The Headlines

Jake from The Headlines gave me an advance copy of their new album and it's pretty damn sweet. They've changed their sound and this might be the best they've ever sounded. I've been to a lot of their gigs and I've liked them since their basement gig days so that's saying something.

Mandolin and saxophone player CC has left the band and guitarist Peter (When We Fall, Vervain) has joined the line-up. This and the touch of producer Jacob Bredahl has resulted in a rougher and more straightforward punk n roll sound that makes the most of Jake's songwriting. This becomes apparent when listening to the re-recording of Old Town, originally from their 2007 album Plug and play.

My favourite songs on the record are Forever and The Loneliest of Roads. But I feel anything but lonely when I walk around the streets of our town with these songs playing on my phone.

The Headlines. Peter, Jake, Kerry and Peter.

The self titled album is out on September 17th. You can check out two of the songs from the album on Dying Scene.

Check out their previous albums on Spotify.

Stirring Up Dust Bunnies and Memories

The windows in my building are being replaced, so I'm woken up by builders every morning. It's a real treat, especially when I've worked nights and collapse in my bed about five hours before they ring the doorbell.

Moving furniture and plants around so the builders can get to the windows is a bit tedious, but it's also an opportunity to sort through stuff that just sits in boxes. And clean out some dustbunnies the size of Texas.

In one box I came across some old photos and notes from school. There was also a mixtape from my friend S, a girl who introduced me to bands like Barenaked Ladies, Sister Hazel and The Levellers.
We both had a crush on Liam Howlett from The Prodigy, swapped mixtapes and talked about rock n roll boys when we were supposed to pay attention to the teacher.

S told me about her parents who hadn't shared a bedroom for years but still stayed together to keep up appearances. There always seemed to be a lot of tension in her home, but she rarely wanted to talk about it and I didn't want to pry.

We lost touch after graduating upper secondary school but I ran into her a few years later. She told me she was living with a guy who didn't love her and told her so, but it was better than being alone. If I could I would have pulled a Dickensian "Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future" on her parents and showed them what their way of life had done to their daughter. I'd probably have bitch slapped them too.

Because they were scared of what others thought of them they stayed in a bad relationship and taught their daughter that it's more important to be with someone than to be happy.
It's been a few years since I ran into S. I hope she's finally understood what I always told her; that she deserves to be loved and shouldn't settle for less.

Divorce is hard, but staying together for the kids is one of the worst concepts I've ever heard of.

I've just come from a preview screening of the Irish movie "Once". It's fuckin' fantastic, as they say in Ireland.
It's an independent film shot in three weeks with almost no budget that went and won the Oscar for best original song at the Academy Awards earlier this year. Actors Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová wrote and performed all the original songs in the movie.


Hearing the Irish accents made me think of my time in Belfast and all my Irish, American and Canadian friends. Isn't it strange how we lose thouch with people we want to keep in our lives?

Rikke is in Denmark, and we still keep in touch. I know that Niall is a teacher in Manchester and I think that Peter Sumadh still lives in Belfast. I don't know if he is still with Julie, though.

I don't know if things worked out for Mary and Rowan when he followed her to Canada, and I would love to find out what Cormac, Sean, Jen and Kyle are up to these days. I have very fond memories of 16 Surrey Street and Queen's Elms Halls of Residence.

Merry Christmas! Here's Chrissie Hynde and her Pretenders with the song "2 000 miles". This song feels so right at this time of year.
I need a slow song to calm down after some last minute shopping I had to do today.
Next year I am buying all my christmas gifts online. In november.



I just spoke to an old friend for the first time in years. Only on the phone, but I hope we get a chance to meet up sometime soon.

It was strange how fast we slipped back into how we used to be when we were kids.
But I can't believe that the guy who worshipped Metallica and played guitar is now a lawyer in the big city. Poor thing.