35 Years of Talking Heads’ ‘Remain in Light’: “They tightened up. They got funky. They set up shop in Nassau. They surrounded Remain in Light‘s eight songs with a worldly blend of global pop, post-punk, American R&B and artsy experimentalism augmented by a handful of session players on horns and percussion. And they played around with loops and samples, still mostly unheard of at the time, which gave the album the otherworldly feeling that the entire project was shipped in from another time and place, nowhere near the end-of-the-century New York City that the group had come to identify with so closely.” Ultimate Classic Rock senior editor Michael Gallucci’s edifying take on Talking Heads’ masterpiece. (Ultimate Classic Rock)

RIP Nunslaughter drummer Jim Konya: Jim was a universally and justifiably beloved fixture in Midwestern underground metal and hardcore (Minch, Nunslaughter, Schnauzer, 9 Shocks Terror, this list could go on for miles), but he suffered a stroke last month, then suffered a still more severe stroke while recuperating from the first. When doctors determined he’d never recover, the decision was made to remove him from life support. He passed yesterday. Konya had a big heart and a big personality, and he will be sorely missed. The ongoing crowdfunding campaign intended for his medical expenses will be applied to his final expenses. (Noisey)

Meet the right-wing rebels who overthrew John Boehner: It is only in recent months that this disruptive force in American politics even has a name: the House Freedom Caucus. Composed of nearly 40 of the most committed ideologues in the House, the Freedom Caucus has a simple mission: to get GOP leadership to deliver on the extreme, anti-government and social-conservative rhetoric that nearly all Republicans spout to get elected. (Rolling Stone)

Kevin McCarthy Pulls Out Of House Speaker’s Race: In a shocking twist to all the current House GOP craziness, the front-runner—by miles—for the Speaker gig removed himself from consideration. Perhaps there’s been motion behind the scenes to annihilate him after he openly admitted that the Benghazi investigations were an expensive, politically motivated character assassination? Not that this means the grownups will be in charge; the resultant chaos from McCarthy’s withdrawal leaves an opening for gross misogynist/Backpfeifengesicht poster-boy Jason Chaffetz. (HuffPo) UPDATE! The other shoe drops: Kevin McCarthy accused of having an affair with fellow member of Congress

Some people think The Martian is a true story: Because of course they do. Read tweets by the exasperated loved ones of the alarmingly credulous. (Time)

Smoke bombs, eggings: Kosovo’s parliament is out of control:  A heated argument in parliament today ended with one minister detonating a smoke bomb. Opposition leader Albin Kurti is the alleged miscreant, and he reportedly kicked at least one smoking canister (emitting what may have been tear gas) around the room until two of his fellow ministers fainted. The pics and videos in this article are very nearly unbelievable. (Quartz)

Dream Theater’s drummer rocks a Hello Kitty drum set: Whatever you think of Dream Theater, this is great. (Loudwire)

Ancient Mars Was Wetter and Warmer Than We Ever Realized: OK, first, get your mind out of the gutter. New data collected by the Curiosity rover shows that Mars was once quite Earth-like, featuring river deltas, lakes, and a warm climate. What’s more, the Red Planet may have been able to sustain liquid water at the surface long enough for life to emerge and evolve. Evidence for extraterrestrial life has yet to be discovered on Mars, but this latest finding shows that key ingredients were once available for microbial life to originate and evolve. (Gizmodo)

American democracy is doomed: Accusations that Barack Obama or John Boehner or any other individual politician is failing as a leader are flung, and then abandoned when the next issue arises. In practice, the feeling seems to be that salvation is just one election away. Hillary Clinton even told Kara Swisher recently that her agenda if she runs for president is to end partisan gridlock. It’s not going to work. The breakdown of American constitutional democracy is a contrarian view. But it’s nothing more than the view that rather than everyone being wrong about the state of American politics, maybe everyone is right. Maybe Bush and Obama are dangerously exceeding norms of executive authority. Maybe legislative compromise really has broken down in an alarming way. And maybe the reason these complaints persist across different administrations and congresses led by members of different parties is that American politics is breaking down. (Vox)

Check out Failure’s new video, “Counterfeit Sky’: The sci-fi clip was created by FX whiz Kevin Margo, using footage from his short film Grounded, which was scored by Ken Andrews of Failure. And the log keeps a-rollin’. Failure will embark on yet another tour supporting their comeback album The Heart Is A Monster tomorrow, this time with their mid-‘90s second guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen back in the fold for the first time since the band’s reunion last year.