Hello [insert day in the future] from July 4th.
The most asterisk’d of holidays!
Sitting here plotting on homemade lobster rolls. Jetlagged after a week in London and Manchester, visiting family and gobbling up pop culture detritus the way I’m about to inhale Sebastian’s cousin.
When my wife and I were out in ‘24, the streets were Charli green. This year we watched her close out Glasto on hotel TV (it’s three-six-FIVE party girl, not three-six-FOUR) and despite any reports to the contrary, it was totally fine.
I like Rory’s take: “that’s a mum pour.”
Raise your glass in memory of Brat Summer, now and forever.
But this year?
This year’s for the lads.
Didn’t queue for Oasis reunion tickets because as a Music Industry Professional I go to things for free (and as a Nick I am profoundly uninterested in anything that is even a marginal hassle).
But now I kinda wish I did…
Damn if I don’t love these goofs.
Footage is in from the Cardiff opener before I could butter my brioche.
“Hello” into “Acquiesce”?!?
Biblical, etc.
MCR shows are coming up next, but I have even more FOMO for the full-on Madchester afters.
The Brothers Gallagher remain omnipresent in their hometown.
Wasn’t quick enough to grab a pic of Liam’s double decker “She’s Electric” bus (or Aldi’s “Aldeh” sign for that matter) but was loving these lil Taskrabbit puns posted everywhere.
Of course there was merch!
The band’s longtime graphic designers Microdot still have a gallery where you can cop vintage Definitely Maybe flyposters (grabbed a deadstock copy of Oasis: The Official Magazine on our last trip) but the real commerce was happening on two floors of an enormous “fan store” in the center of town.
Love that East Rutherford sits prominently on all garments.
It’s where I last saw the Brothers take the stage, at Keith Van Horn’s very own Continental Airlines Arena (he was busy hurting Toronto with Kerry Kittles that night).
Cornershop opened and tickets were TWENTY FIVE AMERICAN DOLLARS.
What a time…
Nothing too quirky or unexpected at the pop-up (aside from a co-branded set of reusable utensils, write your own joke about straws) but the racks on racks of collab capsules and exclusive tour vinyl were impressive for scale alone.
It was quite the activation.
And don’t get it twisted, all this is an activation. No matter how well executed (adidas’ “band with three stripes” campaign in particular) the entire Oasis ‘25 venture is as much an exercise in craven IP exploitation, weaponized nostalgia and too-big-to-fail-ness as the seventh (!!!) Jurassic Park movie.
That said: dinosaurs are sick.
And these guys made “Cigarettes And Alcohol.”
C’mon you know!
Boys Go To Jupiter trailer — always loved Julian Glander’s bizarro bubble worlds, looking forward to experiencing them in film form (while getting more stupider).
Mall Grab 2025 Edits — breakbeat “Johnny Dang” is a cure for many ailments.
The Tale Of Unclaimed Baggage — NY Mag profile of a lost luggage clearinghouse in Alabama finds beauty in the dig:
I’d always supposed the collector — or hoarder, as Wade’s wife and concerned friends may see him — to be a depressed, defeated sort of person, bobbing helplessly in the rising flood of their own clutter. But Wade’s vault was an expression of joy, a glee freezer that preserved his treasures from the banality of actually using them, shielded them from the anguish of loss by theft or sale, and suspended them in their exultant foundness, perpetually.
Vintage Mexican Bootleg Tees — these all go extra dummy but the Pantera Donald Duck boot on their IG makes my head explode.
The Nice Guys 4K Blu Ray — semi slept-on Shane Black banger gets a loving physical media reissue (and if that collection of words means anything to you, don’t sleep on his 2016 “from script to screen” hardcover).
Swangin On Roblox — did not know about the dedicated slab community within your nephew’s favorite gaming platform but I greatly appreciate its existence.
Benny The Butcher “Summer ‘25” — Jonathan Richman, Griselda official.
People R Ugly, “Better” — more WTF sample action, this time Youngbloodz’ “Damn!” on a neo-Warped Tour chugger. “RTs are not endorsements” but for what it is this kinda goes lol.
Flintstones Dancehall — bringing it back to dinos, I recently picked up an animation cel of the turntable pterodactyl from Hanna-Barbera’s “Rapping Barney” Fruity Pebbles commercial. Providing its new forever home gives me (Parklife voice) a sense of enormous well-being.
Playlists updated…