Best of 2019
2019 has been a year of ups and downs for me personally, but more ups than downs. At the beginning of the year, I was laid off from my job and unemployed for two months. Somehow I managed to find a job that has paid me well enough to move into my own studio, living without roommates for the first time in my life, which has been my goal since I moved out of my parents place eight years ago.
This was also the year where I felt secure for the first time being truly by myself. Really discovering myself to the fullest extent and being happy with just being single. I am heartbroken but in a different way, though, and I really don’t see that changing unless circumstances shift (which is unlikely at this point). It’s been a year of independence, a year of embarking on new things, soul searching—a year of Me.
It’s also been a great year for pop culture. Wonderful projects flourished in the film, music and television world. Like last year, there is no ranking. Instead I’ll just list things that were great because there was A LOT.
Film
Midsommar (dir. Ari Aster)
What more can I say about this masterpiece? If you follow me on Twitter, you have heard me rant and rave about this film since it came out. I saw it three times in theaters and each time I was left with an even better impression than the previous viewing. Ari Aster knows how to do horror while also making it completely gut wrenching. It would be wise of him to do a Grief Trilogy—with this and Hereditary under his belt, it would be like Ingmar Bergman’s Faith trilogy if I’m being quite honest (Of course Aster was influenced by Bergman while writing Midsommar). If there is one person who understands how devastating mourning loved ones can be and the aftermath of death, it’s Aster.
The best thing about Midsommar is how much more you pick up on the nuances after each viewing, showing how much love and care Aster put into this film. The most minute detail is handled so delicately that even the viewer doesn’t realize what they’re seeing until it’s pointed out. I don’t want to give too much away, because like Parasite, the less you know about the film beforehand the more satisfying it is to watch it. Florence Pugh’s performance coupled with the breathtaking cinematography, intriguing plot, and quick quips makes it deserving for every award. Unfortunately because it is a horror film, it will not receive many accolades other than a vast majority of reviewers and viewers gushing about it but this will be considered a classic film years down the line and deservedly so.
Parasite (dir. Bong Joon Ho)
I saw Parasite on Sunday. It is now Wednesday and I’m still thinking about the ending and I will probably continue to think about the ending until I am dead. That is just how profound Parasite is. It explores classism at its absolute core. Bong Joon Ho doesn’t sugar coat it, doesn’t shy away from the contempt he feels towards the rich—instead he gives it to you straight between the eyes to reveal that the rich really don’t think much of the working class except as a way to make their lives easier, merely a means to an end, which throughout the film fills you with anger, sadness, and a fury that cannot be measured. Quite fitting for the world we live in now where the class divide is the largest it has ever been.
In between the brutally honest moments, there are glimpses of comedy where you are able to laugh at the predicaments these characters find themselves in, even when the rug gets pulled out from under you and gut punches you towards the very end. Will this film be the rallying cry for revolution? Will the guillotines really make a comeback? One can only hope.
Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood (dir. Quentin Tarantino)
Out of all of Quentin Tarantino’s works, his latest Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood is his most subdued film to date, however it’s still a wild ride. This film is Tarantino’s love letter to the Los Angeles he grew up in—it’s as if Tarantino created a Buzzfeed list titled “You Know You Were A Kid Of The 60’s If…” But even if you weren’t alive during that era, you can still feel the nostalgia by immersing yourself in the film and getting lost in the costumes, the music, the style, the cadence of the world Tarantino has created. Like any Tarantino film, it meanders, sometimes wandering aimlessly through minor characters backstories, but always coming back to the main path before you realize how long the detour was. Sure, it’s considered bad writing and a film no-no to do this however Tarantino creates such fascinating characters that you’re okay with being sidetracked by a ten minute anecdote that has nothing to do with the main plot because it’s entertaining as hell.
Tarantino is preparing for retirement after he makes his tenth film, but I hope like many other artists before him it’s simply just a statement with no meaning behind it and he continues to make movies until he is dead.
The Lighthouse (dir. Robert Eggers)
Any movie that takes the time and effort to be shot on black and white 35mm film is already in my wheelhouse, no matter what the plot is. Yes, Robert Eggers did a wonderful job researching 1890’s Wickis, drowning the audience in authentic dialogue, costume design, and direction, but watching this movie on actual celluloid, seeing the beautiful chiasroscuro, the gorgeous New England seascapes in black and white film, is the best eye candy you’ll ever get.
Anyone who watched Eggers’s previous film, The VVitch, knows how weird and wild his films can get despite being dark period pieces—The Lighthouse hardly shies away from that. Robert Pattinson and Wilem Dafoe’s performances make this eerily dark film shine in a disturbing, brutal way. Just when the movie feels as if it couldn’t get more fucked up, the last five minutes get to Lynchian levels and you realize Eggers is still keeping the audience on this fucked up rollercoaster to the very end.
When the credits rolled in the theater, one man in the audience yelled, “What the hell was that?!”, which is the only appropriate response to this film.
Hustlers (dir. Lorene Scafaria)
Jennifer Lopez is 50 years old. You would never guess she was 50 years old in this film, proof that the woman doesn’t age. This is also her best performance since 1997’s Selena and Goddamn it if I absolutely didn’t love her as Ramona, a veteran dancer that takes rookie dancer Destiny (played by Constance Wu) under her wing and shows her the ropes of an industry that is often times misunderstood but undoubtedly cruel. In a world where sex workers are second class citizens, Hustlers reminds you that at the end of each of these worker’s shifts that they are just that: Workers. They have parents, grandparents, children that they dote on. They have hopes, dreams, social lives—sex work provides them a livelihood they couldn’t get if they were working in a department store or a 9-5 office job. And like any job, it has it’s good and bad components to it that are examined in the film.
Sex workers were divided on the response to this film, but I can say this is one of the more positive portrayals of sex work I have seen in film. With sex worker’s rights and decriminalization becoming a hot topic in politics now, I am hoping with it comes less stigmatization of the industry as a whole. I don’t think this film will lead the revolution, but it does show the effects of having more candid conversations about decriminalization in our current political climate.
Also any film that has Wall Street assholes having their money stolen by sex workers is automatically good. That’s just how things work.
The Irishman (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Joe Pesci deserves every award for his performance—it’s subtle yet powerful. In the past, we have seen Pesci play flamboyant, easily angered, obnoxious East Coast mobsters that are absolutely grating depending on the role. For The Irishman, he takes the stereotypical character he usually plays, turned it down three notches, added some sweetness to it and turned out the best performance of his career.
Martin Scorsese knows how to make an action packed film that keeps you on the edge of your seat. He makes a lot of mob films, with his filmography sometimes blending into each other, but like Quentin Tarantino you know you will be thoroughly entertained when watching one of his films so why mess with a good thing? Watching a Scorsese flick means seeing all of the cinematic influences he has picked up from Michael Anonioni, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Pier Paolo Passolini, and Roberto Rosellini and re-interpreting his guiding lights into an entertaining film. The man loves cinema and if you have read his New York Times op-ed piece about the film industry as a whole today, you know how passionate he is about film. Scorsese explains how Capitalism has pretty much wrecked an entire industry in the matter of a decade and the man is hardly wrong. Having reboots, sequels, and remakes dominate an entire industry makes audiences crave more original material to get out of the funk of seeing another interpretation of Spider Man’s origin story or another Avengers film with no substance or another dumb reboot of Ghostbusters.
Let’s be real though, Pesci makes this film magnificent despite him playing a supporting role for Robert DeNiro, who also pulls out a stellar performance. But if I am being honest, if Pesci wasn’t in this it would just be another well-shot mobster film by Martin Scorsese.
Music
Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
This was one of the first releases of 2019 and the fact that the year started with this album coming out of the gate I knew this would be a good year for music, even if this was the only good album of the year. Anyone who is a fan of Sharon Van Etten knows how her music has touched upon an abusive relationship she spent years trying to recover from, fully aware of the pain she felt. To get this little treat after 2014’s Are We There, Van Etten is now in a healthy and loving relationship, embarking on her newest role as a mother, finding success both personally and professionally, makes me want to shed a joyous tear for her. Van Etten went through hell and back, making it out the other side a stronger person—proof that life sucks but sometimes bares a sweet reward through all the awful shit you have to sift through first.
With the next chapter of her life starting, it seemed only appropriate for her to experiment with her sound. The album’s opening track “I Told You Everything” is the Sharon Van Etten we know and love—a little piano ballad that is honest, using the phrase “we knocked knees”, as she has used before in past songs, but as the album progresses we begin to hear a new sound. By the third track “Memorial Day”, this is something completely different. With synths, drones, and a sexy melody, this is the upgraded Sharon Van Etten that stays true to itself despite it being a new, intriguing sound. By the time “Comeback Kid” hits, Van Etten has eased us into the direction she’s headed to and no longer are the uncharted waters frightening but rather enticing. When we get to “Jupiter 4”, we are entrenched but the subject matter—falling in love and how it’s scarier than shit—steers the listener back to the classic Van Etten where you end up finding yourself in a puddle of tears due to the brutal honesty she conveys lyrically.
Van Etten has evolved so much over the years. To see how confident she has become in her musicianship, as well as her personhood, is a rarity but damn if it isn’t beautiful.
Amanda Palmer - There Will Be No Intermission
PREFACE: Yes, I am aware of the recent controversy regarding Amanda Palmer harassing a Guardian reporter that doesn’t seem to care for her or her music. It sucks, I side with the reporter because I have been privy about Palmer’s obsession with this one person for quite some time now due to being a Patron and it’s weird. It’s always been weird. I recently withdrew my Patreon contribution due to this and her firing her sound engineer, Chez Stock, because she addressed how Palmer shouldn’t use the n-word in one of her older songs and ended up getting canned for it. Stock’s severance is currently being withheld and Stock is looking down the barrel of a long journey as Palmer has now brought her legal team into the mix. Here is Chez Stock’s fundraiser to recoup her back pay, which is unfortunate she has to do.
Despite what your opinions may be on Amanda Palmer, whether they are good or bad, Palmer has managed to create one the best albums of her career. The title of the album, There Will Be No Intermission, is a bit of a joke since after each song there is a 1-2 minute instrumental as a brief intermission of sorts. You appreciate those breaks due to the heavy content of the album. Palmer dives through the last seven years of her life since her last album, Theatre is Evil, was released— the two miscarriages and abortion she had, her experiences as a first time mother, the death of her best friend, Anthony, when she was seven months pregnant with her son, and navigating life as a woman during the Trump administration. The album runs about an hour and twenty minutes (her live one-woman show was 4.5 hours). Palmer wants you to feel things, she wants to make you cry, and she accomplishes this with the very first track, “The Ride”, which is loosely influenced by the Bill Hicks bit about life being “Just a ride”.
This album is hard to listen to, I wouldn’t recommend listening to it at work or anywhere you find yourself in a public setting unless you’re completely okay with crying in front of people. This album hits a raw nerve for me. It makes me feel closer to my late mother. When you have parents, you think of them as parents. You forget the fact that they are human beings who happened to spawn you. They have thoughts, hopes, feelings, dreams and they also make mistakes and are human. My mother tried her best and when my mother was at her best, she was the warmest, most loving person who ever existed—I like to think I inherited that part from her but I might be giving myself too much credit. I like remembering those parts of her and this album makes me think about those parts. The memories I keep alive in my heart.
Palmer may be unhinged, tone deaf, privileged, and an outright narcissist. However she knows how to pick out those wounds that haven’t healed and never will heal to make you feel every emotion you have stuffed down to the depths of your soul, bring them out and force you to ugly cry. I may no longer follow her music as closely as I have been, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Palmer’s music.
Pile - Green and Gray
I was speaking with a very good friend of mine about how wonderful Green and Gray is. It definitely appeals to the older Millennials who have hit their 30’s, feeling the effects of getting older whilst starting to get the hang of this thing that is often referred to as Life. In your 20’s, Fridays are party days where you go out with friends to drink yourself into oblivion because your job sucks and you need something to forget about how truly awful it is. “My Employer” gets that once you hit 30, watching a movie at home is more ideal than a wild night out. The narrator is “aware of his age” but ultimately he’s settling into a comfortable spot where old habits die hard, less shit bothers you, where you value solitude over the constant need of being stimulated by human interaction.
The sound of the album is hard with softened edges—you still experience the heavy drone of the guitars, the punk rock screech interlaced with slower tempos, softer drum beats with light strums of the guitar. The maturity that comes from aging punk rockers who still enjoy a hard song but may have outgrown the absolute need to form a mosh pit. Of course you can still thrash out with songs such as “The Soft Hands of Stephen Miller”, “On a Bigger Screen”, “A Labyrinth With No Center” while enjoying the softer side of the album with tracks like “Firewood”, “Hair”, and “No Hands”.
The best track off of the entire album is “Hiding Places”—according to Spotify, it was my most listened track this year (There was a point in the summer where I just listened to the last three songs of the album on repeat). The significance of the song has changed for me—one of the last times I listened to this song was on a cold, November evening. I was experiencing a good buzz, navigating the streets of Pittsburgh with a person I adore, who skipped to the track specifically because he loved the song as much I did. The city lights, the crispness of the cold air, and the best company I kept in over a year is something I’m not quite sure I’ll get back again. Things in life are hardly perfect but this one evening, in this one moment, everything felt perfect.
Cherry Glazerr - Stuffed & Ready
I had no idea how old the lead singer of Cherry Glazerr, Clementine Greevy, was until a few months ago and it blew my mind that she has been around for nearly a decade and is barely legal to drink. When I listened closer to the lyrics off of the latest album, Stuffed & Ready, it put the music through a different lens for me. While Pile’s Green and Gray finds the groove of getting older and feeling more comfortable in your skin, Cherry Glazerr’s Stuffed & Ready is just barely embarking on that awkward journey. The topics of the songs illustrate a young woman pillaging through her 20’s, discovering the depths of her agency under a Trump administration where women are merely viewed as objects rather than people. Stuffed & Ready is their best record to date that deals more with the complexities of Greevy’s emotions and how she views herself. “Self Explained”, a song I relate to a little too much, discusses the aspects of solitude, being emotionally distant to prevent any feelings of pain or hurt. Greevy sees it as “weakness” singing, “I don’t want people to know how much time I spend alone”. “Isolation” runs along the same theme—the perils of being independent often times means being misunderstood.
The sound is really what makes the album come alive. Sparkly guitars, catchy hooks, and the occasional guttural howl from Greevy that shows her breaking her away from her standard soft, Pixie-like vocals (See “Stupid Fish”), provides the trajectory the band is heading towards.
Girlpool - What Chaos Is Imaginary
Powerplant was such a phenomenal album, I had to admit I was concerned about what their follow-up to it would be like. Would it still be great? Would I like it? The bigger question—would I get adjusted to Avery Tucker’s new voice (Tucker is trans non-binary and they’re currently taking testosterone)? One of the best parts of Girlpool was the vocal stylings between Harmony and Avery. To have a different sounding voice could change the entire dynamic and it did, but for the better. If anything, it feels as if the vocal pairing works better that gives the music an even more sultry feeling than their previous works.
What Chaos Is Imaginary is Girlpool hitting the next level in their music careers. The sound has matured, evolving as the twosome discover their instruments in new and innovative ways. The title track provides a vibrant sound that makes it feel as if you’re high in a church as Harmony Tividad angelically sings “I’ll take one ticket to Heaven/Dress up as the Holy Ghost”. Meanwhile “Minute In Your Mind” is the sexiest track on the album with Tucker hushly singing with their new, husky voice paired up with a drone-y sound that’s futuristic and intriguing. “All Blacked Out” and “Pretty” still provide glimpses of the sound Girlpool originally started out with, almost as a benchmark with how far they have come since their debut album.
Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
Initially when I listened to this album, I couldn’t get into it. I blame this on the fact that I decided to listen to this album during a busy work day. I couldn’t take the time to really absorb the string arrangements, the simplistic yet poetic lyrics, the beautifully haunting vocals. This isn’t something you can put in the background while working on a project. You need to turn off all the lights, remain stationary, and play this on your best sound system to truly experience the album Angel Olsen wants you to hear.
All Mirrors is the perfect album for a woman my age—early 30’s, gaining self confidence from the past mistakes made a decade prior, saying goodbye to the shit you reluctantly put up with out of fear that if you didn’t accomplish everything you were meant to before your 30th birthday, you were considered a failure. The desire to be liked by everyone as to not be portrayed as anything but amenable. Last year I had to say goodbye to some past friendships/relationships because they were toxic, inherently unhealthy. They were weights that were dragging me down, preventing me from moving on. I stuck with some of these relationships for so long because I was afraid of losing complacency. My friend told me “if you’re not getting what you want out of the relationship, then what are you losing?” To grapple a loss as grand as no longer talking to the same person you had been texting every day for three years is rough. I wasn’t sure I’d make it out the other end, but if anything I have newly discovered I have an inner strength that has been dormant for most of my life. Do I miss this person? Occasionally. Then I think about all the hell they put me through in those three years and realize this was the best decision I made for myself. Only good things have come out of putting myself first rather than worrying about how the person who had repeatedly hurt me would feel.
That is what All Mirrors is—reflection of your past mistakes and future decisions. Learning, growing, living your absolute best life because you no longer give a fuck about anyone else’s opinion but your own.
Sleater Kinney - The Center Won’t Hold
I’ve spoken to a few Sleater-Kinney fans who were slightly disappointed with the sound of this album—they miss the rough and tumble sound of the band and weren’t very fond of some of the experimentation (not to mention Janet Weiss was essentially ousted from the band due to the change in direction). I honestly thought this album was a refreshing departure from their usual faire. St. Vincent provides the more electronic influence she explored on her last album MASSEDUCTION to The Center Won’t Hold and it works. The hooks remain catchy, Carrie and Tucker’s vocal pairings still have the same bravado as Dig Me Out. Lyrically, it explores life in a post-Trump world. “Can I Go On” feels like an anti-Capitalist anthem about being disconnected, exhausted from the daily news cycle since Inauguration Day 2017, wondering if there is anything more to give or if we as a species are stuck in a perpetual cycle of being bought and paid for with nothing more to spare than our bodies. “Broken” is an ode to Christine Blasey Ford, the brave woman who spoke out against Brent Kavanaugh at the Supreme Court confirmation hearings, speaking out about her sexual assault.
I’m curious to see how Sleater-Kinney trudges forward after this album, especially with such a vital member as Weiss no longer as a drummer.
Dude York - Falling
I wasn’t too familiar with Dude York until my brother started talking about them. I decided to check out their latest release this past summer and questioned if the band took a page out of my diary and devoted an entire album to to my dumb thoughts and feelings. Aptly named, Falling courses through what it’s like to fall in love—the Honeymoon phase, the exciting yet frightening feelings that come with finding a person that you can’t imagine being away from, and of course, the heartache. It’s infectious indie pop with homages to the Ramones, The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” while keeping an interesting, fresh, hip sound. Despite some of the heavy content of the songs, the bouncy tunes such as “Longest Time”, “Box”, “I’m the 1 4 U” gets to the heart of the record, proving you can still dance while being heart broken and love lorn.
Television
PEN15
This show inspired me to write an essay about going through puberty as a teenage girl however I did not think the title of the essay through and how it would alter the Google search results driving new traffic to this site. Oh well. C’est la vie. Que sera, sera. Whatever.
PEN15 accurately depicts what it was like being an adolescent girl during the dawn of the new Millennium—butterfly hair clips, shiny lip gloss, body glitter while your body is morphing into lumps and humps riddled with body hair and new fluids coming out of orifices you didn’t think much about before. Many depictions of teenage girls in pop culture make it seem as if teenage girls don’t go through all the awkward, gross, weird stuff boys do. As if teenage girls have their shit together, which is far from the truth. It’s the phase in life where everyone experiences the magnificence of raging hormones, insecurity, where a minor slight is taken out of proportion and sand dunes become the sexiest thing on the planet. To have this come from a teenage girl’s perspective is remarkable. As a teenage girl, my friends and I would always talk about the gross things our bodies were doing or the weirdest, dirtiest thoughts that came to our minds in hushed voices, away from everyone else because it wasn’t socially acceptable to have these conversations out loud unless you had a penis.
I wish a show like this existed when I was in middle school. It would have made me feel less alone while making me laugh at the absolute ridiculousness of puberty.
Succession
Who would have thought a show about a depraved, greedy, obscenely selfish, super rich family would be one of the best shows on television right now? Especially in this economy? Under the Trump Administration? Wild.
But Succession is that show. Instead of trying to make these characters somewhat sympathetic or at the very least likable, the writers instead give you an honest visualization of how the rich are, which proves all of our preconceived notions that the obscenely rich are fucking awful. There are no redeeming characters on the show except for Cousin Greg, a young man who wasn’t raised by the corrupt patriarch, Logan Roy, but rather a humble upper middle class family. While Cousin Greg has now been brought into the fold, slowly gaining some of the power amassed by the Roy family, not having to worry about money so much anymore, he is becoming more corrupt as time goes on but every now and again there are glimmers of the humanity he still holds, continuing to be that “sweet boy” that may snap out of it once he realizes money cannot fulfill his every desire. While one of the themes of the show is being raised in corruption vs. being exposed to corruption is explained in a humorous fashion, it gets down to the nitty gritty that all money can do besides provide a sense of security, is turn a soul completely black.
Schitt’s Creek
On the other end of the spectrum is another show about a super rich, corrupt, greedy, selfish family who lost their fortune and are rebuilding in a town the patriarch of the family bought as a gag gift for his son for his bar mitzvah. Schitt’s Creek has been on the air since 2015, but is barely picking up traction as it’s about to air its final season. It’s hard to not like this show. Whether it’s Eugene Levy playing the ultimate straight man role, Catherine O’Hara providing a hilariously over-the-top performance of a has-been actress, Dan Levy bringing a neurotic, uptight artsy, self-centered son in a comedic fashion or Annie Murphy being a shallow, ditzy yet charming spoiled rich girl, everyone brings something to the table for the audience to gnaw on. Unlike Succession, Schitt’s Creek tries to make a super rich family likable but are only able to do this because they have been stripped of their wealth. Maybe people having way too much money is not a good thing. Maybe no one should ever be that rich. Maybe that’s what pop culture is telling us in a nuanced way.
Barry
My opinions on Bill Hader have changed drastically after watching this show. Hader is known for his comedic chops through his tenure at Saturday Night Live along with an assortment of comedic movie roles he’s taken over the years. While he has dipped his toes in the occasional dramedy, Barry is where he truly comes alive. Hader plays a hitman who is looking for a career change and like anyone who finds themselves in Los Angeles, he figures out acting is his calling. It’s up to his character, Barry, to truly leave his past behind him and face the demons toxic masculinity has made him suppress for so many years. Unfortunately his past keeps haunting him, which puts his future in jeopardy. It’s a premise with a lot of comedic fodder but manages to get dark in ways that are unexpected that brings out the best in Hader’s performance. With a cast of engaging supporting characters to round out the show (Stephen Root needs to be in more things), it makes for a show that will be discussed for years to come.
Watchmen
I am only on episode three right now so I can’t say much about it except it’ll probably be one of my top shows in 2019. This is just its placeholder.
Miscellaneous
“Hot Girl Summer”
It was the mantra of the Summer that started with Megan Thee Stallion creating a catchy hit about a “Hot Girl Summer” and boy did the girls run with it! From Dani at the ending of Midsommar to Angel Olsen marrying herself to my friends getting a lot of good dick, this was the Summer of the Hot Girl. I guess in my own way I also experienced my own Hot Girl Summer through self-discovery, gaining a self confidence I didn’t have a year ago. I’m not sure if it’s made me “hot” but let’s run with it and say it did for the sake of this entry. Girls doing shit for themselves, throwing any inhibitions to the wind, being confident in what they want, is truly Hot Girl Shit.
John Congleton
Producing three of the best albums of the year is not easy, yet John Congleton managed to do it with three female artists—Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, and Amanda Palmer. It must say something about Congleton if these women put their trust into one man who managed to churn out three beautiful albums that encapsulated the music scene as a whole for the year 2019—ABCD (Anyone But Cis Dudes).
Taken at The Virgil in Los Angeles, CA. 11.15.19. Photographed by me.
Street Fight Radio
This podcast has been around for eight years now, but I just barely started listening to it last year. As someone who doesn’t listen to podcasts, it says a lot that this is one of the very few podcasts I’ll make the time to listen to. I initially started listening because both the hosts mentioned their love of Deftones. I ended up staying for the Leftist discourse. Brett Payne and Bryan Quinby are two anarchists from Columbus, Ohio who like to talk about the glaring gaps between the rich and the working class while talking shit about cops. In between that, they are also trying to build a community that helps one another out to fix the mess we have invariably found ourselves in. Strangled by the death grips of Capitalism, Payne and Quinby are creating content to laugh at, a soundboard to vent grievances about workplace culture, and a refuge to make a better world possible.