Brainiac documentary, emo Machine Gun Kelly, new records from Marilyn Manson, The Menzingers and Bob Mould

It’s an all music episode of Mai Tai Happy Hour this week as we review a ton of interesting music and a rock documentary that I’ve been dying to check out since right before COVID started.

First up. Brainiac: Transmissions After Zero is now available on Amazon Prime and it tells the tale of a cutting-edge noise-punk band from Dayton, Ohio that was set to take over the musical world before tragedy struck. In just a few short years, they went from obscurity to the buzz bin to near legendary status.

Meanwhile, September was a huge month for new music, with a ton of albums running the gamut from punk to whatever Marylin Manson is. Machine Gun Kelly released his first non-hip hop record, “Tickets to my Downfall,” and it’s a surprisingly good emo punk album with homages to everyone from The Cure to My Bloody Valentine. I’ve been waiting for weeks to get Hambone’s thoughts on this one.

Bob Mould is back with a raw and ferocious new collection of songs titled “Blue Hearts.” Hear our thoughts on that, as well as the current state of protest music in light of the shit year we’re having.

Next up, The Menzingers dropped an album of reimagined songs off last year’s “Hello Exile” called “From Exile.” It’s an aptly titled bunch of acoustic and orchestrated tunes performed while in quarantine. I think we can all relate to the need for creativity and this is a perfect example of it.

Finally, the lord of darkness, Marilyn Manson, has returned with “We are Chaos.” Co-created with Shooter Jennings, this is a much more grown up Manson and possibly my favorite effort from him since “Mechanical Animals.” I wonder if Manson is having a blast in quarantine?