| Lasers and Feelings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 9, 2013 | |||
| Genre | Nerd-folk | |||
| Length | 33:07 | |||
| Producer | Stephen Webber, Laser Malena-Webber & Aubrey Turner | |||
| The Doubleclicks chronology | ||||
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Lasers and Feelings is the second album from the nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks, released on July 9, 2013. The album debuted at #7 on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart for the week ending July 27, 2013.
"Nothing to Prove", a response to the misogynistic "fake geek girl" concept within geek culture, is the most important of the tracks on the album. [1] [2]
"Lasers and Feelings", "The Mystery's Gone" and "Oh, Mr. Darcy" are about relationships. "Lasers and Feelings" is a love song to a supervillain with a "ska-style upbeat rhythm that underpins a clever lyrical turn" [1] "The Mystery's Gone", a "jazzy rock number", [1] is about a Twitter romance that came to a disappointing end when the couple meet in real life. "Oh, Mr. Darcy" is from the duo's earlier Chainmail and Cello album, covering mixed feelings about Colin Firth in the 1980 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and a bad relationship in Laser's past. "Can't You See The World Is Ending" shares the themes of procrastination with "Something Else" and bad relationships with "Oh, Mr. Darcy".
Aubrey sings on "Something Else" and "Christmas Ain't About Me." She is described as a "post-modern chanteuse" on the former, while the latter is an "easy-to-swallow tango form". [1] (The latter is a reworking of the title song of the EP of the same name, with an entirely different tune.)
"The Guy Who Yelled Freebird" is a comedic song about "rock's oldest joke" of requesting Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" regardless of performer or style. [3] "Rock Star Life", a "intoxicating blend of Dixieland and country-rock", [1] is similarly referencing life in a band; in this case the hardships of touring.
"Impostor" is a new version of a Song Fu entry from January 2012. The song is a "positively haunting" [1] tribute to NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and the topic of self-esteem issues, which will "ruin your day. Or to speed up the invention of a method to send hugs through intrastellar radio wave transmissions." [4]
Lasers and Feelings debuted at #7 on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart for the week ending July 27, 2013. [5] When questioned about the category in an interview with Wired , Laser said "We don’t really write for a genre in mind, but I think Lasers and Feelings probably got classified as comedy because there are several songs on there that really are straight-up comedy ('The Guy Who Yelled Freebird,' for example)." [6]
"Z" of GeekDad said that Lasers and Feelings "pushes the envelope regarding what geek music can and should be". [1] Expanding on this, in light of the increasingly mainstream nature of geek culture, this album is "indicative of a shifting paradigm within the geek music meta-community that runs simultaneously complementary and counter to the integration of nerdier fare into the broader entertainment world." [1] Being able to appeal to both "hardcore" and "casual" fans allows The Doubleclicks, and similar bands, the freedom to write songs that cover general personal issues, geeky subjects, and geek culture itself. [1]
Along with the importance of "Nothing To Prove", "standout track" of the album, Erik Henriksen of The Portland Mercury highlights the songs "Can't You See The World Is Ending" and "The Mystery's Gone" some of The Doubleclicks' best work. [2]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Lasers and Feelings" | 3:02 |
| 2. | "Can't You See The World Is Ending" | 3:04 |
| 3. | "The Guy Who Yelled Freebird" | 3:45 |
| 4. | "Something Else" | 3:14 |
| 5. | "The Mystery's Gone" | 2:33 |
| 6. | "Nothing to Prove" | 3:53 |
| 7. | "Impostor" | 4:24 |
| 8. | "Rock Star Life" | 2:48 |
| 9. | "Christmas Ain't About Me" | 2:47 |
| 10. | "Oh, Mr. Darcy" | 3:18 |
The lyrics and music for the album were written by Laser Malena-Webber and Aubrey Turner, with the exception of "Something Else" and "The Mystery's Gone". The former was written by Aubrey and the latter by Laser. Their father, Stephen Webber, contributed to the music of both. He also performed additional accompaniment for some songs on guitars, mandolin, piano, synth, banjo, percussion and bass. Their mother, Susan Webber, was on bass for "The Guy Who Yelled Freebird".
Additional performances were by provided by Jordan Rose on drums and Billy Novick on saxophone (alto, tenor and baritone and clarinet. Rodrigo Malvido provided on percussion "Christmas Ain't About Me". Nick Zielger was on bass clarinet for "Rock Star Life". Justin Schornstein was on bass for "Lasers and Feelings" and "Can't You See The World Is Ending".
Jonathan Wyner mastered the album. Engineering was done by Stephen Webber, Aubrey Turner and Ian Kagey. The album was edited by Stephen Webber, Aubrey Turner, Max Schad and Nick Ziegler. Mixing was done by Stephen Webber, Aubrey Turner and (on tracks 6–8) Ian Kagey.
Nerf Herder is an American rock band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 1994 by Parry Gripp, Charlie Dennis (bass) and Steve Sherlock (drums). They describe themselves as a "geek rock" band, and are known for simplistic modern punk-style songs with frequently humorous, juvenile, and pop-culture-referencing lyrics. They are the inventors of the “nerdcore” music sub-genre, a reference to bands from Oxnard who called themselves “Nard”-core, which Gripp updated in the mid-90s to explain Nerf Herder and their nerdy influences.
I Love the '80s Strikes Back is a miniseries and the third installment of the I Love the... series on VH1 in which various music and TV personalities reminisce about 1980s popular culture in a mostly humorous manner. The series premiered on October 20, 2003, and is a sequel to I Love the '80s.
Ronald Wayne Van Zant was an American musician, known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of two other rock vocalists: current Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant and Donnie Van Zant, the founder and vocalist of 38 Special. He was the father of Tammy Van Zant and Melody Van Zant.
"Free Bird", or "Freebird", is a power ballad written and performed by American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The song first featured on the band's debut album in 1973 and has been included on subsequent albums, including the unfaded-ending version of the original recording.
Something Else or Somethin' Else may refer to:
Lynyrd Skynyrd is the debut album from American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in 1973. Several of the album's songs remain among the band's most well-known: "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", "Tuesday's Gone" and "Free Bird", the last of which launched the band to national stardom.
Jonathan Coulton, often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Code Monkey", "Re: Your Brains", "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone". He has been the house musician for NPR weekly puzzle quiz show Ask Me Another since 2012.
Sci-Fried is an Independent music geek rock band from Orlando, Florida that performs original and parody songs with lyrics mostly about pop culture, science fiction, video games and comic books.
The Doubleclicks are a nerd-folk musical duo based in Portland, Oregon, consisting of siblings Laser Malena-Webber and Aubrey Turner. They first became known for performing nerd-friendly comedy music, including songs about Dungeons & Dragons, dinosaurs, and other geeky themes. While their later songs retain those elements, there has been a stronger focus on feminist and other social issues, and more personal themes.
Hello, The Future! is the name of a nerd-folk band.
Joseph Scrimshaw is an American comedian and writer for radio, television and theater, whom City Pages, a Twin Cities newspaper, describes as having an "irreverent and insightful wit." He is the author of a book of comic essays called Comedy of Doom and hosts a monthly podcast called Obsessed with Joseph Scrimshaw, where he and his guests discuss their obsessions. He performs across the country in a variety of venues, including comedy festivals like San Francisco's SketchFest and science fiction conventions such as Dragon Con and CONvergence, and his plays have been performed internationally. He has collaborated with performer Bill Corbett on a number of plays and written for RiffTrax, Corbett's joint comedy venture with Kevin Murphy and Michael J. Nelson. Scrimshaw has toured with musicians Molly Lewis and the Doubleclicks, and performed live for musician Jonathan Coulton's JoCo Cruise and the geek vaudeville w00tstock. Scrimshaw has been involved with writing and performing for American Public Media's radio variety show Wits, writing sketches and appearing as the character Theater Ghost. He has also written for the national sketch comedy television show M@dAbout.
Geek rock is a musical subgenre derived from alternative rock within the nerd music group. It is a sister-genre to the chiptune-influenced rock subgenre nintendocore and related to other branches of nerd music such as hip hop's nerdcore and contemporary folk's nerd-folk. Geek rock is characterised by the standard instruments of rock music often combined with electronic and unusual instruments; references to geek culture and specialised, yet often mundane, interests; and an element of humour. Specific subgenres of geek rock range from those related to elements of geek culture, such as the Harry Potter-based wizard rock, and those related to elements of rock music, such as the punk rock variant called nerd punk.
Nerd music is the overall category of music collecting the musical genres that grew from nerd culture; different styles that share the same common ground. The earliest example was filk music, from the 1950s onwards, played by fans at science fiction conventions. Towards the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, other styles of music developed. Factors that made this possible were the increasing affordability of equipment, the growth of the internet and the increase in the nerd/geek demographic.
Nerd-folk is a musical genre derived from filking that features humorous original songs involving geeky topics performed in a folk style. Angela and Aubrey Webber of The Doubleclicks credit Marian Call and others with creating the genre. The genre is related to filking and other nerd music genres nerdcore and geek rock.
Chainmail and Cello is the debut album of nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks as The Doubleclicks. It was released on 30 April 2012. An earlier demo album, called Beta Testing 1-2-3 (2010) was recorded under the more-generic band name "Angela and Aubrey Webber Version 1.0".
"Nothing to Prove" is a feminist nerd-folk song by The Doubleclicks released on their second album Lasers and Feelings. It is a response to the misogynist concept of the "fake geek girl" and the subsequent bullying and gatekeeping prevalent within the geek community. The Doubleclicks released a crowd-sourced music video, featuring segments filmed by women within the geek community, that went viral and received over a million views.
Rock Comic Con is a touring nerd music festival created by Jon Price, Jeff LaGreca and Jeff LaGreca, all members of the band H2Awesome!, in 2010. It was originally held to complement that year's New York Comic Con but has been held along with Denver Comic Con and billed as its "official after-party". Proceeds from Rock Comic Con 1 went to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Thundering Asteroids! is a four-person, female-fronted nerd punk band from Portland, Oregon. It was formed in 2009, released an EP in 2011 and studio albums in 2012 and 2014. As befits their genre, their music is often inspired by geek pop culture, the band is named after a Robotech exclamation and each member uses a stage name based on the Star Wars expanded universe.
President Snakes is the fourth album from the nerd-folk duo The Doubleclicks, released on August 11, 2015. The album was funded via Kickstarter with a goal of $30,000. The goal was achieved within the first few days of the campaign's launch. It exceeded this and raised $55,535, on June 2, 2015.
{{Infobox musical artist | name =Lucia Fasano | image = | background =group_or_band | alias = | origin =Los Angeles, California, United States | occupation =Singer-songwriter, comedian, musician, writer, actress, YouTuber | genre =Folk, Indie, Singer-Songwriter, Comedy | instrument =mandolin, ukulele | years_active =1999–present | label = | associated_acts =The Doubleclicks, Sammus, The Thermals | website =luciafasano
