Banana Yoshimoto Is Good For You

When my mother took a nervous breakdown (her fourth in a week), she was prescribed a book by her GP. “Fuck reading the book,” she snarled. “I want Valium.” In theory, the NHS scheme of giving patients a list of books to make them feel better is a worthy thing to do. In practice, most…

Songs To Lose Your Wig Over #1: Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland by The B-52’s

Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland is the best B-52’s song that isn’t Rock Lobster or Channel Z. This is a fact that can’t be denied. Any denial should immediately result in a slow and painful deaf. Taken from Bouncing off the Satellites, the group’s darkest and most melancholic album, Girl From Ipanema is a…

Hall Of Fame: Bed by Juliana Hatfield

The truth is I listened to 'college rock' before I ever went to college. I'd already decided what life was going to be like based on some CDs and movies, all of which were from America. Britain was going through a post-Britpop hangover and for the most part, I favoured alternative American bands. I had…

Blood And Guts After High School: Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat II is still the best game in the franchise. I became a disciple of it back in the 90s...and I still love it today.

Jupe, Pete, and Bob: Remembering The Three Investigators

I look back at the heroes of my distant past: The Three Investigators!

The Best Of 2018

2018 has been a odd year for pop culture. I feel like we’re stuck in stasis, waiting for something exciting to happen. But can the underground really throw up anything truly transgressive when there are a thousand blogs (like this one) waiting to find The Next Big Thing and hurl it upwards long before it…

Tracking Down Tracks!

Tracks was a British teen fiction imprint from the 80s/90s. An entire generation grew up with these books. So what happened to them?