Nightswimming #21: 10/31/24-11/07/24
Writing about music before it becomes illegal
Editor’s Note: “Where do we go? Where do we go now?” - Axl Rose
On Tuesday, America re-elected Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States. He defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.
It wasn’t particularly close.
As a former political communication student and Democratic campaign employee, I will fight the urge to make this a post-mortem on the Harris Campaign. If you’re a close friend, we’ve already spoken for hours about what went wrong (refusing to budge on Gaza, running to the Right of Trump on immigration, bringing 21st Century Kissinger Dick Cheney on board, having a generally weak and vague platform, and the Joe Biden Of It All. AMONG other things.)
What I think is essential here (and sorry if you already got Draft 1 of this on Instagram) is understanding that Donald Trump won the popular vote as well as the electoral vote. This is not going away. He might, but the sentiments will not. Certainly a significant portion of his supporters are vile, racist, vindictive white supremacists who want to round up and deport (or worse) anyone who isn’t like them. And he has given them the permission to feel that way openly.
But it just is not all of them. It just is not possible that 30-40% of the country is made up of vile racists. Many of the people who voted for Donald Trump voted based on the conditions of their material reality. Americans are struggling. A grocery trip is more expensive than ever. Every consumer product costs more and is worse or smaller. Even my affluent white suburban friends are getting drained every month by daycare costs. I, like many Americans, live comfortably but am one disaster away from complete financial ruin.
This is not at all a defense of a Trump vote. Many folks just are not educated or informed enough to realize that voting for the Rich Boy King with Golden Hair Woven by Rumplestiltskin does not translate to a better economy. Whether they should know better or not (they should), whether he’s lying or not (he is), this election was living proof that the Democratic Party has abdicated all good governance. Running a campaign on brat vibez and vocabulary scolding does not resonate with Americans.
2016 felt like a fluke. A historically unlikeable Democratic candidate + a charismatic Republican candidate doing effective populism + a desire from racists to push the pendulum back against a country that had the audacity to elect a black man twice. It hurt and was scary, but it felt like the nation was maybe caught off guard. And it sucked for 4 years, but it seemed that we left it behind and were on our way to snuffing The Rooster for good. And we didn’t.
If you’re still with me, Jah bless and keep you. I’m getting to the point, which is this: I am going to use my privilege as a straight white dude to protect you as best as I can. This hurts my trans friends and my gay friends and anyone I know who is a woman or not white in ways that I will never experience. So you always have a friend and a support in me. But this is going to hurt everyone in major ways. Deregulating the food and drug industries, removing guardrails on almost everything, strengthening the Draconian Death Council that is SCOTUS, and rolling back decades of climate change measures are bad for everyone, regardless of what you look like. Everyone’s electric meat sack gets sick from unregulated Oreo cookies. Oh and, by the way, the expensive eggs and milk and gas that everyone voted about? Those don’t get any cheaper under Donald Trump.
So we must move forward. We must stay vigilant and suffer no fools. We must build and integrate into our communities in ways that feel both uncomfortable and scary. Contribute to mutual aids. Volunteer. Help people. Make yourself available. Learn a trade. Start a garden. Arm the homeless. Arm yourself. Fall in love. Get pissed, but put it somewhere. No one is coming to save us but us.
And when you interact with a Donald Trump voter (and you WILL. These are not just our weird uncles and the kid who sat behind us in chemistry. It’s your mailman, your Target cashier, your coworker, the firefighter who saves your cat, and the woman who is stern with you at the DMV.) radicalize those people. They are already clearly susceptible to populism, they just fell for the lie of a Capitalist who is faking it. Do not cut these people off, cut them in to what we are building. The Trump voter is paying the same high rent and grocery tab that we are. Some of them are too racist to be helped. But a lot of them are poor and scared and saw something on Facebook that made them mad.
Lean into humanity, make no apologies, and become the hero you’re waiting for.
SHEESH. Alright, sorry. Here are 3 albums that came out last Friday that I liked and think you will like too.
I do not have the mental bandwidth to write quite what I want about them, so I have given you a blurb and you just gotta trust me. Thank you for Nightswimming.
Rusty Grand Am - Proper Youth (Barely Sparrow)
Dreamy upbeat 80’s vibes. Some jangle pop, some dark Smiths/Joy Division guitar. Spacey saxophone and a whole load of pedal steel. Swingy Springsteen I’m On Fire beats in a big, swirly dreampop soundscape. Mac DeMarco meets R.E.M. but everyone is less sad. Bright and airy, infinitely relistenable on a front porch or a moonlit drive.
Highlights: God in a Microscope, Out to the City
how we dig in the earth - A Place for Owls (Broom of Destruction Records)
Big, melodic emo alternative sounds couched with warm and beautiful acoustic moments. FULL of hope! Bright vocals and comforting harmonies. Upbeat and amplified enough to fit the emo/alt punk bill, but only in the uplifting and fun ways. Pick any track and put it in the climax of a coming-of-age film. Spiritual and sonic progeny of American Football’s eponymous debut album.
Highlights: broken open seed, desmond hume
Our Time in the Sun - Jeremie Albino (Easy Eye Sound)
Leon Bridges/Durand Jones soul and R&B. Tight drums, clean slinky guitars, and big Hammond organ sounds with a sultry and strong Soul voice from the man himself. Goes a bit Americana with some dobro and pedal steel at times.
These type of throwback Soul albums are abundant in the wake of Leon Bridges’s success, but I always listen to and enjoy them. Not breaking any new ground, but a throughly enjoyable album for slow dancing in the kitchen after you and your honey finish the dishes.