Everything in Transit (Jack's Mannequin)

So, I thought I was a Something Corporate fan. Turns out I'm an Andrew McMahon fan.

I've been waiting for Everything in Transit, the debut album from Jack's Mannequin, since I heard "Holiday From Real" on Andy Langer's Next Big Thing this summer.

I already had a Something Corporate's North (I really like "Break Myself" & "I Won't Make You") and Leaving Through The Window (which is actually my favorite of the two -- "Punk Rock Princess"; "I Woke Up In a Car"; "I Want To Save You" could be my personal anthem; I'm still singing "If You C Jordan" about certain high school folks; and then there's "Cavanaugh Park" and "Straw Dog" and ...).

And then I heard "Holiday From Real": "But if you left it up to me \ Everyday would be \ A holiday from real ..."

And then I got the album, and things like "Dark "Blue" ("Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you ...") and "Into the Airwaves" ("I'll send this message through the speakers \ They told me that you moved \ I'll cross this country on a frequency ...").

And McMahon was diagnosed with Acute Lymphatic Leukemia in June, and was treated through the summer, had a stem cell transplant from his sister, contracted a hospital-borne virus, is now on the painful mend, Everything in Transit still shipped -- and he blogged about the whole thing.

Check it out on www.jacksmannequin.blogs.com.

And you can listen to "The Mixed Tape", "Dark Blue", "Bruised", and "Miss Delaney" on the Jack's Mannequin myspace.com.

Distort Yourself (Institute)

I'm listening to Distort Yourself by the band Institute, and it'll probably take me a little more time to decide on it.

Overall, I like the vibe, but since I was expecting something different, and Gavin Rossdale's (Bush) guitar and vocals are so distinctive, I keep having American Werewolf in Paris flashbacks.

Though I really like ""Bullet Proof Skin" and "When Animals Attack", they feel the most Bush-like (<JuvenileSnicker/>). I half-wonder if these two tracks are currently so popular, because they remind people of Bush's old feel.

I am struck by several of the lyrics, like this earily prophetic line from "Boom Box":

"If tolerance is dead there'll be no rest for the living."

And by "Tolerance", I mean real tolerance, where people respect individual people's beliefs and ideals without abdicating their personal beliefs or common standards.

I don't mean the new tolerance, that embarrassment that is a call to accept everyone's beliefs and actions, no matter how inane or self- or corporately damaging, and is the song of the psuedo intelligentsia and pseudo bleeding hearts as they get in the way of true passion and heroism and conviction.

And by "Pseudo", I mean the Greek prefix of "false".

Plans (Death Cab for Cutie)

I'm listening to Plans from Death Cab for Cutie.

I've been liking Death Cab since getting a semi-regular helping of tracks as part of the monthly Official Xbox Magazine pack-in disc.