ALBUM REVIEW: BLUNDERBUSS by JACK WHITE

Much like Chaz' mom on "The Wedding Crashers", I never know what Jack White is doing.  The Racontuers are probably a top 20 band for me, even though they've only released two albums.  I really like The White Stripes, although they won't make any favorite band or favorite album lists of mine.  On his debut solo album "Blunderbuss", we find Jack to be either doing a bit, or bringing a lot of past demons to the table.  I coudl be wrong here, but it really seems like Jack White is lashing out at his ex-wife/sister Meg White.  Recent comments of his revealed that Meg was kind of the control freak in The White Stripes arrangement, and this album definitely backs up his comments.  That's the part of this album that I love, or at least love to pretend is happening.  He could very easily have no vitriol towards Meg or his other ex-wife, but it definitely seems that way.  Then again, Jack is a really weird guy.  I mean almost obnoxiously weird.  There are times, when I feel like he's trying to hard to be the Johnny Depp of indie rock music when he really doesn't need to do that because everybody knows he is the Johnny Depp of indie rock music.

This album ventures into almost every genre you can imagine, and I think it's a pretty good listen but maybe i'm a victim of having high expectations.  While it's definitely not a bad album, it lacks something.  There's a certain punch I was expecting to be packed and it just wasn't.  What saves this album for me, is the hope that he really is lashing out at Meg or other women that have been a part of his life.  That's where the drama lies in this thing.  He says the album has nothing to do about anything or anybody, but it's fun to imagine right?  Here's a track by track...

MISSING PIECES: Figuratively, he speaks of getting his legs and arms cut off.  That's pretty cool right?  I guess it doesn't have to be a woman, but it seems like he's singing about a cold hard bitch or at least somebody that has betrayed him.  It's a really good way to start the album off.  Upbeat, catchy, and fun.  That's how I like my album openers.

SIXTEEN SALTINES:  The most White Stripes type song on the album in my opinion.  I see the "Who's Jealous, Who's Jealous, Who's Jealous of who?" line as him screaming at Meg, but that's probably completely irresponsible on my part.  Great song!!!

FREEDOM AT 21:  The guitar riff is simple but I find it pretty pleasing.  There is layered drumming on this song and it is such a beating.  It gives me headaches.  I'm not sure why it's even there, as it doesn't add anything except unwanted noise and clutter.  It seems as this song is possibly a calling to youth to get off their iPads and smartphones.

LOVE INTERRUPTION:  Acoustic guitar with a touch of keyboard and a female backup singer.  It contains lyrics of some of the most awful things you can think of, but I think the idea he's going for is that love can conquer all of these awful things so he wants to challenge them with love.  I don't know man, it's Jack White we're talking about.  I never know what he's doing.

BLUNDERBUSS:  The steel guitar makes it's first appearance on the title track.  I found this song to be extremely boring, but the good news is that every song is wrapped up in about 3 minutes or so which makes the boring ones pass quickly.  It's a pretty song I guess, but a sleeper.

HYPOCRITICAL KISS:  Wonderful keyboarding on this track.  Again, a song that really goes nowhere but this one hits hard lyrically.  It's hard for me not to see these lyrics aimed directly at Meg's temple...."You would sell your mother out, and then betray your dead brother with a hypocritical kiss."  Whoa.

WEEP THEMSELVES TO SLEEP:  Welcome back to really upbeat music.  Fun song, and sounds like a Raconteurs track.  A classic Jack White type solo takes over at the 3 minute mark.  It doesn't standout, but it's a solid track.

I'M SHAKIN':  It's about Samson and Delilah and that kind of beats me down because it seems like that's an extremely overused cliche relationship to sing about.  Who cares though, because this song is freaking awesome.  An extremely old school rockabilly type vibe.  Fun.  Love it.

TRASH TONGUE TALKER:  More upbeat music!  Remember the song on Tommy Bob where his dad dies at the wedding?  I forget what it's called, but I know it's a classic.  Well, that's kind of what the breakdown on this song sounds like.  I dig this one!

HIP (EPONYMOUS) POOR BOY:  Man, it's going to take a lot of convincing to make me believe that this song isn't aimed at Meg.  One thing that needs to be known to the casual fan is that Jack White's real last name is not White.  He took Meg's name when they married.  Check out these lyrics.  "And I'll be using your name, but I'll be happy for you, cause you got nothing to do".  They must have had a bitter go of things.  Couldn't have been easy.  Meg having to be around him so much even after divorce and he's got hotter chicks around him, including a hot wife at one point.  Jack, probably realizing that Meg was holding him back due to her limited rhythmic ability.  I can only imagine how crazy shit got.  Man, this song is for her and it's a good.

I GUESS I SHOULD GO TO SLEEP:  I get the feeling this is put after "Hip Poor Boy" on the album kind of as a "oh i've said too much" statement.  Did I mention it's two and a half minutes of boredom?

ON AND ON AND ON:  Worst track on the album.  Boring.  No direction.

TAKE ME WITH YOU WHEN YOU GO:  The album closer starts out with a fun little piano riff, and a nice buildup with the drums.  The violin makes a rare featured appearance, followed by a pretty badass guitar breakdown.  This is not a bad way to close the album, and definitely one of my favorite tracks.  A love song I think?  Again, the common theme of me never knowing what the hell Jack White is doing.

So there it is.  My review of "Blunderbuss".  My favorite tracks are Missing Pieces, SIXTEEN SALTINES, Hypocritical Kiss, Weep Themselves To Sleep, I'M SHAKIN', Trash Tongue Talker, HIP (EPONYMOUS) POOR BOY, and TAKE ME WITH YOU WHEN YOU GO.

What generic grading scale can I use?  Uhhhh, let's just go with the out of 100 method.  Like grade school.  I give this album a 65.  I expected better, but that doesn't mean it's bad.  Overall, it's pretty good I guess. I think.  Hell, I don't know.

2012 NFL MOCK DRAFT

2012 MOCK DRAFT

There will be trades.  This mock draft rules out trades.  My mock is not based on who I would choose, it's based on what I think will happen if these teams stay in their current spots.

1. IND-ANDREW LUCK QB STANFORD
2. WAS-ROBERT GRIFFIN QB BAYLOR
3. MIN-MATT KALIL OT USC
4. CLE-TRENT RICHARDSON RB ALABAMA
5. TB-MORRIS CLAIBORNE CB LSU
6. STL-JUSTIN BLACKMON WR OKLAHOMA STATE
7. JAX-STEPHEN GILMORE CB SOUTH CAROLINA
8. MIA-RYAN TANNEHILL QB TEXAS A&M
9. CAR-FLETCHER COX DT MISSISSIPPI STATE
10. BUF- MARK BARRON S ALABAMA
11. KC- LUKE KUECHLY LB BOSTON COLLEGE
12. SEA- MELVIN INGRAM DE/OLB SOUTH CAROLINA
13. AZ- MICHAEL FLOYD WR NOTRE DAME
14. DAL- DAVID DECASTRO G STANFORD
15. PHI- COURTNEY UPSHAW DE ALABAMA
16. NYJ-DONTARI POE DT MEMPHIS
17. CIN- QUINTON COPLES DE UNC
18. SD- RILEY REIFF OT IOWA
19. CHI- JONATHAN MARTIN OT STANFORD
20. TEN- WHITNEY MERCILUS OLB/DE ILLINOIS
21. CIN- KENDALL WRIGHT WR BAYLOR
22. CLE- STEPHEN HILL WR GEORGIA TECH
23. DET- DRE KIRKPATRICK CB ALABAMA
24. PIT- KEVIN ZEITLER OG WISCONSIN
25. DEN- MICHAEL BROCKERS DT LSU
26. HOU- REUBEN RANDLE WR LSU
27. NE- NICK PERRY OLB USC
28. GB- SHEA MCCLELLIN LB BOISE STATE
29. BAL- DONTA HIGHTOWER LB ALABAMA
30. SF- COBY FLEENER TE STANFORD
31. NE- DOUG MARTIN RB BOISE STATE
32. NYG- MIKE ADAMS OT OHIO STATE

CirqueTV Episode 12

STAY HARD GRUBES!

It's been a while.  About a month to be specific.  I've taken no criticism though because this is hardly ever read, and it shouldn't be read.  What's been going on?

For me, a lot.  For a while it appeared some pretty extreme changes would be made to my scene, but I found out on Friday that is not the case.  If you listen to the radio station I work for, Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket, then you know that cultural hero Michael Gruber "Grubes" left the station to return to college and get that degree.  There's so much to say about the guy.  I think anybody who knows him will immediately call him a friend.  I'm not going to rehash what every host has said about him, but Grubes undoubtedly is a good friend.  He was sort of a father figure type for me as an intern when you're thrown into trying to learn the board and all that other stuff.  I'm the type who tries to stay out of the way and not interfere with the natural flow of things, which as an intern for me meant doing my job and not really getting in anybody's way.

I emailed Grubes a few months before I began my internship at The Ticket.  He didn't know me and had no reason to.  I just asked him who to speak to regarding an internship.  He had no reason to respond, and it's not like it's a big deal that he did respond with the proper information but it still meant a lot to me.  I got on board and he was immediately a huge help.  The speed dial go to guy when I had a technical question.  The same goes for Big Strong Jer, but I don't exactly go get wasted at bars with Big Strong Jer like I do with Grubes.  Those dudes are/were really great at what they do/did.  The best.  Unless you've ran the board, I don't think you can fully understand the complete brain power it takes to be a board op.  It's stressful, tense, fun, difficult, taxing, and wheels off most of the time.  There's a lot of responsibility.  It's a position that is undoubtedly underpaid.

Now Grubes is gone, and it's a little weird.  I've been a fan of the station longer than i've worked at the station so it was a little sad to hear the Grubes news, even though it in theory would open up an opportunity for me.  In radio or at least at The Ticket, you must pounce on opportunities.  I don't know the business side, but from the programming aspect it's been a pretty stable operation for almost 20 years.

When I began my internship in January of 2010 there was no open position in site.  I remember coming in to get the recorder before heading out to games and seeing guys like Mike Sirois (@mikesirois) doing weekend tickers.  I remember coming back from games to put audio in the computer and seeing Jake Kemp  (@notjackkemp) on the board working the overnight shifts.  In fact, that was the first time I ever met Jake.  Me putting audio in the computer, he wearing athletic shorts and eating left over snacks from Stu Cedar while watching The Shield on his computer.  It all comes full circle.  Forgive me if i'm wrong on dates here, but I feel like i'm pretty close...I remember in August or September of 2010 beginning to get worried that I wouldn't get a job there.  No positions had opened up.  Nobody had left.  Time was running out on the internship.  Again, the order and dates could be off but at some point Chris House decided to be a cop.  This opened a fierce competition between TC, Tara, Jake, and probably someone else for the Top 10 gig.  Jake got the gig, opening up a weekend spot and moving everyone up a slot.  At some point the inappropriate tweet from an unnamed former MLB pitcher opened up the spot for the Norm producer gig which was taken over by Mike Sirois.  Another open slot.  Either way I got a job, because of the Chris House departure and it's kind of full circle that Jake is now in Grubes position.

TC and I had a similar battle royale last week.  TC got the job and is now the Top 10 host.  I was a little frustrated on Friday, but I understand.  TC has been there longer than me and it's probably better for the station as a whole to keep me in a versatile role for now.  Not that TC can't do these things, but i'm counted on to be a fill-in ticker guy sometimes, to be a reporter, and to also  now be the main fill-in board op as well as the fill-in Top 10 host.  Roster construction.  I'm the utility infielder for now.

I wanted the full-time job.  I'm 24 and I feel like that's fairly young to have a full-time radio job in a top 5 market, much less the #1 station in a top 5 market.  I'll stick my foot down and keep grinding of course.  Fun will happen.  I'll have to keep my boring day-job on the side.  Many people are dying to have jobs and yet i've got two, the one I love not necessarily paying the bills at home like the other job.  It is what it is though.  Just catching up, because it's been a while.  Don Draper wrote to himself in Mad Men so at least I know it's not gay to write stuff like this.  Peace.

Stay hard Grubes!

KT