{"id":1562,"date":"2017-02-13T16:37:08","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T21:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/?p=1562"},"modified":"2017-02-13T16:37:08","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T21:37:08","slug":"new-release-roundup-mortal-comedy-from-joe-derosa-chandler-traviss-strange-pop-beach-slangs-energetic-nostalgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/2017\/02\/13\/new-release-roundup-mortal-comedy-from-joe-derosa-chandler-traviss-strange-pop-beach-slangs-energetic-nostalgia\/","title":{"rendered":"New Release Roundup: Mortal Comedy from Joe DeRosa, Chandler Travis’s Strange Pop, Beach Slang’s Energetic Nostalgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMEDY <\/strong>
\n1. Joe DeRosa<\/a> \u2013 You Let Me Down<\/em>
\nThe funniest, most startling bit on Joe DeRosa\u2019s new album, You Let Me Down<\/em>, comes after he\u2019s already talked about how he doesn\u2019t care about the Olympics, thinks people who achieve anything or pieces of shit, and explained how to be a successful serial killer. He asks an audience member if he\u2019s scared of dying, and the man says no. DeRosa is surprised. In his 30s, he had the realization, \u201cWhat the fuck? You can just die?\u201d There is no strategy. No one is playing poker with death \u2013 they\u2019re playing bingo. No rhyme or reason. That\u2019s why, he says, the phrase \u201cyour number is up.\u201d It\u2019s a shock laugh in the best possible way. It\u2019s a simple, indisputable truth that is nonetheless maybe you weren\u2019t expecting to confront reduced to its essence \u2013 \u201cYou can just die.\u201d And then creep out your friends at the open-casket funeral nobody wants. DeRosa imagines he\u2019s not going to look great at his funeral. \u201cI live alone, which means they\u2019re not gonna find me for a while.\u201d He hopes a friend and a stranger find his body, just for the awkward moment when the friend has to explain that, no, Joe\u2019s pretty much always looked like that. <\/p>\n

There are a bunch of funny, enlightening moments on this album, amongst some just plain angry litanies. He starts off the album bemoaning the fact that we can\u2019t just punch people in the face when we feel like it anymore. The Olympics? Fake sports. \u201cPeople throwing shit,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t care.\u201d And if you have the drive to achieve, it probably makes you an insufferable person. \u201cNever try to achieve ever,\u201d he says. \u201cIt makes you a bad person.\u201d His proof? Would you ever want to hang out with the person who owns your office? The curmudgeonly anger can be amusing, but DeRosa is at his best when he is the most personal. He\u2019s an enthusiastic supporter of therapy and Prozac. They are signs you\u2019re working on yourself and trying to be a better person. \u201cThat stigma is bullshit that they get,\u201d he says, \u201cit\u2019s good for you.\u201d He admits that he\u2019s not the most congenial guy you\u2019ll meet now, but he used to be miserable. That changed when Prozac made him not only realize that he was an asshole, but also gave him the insight to realize, that\u2019s fine. That\u2019s who he really is, so screw those other people. No apologies. No more anxiety. Those are the moments that make DeRosa more than just an angry comic. <\/p>\n