things i think about while powerwashing 151

Shortcut to anonymous subscriber submission link: https://forms.gle/2MABf8jNr2V8kEY87

A lot of things happened on my trip to Singapore, but I think one of the most memorable experiences was explaining the “midwest emo” genre to esteemed subscriber Magdalene Lam’s cousin Jeremy (who is very cool).

The only thing midwest emo really shares with its parent genre are the emotions. The rest of its DNA comes from the wavering and arpeggiated melodies of math rock. The most classic of these bands being American Football.

My introduction into midwest emo came from its spiritual parent of math rock. I’d been listening to a lot of covet and Polyphia (not math rock but somewhat related) when esteemed subscriber Noah Curran suggested I look in a more grounded direction. This also happened to coincide with me finding this playlist on YouTube:

The guitars generally are very beautiful. But only generally. There are some midwest emo songs where they start singing and I immediately hit the skip button. It’s not to say that I don’t appreciate the raw emotion coming out of these guys, but like let’s try and match the quality of the backing track alright?

But when it’s pumping on all cylinders, it’s beautiful. Like watching two guys fight outside a bar in a parking lot as the sun goes down, leaving it all on the cracked pavement. It reminds me of riding that Amazon knock off penny board through the Purdue campus in the early fall of my freshman year. I will never feel like that again. That sense of yearning for the past? That’s midwest emo.

Anyway here are some of my favorite midwest emo/math rock bands:

• American Football: Their song Never Meant is one of the most iconic midwest emo songs of all time.
• Chinese Football: Some guys in China liked American Football and decided to become a cover band but have since started writing their own songs.
• Elephant Gym: After learning about midwest emo and Japanese math rock, I figured that there would be at least one Taiwanese math rock band. Spring Rain is a good one to start with.
• toe: One of the iconic Japanese math rock bands. I don’t have a specific song, just hit the play button on their Spotify profile and let it rip.

I am pretty aware that I am not THAT deep into the math/post-rock rabbit hole but just thought I’d share! You can also checkout bands like covet, tricot and TTNG!

museum of the week

In one of the deepest pulls for a museum I stumbled upon Singapore's Buddha Tooth Relic Temple’s “Buddha's of the World.” Which was a gallery of Buddha statues made of stone or wood. May the Buddha gallery bless your week!

anonymous subscriber news

I also read that book! Agree that it was lowkey depressing but frankly quite a beautiful book.

Submit here: https://forms.gle/2MABf8jNr2V8kEY87

• anon’s up with the sun: For the past month I have been awake when the newsletter is posted
• anon gao: had dim sum for thanksgiving… does it get any more asian than that
• anonstecean: drove six hours to eat lobster
• anon recommends: Anon recommends Stay True by Hua Hsu for another lowkey depressing read

animal of the week

SEND IN ANIMAL PHOTOS TO THIS GOOGLE FORM! https://forms.gle/NT3nSkKVbpkjCr1u8

We got absolute poet and esteemed subscriber Akshay Pawar coming in with a cute little guy he probably saw on one of his numerous outdoor excursions.

Baby Squirrel

Send me your animal photos at ryan@torrtle.co OR at this form https://forms.gle/NT3nSkKVbpkjCr1u8!