This is the first in a series of drafts about the stuff I’m watching, listening to, playing. I did these now and then when I was keeping my journal online, and what better time to bring this habit back than when all my friends are bored? (And I need to start with this topic because I’m embarrassed at how pretentious my last blog post was.)
One of my guilty pleasures out of the last five years is a synth-rock comedy band called Ninja Sex Party. Their original songs are…not clean. (“Heart Boner” though, is beautiful and probably their cleanest song despite the title. It’s that joke I love called “songs that are absolutely filthy yet technically wholesome”.)
Where I really got hooked on NSP, though, was their (family-safe!) album of cover songs “Under the Covers” in 2016.
This is one of my top ten albums ever, and it’s a cover album by a comedy band. Seems like a joke answer, but, okay, what other band is out there covering the theme song from “The Last Unicorn” and absolutely slamming it out of the park?
(Note: I have just discovered that the answer is “Kenny Loggins”. Of course it is.)
In December, I was at a wedding. The reception had an amazing live band, and over dinner they performed a cover of “We Belong” with Pat Benatar. My winter depression was gone for three beautiful minutes as several tables of English teachers and summer camp counselors serenaded each other, dramatic arms in the air.
I decided I needed an entire playlist of songs that made me feel like this, and maybe you need it too?
This playlist has brought me so much joy while cleaning up, while exercising, while trying to distract myself from doomsurfing on social media.
To bring this disjointed entry together: this spirit is exactly what I love about the NSP cover albums. Danny is half of the on-air talent for the comedy gaming channel Game Grumps (like NSP, it is not work safe, and absolutely not to everyone’s taste), and in some of their longer runs he tells stories about being a little kid who loved singing, even if people thought he was annoying, and I can really connect with that. It’s about the fact that he loves the music, he loves making it, and he makes something beautiful out of harmonizing with himself. That’s rad.
Anyway, in this time of isolation, please enjoy “Orgy for One”. Maybe not with kids in the room, though.