Chemical Spotting

[Bosco]

Looking back at my Juno order history it really is depressing to see how much the cost of 12"s has risen. 15 years ago you could get almost any single for under $15CAD 


Also of note, seems like the Chems label is capitalizing on the Apex hype and "released" this new "album" on Spotify "Go: Apex and Beyond" with an interesting mix of back catalog tracks

maybe that playlist on spotify is consisting of tracks of all which have shown up in "big" movies?

off the top of my head:

Go - 'Apex'
Block Rockin Beats - 'Charlie's Angels'
Galvanize - 'Sonic 3'
Hey Boy Hey Girl -
The State We're In - 'Lost in Translation'
Let Forever Be - 'EuroTrip'
Swoon -
Out of Control - 'The Beach'
Setting Sun - 'The Saint'
Where Do I Begin - 'Vanilla Sky'
Leave Home - 'Gone in 60 Seconds'
Star Guitar -

[ThePumisher]

Could be. But then - why not include Galaxy Bounce?

[Enjoyed]

why not include Galaxy Bounce?

This is a question that can be applied to many aspects of life, tbh.

[Bosco]

Could be. But then - why not include Galaxy Bounce?

Ran out of internets

[Explud]

Star Guitar -

xXx with Vin Diesel

Swoon -

Misfits

But then - why not include Galaxy Bounce?

My elastic eye from Buttefly Effect also..

[Ford]

Could be. But then - why not include Galaxy Bounce?

[Wolkenkrabber]

Reverse Chemical Spotting AKA an "ohhhhh!" moment for me.
I was watching the grand finale episode of The Boys (S5, E8) which wasn't as disappointing as I had been lead to believe(!). Around 15 minutes in, Marvin/Mothers Milk is wearing this T-shirt:
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The medieval font, the electrical/lightening bolts? Too much of a coincidence. I seem to recall when The Chems played Boardmasters festival a few years ago, Tom uploaded phone footage (on Insta?) from an outdoor Grandmaster Flash DJ set where he was clearly dancing along in the crowd. I wonder if Tom had this Tee back in the day?
Although I can't find any Grandmaster Flash releases with this font/artwork, if you google grandmaster flash t shirt medieval bolts you get plenty of results which suggest this is an old skool retro Tee.

I must admit, when CHEMICAL came out, I double and triple checked the artwork, as I wasn't sure that it was legit. It just looked so different from other Chems artwork, and I think it still does. I guess that's what happens when you borrow from someone else!



On the subject of merch, the Chems store currently has CHEMICAL tote bags (£15) and CHEMICAL Tees (size S only, £25) and CHEMICAL sweatshirts (£40).


In addition there seems to be a new white special edition Exit Planet Dust Tee (£30) as well as a new In Dust We Trust baseball cap (£25) which I think Tom wore on "Later...With Jools Holland" recently.
UK & Ireland peeps who want some cheaper merch may want to read on...

Spotted last week in Primark: officially licensed PTB 'retro' Tees for £12.
Spotted this week in the same shop: PTB bucket hats (reversible) for £8.00.
But are they any good? See under spoilers.
North Americans etc might like to know that Primark is a rough equivalent to Old Navy or maybe JC Penney. Primark started in Ireland in 1969 as Penneys and indeed it is still known as Penneys in Ireland. I have been astounded by the way they have attacked and dominated the fast fashion market in the UK over the past 15 years.

Spoiler

Here's the grey Tee. It's the only colour it comes in. These pics are NOT in black & white!
FRONT
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BACK
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I guess they're going for a retro 'distressed' look. I reckon it looks like they took some old white rugby jerseys, threw them down a coal mine, then retrieved them so that they could call the material 'recycled', didn't bother washing them, and then turned them into Tees. Zoom in on the collar if you can. I'm gonna sound like my mum here, but that just looks grubby!

TICKET
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Product made using a minimum of 50% cotton retrieved from the bottom of a mineshaft. (They are pure cotton, sort of jersey type material).
The price is good but why oh why did they have to go for this grey look? I'm sitting here wearing a crisp white Tee with a colourful Happy Mondays logo from last summer's Primark collection. They reduced it from £12 to £6 in the autumn (no-brainer bargain!). Maybe I'll be tempted if this gets reduced to £6 too. But why couldn't they do it in white and blue, or just about any other colour?...

This week's bucket hat spot:
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It's actually a different shade of grey from the Tee and it isn't 'distressed', so in fact the hat doesn't properly match the Tee! If the Tee had actually copied the cleaner look of the hat, it would be way better IMHO.

The reversible inside (yes that's black, not "We-Are-The-Night"-blue. Were they saving money on the colours?
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HANGER TICKET THINGY
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...the Chems label is capitalizing on the Apex hype and "released" this new "album" on Spotify "Go: Apex and Beyond"...

It was TikTok that started the whole Apex/Go meme wasn't it?
I watched this "Why Music SUCKS Now" video recently from uh, Snarky Jay. I knew that Spotify had influenced the length and structure of tracks, but I didn't realise the effect TikTok has now had on music. The section from about 3:00 to 10:00 is probably the most interesting.
At 5:10 "84% of the songs that hit the Billboard global top 200 in 2024 went viral on TikTok first".
At 8:26 "...a three second rule. Any video...basically has three seconds to catch your attention before you swipe up".

I first posted a Rolling Stone Instagram about this meme on 10th May. And when did the Chems post this new Apex & Beyond playlist? Early June. The Chems also posted about it on the front page of their website recently and on Instagram on 1st of June (should have used the same intro bit that's used in the memes surely?).

Spoiler

View this post on Instagram

They also uploaded the live Go visuals to YT (for the first time, I think!) on 29th of May, calling it a Visualizer. I must admit they look more impressive as part of the live show than as a 'video' to watch on my phone/PC, but it may nonetheless be of intertest to us Chems fans, even if it might not grab the TikTokers' attention.

Spoiler

Well if TikTokers have a 3 second attention span, then they've probably moved on by now. Surely someone at Universal could have jumped on this and had a new playlist/'album' up by the 15th of May? Is this a case of big lumbering label not moving fast enough to catch the online zeitgeist? Am I being too harsh? Should they be running radio or Spotify Go ads? Thoughts, people?

[Csar]

I was watching the grand finale episode of The Boys (S5, E8) which wasn't as disappointing as I had been lead to believe(!). Around 15 minutes in, Marvin/Mothers Milk is wearing this T-shirt:

How did I miss that??? Good spotting, Krabs!

The Boys (S5, E8) which wasn't as disappointing as I had been lead to believe(!).

Not THAT disappointing, but the season didn't feel like a true last season. More like a regular one. There were some odd choices made how it progressed and how stories were told, imo.

Spotted last week in Primark: officially licensed PTB 'retro' Tees for £12.

WTF? Primark? It's known around here as one of, if not THE cheapest fast-fashion brand you can go to. Never would I have imagined Chems branded clothes would be sold there..
Gray wouldn't be bad actually, but it looks not that great, especially that washed-out neck collar. The PTB print is on the back, I take it? Doesn't look sturdy enough, imo. But I like it for what it is.
Totally agree on the hat-shirt comparison. Hat looks much better. If only it was a base-cap one, though.
But I probably would have bought one of those anyways, just for the fun of having that Chems-Primark label

What a totally odd find this is.

They also uploaded the live Go visuals to YT (for the first time, I think!) on 29th of May, calling it a Visualizer. I must admit they look more impressive as part of the live show than as a 'video' to watch on my phone/PC, but it may nonetheless be of intertest to us Chems fans, even if it might not grab the TikTokers' attention.

The reason this "visualizer" may not feel as captivating as the live one is: It's missing the live sound effects and synchronisation!! They just use the regular single edit of GO mixed with the visual. For instance, those laser sounds that make those figures fall off the pillars are missing, which was the point in the first place.
But not to sound ungrateful, it's nice to have a clean video after all!

I watched this "Why Music SUCKS Now" video recently from uh, Snarky Jay. I knew that Spotify had influenced the length and structure of tracks, but I didn't realise the effect TikTok has now had on music. The section from about 3:00 to 10:00 is probably the most interesting.

Not that I disagree with her, I actually like here stance on the new music-algo creation these days. I just wonder whether that holds true for the formats she's comparing it to. Aren't those TikToks etc. videos created by so-called content creators who edit them and put in the musical bits of their choice? Or do young people really go to those platforms to actually listen to music/ songs? I thought more like music goes viral due to it being used in a clip and then folks go to streaming sites to find the song they heard.