Friday Coda: Meredith Graves, Minutemen, U2, #Fugazi1888 and more

Amid the volume of musical frequencies and written online responses to said frequencies this week, a few stood out. Among them: an analysis of the Minutemen’s “Double Nickels on the Dime”; a punk singer’s remarkable essay; a tip on a fantastic, unheralded Netflix-available doc on Branson, Mo.; more reaction to the U2/Apple thing.

Bonus: If you read to the end, a new career may await you.

-- Meredith Graves is the singer of a New York punk band called Perfect Pussy. She has also written a remarkable essay on gender politics, identity and popular music, one that she recently delivered at the Basilica Soundscape festival in Hudson, N.Y. The music site the Talkhouse republished it this week, and it’s an essential read.

At one point she compares Andrew W.K. and Lana Del Rey, and the ways in which each is scrutinized and accepted by the public.

After exploring Andrew W.K’s back story, Graves concludes: “The entire thing was a cleverly planned piece of living theater that was meant to seem very real, but the ruse had gotten too large and complicated to maintain. He wasn’t even the first person cast in the ‘role’ of Andrew W.K. But unlike Lana Del Rey, he is granted not only leeway, but an entirely new cultural importance.” Read it at the Talkhouse.

-- Want to read a long essay on San Pedro’s greatest musical export, the Minutemen, and their 1984 double album “Double Nickels on the Dime”? Writer Lance Davis submits that it’s the best Los Angeles album ever made -- and makes a valid argument. Read the extended love letter “I Stand for Language, I Speak for Truth, I Shout for History” at Adios Lounge.

-- John Darnielle is known in the Pop & Hiss realm for his band the Mountain Goats. A remarkable lyricist in that capacity, he’s also written music criticism and, more recently, fiction. If you’ve read any of it, you know the man can translate thoughts into words as well as anyone.

This week Darnielle crossed over. His debut novel, “Wolf in White Van,” was published, along with the full NPR treatment. He was featured on Weekend Edition and a few days later he sat down for “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross (and talked about Claremont High). Then news broke that “Wolf” had landed on the fiction long list for the National Book Award. Not a bad week, one well earned. Read an excerpt at iO9.

-- The New Yorker examines the notion of U2, an Irish band of some regard, as heard through the filter of Christianity. “Most people think of U2 as a wildly popular rock band,” writes Joshua Rothman in “The Church of U2.” “Actually, they’re a wildly popular, semi-secretly Christian rock band.” Read it at the New Yorker.

-- Random tip: Looking for a music doc on Netflix to watch? Try “We Always Lie to Strangers,” which came out last year. It explores the wild, weird world of Branson, Mo., through the lives of performers who earn their livings there. Directed by A.J. Schnack, best known to Nirvana and/or Michael Azerrad fans for his loving Kurt Cobain meditation, “Kurt Cobain: About a Son,” “Strangers” captures a uniquely American music scene. “We Always Lie to Strangers.”

-- “Never let the lyric get in the way of the groove.” NPR celebrates the remarkable achievement that is Earth, Wind & Fire‘s “September.”

-- This week Spin attempted to honor DC punk band Fugazi’s early work. Unfortunately, it was a century off when the site inadvertently dated the recordings as being from 1888. Ah, Victorian-era Fugazi. The result was a #Fugazi1888 meme, one that Spin’s Chris Martins playfully acknowledged in a follow-up post called “Our Typo Could Be Your Meme.”

-- Looking for a job? Can you roll a blunt? Quick, get off the couch and get Waka Flocka Flame on the phone. The Atlanta rapper’s offering $50 grand a year for a full-time blunt roller. Apparently Seth Rogen has applied. Waka later tweeted that “All resumes should be submitted on a rolling paper or blunts.” Tip: if you’re that good, make sure to negotiate for 401K and benefits. Details (such as they are).

Follow Randall Roberts’ li’l edits on Twitter: @liledit