Cool people like cool things, which is why we asked cool person Joseph Lacy to come on Perfectly Imperfect & spread the hot rec wealth.

Joe has been playing in emo and pop punk bands (such as Transit & most recently Jonesing) for nearly 15 years— in addition to being a great musician, he’s also one of my favorite photographers & helps run Portland, Maine’s Mocean Skateboards. He’s got killer taste & has turned me on to all kinds of shit over the years, luckily he’s here to share that taste with y’all.

Without further ado

Joseph Lacy (instagram, letterboxd, last.fm)

Hello pimps (perfectly imperfect subscribers), my name is Joe Lacy. Stoked to be a part of this as Tyler and myself have been talking music, film, and clothing for the last few years. I grew up north of Boston and played in a few Boston based emo bands, now I live and make photos out of Portland, Maine. I help my friend jasper run his shop mocean skateboards, we design clothes and skateboards with skateboarders/local artists in our community. Here’s my list of recommendations for y’all:

🎵 Draag Me: I am gambling with my life & Mixtape II

I’m more or less obsessed with Spirit of the Beehive, Zack Schwartz, who leads SOTB started putting out electronic, genre bending tunes as Draag Me this year and my enthusiasm quickly followed. I am gambling with my life and Mixtape II are both nicely textured electronic records that touch on everything from ambient, dream pop and chillwave to lofi, hip hop and club music. I am gambling feels like a great introduction to the artist especially if you’re coming from listening to SOTB as it feels familiar, mixtape strays a bit farther away but the poppier songs on this one really stick with you and the beats stretch out longer which I definitely enjoy.

🎥 It Follows

It follows is one of my favorite horror movies and ‘tis the season. The music and atmosphere of it follows are serious business that suck you into a world with no specific era, spotless vintage cars and old film & television from the 60’s while the set design and clothing feels very 90’s, also Yara’s clam e-reader fascinated me as the teens don’t use cellphones. Lots of homage to John Carpenter in this one (for Halloween and The Thing fans). It’s a nail biter folks, the panic is thick in the air from the start.

🛹 👟 Polar Skate Co & Last Resort AB

Pontus Alv, the creator of Polar and Last Resort AB is a remarkably talented skateboarder, filmmaker and clothing designer. If you’re familiar, there is no denying this. Polar has been making some of the hottest graphics, skateboard shapes, clothing and videos for years and the polar jeans/pants, if you’ve worn them, are THE pant. Pontus just announced his new shoe brand, Last Resort AB. They look super clean and simplistic, looking almost like a nice mixture of a vans era and converse one star. Excited to try a pair whenever they’re available again.

🎵 Crisman - s/t

I found this through one of the members other projects, Dead Sullivan, who is definitely worth checking out as well. I love this record, slowcore and indie pop collide super well on this one like as if hovvdy and early tegan & sara were vibing. Madeline’s voice feels familiar throughout like you’ve heard the songs before while still feeling original. Good autumn record.

☕ Bard Cold Brew Jug and Speckled Ax

My favorite cold brew and now I can buy it for take home :) More on the nutty almost boozey side but kicks in the AM, black over ice or sometimes just straight from the jug lol. If you’re in portland, it’s my personal favorite because I drink cold but I would also suggest speckled ax for hot and the dark roast Sock Saunders for a take home bag. Very classic roast like the smell of your parents old Folgers and super delicious.

🛹 👕 Mocean Skateboards

I’m recommending the brand I work for, it’s most of what I wear and I’m really excited about what we are working on. The crew necks fit cozy like a sweater and look good with a slim fit or baggy pant. The pants come in a linen, corduroy and what I describe as a more comfortable karate pant. The yellow linens are great at home or spring/summer wears, navy cords are lightweight but thick & warm and perfect for the colder months and the black pants are the year-rounder. We are finishing up our board designs for the spring and looking forward to getting those out.

🎵 MIKE

MIKE has become my favorite hip hop artist this past year. I was having a hard time finding new hip hop that I really liked every element from production, lyricism, delivery, etc. When first hearing MIKE, instantly that feeling was quelled. His release, Tears of Joy was my introduction and it was on repeat most of last winter. Weight of the World came out at the beginning of the summer and feels a lot heavier to me. Maybe it’s just the timing and everything going on, but it’s felt much more welcoming recently.

Perfectly Imperfect playlist :)

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