Southern California has "June Gloom." Baseball has a "June Swoon." But here at King Penguin, we just keep rolling along. This week seemed like it was a lot about the anticipation of summer releases, and we probably could've done a Friday Five with just trailers. While we did pick a couple of our favorite teasers, we still managed to find some great pop tracks for your summer playlist, along with the debut of what will be one of the biggest shows on TV for the next couple months. Whatever kind of June you're having so far, take a minute to sit back, relax, and enjoy this weeks' Friday Five.
Bleachers - “Stop Making This Hurt”
In all of our excitement over Memorial Day Weekend and the start of summer, we missed a pretty great track from Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers, but this week we made up for lost time. Few things draw us in faster than a fun, upbeat piano (or synth) intro, so we were in on “Stop Making This Hurt” right away. The single matches a lot of Bleachers’ discography, and it’s just a really interesting pop song. There are horns, lots of percussion, and the signature sound of the vocals. Bleachers often uses the light, airy music to cover for deeper, darker themes, and “Stop Making This Hurt” is certainly no exception. Beyond just the music, the video accompanying the single is also very fun, and worth a watch. Just be forewarned, this song will get you moving, and like the characters in the video, you might not be able to help but take a dance break at your desk.
Road Runner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
Three years ago this week, the world was devastated by the passing of Anthony Bourdain. Now, we get to celebrate the much-anticipated release of Road Runner, the documentary about his life. It’s an intimate look at his career, as well as the motivations and inspirations that led to beloved work like Kitchen Confidential and Parts Unknown. The doc features a lot of narration from Bourdain himself, as well as interviews with friends and fellow chefs, and is sure to be an emotional affair as everyone gets to see a different side of the chef-turned-television host. Plus, just like with his show, it looks like we’ll get some pretty stunning footage from Bourdain’s travels around the world. Road Runner is actually premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend for those lucky enough to get a ticket, but for everyone else, we will just have to play the newly-released trailer on repeat until it hits theaters in July.
Loki
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is once again the buzz of the TV world, as its newest show Loki debuted on Disney+ this week. Tom Hiddleston gets his turn in the spotlight after a supporting role in other MCU movies, and instead of playing opposite Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, he gets to trade barbs with another movie star: Owen Wilson. The Wedding Crashers (among others) star makes his Marvel debut as what can simply be described as a “time cop,” who is responsible for preventing the world from going off the rails. The show features elements of crime thrillers, sci-fi dramas, and buddy cop comedies, along with some pretty awesome action set pieces. Despite all the time travel, it might be the most fun series from Marvel so far, both for the die hard fans and casual viewers. The cast is great, the plot seems pretty interesting, and if nothing else, hopefully we all get to hear Owen Wilson say “wow” on our TV screens once again.
John Mayer - “Last Train Home”
Sometimes, all you need for a summer day is some good, old-fashioned pop music. And last week, John Mayer delivered a song that, based on the reaction online, we’ll probably be hearing a lot this summer. “Last Train Home” has a little bit of everything. The first, booming intro notes feel very reminiscent of Toto’s “Africa,” or other, similar 80s pop-rock. The percussion gives off a sort of tropical, beachy vibe, and wouldn’t be out of place on the Tarzan soundtrack, which is high praise. There’s also the signature sound of Mayer riffing on the guitar throughout, as well as his incredibly distinctive singing voice, which gets some help from Maren Morris towards the end of the track. It is a very familiar formula from Mayer, but there’s a reason he’s been so successful: It works. Last Train Home was released as an EP, featuring the title track, as well as some of Mayer’s singles from the last few years, which fit together pretty well. It’s just 14 minutes of John Mayer that you can leave on repeat as you power through until 5 o’clock on Friday.
I Think You Should Leave Season 2 Announcement
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson caught a lot of people by surprise with its stellar first season. This week, Robinson once again delighted audiences with the official announcement of the release of Season 2, scheduled for July 6th. A simple trailer wouldn’t have done the show justice, though. Instead Robinson, joined by collaborator Sam Richardson and musician Phredley Brown, performed a medley of songs inspired by popular sketches from the first season of the show. For those familiar with the show, the first notes of “Friday Night” can immediately brighten up your week. And for those that haven’t watched yet, you’ve got a month to catch up on the sketch comedy show that has delivered a huge chunk of the internet’s most popular memes. Robinson excels at weird, niche sketch comedy, and though his run at Saturday Night Live was short-lived, Netflix thankfully gave us a second season of I Think You Should Leave. If you’ve gone through all of Season One, we also recommend you check out Tim Robinson’s episode of Characters, which is basically just an extra episode of the show. If you’re looking for laughs this weekend, Robinson & Co. have you covered.
