Poet Laureate of New Jersey: Bruce Springsteen vs. Bon Jovi

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Men Without Hats, "Pop Goes The World"

This was another song that was bandied around as a possible launch song.

Actually, I think I was the sole bandier.

This song doesn't really have much to do with the theme of this site. But like the other two, it does have the word "Pop" in the title.

This song was so much cooler than "The Safety Dance." But to be fair, "The Safety Dance" did have that whole Renaissance Fair On Drugs thing going on in the video. All this one has is a bunch of bubbles, a baby, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

New Hole Song Available For Free Download

Hole's highly anticipated new album (though I could be the only one), Nobody's Daughter, will be released on April 27th. To promote the album, they have released a new song, "Samantha," that can be downloaded for free only at Stereogum. While it's not as good as "Skinny Little Bitch," the song they released at the beginning of the month, it's still a great song and definitely worth the price of admission.

So what are you waiting for? "Samantha" kicks ass! And it's free! Off with you!

Hot Tub Time Machine

This weekend a few of us hit the movies to check out the film with the greatest movie title since Snakes on a Plane - Hot Tub Time Machine.

Love him or hate him, the recent reign of Judd Apatow has ushered in a new age of R-rated raunchy bro buddy comedies, and Hot Tub Time Machine is no exception. The premise is simple: three guys who were high school pals - John Cusack (Say Anything, Grosse Pointe Blank), Craig Robinson (The Office, Pineapple Express) and Rob Corddry (The Daily Show, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay) reunite and take Cusack's nephew, played by Clark Duke, for a weekend trip back to a ski resort where they partied in the 1980s. Wacky hijinks ensue and, long story short, the hot tub transports them back to 1986 in which they have to decide how to re-live their weekend. Since Clark Duke wasn't born they have to be careful to do things right to make sure he will exist at the end of it all.

M, "Pop Muzik"

This was the song that was supposed to launch Culture Brats until Prince's "Pop Life" kicked in the door, bloodied its nose, and taunted it with "Game, blouses."

We felt this song was a perfect fit for the site because, well, it's about pop music and a good portion of our site would be about pop music.

Better Album: Thriller vs. Purple Rain

Hello and welcome to our first installment of Criss Cross Counter Punch. Today, Archphoenix and Chag debate which was the better album: Thriller or Purple Rain.

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Archphoenix: Don't get me wrong, I love me some Prince, especially Purple Rain. His purple funkness is quite a talented musician. But Thriller remains, for me anyway, the best pop album, pretty much ever.

Thriller is the best selling album of all time. Seven of the album's nine songs were released as singles and all seven songs hit Billboard's top ten list. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy awards. I know, I know, just because it sells doesn't mean it's necessarily good (i.e. Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Nickleback, etc.). But in this case, the fact that it still sells ridiculously well 25 years later is a testament to the longevity of the album.

Set Your DVRs: Week of March 29, 2010

Here are the musical acts appearing on the talk show circuit this week. We compiled this list to the best of our abilities. Check your local listings and don't shoot the messenger.
 
Monday, March 29th
Last Call with Carson Daly: Fanfarlo (R)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Julian Casablancas
Late Show with David Letterman: Usher
Lopez Tonight: Foreigner
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Joss Stone
 

Prince, "Pop Life"

Since a majority of this site will be about music and this will be a daily column, I felt things needed to start off with a BANG. I wanted a song that fit what we had planned for the site.

The song below wasn't our first choice. Hell, it wasn't even the second or third.

We had a song picked out to kick off Culture Brats, a song that was a great fit for the site, but I still wasn't completely sold on it. So I asked my wife to think of a song we could use.