The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 — 5A

Robert M. Drake and R.H. Sin deliver an uplifting pep talk in their poetry collection “Falling 
Toward the Moon.” In their respective halves, Drake and Sin shower the reader with affirmation 
through their messages of self-love and perseverance. Despite their collective thematic effort, the 
poets manage to maintain their own unmistakable voices in their presentations of encouragement. 
Given these different styles, one inevitably ends up favoring one section of the collection to the other, 
and many will prefer Sin’s for the greater degree the complexity he includes.
In the first half of the collection, Drake opts for a direct approach, typically writing brief excerpts 
in which he relies almost entirely on emotion to captivate and move the intended audience, which 
implicitly fluctuates between the collection reader and a more specific former or current lover. Some 
excerpts incorporate greater complexity, whether it be in the form of anecdotes from Drake’s own life 
or the integration of more involved analogies, like one of a returning soldier in “Fight Wars.” These 
portions are far and away the most engaging for active readers as they attempt to unpack at which 
point in Drake’s timeline of distant and recent relationships the segments apply. 
By comparison, the more transparent emotional streams of consciousness come off as somewhat 
simplistic. The reason for their inclusion is entirely sound, as they are able to explicitly convey the 
themes needed to give context to Drake’s more thought-provoking poems. They are the crucial mortar 
to more substantive bricks of Drake’s subtler works. Unfortunately, the majority of a building should 
not be mortar. While initially emotionally charged, the excess of direct emotional commentaries causes 
several poems to lose their potency, diluting them to the level of platitudes printed on motivational 
posters. Granted, it is clear that Drake’s poems come from a place of strongly pinpointed emotion for 
past and prospective lovers. For readers still pining over what could have been or those who above all 
else want the best for a current partner, Drake’s direct poems may be better received. When poems 
are as narrowly tailored to a subject requiring the reader’s experience on the matter, all others can 
feel alienated since they cannot even cling to the author’s creative depiction. For those yearning for 
a more ambitious and well-rounded presentation of similar subjects, Sin’s portion is likely to be more 
gripping.
Similarly to Drake, Sin implements a blend of direct exposition of feelings and comparatively 
hidden sentiments. Few would be able to mix up one author’s poem for that of the other, though. Sin’s 
ratio of mortar to brick is more palatable for an involved reader, and, often times, even Sin’s more 
simplistic works feature an easily understandable metaphor or other means of spicing up his work 
while maintaining the desired straightforward tone. The complexity of most of Sin’s poems goes a step 
beyond this base level and forces the reader to more closely inspect each sentence or stanza, but the 
tactic benefits Sin — especially as it juxtaposes against his co-author’s work. Sin does not come off as 

pretentious for obscuring or complicating his emotions.
Instead, the approach comes off as endearing. His feelings become more human as he depicts them 
in a more alien nature. Few are able to accurately understand the exact way they feel, much less the 
cause of their emotions. Consequently Sin’s sometimes foreign descriptions and extended metaphors 
add credibility to the feelings of overwhelmedness, love and perseverance that he conveys.
Sin’s “Crowded Minds” discusses overwhelmed feelings towards interactions with a chaotic tone 
and idiosyncratic descriptions like the interactions being “noisy on the soul.” On the contrary, in 
“Entire Life,” Drake approaches the same sentiment as Sin but from the perspective of a therapist or 
motivational speaker, consoling the audience. While heartwarming, the technique fails to create the 
authenticity of Sin’s poems. Granted, perhaps Sin is so able to take on less straightforward depictions 
of emotion because Drake transparently introduced these emotions in the first half of the collection. 
Even still, Sin’s poems are more developed and enjoyable in isolation.
Fans of love poems, especially those in need of a pick-me-up, should not hesitate to let gravity take 
hold in “Falling Toward the Moon.” Others should not avoid giving it a chance, but should keep in 
mind that getting through the first half may not be so invigorating — luckily, the direct nature of many 
of the poems in this half expedite the process.

Distinction and halves in ‘Falling Toward the Moon’

BOOK REVIEW

ANDREW PLUTA
For The Daily

There’s gonna be a riot in the streets of Ann Arbor 
this Sunday night. He captured our hearts as a 
headliner at the 2019 Ann Arbor Folk Music Festival 
last winter, then crushed them after a cancelled 
March show at the Ark. Now, Pokey LaFarge looks 
to return to lamplit streets of Ann Arbor Oct. 27 at 
The Ark. 
Lafarge embraces the legacy of his predecessors, 
and has refashioned music of eras gone by for a 
contemporary audience. No small feat, given that 
many modern listeners would scoff at listening to 
the music popular in parents’ and grandparents’ 
time.
His magic comes from his ability to blend vintage 
and modern effortlessly. LaFarge looks like an old 
folk musician right out of Nashville’s 1950s heyday 
— almost amusingly out of place in the 21st century 
crowd. His voice has a tinge of the classic country 
warble; lyrics recall the old-timey jazz of the South. 
Yet while harmonica riffs and lyrics recall the music 
of the past, guitar riffs and swing rhythms wield a 
sharp, enjoyable edge that elevates LaFarge’s music 
from a mere rehash of old hits. At times, his music 

echoes the style of classic French or Spanish music, 
echoes which are softly carried in the picking of a 
guitar. 
And while LaFarge’s music remains distinctly 
familiar, he manages to defy expectations in all 
regards. Traditional song structure is bucked, bent 
and then twisted round to suite LaFarge’s wicked, 
musical mastery. 
The Ark’s intimate performance space is perfect 
for LaFarge. His music, which often features plenty 
of instrumental breaks and riffs, and his unique 
style of singing both lend themselves to a venue 
like The Ark. Every seat is the best seat in the house 
when you’re down at Ann Arbor’s local live music 
joint. 
Whether you’re ready to gear up for his upcoming 
performance this weekend, or you’re looking to 
jump into the world of LaFarge for the first time, 
start with “Goodbye, Barcelona,” “La La Blues” 
and “Riot in The Streets.” For a more classic feel, 
go to his earlier albums, like Beat, Move & Shake, 
then switch it up to LaFarge’s modern twists with 
Something In The Water. 
Maybe, if this preview does its job, I’ll see you in 
the audience this Sunday night. Until then, indulge 
in the old-fashioned with the world’s coolest time 
traveller, Pokey LaFarge.

LaFarge to play The Ark

MADELEINE VIRGINIA GANNON
Daily Arts Writer

Summer tends to be a season of new discoveries 
for me, especially in terms of finding new music. 
The summer after my freshman year, I was fully 
invested in the Ann Arbor music scene, but 
wanted to explore what the broader DIY scene 
had to offer. I spent much of my time poking 
around Bandcamp and the related artists section 
for some of my favorite artists on Spotify and 
found some groups I really liked, and some that 
I didn’t. Three projects that stuck out to me were 
Snail Mail, Soccer Mommy and Clairo.
I was mesmerized by the lush melodies, 
beautiful 
harmonies 
and 
overall 
fantastic 
songwriting I heard, despite the fact that none 
of these artists had a full-length release under 
their belt yet. I sent my friends demos, covers and 
EPs from these artists because I really enjoyed 
their music, so much so that I actually wrote 
an application sample for this paper on Soccer 
Mommy’s Collection.
At the end of the summer, The New York 
Times published an article titled, “Women are 
making the best rock music today. Here are 
the bands that prove it.” The article featured 
several projects that I either knew or would 
come to know like Snail Mail, Sheer Mag, Diet 
Cig in addition to many others, and discussed 
the underrepresentation of women in the genre. 
After it was published, I started to see other 
publications post about “women in indie rock” in 
a way that almost felt tokenizing. But nonetheless, 
it still exposed audiences to voices that are often 
underrepresented in the scene.
DIY has often been accused of being a bit 
of a boys club, and if you go to a few shows, 
it’s not hard to see why. Most of the bands 
consist of an all-male lineup with a pretty stark 
underrepresentation of people of color. Even the 
crowds present at these shows can sort of embody 
this masculine energy at times, which creates a 
space that feels exclusive. But how can we change 
this?
The Cohort is a new, independent organization 
on campus that seeks to promote and protect the 
art and work of women, POC and the LGBTQ+ 
community. Think of them as less of a club and 
more of an artist-based union. Started by LSA 
junior Delaney Cavanaugh and Stamps senior 
Victoria Rinaldi, the group is still in their 
beginning stages, but is already starting to put on 
events and meetings.
“I just really wanted to provide more of a 
platform for more marginalized people. I feel like 

there’s a lot of times where I’m the only woman in 
the space, or I’m the only non-white person in the 
space, and it can be really uncomfortable … I just 
want to provide a place for people that wouldn’t 
normally have that,” Rinaldi said in an interview 
with The Daily. 
Cavanaugh added that she was discussing 
some local bands with a group of her friends and 
came to the realization that along with Victoria’s 
band, Big Vic, there was only one other women-
led local DIY band, Landline, that really was 
active in the DIY scene. “And we were like, ‘why 
is that?’,” Cavanaugh said. “And we just kind of 
came to that realization that, oh, there’s not a lot 
of women, or just diversity in general within the 
scene.”
Part of what contributes to this gap is the 
omnipresence of masculine energy in these 
spaces. Rinaldi said that even when she plays 
with a group of her male friends, she sometimes 
feels uncomfortable. “No matter how much I like 
them, and how much we get along, I still feel like 
I have to prove myself,” Rinadli stated. “I identify 
as a woman, or like, I’m even on the more feminine 
side of the spectrum so it’s just kind of like ... it’s 
like you have to hold it up. Yeah, it’s like I feel 
like I have to prove myself, even though nobody 
around me actively makes me feel that way.”
Cavanaugh followed up, saying, “The point of 
the group is to have a space where women and 
underrepresented groups feel safe and are like, 
‘Oh, I’m attached to this group of people who will 
support me; I feel more confident to go out there 
book myself or play a show,’ or whatever it may 
be.”
The group aims to provide resources for these 
underrepresented artists and expose these 
artists to a larger audience. From helping with 
booking and providing practice spaces for groups 
to making playlists featuring a diverse group of 
artists and creating a community to identify with, 
their services really vary. But if you don’t identify 
as a member of a marginalized group, The Cohort 
still welcomes your support.
“We’re not going to, like, exclude anybody, 
so our thinking is that you’re here to support 
everybody else if you’re identifying with The 
Cohort. You are going to be here to be an ally, 
which means that we may not choose your art 
first (if you don’t identify with these marginalized 
communities) because we want to support 
these other people first. But it’s still completely 
welcome,” Cavanaugh said.
There’s still a ways to go before the Michigan 
DIY scene can be called diverse, but through 
increased efforts from groups like The Cohort, 
progress is slowly being made.

Cox’s Corner: Diversifying
DIY through The Cohort

RYAN COX
Daily DIY Columnist

DIY COLUMN

Pokey LaFarge

Oct. 27, 2019 @ 5 p.m.

The Ark

Falling Toward the Moon

R.H. Sin, Robert M. Drake

Andrews McMeel Publishing

Oct. 22, 2019

THIRD MAN RECORDS / YOUTUBE

CONCERT PREVIEW

ROBERT M. DRAKE / YOUTUBE

Fans of love poems, especially those in need of 
a pick-me-up, should not hesitate to let gravity 
take hold in “Falling Toward the Moon.”

