Mount Hood

Review: “Waiting on a Song”

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

In the past, it was difficult not to associate Dan Auerbach with The Black Keys, where he serves as lead guitarist and vocalist. Even in his first solo album, 2009’s “Keep It Hid,” Auerbach’s sound was comparable to the sound of The Black Keys.

In Auerbach’s upcoming album, “Waiting on a Song,” he sets himself apart from The Black Keys by giving a more pop-heavy, dream-like album that is perfectly upbeat and just in time for Summer.

The title track, “Waiting on a Song,” starts the album off with a sound that feels similar to 70’s country music. It’s catchy and relies heavily on simple lyrics and twangy guitar. It feels different from the summery-pop-vibe that Auerbach tries to evoke with the rest of the album, but is a good song nonetheless.

If this album is playing around with surf-rock sounds, “Malibu Man” dives right into the ocean: mildly distorted, dreamy vocals and a soft guitar that sounds like it’s taken right out of “Surfin’ U.S.A.” “Malibu Man” finds Auerbach settling into the sound that makes “Waiting on a Song” great.

One song on the 10-track album that stands out the most is “Shine on Me.” Not only is the song instantly danceable, it features guitar and vocals reminiscent of surf rock. The song is both memorable and catchy. With simple lyrics and upbeat music, “Shine on Me” is the perfect tune to listen to with the windows down.

In this generally upbeat album, Auerbach isn’t afraid to slow things down. “Never in My Wildest Dreams” starts off with a single acoustic guitar and Auerbach’s soft vocals. The chorus adds percussion and some soft horn instruments, making this song slow, but still toe-tapping. The lyrics are emotional and find Auerbach at his most heartfelt.

Through the 10 songs on “Waiting on a Song,” Dan Auerbach finds a dreamy, surf-rock sound that sets the album miles apart from anything done with The Black Keys. Upbeat, heartfelt and a ton of fun, “Waiting on a Song” is a fantastic album and perfect for summer.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

Review: “Alien: Covenant”

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

“Alien: Covenant” is a horror movie. That’s completely clear from every promotion and based on the movies that came before it, but “Alien: Covenant” doesn’t wear the mask of a horror movie. The film appears to be an epic adventure film with an ensemble cast and a rich backstory, but there’s a lot more going on.

The diversity of settings helps to give “Alien: Covenant” an adventure-movie feeling. Jumping from location to location, the film explores some intriguing locations and forces viewers to be on their feet, nowhere is ever safe.

It takes a long time for any horror movie tropes to pop up in the film. Setting the stage as an action and adventure movie, the main focus is put on the characters and the experiences and trials that they’re going through.

The events of 2012’s “Prometheus” played directly into the movie. Michael Fassbender reprised his role as the antagonist. “Alien: Covenant” helped to make some of the confusing parts of “Prometheus” more clear, without serving as a direct sequel.

Where “Alien: Covenant” shines the most is in its characters. The crew of The Covenant are an entertaining group of people who are easy to get attached to right away. On their way to a planet for a colonization mission, the crew is composed of couples, which makes the characters more emotion-driven. Even the smallest side character has something dear to them, which makes all the tragedy and triumph in the film much more personal.

Having 15 crew members highlighted in the film, not everyone gets a lot of screen time. When a very small character with hardly any lines makes an extremely dumb choice or an avoidable error, it really stands out and is distracting. This happens multiple times in the film, characters who don’t really add to the plot will make an unrealistic choice that jeopardizes things for everyone. It’s noticeably lazy writing, and “Alien: Covenant” relies on it at times.

These characters are brought to life by stunning performances all around. Michael Fassbender plays two, very different androids and is able to set their character traits apart very well. Katherine Waterston gave an incredible performance as the film’s protagonist, Daniels, as she struggled through loss, survival and lots of aliens.

The aliens were the most disappointing part of the film. Not only were the special effects low quality, but the aliens weren’t even the central threat in the film. “Alien: Covenant” felt more like a movie talking about the dangers of artificial intelligence than a horror movie about aliens. Michael Fassbender gave a fantastic performance as the film’s antagonist, but so much so that the actual aliens feel like less of a threat.

Rather than relying on jump-scares, “Alien: Covenant” follows the footsteps of its predecessors with intense, horrifying scenes of violence and gore. These scenes are necessary for the plot and for the “Alien” franchise, but they’re definitely not for weak stomachs.

“Alien: Covenant” is an intense film with great performances, but the focus on Michael Fassbender’s antagonist takes away from the horror aspect of the film and that lowers the quality considerably.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

2/4
+ Interesting characters
– Disappointing aliens

Review: “Goths”

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

The Mountain Goats’ 16th album, “Goths” opens with the pre-released song “Rain in Soho,” a serious, dark tune that sets the album up with engaging lyrics and a catchy melody.

Lyrical storytelling is the highlight of “Goths,” almost every song is very lyric-heavy and strays away from the normal conventions of songs, through means such as blurring the lines between verses and choruses. “The Grey King and the Silver Flame Attunement” stood out in this respect. The story-heavy verses are matched by the simple chorus that says “I’m hardcore, but I’m not that hardcore.”

“Goths” also uses lots of experimental instruments that aren’t typically heard in the indie folk genre. The album doesn’t use guitar like The Mountain Goats have in the past, instead, the album is mainly held up by drums, piano and bass. This choice sets “Goths” apart from previous albums and makes for a fresh sound. Horn instruments are also present in songs like “Paid in Cocaine” and “For the Portuguese Goth Metal Bands.” This gives these songs a classical feel and works well.

“For the Portuguese Goth Metal Bands” is one of the best tracks on the album. Not only does it have a unique sound with horn instruments and a mellow tone, it puts most of its focus on the verses. The song has a two-line hook in between the longer verses, rather than a chorus. This puts a lot of emphasis on the storytelling aspect of the song and makes for one of the most memorable songs on the album.

“Goths” is a unique and well done album, but there are a few songs that fail to be memorable. “Unicorn Tolerance” caught my eye because of the title, but the song, itself, fell flat. The song sounds like a generic attempt at an indie tune and zooms by without anything specific really standing out.

The album begins and ends strongly, but the middle holds some of the weaker songs. “Stench of the Unburied” also doesn’t match up well to the quality of the album.

“Goths” isn’t the best Mountain Goats album, but after 16 albums, that’s a lot to ask for. “Goths” gets a lot right in it’s lyrical storytelling and use of experimental instruments, but a few weaker, generic sounding songs keep it from being truly amazing.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

A night of laughs

By: Nick Ketcham
Freelancer

Although there were more flags than people in the Werner University Center Pacific Room on the evening of May 15, the air was casually laced with anticipation as Pete Lee, nationally acclaimed comedian, approached the stage.

Pete stood before the students of Western Oregon University as part of a coordinated effort between the Western Student Activity Board and his nationwide college tour, during which he has visited over 500 colleges.

Just a little over a week prior, Pete Lee was standing before the nation in his first appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon, one of his many appearances on national television. Pete has performed on Comedy Central, NBC and CBS, and has been a cast member and writer for major programs such as Fuse T.V.’s “Video on Trial,” VH1’s “Best Week Ever” and the NFL “Top 10’s.”

Pete Lee described himself as a soft, pleasant midwesterner from small town Wisconsin. Throughout the entire performance, Lee showcased his sensitive side with various jokes about love, life and crying so hard in public that actual babies stop crying just to wonder “how much poop does that guy have in his diaper.”

In addition to having funny, unique jokes, Pete interacted with the audience and was able to quickly react to joke opportunities. For example, the squeak of a chair resulted in an accusation that “somebody in the back had stepped on Mariah Carey.”

Despite his busy schedule, Lee took time at the end of the show to interact and take pictures with fans. He also took a brief moment to plug social media accounts as well as a recent segment he did on “The Tonight Show,” which you can watch on his YouTube channel.

Contact the author at nketcham16@wou.edu

Western student recitals

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

Hannah Hazlewood’s senior recital on May 16 put an emphasis on vocal performance. Performing a musical, “Once Upon A Dream,” that incorporated music from other musicals, Hazlewood’s senior recital included other actors and singers as well to put on an entertaining show about love and dreams. The recital included music from musicals such as “Into the Woods,” “Enchanted,” “Cinderella” and more through six scenes that told the story of a young woman finding love. The musical was narrated by Eli Schenk and included vocal performances from Laura Killip, Cole Aldred and Scott Dickens.

Yuzhou Huang performed seven pieces for his senior piano recital on May 18. The performance showcased Huang’s piano ability with songs from Scarlatti, Beethoven, Chopin and more. Huang played music through close to a hundred years of classical composers, beginning with Scarletti and ending with Chopin. The performance ended with Huang thanking his parents, who couldn’t make it to the recital due to their jobs in China, but it was recorded to send to them later on. Huang also took a moment to thank his professors before playing his final song.

Emily Dalziel’s senior recital took place on May 19. She performed pieces from five different composers on the piano. The composers ranged from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piece, written in 1777, to a work of Dmitri Shostakovich’s, written in the early 20th century. Other composers performed include Frederick Chopin, Felix Mendelssohn and Claude Debussy. Dalziel also took time to thank her professors, students and family for supporting her.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

Campus music recommendations

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

“The one everyone’s talking about right now is Kendrick Lamar’s new album ‘DAMN.’ I’d recommend that one. It’s hip hop so, if you like hip hop, I’d recommend it.”
Daniel Villegas, sophomore, criminal justice

“John Mayer’s ‘The Search For Everything’ is a really good one. He uses a whole bunch of expressions in his lyrics that apply to everyone.”
Austin Monk, senior, interdisciplinary studies

“‘I’m the One’ by DJ Khaled, there are just a bunch of different artists in it.”

Tiffany Applegate, freshman, business

“I’d recommend Mac Demarco’s ‘This Old Dog,’ it’s a really good album for people who like alternative, psychedelic or indie rock.”

Lisette Cervantes, sophomore, psychology

The “Pageant” gets cancelled

By: Zoe Strickland
Managing Editor

This started out as a review of “Pageant,” the sophomore album of the would-be up-and-coming queer rock band PWR BTTM. However, due to recent allegations, PWR BTTM has been dropped by their label.

The record label, Polyvinyl, announced on May 12 that they were dropping PWR BTTM due to allegations that one half of the duo, Ben Hopkins, sexually coerced and assaulted people while on tour.

As a result of these allegations, the band has been taken off of the label’s website.

On March 13, Polyvinyl released a statement regarding the allegations, “Throughout our 20 years, Polyvinyl has purposefully operated on the core principle that everyone deserves to be treated with fairness and respect. There is absolutely no place in the world for hate, violence, abuse, discrimination or predatory behavior of any kind. In keeping with this philosophy, we want to let everyone know that we are ceasing to sell and distribute PWR BTTM’s music.”

Similarly, the label is offering full refunds to anyone who has purchased PWR BTTM products.

The story broke on Jezebel, where they interviewed a member of the LGBTQ+ community who accused Hopkins of being a “‘known sexual predator’ who has perpetrated multiple assaults, bullied other people in the queer community, and has made unwanted advances towards underage minors.”

Being let go from a label isn’t the only thing to happen to the band; touring members of PWR BTTM, as well as multiple tour openers, have dropped out of PWR BTTM’s upcoming tour and their management company has dropped their representation.

“These allegations are shocking to us and we take them very seriously. Further, the alleged behavior is not representative of who Ben is and the manner in which they try to conduct themselves … Our primary goal here is to ensure that a survivor of abuse has a voice, that their story should be heard and that people who cross the line should be held accountable,” read a statement from May 11 that was released by the band on their Twitter account.

The band has also set up an email account wherein survivors of assault can discuss the allegations against Hopkins. According to the statement released by the band, the only person with access to this email will be a neutral mediator.

PWR BTTM’s songs continuously preach messages of acceptance and advocacy, and Hopkins’ alleged actions represent the opposite of what the band tries to promote.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu