Some of my comfort media for garbage days

Yesterday being one of those garbage days

Yesterday was not fun for me. A lot went into it, but if there’s one lesson I can stress that you should have hopefully learned by now: be nice to retail workers. It is an unforgiving field on the best of days, and it’s gotten even more stressful during the pandemic. We do not control any of the policies in place, so it’s pointless and cruel to berate us about them Also, you should just wear your damn mask. It helps keep everyone safe, and it is truly not that big a deal to wear it for the 30 minutes you’re in the store. All that is to say that today I am still a bit rattled by my experience yesterday, so this week I’m just going to share some of the media I go back to when I need some comfort.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

I’m talking about both the movie and the soundtrack here. The criminally underrated movie from The Lonely Island following the exploits of fictional popstar Connor4real (played perfectly by Andy Samberg) is a wonderful distillation of the kind of “stupid smart” humor and writing the trio is known for. I will never stop laughing about the 30 Seconds To Mars joke in the movie, or at any of the other jokes born from Connor’s childlike obliviousness to nuance or reality. The celebrity cameos are great as always, and all of the supporting comedic actors shine, from Tim Meadows to Sarah Silverman. On the soundtrack front, this might be the group’s catchiest bunch of tracks, with legitimately excellent beats and pop power. I have loved The Lonely Island since high school, and Popstar remains my favorite work from them.

Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves

I am on record stating Kacey Musgraves made a perfect album when she made Golden Hour in 2018, and I still believe it now. There is not a single skippable track across this record. “High Horse”? Still a jam. “Rainbow”? Still makes me cry. “Lonely Weekend”? Still my anthem. What keeps bringing me back to the album is not only the care and love that Musgraves put into it as she experimented with her sound across the project, but how there’s a song with a mood that matches mine no matter what. If I need to be uplifted I go with “Rainbow.” If I need to feel happy I go with “Velvet Elvis.” If I’m feeling sad and lonely there’s “Space Cowboy” or “Happy & Sad.” The wide range of emotion on Golden Hour is what makes it hold up for me, and it’s what draws me back to it when I need to listen to something.

Trick ‘r Treat

This is another one I’ve talked about before across various outlets. 2007’s (oh my god this movie turned 13 this year??) Trick ‘r Treat is my all-time favorite horror movie. It’s so many different fun things wrapped into one. It’s a creature film! It’s a vampire movie! It’s a serial killer flick! It’s stylish in its transitions and reverent for its love of all things horror and Halloween. At the beginning of September every year I make it a point to watch this movie to properly get in the spooky mood. I know every jump scare and twist like the back of my hand now, but it’s still fun to appreciate the craft of it all and appreciate the Halloween feeling of it. I could do Halloween every month of the year, so Trick ‘r Treat is always one of my choices.

Battle Born - The Killers

From what I understand, Battle Born is supposedly the Killers album that people don’t like. It routinely ends up at or near the bottom of rankings of their albums. But it might be the one I revisit the most (Day & Age being the one I revisit the least I think. I still like it, but I need to be in a certain mood for it). I love the tenacity and bombast of this record. This is basically an entire album of ballads, with each of the twelve tracks doing the absolute most. This is Brandon Flowers at his rock frontman-iest, pushing his voice and his performance over the top each and every second. It’s the uplifting, stirring earnestness of this album that always makes me feel better. “Be Still” makes me feel like I can keep going after a bad day. “And if they drag you through the mud/it doesn’t change what’s in your blood” is a lyric I think about pretty frequently. Then you have the cool aesthetics of “Miss Atomic Bomb” and the absolute showstopper of the title track, and that’s all I need to get going again. It’s not everyone’s jam, but I love Battle Born with all my heart.

I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson

This is the most recent entry on my list, but it’s already one I adore more than most. I Think You Should Leave is bizarre. Tim Robinson has been a comedy writer for a long time, and his sense of humor clearly lines up with mine. This is a sketch comedy show, but it’s so much more than that. It’s weird. It’s so weird, everyone. The surrealism and shitpost-like quality of the sketches are a delight. And clocking in at only six episodes of about fifteen minutes apiece, the first season is perfect for binging anytime I need a laugh. All of the guest appearances are incredible, and there are multiple sketches I quote in real life all the time. When the real world is too heavy for me, the absolute comedic chaos of I Think You Should Leave brings me back.