (after making a maligned jump from paper to UPN). Legendary if-not-greatest-of-all-time auteur Ken Kwapis (He’s Just Not That Into You, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Dunston Checks In) is set to direct the live-action film, which is already expected to shatter box office records. Kwapis’ somewhat shoddy work directing The Office (“Diversity Day,” “Gay Witch Hunt”) has some clamoring that his experience will translate into a derivative adaptation — one where Dilbert swoons office colleague Alice while his incompetent boss ruins the atmosphere. These critics obviously didn’t notice Kwapis’ uncanny style and unique vision in 2007′s groundbreaking, art-house film License to Wed, where he took the most mundane subjects (Mandy Moore, Jon Krasinski) and created an unequivocal masterpiece. In other news, sarcasm makes a whopping comeback.

Ohhhh, Dilbert! Will you ever learn?!

Throughout Lost‘s tenure, some viewers derided the show’s creators for not having a concrete plan and subsequently molding the show as they went along. Sure, there was a basic outline on what the Oceanic survivors would do and where the series might ultimately end, but the meat of the story was left up to some meddling. This led to dissolved plotlines and many, many unanswered questions. The show is undoubtably flawed in this way. However, would it have been a better program if the creators knew exactly where they were going from the beginning?

The short answer: Absolutely not.

Well, let me rephrase that: Probably not. A long, coherent storyline containing minimal plot holes that provided dynamic characters, deep philosophical queries, mysterious situations and, most of all, a hella lot of heart, all without seeming contrived and predictable, would’ve made for better television. But is that realistic? Probably not. Television’s format allows for shows to feel around with many different formats and styles until they find the right ones. If a character isn’t working, then cut ‘em out. Same goes for a plotline. But a show that’s set in stone from the start doesn’t allow for this freedom.

Lost‘s creators started with a somewhat flawed show — despite an outstanding pilot — which routinely improved as they plugged in better characters, plotlines and themes into the series. A fully mapped out storyline with little room for manipulation would’ve proved to be fatal, and most likely wouldn’t have lasted its entire planned timeline.

Netflix Instant is modern man’s greatest/underutilized invention — You literally could be watching

On Sunday, ABC aired an epic two and half hour series finale for the network’s most successfully ambitious show since Twin Peaks. No program took as many risks as Lost; not all of them worked, but very few could generate the emotional impact Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof created for its audience. Each week provided insightful philosophical commentary — albeit sometimes forced — and offered compelling television for 42 minutes — albeit with some go-nowhere cliffhangers — but, first and foremost, the characters represented Lost‘s best qualities. We’d not only see who the characters were on the island, but who they were before and what they’d become. Insignificant ones would be disposed — some in graceful ways, others in shocking reveals — in order to free up room for newer, more dynamic characters. The cast grew and grew with each passing season, and the characters’ collective story widened. Midway through the series, there’s a sense that we never want to see these characters leave this place. All they have are the people they meet after the crash; their only real family are these few survivors. By the end, those who watched Lost were immersed in a singular world and came out with entirely different worldviews.

I might not have been a dedicated Lost follower if it wasn’t for all the great analysis out there. The AV Club’s Noel Murray, Star Ledger’s (now Hitfix.com’s) Alan Sepinwall, the Chicago Tribune’s Mo Ryan and Entertainment Weekly’s Doc Jensen all provide insightful recaps of the show’s later seasons, and I highly recommend reading them after each episode. Watching Lost is a journey. As It begins a new life on DVD/Blu-Ray, I advise taking it slow; you should cherish your time with these characters.

Note: Please no discussing major plot points or the series finale in the comments. I’m trying to keep this post as spoiler-free as possible.