What is Kiss Me, Son of Blog?
It’s a weekly newsletter where I write about every They Might Be Giants song in order of release. One song, one essay, every week.
But the songs are doors. What’s behind them is my life — a 16-year marriage that ended, financial trauma, mental illness, the loss of someone I loved to suicide, self-sabotage, generational patterns, and the strange comfort of a band that has been present through all of it. TMBG is the organizing structure. The writing is the point.
This is not a music review blog. There are no star ratings. Sometimes it’s a grief essay. Sometimes it’s 55 paragraphs about the word “hello.” Sometimes it’s a spy thriller in declassified dossiers about a marriage falling apart. The song tells me what form the essay needs to be, and I follow wherever that goes.
Three years in. 167 essays. Every Saturday, a new one.
The Mission Statement
Kiss Me, Son of Blog exists to write about every They Might Be Giants song — not as a music critic, but as a person for whom this music has been present through everything. Each essay is personal, honest, and written in a voice that treats humor and grief as the same tool. This newsletter is how I make sense of the world, and the sadness in it.
Who Am I?
I’m Chase Roper. A comedian, writer, lifelong They Might Be Giants fan, and a person who processes everything by writing about it. I’ve been a TMBG fan since 6th grade, which means this band has been in the room for most of the best and worst moments of my life. This newsletter is what happens when I sit down and figure out why.
I live in Tacoma, Washington. I think about things too much. The Wellbutrin is doing most of the heavy lifting.
Why Subscribe?
If you’re a TMBG fan, this is the most personal thing anyone has ever written about their catalog.
If you’re not a TMBG fan, that doesn’t matter as much as you’d think. The readers who show up every week for the writing — not the band — are some of the most devoted in the audience.
Subscribe free and get the next essay in your inbox every Saturday.
Paid subscribers get the full archive — 167+ essays unlocked — plus early Friday delivery, the Wednesday Extras posts covering TMBG B-sides and rarities, and two bonus posts a month. $7/month or $60/year. There's a 7-day free trial if you want to try it first.
Either way: I’m glad you’re here.
Weird little emotional spirals with a They Might Be Giants soundtrack.
