Hello,
Time really zips by when you’re having fun and filling your brain with sweet, sweet knowledge. I am pleased to say: my graduate program is not only dominated by women, but a healthy majority of whom have excellent style and a healthy knowledge of the vintage fashion market. Not to sound arrogant, I fit right in. Turning to sincerity for a moment, being a student again is good, and having a sense of forward motion is even better.
I am reading a storm and eating a lot of buttered bread. I feel like the synapses are really firing off in all directions. I am returning to old hobbies (shitposting on IG stories 🤩). My screen time has never been lower. I feel like Cate Blanchett playing Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There”. I’m knitting a scarf with mohair yarn in it. I am gonna see the new Shaun the Sheep movie. Life is very good, and feels like it will just get better. Forward motion!
And yet, homesickness pangs, so I watch very many White Stripes interviews, and assure Laura via text that one day we will have enough clout to meet Jack White.
Yumna
P.S. We hit 100 subscribers! Thank u Elliot for being the hundredth we love u, and thank u all 100… that is so freaking amazing. wow.
New releases
As much for our own musical hygiene as to keep you in the loop, we’re gonna try our best to give some short n’ sweet on the latest and greatest(?) of music!
The Smashing Times – Noboru's EyesCuties everywhere screamed when they saw the singles released last week and now we are here… new little chair thank you thank you. I love the noisiness of “Summer School” + “When You’re Not Around” and it’s all just nice and breezy. The album is just as comfortable as it is magnetic <3 <3 Fav track: Fav tracks: Summer School + Stay and Follow |
When You Smiled And Turned Away — The Cat’s MiaowThe Cat’s Miaow! Back! These songs, slow and soft, lull and never linger so long. Most sort of blend into one another, but it is good to hear back from them again. I suppose I like my minimalist pop with a bit more teeth. Fav track: Going To A Show |
Peanut Pitch + Parterre – Big TopRerelease of Big Top’s 2 EPs through Musical Fanzine, friend of the zine! I’d really like to see them live, they are full of super jump up and down and shake your hands all around dance dance music. Fave tracks: Election Day, Afterglow |
Andrew Starr - coma mt. sinaiSuperfan is the singer-songwriter project of Kali Flanagan. ‘My Piledriver Heart’ is a totally gorgeous record – frigid, feeling, and atmospheric, and I am sure will glow with more listens. Joy makes me wanna sob and sob! Fav tracks: Joy |
Album of the Now
Album of the week/day/month does not adequately summarize the ways a specific album can fit into our lives and shake it up, so we’re calling this “Album of the Now”. We’ll switch off on writing a little review/deep dive/analysis of one special album each newsletter!
"Excerpts from a Love Circus" - Lisa Germano by Laura
This album is sort of a guilty pleasure for me; it’s such a time capsule of what I imagine my mom was experiencing living in LA as a midwestern girl in the 90s, politically incorrect lyrics and all. Lisa is also an Indiana girl like my mom, and I learned from this (still active!!) fansite that she started her career playing violin for John Cougar Mellencamp. I think that Lisa Germano never broke through in a huge way (I wasn’t there, of course!) but she got so close with some hits on the college radio circuit.
Germano is so good at making music that is a little creepy and very cozy, cobwebs shining in hazy morning light. So confessional and messy and unapologetic. All of the instruments sound dusty and deliciously 90s. This album is a lot less dark than her previous album “Geek the Girl,” and I feel like they both fit in well in an October rotation.
I listen to the shamelessly awkward and emotional and confused lyrics and I’m able to channel some of that. Defiance! Having Emotions creates big boulders in the path of moving through my days, so I often must take deep breaths instead of heaving sobs, and put my shoes on. Messy bun, gangsta rap, etc. Excerpts from a Love Circus, sounds from the moment after a meltdown, gives me some proxy relief. -LT
Fav track: Bruises
Recommendations
Things that are weighing heavy on our hearts and minds, or making them feel lighter!
Yumna:
Jun Togawa An Army of Bugs
Avant-pop legend Jun Togawa stuns in song about being a bug girl. Simple as! But also, lots of performance and visual cues to love and learn from – Togawa’s ululating, shrieky vocals while she’s dressed in a honey-sweet pink idol costume, green knee-high socks, gaudy fake flowers. Perfect for when I am feeling a little creepy-crawly, a little Halloweenie as it were…
Bottom lash mascara
Shelley DuVall doesn’t only give a perfect performance in Brewster McCloud, she also serves serious diva angel face – clusters of inky bottom falsies dotting her bottom lash, she is gawkish, gamine, and all too cute.
As a member of the big, beautiful doll-eyed community, I call on my sisters to join the ranks of Shelley! Clump that mascara on! Bat those lashes! And perhaps, neglect the top lash line? I have been long interested in makeup that straddles in the line between the sweet and severe. This is one such application.
Laura:
Funny Face
For the first time in a while, I rewatched “funny face” and it was so awesome. I wrote a long rant on our blog but in short: beautiful gowns, earnest choreography, and wow, nobody is joyous like Audrey Hepburn.
“show and tell” as halloween costume
I maintain that halloween costumes are accessorized with a gag or bit are the best ones. I was “show and tell” for a zine release party and I had great fun. I wore my 1950s silk clown costume jacket, a fuzzy cat mask, and neon-green, mesh, trigger mittens. And then I got to talk about all my things that I like to people! Explain where I got them and what I like about them. Real Show and Tell Shit.
Thank you for reading our newsletter! Please send us what's on your mind, or suggestions for what should be on ours, or even submissions for the zine at attackoftheglowworms@gmail.com. Look out for the next edition on November 9th! Yay!
Thank you for reading our newsletter! Please send us what's on your mind, or suggestions for what should be on ours, or even submissions for the zine at attackoftheglowworms@gmail.com. Look out for the next edition on August 26th! Yay!