PRETTY VACANT
Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) was a natural choice to direct PISTOL, the Hulu series depicting the Sex Pistols' history. But even with a talented guy behind the camera, and misadventures straight from guitarist Steve Jones' autobiography, there's no way to inject the punk energy of the Pistols' music into six hours of storytelling, no matter how cool the clothes or loud the soundtrack. It's all entirely too glossy and pretty (duh, it's a TV show), but it's also just not very compelling — too bad given the band's story is super interesting! (See the excellent doc The Filth and The Fury). A better show is right there in Pistol, though. Future Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde (Sydney Chandler) is a major character through her romance with Jones and job at manager Malcom McLaren's clothing store — a show about an Ohio girl who ends up in London during punk rock's creation and eventually leads her own band to stardom is something I'd watch. (DAN NAILEN).
PRIMAL SCREEN
What is it about the woods of North Idaho that makes for intrepid survivalists? Find out watching Sandpoint's KARIE LEE KNOKE in season nine of the TV show, Alone, currently running on the History Channel. The survivalist series follows 10 contestants documenting their way through the remote Canadian wilderness with scant provisions. When Knoke is not teaching wilderness and primitive living skills or pursuing outdoor sports like snowboarding and backpacking, the 57-year-old former systems analyst consultant lives in an off-grid yurt where she practices wildcrafting, perfects her archery skills, and sews buckskin hides. If she outlasts her competitors, Knoke will be the second person with ties to Sandpoint to do so; in 2019, Jordan Jonas survived 77 days to win $500,000. (CARRIE SCOZZARO)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online July 8:
METRIC, FORMENTERA. The Torontonian indie synth-rock stalwarts still know the sweet spot between propulsive pop and rocking out, carried the whole time by Emily Haines' crystalline vocals.
NEIL YOUNG WITH CRAZY HORSE, TOAST. Originally slated for release in 2001, Young initially shelved Toast because it was "so sad that [he] couldn't put it out." C'mon, Neil! That was peak emo era!
AESPA, GIRLS. The rapidly rising K-pop girl quartet looks to parlay their catchy choruses into a chart-topping album with their sophomore EP. (SETH SOMMERFELD)
