[SOFT ROCK MUSIC]
LOUDERMILK: After you left, there was a guy hanging around.
Uh, gave me a card to give to you.
Said he wants you to call him.
Yeah, he's a health inspector, right?
No. He owns a restaurant.
Says he's looking for some help.
CLAIRE: My mom's taking a writing class,
and she gave me a short story of hers to read.
Do you think you could read it for me,
maybe just give, like, a couple notes?
"Her mind kept returning
"to his throbbing muscle thrusting into her..."
Yeah, your story, I read it.
You sure do have a lot of vinyl.
Pool? Yeah, throw it on.
♪♪ ♪♪
I had a hot dog with my son Jeremy today,
and he made me this.
Aww, that's so cute.
He drew you a picture of a...
Koala bear. No.
No, that's me. See.
You got a budding artist. How old is the little fella?
He's 15. No, the kid who made the mug.
That's Jeremy. He's 15.
He just got his learner's permit,
and he wants me to teach him how to drive in my van.
Okay, well... [SIGHS]
I'm really glad that you're reconnecting with your kids, Mugs.
Yeah, they, uh... They grow up fast.
Yeah, especially when you miss half their life.
[STAMMERING]
Fuck you, you brittle-boned half a motherfucker.
LOUDERMILK: Okay, uh, just... All right. Yeah.
We got a couple minutes left.
Um...
Ben, you haven't said anything in a while.
[CHUCKLES] Fine, if I have to.
Uh, life's been mostly good, you know.
I've been crossing a lot of stuff off my list.
I just finished every episode of Buddy N' Andy,
so I'm pretty proud of that.
And I've been playing some video poker,
and, uh... Oh, the food truck
made me realize that it's time for me to get back in the kitchen,
so I've been looking for a chef job.
But not really a lot out there.
What about the restaurant owner who wanted to hire you?
No, no, no, no, he's looking for a line cook,
not a head chef, so...
Nothing wrong with taking a job and working your way up.
And if you're good, you won't be line cooking for long.
Especially true in the service industry,
where an IQ over 70 and two working thumbs makes you a superstar.
No offense, Rog.
Oh, I'm not offended,
because I have these.
Heh. Heh. [LAUGHS]
Hey, you know what? Stevie's right.
I started out rinsing chem-packs at my current job,
and now I'm the guy who mixes the chemicals
and gets the spray canisters ready
for our boys out in the field.
It's a lot of responsibility.
You get a clogged nozzle when you're knee-deep
in a nest of mud daubers, it's over.
What the fuck do you do again?
I'm regional equipment tech for Value Pest Control.
I'm like Q from James Bond.
Oh, I've seen those ads all over cable TV.
Hey, how much would you guys charge
to take out my neighbor's beagle?
What are you, an asshole? TONY: What?
Damn thing's yelping all night.
Sounds like a seal having a stroke.
What... What do you say, Mugs?
Shame on you for even thinking that.
It's my job. This is my career.
I would never do that in a million years.
Thousand bucks?
MAN: I'll do it.
You want it clean, or are we sending a message?
You know, uh, I-I think I'll live with it.
[FRANZ FERDINAND'S STAND ON THE HORIZONPLAYS]
♪♪ ♪♪
♪♪ My head is still spinning
[MUFFLED MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKER]
♪♪ I don't know what happened
♪♪ But I know I have to turn and walk away
Claire.
♪♪ The house is still burning
♪♪ The walls are caving in
[DOOR SLAMS] Oh! What the fuck, man?
You almost made me pee myself on my new couch.
That's new? New to me.
Got it over on Howell Street. Ben helped me carry it up.
Somebody threw that out for a reason. It's probably got lice.
Why are you in my apartment?
Why is my record in your apartment?
What? This is my album, right?
Did you steal it? No, it's not.
My mom sent me this playlist.
She sent you this?Yeah.
It's her new favorite album.
♪♪ ♪♪
Uh, cool. Okay.
Maybe just turn it down a little bit
so you don't bug Levon.
[VOLUME LOWERS]
Who is this again?
The band's called Pool.
It's actually just one person, Lizzie Poole.
She's local. I like her.
She's damaged in all the right ways.
Like me. [SCOFFS, SNORTS]
Don't flatter yourself.
Oh, motherfucker!
I'm imagining bugs now because of you.
Are you, though?
♪♪ The fog is just lifting
♪♪ Glimpses of where I've been
♪♪ I'll pass the torch ♪♪
[SOFT ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]
♪♪ When I tell you, baby, that I've got a problem ♪♪
[WHISTLES]
Hmm? How about this?
Does this say fine dining or what?
Did you get the chef's gig?
Not exactly, but I decided to take the gang's advice.
And I took a foot-in-the-door position, if you will.
What are you doing, making Claire's mom a mixtape?
I'm having a Lester Bangs moment.
[LAUGHS] Okay.
Right here on the couch, all by your lonesome?
I'm sorry. I don't know who that is. What's that?
Lester Bangs. Rock critic, Rolling Stone.
1969, he trashed MC5's debut album, Kick Out the Jams
and then years later realized he made a mistake.
Oh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
But who gives a shit? I do.
2011, this girl, Lizzie Poole, a local girl,
she puts out her debut album,
and I write a really bad review of it.
Not just bad, but I'm a total dick about it.
That's okay. Aren't all your reviews like that?
I mean, being a dick is sort of your thing, isn't it?
Yeah, when they deserve it.
But I just listened to this thing.
There's not a bad song on there.
And the thing is, I don't even remember
listening to it the first time around.
I mean, that would've been probably
right when I was bottoming out
and touring around with Monster Magnet
for what was supposed to be a weekend
and turned into two months.
[LAUGHS] Why?
'Cause they were good.
They were that good?
At partying. Yeah.
I don't think she's ever put out another album.
I can't help but think it's 'cause of my review.
No, don't do that to yourself, Sam.
You don't know that.
Maybe she said everything she wanted to with the first album.
No, no. I had a lot of pull back then.
You ever hear of a band called The Young Adults?
Mm-mm. Exactly. 'Cause of me.
Their lead singer, uh, Rudy Cheeks,
he slept with my girlfriend, so bye-bye.
[KEYS CLACKING]
This girl didn't deserve that.
Is this her?
Yeah, I think so.
Hmm. Well, there you go.
She's alive, and she's doing great.
Oh, wait. This might be one of those memorial pages.
No, no, she just posted something two days ago.
Says here she works at Lines Vintage.
It's right in town. It's a clothing store.
[SIGHS] Vintage clothing. That's where artists go to die.
This girl should be making music,
not folding dead people's clothes.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
♪♪ ♪♪
Thanks.
♪♪ ♪♪
Your sign says "No food or drink allowed."
Is that enforced?
Sounds and Grounds coffee? Yeah, that's enforced.
If you spill that shit in here,
the whole place will smell like cat piss.
[LAUGHS] Well, normally, yeah.
But, you know, they're onto something with this cold brew thing.
It's like they managed to filter out
that sewage-y aftertaste.
You want a sip? No.
Huh. What, are you OCD?
No, just a healthy fear of herpes.
Ah. Are you looking
for something in particular?
Um...no.
No, I'm just checking the place out.
Oh, those are made of old typewriter keys.
Yeah, you got different letters there spelling out different names.
It's clever. I know.
It's been done to death, but the hip-ennials
can't get enough of anything with their name on it.
No, I said I thought it was clever.
Oh, well, you said it with a hint of sarcasm.
You look familiar.
I didn't fuck you, did I?
No. [CELL PHONE CHIMES]
Oh, good.
Ugh, uh, I have a situation,
and I'm gonna have to close up early.
Um, do you see anything that you wanna buy?
Uh, no. You know what? Uh... I'll just come back.
I live in the neighborhood, so it's not a problem.
All right. Thank you. Okay.
♪♪ ♪♪
You should see where this girl lives, Ben. It's fucking depressing.
How do you know where she lives?
'Cause I followed her home from work.
[INHALES SHARPLY] That's creepy, dude.
No, she doesn't know I followed her home.
Even more creepy.
It's this crack house-looking place over on Edleman Street.
It's all boarded up. Looks like it's haunted.
Aw. Well, maybe she's getting a break on the rent.
Or better yet, she might be squatting.
Why is the tie so short?
I have a 23-inch neck.
[SNAPS FINGERS]
You have any bow ties? No, I don't have...
God damn it!
Actually, never mind. I have an idea.
♪♪ ♪♪
[BELL DINGS] When you hear that bell, it's go time.
Food comes out there.
Every ticket has a table number on it.
You know, I've actually worked in restaurants
since I was 14, so I know the drill.
I like your confidence. Hey! Guess what time it is.
It's fuckin' late o'clock again.
Leo, meet our new food runner.
Hey, Leo. I'm Ben. Nice to meet you.
He seems like a real go-getter.
What does he do? Head chef.
[LAUGHS]
He's an odd duck, I know.
But he's my sister's kid, so can't get rid of him.
She put up half the money to open this place.
Oh. Well, you know, sometimes the odd ones
make the most talented chefs.
I worked with this one guy... Fuck, that's hot!
♪♪ ♪♪
[OBJECT CLATTERING]
[BANGING] LIZZIE: Come on, Jerome!
Get your shit together! JEROME: I swear, that's not mine!
LIZZIE: Bullshit! I saw you do it.
You gotta stop hitting that shit so hard.
JEROME: Quit yelling at me! It's just a little crack.
Look at it!
Well, maybe if you were more careful...
[SOFT ROCK MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO]
♪♪ ♪♪
What are you doing here?
Hey! Type... Typewriter keys.
Um, I-I was just walking by,
and I heard some yelling,
so I just wanted to make sure everything's okay.
She's bitching at me 'cause I put a damn crack in the crown molding.
Oh, cool, okay. Good to know.
Yeah, your voice really carries.
So you just happened to be walking by this house.
Yeah, I walk by here all the time
on my way to Immaculate Heart.
The church? Yeah.
Run some meetings over there.
[CAR HORN HONKS]
That's it. [SIGHS] My ride's here.
You're leaving? Fuck yeah.
Unless you don't feel comfortable with this weirdo
who just walked in here out of nowhere.
Oh, I just said, the church and the meetings...
We've met before. He's okay.
I'll see you later.
[INHALES]
[SPOON'S CAR RADIO PLAYING OVER SPEAKER]
♪♪ ♪♪
So you have a second job.
No, this is my mom's place.
I'm just helping her fix it up before we put it on the market.
♪♪ That's what I got ♪♪
Spoon, A Series of Sneaks.
That's a great choice. This album is nearly perfect.
Have you heard the new stuff? No.
No Bullets Spent? Oh, yeah.
I've heard that stuff, yeah.
Love it. The guitar is amazing.
It sounds like Hanni El Khatib.
Right.
Anyway, uh, I got a bunch of stuff to do.
So I don't wanna be rude, but, uh...
Can I give you a hand?
You wanna help me do demo work?
I thought you were going to the church.
Coming from.
Uh, yeah, I mean, you got two sledgehammers, uh...
All right, there's extra goggles by the cooler.
Oh.
BEN: Leo. Yeah.
I'm still waiting on a risotto for table six.
It's coming. Uh, bear with me.
I'm trying my best here. It's all right.
Take a couple breaths, buddy. Okay?
Everything's gonna be fine. We're a team here. Right, everyone?
Hey, I got a table waiting on two carbonaras.
What the hell's going on in here?
What? No, no. Sorry, I thought I told you to eighty-six the carbonara.
The uh, egg, um, supply guy didn't show up.
You know what? That's fine. You can call an audible.
You don't need eggs for carbonara.
Just use extra parm and some heavy cream.
Okay? It's gonna be great. Or we could buy eggs.
Whatever.
Take a note from this guy, Leo, huh?
He doesn't make excuses.
He figures out how to get shit done.
Now, fuckin' turn that down. Oh, that's not ready yet.
I've had three complaints tonight about overcooked pasta!
I'm sorry. I used the timer like you asked me to.
You know, Ben here used to be head chef at Cafe Lapin.
I bet he doesn't overcook pasta!
Oh, my God. Is that a tear?
No. No, no, no, Roberto. It's hot in here.
That's a... He's just... That... You know, that's sweat.
Sweating. You take off your diaper
and you put on your big-boy chef pants!
Leo.
Come on, you're the head chef.
You can't let this guy talk to you like that in front of your whole staff.
Oh, I don't take it personally.
It's... It's his place.
I mean, it's his staff too.
[DOOR BANGS OPEN] My table ordered
the steak Florentine rare.
You cooked the fuck out of this.
Looks like a dried pig's ear.
Uh, sorry, yeah. I'll, uh, put another one on for you right away.
Don't fuck it up, dipshit. Okay.
[SOFT MUSIC]
LIZZIE: Hey, Sam.
That's enough for tonight.
You're great at wrecking stuff.
Yeah, so I've been told.
Careful. I'm pretty sure that's asbestos.
Why didn't you give me a mask?
Relax, Nancy.
I don't think you can get mesothelioma from one exposure.
♪♪ ♪♪
So, uh, Sam, what do you do?
For? For work.
Um, I-I used to be a writer.
I guess I still kinda am. What kinda stuff?
Hmm? Uh, what do you write?
Are you a novelist?
Um, no.
No, I-I write about... Music, mainly.
I used to be in the business myself.
Ha, thought that was you.
That's two days in a row, man.
You gotta admit you love my nitro cold brew.
It's not terrible.
See, that means amazing.
This guy doesn't give out compliments.
"Not terrible" means, like, "world-class" coming from him.
Well, I agree. It is very drinkable.
Very dr-drinkable.
Jesus, you two are made for each other.
Felix, Lizzie. Lizzie, Felix.
Hi. Lizzie's a musician.
How do you know that? Oh... What?
I never said I was a musician.
Yeah, you did. Didn't... Just a minute ago?
I said I was in the business.
I'm not a musician.
Okay. I-I used to be a musician.
Make up your mind, lady. Are you, or aren't you?
I used to be in a band.
Anyone I would've heard of or...
Probably not.
Try me. All right, she obviously
doesn't wanna talk about it. Pool.
P-Pool?
W-wait a minute.
You're not Lizzie Poole.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Man, I loved your fucking record.
That's a... That was amazing.
Where the fuck did you guys go?
I...stepped away.
No shit, you stepped away.
I've been waiting years for your next record.
So, like, what... What are you guys doing?
When... When's the album drop?
I don't know. It's hard... Hard question.
Okay, well, can you, like, play us a song?
Oh, no. I don't play anymore.
Come on, I got my guitar right up front.
I told... I told you, I don't... I don't play.
Felix, just leave her alone, okay?
Why not? It's a very long story, and...
But I... Please, please, please.
Come on, come on. I'm begging you. Just... Just one song.
Look, I haven't played the guitar
in a really, really long time. Whatever. You'll be rusty.
There's, like, fuckin' three people in here.
No one's gonna give a shit.
Plus, no one's gonna film it. I promise.
Come on. Just leave her the fuck alone.
Please? I just wanna be able to say that Pool played here.
Come on.
Yes!
Thank you. Thank you.
Come on. No, no, no, no. You can do it. You can do it.
[GUITAR CHORDS PLAYING]
[STRUMS SOFTLY]
♪♪ I turned my back, you were gone in a flash
♪♪ Like you always do
♪♪ You've always gone off
♪♪ Somewhere else
♪♪ And when the phone rang and I thought it was you
♪♪ And I sprung like a kid who just got out of school
♪♪ But it's almost
♪♪ Always never you
♪♪ Never you
♪♪ I scream
♪♪ Like a child
♪♪ My insides
♪♪ Went wild
♪♪ When I'm alone with you
♪♪ You make me feel Yeah, you make me feel
♪♪ When I'm alone with you
♪♪ You are the one You are, ohh
♪♪ And when I'm alone with you
♪♪ Yeah, you make me feel You make me feel
♪♪ Yeah
♪♪ I'm alone with you
♪♪ You are the one ♪♪
[STRUMMING SOFTLY]
[APPLAUSE] MAN 1: That was amazing!
MAN 2: Thank you! MAN 3: Bravo!
Wow.
How did that feel?
[SIGHS] Good.
Weird...good.
Fuck, that was fucking amazing.
Jesus Christ, Loudermilk. How have you not brought her in her before?
We just met. We're just...
Loudermilk?
Sam... Sam Loudermilk.
Look, I came by the store to apologize.
All right? I know that...
MAN: Whoa.
I like her.
MUGSY: Christmas came early! LOUDERMILK: What?
I come bearing gifts. Oh.
I told my son Jeremy how much everybody here loved my mug,
so he made one for everyone.
Now, keep in mind, I don't have photos of any of you,
so he went completely by my descriptions.
We begin with Cloud.
Feathers on Cloud.
That's kind of offensive, Mugsy.
No, no, no, that's a turkey, nitwit.
Thanksgiving?
Not the greatest day for my people, but thank you.
You're welcome.
This one is for you, Claire.
You gave me Roger's.
Let me see that. No, that's yours.
This one's Roger's right here. Oh.
Oh, why have I got feet for hands?
I thought you do have feet for hands.
No, Mugsy, these are hands.
You can tell because they're on the end of my arms
and not my legs.
Okay. Ehh. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
It looks like I'm crying.
Oh, well, no... I didn't know how to describe whiny, so...
Okay, here we go. Ed.
Uh, this has gotta be for Cloud.
It's got another turkey on it.
No, that's a chicken.
Oh, for fuck's sake. You told your son
he fucked a chicken? No.
I-I did not say that. He's a kid.
I said made love.
Oh, boy. Oh, Stevie, you're gonna love yours.
Oh, you can... You can... Uh, you know, actually...
Leave it in the box. No, no, no.
You're absolutely gonna love it.
No, no. No, Mugs, Mugs, no.
Leave it. Okay, okay.
Oh, hey, I got one for you, New Guy.
There you go. All right.
What the hell is this?
Oh, that's an asshole. Yeah.
I made that one myself.
Okay. All right.
♪♪ ♪♪
I have your wedge salad here,
the linguine with clams, and carbonara.
ROBERTO: Emptied his bowels on a pile of dirty shoelaces!
Pardon me.
Look at it. Look at it!
What were you thinking?
I wouldn't serve this to the rats in the alley.
Okay, that's enough.
You're being a real asshole, you know that?
I mean, jeez, if you don't like something that Leo's doing,
why don't you just talk to him after his shift?
Because right now is not the time or the place.
Now, get the hell out of the kitchen and let this guy work.
Go. Buh-bye. Shoo.
See ya. [LAUGHS]
[LAUGHS] I can't believe you just did that.
Nah, don't worry about that guy, Leo.
Let me let you in on a little restaurant secret, okay?
Every once in a while,
you gotta put the owners in their place.
Trust me. They will respect you for it in the end.
[GUN COCKING]
Get the fuck out of my restaurant. You're the boss!
♪♪ ♪♪
Oh, great.
Why are you fucking with me?
I'm trying to apologize.
I was wrong about your album. It's a great record.
That's why you gave it zero fucking stars?
Well, I was wrong. I heard it again. It's great.
That's why I tracked you down.
You tracked me down? Yeah.
To tell you that I was wrong.
I worked on that album for two years.
I put everything I had into those songs
only to have some asshole piss all over it for sport
in Rolling Stone.
It wasn't for sport.
I... The whole thing is fuzzy to me, okay?
I was drinking and drugging really hard back then.
That makes it okay?
I have an idea. Let's read the review.
Let's refresh our memories.
I actually printed it out yesterday.
I have it right here.
No, that's not gonna help anything.
"Lizzie Poole has made an album
"that nobody will be happy with.
"Have you ever stumbled across one of those debut albums
"that restores your faith in music and humanity?
"Well, this is not one of those albums.
"Not even close. Lizzie Poole,
"who goes by the band name Pool without the E,
"has made an album that nobody will be happy with,
"except, perhaps, the letter E,
"who dodged a bullet by being omitted from the project."
I bet you were pretty proud of that wordplay.
Look, you don't have to keep reading that...
"Sub Pop used to be Seattle's great hope
"when it came to music, but something has gone horribly awry.
"By the time I got to Pool's third track,
"I was ready to put my cinder block shoes on
"and jump into the deep end.
"Unfortunately, there was no deep end.
"It was as shallow as the puddle of staircase piss
"Method Man threatened to make us kneel in."
Well, it sounds bad when you read it like that.
Okay, look, I-I-I know what I wrote was bad.
It was really bad, okay?
But it was just one fucked-up person's opinion.
For the whole world to see.
All right, so one bad review and you just quit?
Yeah, I did.
I felt like a failure.
I couldn't perform. My record label dropped me.
I ended up pawning my '58 Telecaster
to Lucky Lou's to pay my rent.
It fucked me up.
[SIGHS]
Yeah, that... That all sucks.
And I'm to blame.
But it's time to move on.
You gotta get back to making music.
Will you please let me help you do that?
You're too good to end like this.
Please, leave me alone. Leave.
Go.
♪♪ ♪♪
So my Jeremy, instead of learning to code,
he is now considering going to art school.
Oh. Well, somebody's gotta be the asshole here.
I guess it might as well be me.
Your son's art is horrendous.
It looks like a four-year-old did it.
What are you talking about?
You guys said you liked your mugs.
You know what? It doesn't matter who likes what.
This is art, asshole.
Art is subjective.
You know, Van Gogh sold one painting his entire lifetime.
People thought he was batshit crazy with no talent.
You just tell Jeremy that if he likes doing it, keep doing it.
Don't listen to the critics,
'cause they don't always know what they're fuckin' talking about.
Hundred years from now, these mugs could be
sitting under glass at the Louvre.
Thanks, Loudermilk.
And by the way, you cannot put these in the dishwasher.
You have to dry wash 'em.
What does that even mean?
Dry. Dry. You don't have that word in your land?
It means they're not good with liquid.
Aw, damn it, it spilled!
This is Banana Republic Heritage Collection.
[LAUGHS]
[LAUGHS] What are you laughing at?
You spilled some on your shirt too, loser.
Oh, fuck! It's the mug. It's leaking.
[LAUGHS] Ah! Aw, aw, come on!
Seriously? Wait a minute.
How come yours isn't leaking?
Because I'm not an idiot.
I put a Styrofoam cup in my Mugsy mug.
Would've been nice to know that.
♪♪ ♪♪
Where'd you get that?
Turns out, Lucky Lou kept really good records.
Uh, some kid got it for Christmas a couple years back,
never played it, so...
His mom was happy to get her money back.
[STRUMMING SOFTLY]
[JOHNNY KNIGHT'S ROCK & ROLL GUITARPLAYS]
♪♪ ♪♪
♪♪ Oh, when I hear the sounds of the wild guitars
♪♪ ♪♪
♪♪ I start jiving around like a man from Mars
♪♪ ♪♪
♪♪ I get a feeling deep inside It makes me shake my feet
♪♪ Them rock and roll guitars are really moving me
♪♪ When I hear the twang ringing in my ear
♪♪ ♪♪
♪♪ I say, "Baby, let's rock And don't you have no fear"
♪♪ ♪♪
♪♪ I go shaking all around Man, it's something to see
♪♪ Them rock and roll guitars are really moving me
♪♪ Rock and roll Rock and roll
♪♪ Makes me do the chicken Makes me do the stroll
♪♪ Rock and roll Rock and roll
♪♪ Ah, ooh It's good for my soul
♪♪ Oh, when I hear the sounds of the wild guitars ♪♪