In this week’s episode, recorded after Star Wars Day and before Drake’s “The Heart Part 6” dropped, we discuss the three-day, five-track verbal war between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, the first season of the “Sandman” spinoff series “Dead Boy Detectives”, the third and final season of “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” and the second season of “Star Wars: Tales” (‘Tales of the Empire’), in addition to celebrating the 25th anniversary of “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace”.
In this week’s episode, we discuss the official trailer for “Deadpool & Wolverine”, the removal of Drake’s tacky Kendrick Lamar diss “Taylor-Made Freestyle” from streaming platforms, the new C.W. Franz album “C.W. Franz IX”, Dev Patel’s visceral directorial debut “Monkey Man”, the Luca Guadagnino romantic drama “Challengers”, the Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off miniseries “Knuckles” and the epic FX miniseries “Shōgun”.
In this week’s episode, we discuss the SV and Alyssa Jane joint album “Neo Phily”, the newest chapter of the ongoing “Top 3” rap feud, the first trailer for “Transformers One”, the slapstick comedy film “Hundreds of Beavers”, the surrealist comedy-drama “Problemista”, the WWII spy action comedy “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” and Zack Snyder’s follow-up to his Netflix-released space opera “Rebel Moon”: “Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver”.
In this week’s episode, we acknowledge the passing of O.J. Simpson, question the ‘sudden’ rivalry between hip hop heavyweights Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Drake and Rick Ross, share our quick thoughts on the “Joker: Folie a Deux” teaser trailer and the fifth season of “Star Trek: Discovery” and discuss the second season of Prime Video’s “Invincible”, the first season of Prime Video’s “Fallout” live-action adaptation series and the big budget A24 release “Civil War”.
In this week’s episode, we review the collaborative album by Trinidadian rapper Micwise and Virginia producer/rapper Hard2see entitled “Outside Interference”, the first three episodes of the Hulu miniseries “We Were the Lucky Ones”, the Hulu documentary feature “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told”, the first three episodes of the highly-anticipated Marvel Animation series “X-Men ’97” and the newest MonsterVerse feature “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”. We also pay respect to the late, great Louis Gossett Jr. and Chance Perdomo.
We, alongside special guests Tracy Hutchings and Julien Neaves, celebrate the 10th anniversary of the brilliant MCU feature “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, and review the Ville Ventures short web film “Michelle: The Fall”, the Netflix sci-fi series “3 Body Problem”, the found footage horror film “Late Night with the Devil” and the Netflix biopic “Shirley” starring Regina King and Trinidad’s own Michael Cherrie.
For this review, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on “Without Love”, the new single from Newcastle upon Tyne gothic rock / metal band Flowers for Juno and their latest release since their debut EP “Be My Bloody Valentine”. With that project, vocalist Benjó James and musician Jack Wilson created a strange, Lynchian-like mood piece that seemed to embrace the lyrical stylings of ballroom-centric pop ballads of the 1960s to 1980s – whether it’s Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (which Benjó did a delightfully creepy version of on that record) or Tears for Fears’ timeless “Head Over Heels” – and yet forcibly REJECTED their promise of true, ‘endless’ love between romantic partners. In the loose narrative of the EP, Benjó loses a romantic interest, gains another, loses her and succumbs to the fates of loneliness and, assumedly, death.
This single consists of the title track on Side A, labelled the “7” Deadly Sins Mix”, and two remixes of the EP’s second single “It’s Not My Fault” on Side B. Along with being an addendum to “Be My Bloody Valentine”, “Without Love” bears a similar tonal structure to its predecessor. It starts off with a menacing bang, tapers off into a deceptively ethereal vibe and concludes on an incredibly bleak note. Another similarity between single and EP is the use of dead air, lessened in volume at the start and end (with the exception of the track “Without Love”) of each song compared to the EP’s opening track “Dead Air” but still present in the background. A reminder that what you’re about to hear is anything but ordinary.
With the Side A solo track “Without Love” being the only ‘new’ composition in this short collection of songs, Benjó James returns to his heartbroken viewpoint on love that made “Physical Culture” off the “Be My Bloody Valentine” EP such a highlight. He describes love as this missing puzzle piece of sorts that, once attained, SHOULD make him emotionally and mentally whole. There’s an air of melancholy present throughout this song, especially in the combined instrumentation of Jack Wilson’s energetic guitar riffs and drum solo and Benjó’s warped keyboard melody, the latter of which appears during the bridge.
Side B opens with “It’s Not My Fault (In the Nightcore Eclipse Remix)” which …. you guessed it …. is a nightcore version of the original song. And while I’m not the biggest fan of nightcore (I’m more of a slowed / slowed-and-reverb type of guy), I must confess this version sounds GREAT! The simple tweaks to the instrumental’s pitch and Benjó’s vocals make this version sound livelier and – dare I say – more blissful! The original was already the most heartfelt track on “Be My Bloody Valentine” and here, this particular remix is the bright spot on this single.
And then we get to the final track “It’s Not My Fault (Palazzo’s Monstrosity Coil Remix)” where, similar to the “Physical Culture” remix that closed off “Be My Bloody Valentine”, Flowers for Juno gives guest producer Palazzo’s Monstrosity Coil free reign to turn their original song into a soundscape lifted straight out of a horror movie! Compared to the “Physical Culture” remix, this remix to “It’s Not My Fault” is surprisingly the more accessible of the two. The reverbed vocals, kept in the same pitch and speed they were on the original version, aren’t overpowered by the production’s less abrasive but still harsh combination of crushing bass and clanking industrial noises. Even Benjó’s pitch-shifted outro vocals remain intact which, to me, adds a bit of pitch-black humor to the entire track. I truly hope that this isn’t the last collaboration between Flowers for Juno and Palazzo’s Monstrosity Coil as I believe he can add more nightmarish detail to the band’s weird and ominous musical world.
Overall, I really enjoyed “Without Love”! I can see fans of “Be My Bloody Valentine” thoroughly enjoying this single and newbies into the style and sound of Flowers for Juno entertained and intrigued enough to check out that EP. With their singles and debut record, this band seems to be making a name for themselves in the goth rock and metal scene. Here’s hoping they keep that momentum going with their next release!
Flowers For Juno’s “Without Love” is now available on all popular streaming platforms
In this special, full-length episode of the BBB RADIO podcast, we review the 4th entry in the “Kung Fu Panda” feature film series and discuss the recently-held 96th Academy Awards.
With less than a week left before the 96th Annual Academy Awards, Matthew and Ricardo review the Oscar-nominated documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”, the Netflix comedy series “The Vince Staples Show”, the Netflix-released sci-fi drama “Spaceman” and Denis Villeneuve’s epic follow-up to 2021’s “Dune” – “Dune: Part Two”.
In this week’s episode, Ricardo delivers a quick review of “Bob Marley: One Love”, Matthew discusses the Best Picture Oscar nominated film “The Zone of Interest” and the current controversy involving influential YouTube content creators/ critics Chris Stuckmann and Anthony Fantano, and they share their thoughts on the wrestling biopic “The Iron Claw”, the fourth season of HBO’s “True Detective” – “Night Country” and the long-awaited Netflix live-action adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender”.
BBB RADIO 