Sunshine times and streaming thoughts with Dark Thoughts.

There is no hidden meaning to this photo. It is just a random shot that's been sitting on my phone and I have had no idea where to use it, so here seemed as good a place as any.

I was at the gym the other day and out of podcasts, but far enough along in my workout that I didn't want to start listening to music since I knew I'd be in the mood for a full album without the time to give it the proper attention before it was time to go home. This was on a weekend. So I could've started listening to an album, but I'm weird and it just didn't seem like the right time. So instead I dug through one music writer's podcast I found via mailing list, and upon discovering the episodes ended with a discussion of "best of" 2017 records I reckoned said podcast was now largely defunct. But I also knew this particular writer considered themselves a rabble-rouser, so there was a good chance their focus on "best" music would either be darkly entertaining at worst and illuminating in the manner of introduction to bands unbeknownst to me at best.

As a whole, the podcast was both the best and worst at times.

This is all a long winded way of saying that the one act this discussion did introduce me to that was worth my time was Dark Thoughts. I can see from the internet that they are from "Philly" and they are "punk rock." Neither of those "facts" matter—the "punk" bit is not so much a fact as it is a weak genre assignment, though I'm assuming the "Philly" bit is—and I admit I have little interest learning of their motivations, belief systems, or even what they look like. They seem uninterested in all that as well, which is totally cool with me.

The album the podcast recommended was titled At Work, and I enjoyed it. It was fun. It is fun. And it is below and available to you for free, though I'm sure their little punk rock hearts would throw in a few extra pitter-pats were you to kick them a few bucks for the download. I'm actually surprised I've never heard of this band since their label compares them to Dear Landlord, and Kip loves that band so he must know about these cats as well. And he never told me about them? The nerve!

I've also included Dark Thoughts' latest single, which is also free, since it was released this month. It appears they are playing a release show for the 7" on November 1 at Boot And Saddle. Since they are from "Philly" I thought it would be safe to assume that Boot and Saddle is in Philadelphia, and a quick Google search proved that to be correct. If you live there, go to the show, and let me know how Dark Thoughts are live and in concert. Please, and thank you.

The 2017 album that started my interest in the first place!



The 2019 single that proves they are still an ongoing effort!



There is also a self-titled debut, but if you want that I'm going to ask you to please click through to their Bandcamp. What? Do you think I'm gonna hand you every single thing n a silver platter? C'mon, do a little work!