Director : Neil Jordan
With : Stephen Rea, Ian Hart, Sinéad O’Connor

I had enormously high hopes when I entered the theater to see the post “Interview With A Vampire” rebound from director Neil Jordan. I left mildly disappointed yet reasonably entertained. “The Butcher Boy” is the surreal tale of a bizarre Irish boy, Francie, played remarkably by newcomer Eamonn Owens. Born to a pathetic drunk (Stephan Rea) and a manic depressive mother, it is no surprise that Francie’s character turns out to be more than just your typical dysfunctional youth.

As he and his best mate, Joe, cause minor havoc throughout town’s streets, Francie becomes more and more obsessed with the perpetual harassment of a nerdy schoolmate and his nasty mother. His preoccupation elevates as his family situation becomes more and more dire, as some sort of irrational outlet for familial honor. In Francie, Neil Jordan has managed to create one of the most insane but bizarrely likable characters in recent history.
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Label: Sugar Free

I don’t really know much about these guys other than that they are from Chicago and got ex-Small Factory member Dave Auchenbach to produce the record. But that aside these guys spin some really nice gliding pop songs. Both vocally and instrumentally the band takes a nice post-shoegazing approach to rock music perfect little musical slices.

I didn’t read Gomez’s first novel about the indie rock band Bottlecap, but “Geniuses of Crack” (a book that I stumbled across on a table of new paperbacks while killing time before a movie) didn’t feel at all tied to any preexisting storyline. The novel tells the story of a small time indie rock band who gets signed to a Los Angeles record label and heads out to the west coast to record their debut album. While on the trip from the quiet suburbs of Virginia to the sunny streets of LA, the three members of Bottlecap engage on a spiritual journey of personal early 20s discovery.

After their initial weekend living in style at the Mondrian Hotel, the guys move into a temporary apartment while they record with the engineer and producer that have been selected for them. The actual making of the record becomes a more difficult task than Bottlecap could have imagined, given all the preoccupations that come with getting $10,000 signing bonuses and being in California for the first time on their way to becoming rock stars.
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