HONEST AND MERCIFUL: Scene journalist Taylor Ruckle talks DMV music

HONEST AND MERCIFUL: Scene journalist Taylor Ruckle talks DMV music

We’ve said it before, D.C. music is in a weird place. Often the scene can feel aimless and lacking in community, not nearly as together as cities like Philly, Pittsburgh, or New York with their strong emo, shoegaze, and punk pockets, respectively. Maybe you think it’s been slowly dying since harDCore fizzled out in the 80s. Maybe you think it’s on the precipice of taking off again. Maybe you think it’s mediocre and unremarkable but either way, you’re thinking about it. Or at least we’re thinking about it.
We made blackout poetry with your college essays

We made blackout poetry with your college essays

Since high schoolers nation wide are making their customary announcement Instagram posts, we thought it'd be a good time to revisit application essays from GW students. We wanted to turn our pain into art, to honor the parts of ourselves we cut out just to get in. WARNING: Shit gets deep.
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Blogging)

It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Blogging)

Everybody, even the people who hate him, pretty much agrees that Bob Dylan is the greatest songwriter of all time. Some will attach asterisks to the moniker (*living/rock/American/white/male) but it’s a waste of time. Fundamentally, Dylan expanded the scope of what a pop song could be, demolished cutesy lyrical boundaries, pioneered genre bending sounds and changed the way record companies thought about artists to the point where his impact is so ubiquitous it’s hard to separate him from the evolution of music. And he did it all in like three years. Dylan’s catalogue isn’t only winners, in fact lots of it is bad, but his best work is so monumental, and driven by an irrepressible fuck-you-attitude, that it makes most other music feel small by comparison.
Blues in Rockland

Blues in Rockland

By Max Cohen I have this dream where youngerbrothers of former friendsare shocked to death by frayed cablesin busted guitar ampsthat blast out anthems for thebright new class of white…