I’m behind on my recommendations. Sorry, September Mayhem, you know the drill… Since it’s still back to school season, I’m feeling like revisiting some high-school “misfits” feelings, and luckily, Life Tears (the strange) by Razorhouse is just perfect for that. It’s not very subtle, but it sure is effective.

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Whither and moan
Breathing’s a risky business
Tear at your bones
This year there is no Christmas
Forfeit the loan
Burn down the family business
Out on your own
Life is some shitty business

If you’ve been reading this blog regularly (and god, I hope you do), you probably know what I like about this song: it mixes very bleak and straight-forward lyrics with a playful voice and melody. It’s very theatrical in its demonstration of despair, but you know there’s pleasure in the staging of the play.

I recommend the whole album honestly; it even has a (good) cover of Leonard Cohen’s song Nevermind. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, think of high school as a concept; think of the feeling of not fitting in; think of a time when you could have thought, in all seriousness, “Life tears the strange”.

This week, keep your writing to yourself, I’d like you to write a diary entry on real paper. Tell yourself a secret, tell yourself something you know very well, and write as if you’re still a teen. Try it; you might like it.