Max Gray
The Rumpus
New York, NY, United States
Contact Max
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Past articles by Max:
Song of the Day: “Me and My Gin”
Though the British blues-rockers The Animals recorded a gritty version of a song called “Gin House Blues” in 1966, the tune was originally released by Bessie Smith in 1928 under the nam… → Read More
Song of the Day: “Here In Spirit”
In a review of Jim James’s newest album Eternally Even, Pitchfork writer Ryan Leas declares that the artist “goes all-in on a frayed, psychedelic-soul aesthetic” that is only hint… → Read More
The Rumpus Interview with Robert Glancy
Robert Glancy discusses his sophomore novel, Please Do Not Disturb, growing up under a dictatorship, borrowing and stealing from reality, and his love of proverbs. → Read More
Song of the Day: “Back Door Santa”
Soul—that mysterious orientation towards the world that seems to be frequently accompanied by a larger-than-life personality—is probably the first word that comes to mind when one thinks of Clarenc… → Read More
Song of the Day: “We the People”
If A Tribe Called Quest had to make one final statement, a boisterous, politically conscious, and funky record would be the most fitting way to do so. We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Se… → Read More
Song of the Day: “Lord, Help the Poor and Needy”
Maybe growing up with a father who was a Jehovah’s Witness caused Charlyn Marie “Chan” Marshall to develop a sensitivity to the plight of the unlucky and underprivileged. Then aga… → Read More
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, in Rumpus Saturday Fiction, Sherman Alexie’s shares three short stories—”Fixed Income,” “Honor Society,” and “Valediction”—that all offer his tradem… → Read More
Song of the Day: “Secret Life”
The passing of songwriter Leonard Cohen last Thursday added another mournful chapter to an already difficult week. The prolific and underrated artist—most famous, perhaps, for his aching ballad … → Read More
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, Brandon Hicks complicates stereotypes of the lower classes in a comic spoof of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his famous wife, Zelda. Then, in the Saturday Essay, Melissa Kingbird recounts her expe… → Read More
Song of the Day: “Hurt”
“I hurt myself today,” Johnny Cash sings in one of the last recordings he made, his poignant cover of the Nine Inch Nails song, “Hurt.” The song couldn’t be more appro… → Read More
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, in Saturday Rumpus Poetry, Connie Voisine shares three new poems. Body shaming is the subject of “Shameful,” in which the speaker considers modeling herself after someone else, &… → Read More
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, b: william bearheart shares a heart-wrenching and lyrical Saturday Essay on suicide, the struggle against depression and anxiety, and the role of poetry as an effective medicine. Hope and a … → Read More
Song of the Day: “I Want You”
Allegedly covered and sampled by musicians as diverse as Madonna and Diana Ross to Mary J. Blige and Robert Palmer, the innovative single “I Want You,” off Marvin Gaye’s 1976 albu… → Read More
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, in the Saturday Interview, Michaelsun Stonesweat Knapp and Tommy Pico discuss Pico’s book-length poem, IRL, and its themes of temporality, Indiginous identity, and lyrical humor. IRL (… → Read More
Song of the Day: “When the Tequila Runs Out”
Dawes is one of a handful of groups, including peers like Wilco and Broken Social Scene, who have undergone personnel changes without losing the essential heart and soul that make them who they are… → Read More
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, Sasha LaPointe meditates on the “language of trauma” in the Saturday Essay. An abusive experience from her childhood manifests itself in strange images of floating boats, images … → Read More
Song of the Day: “Black and Blue”
Given the anarchic, traumatic, and deeply worrying events of recent months, some might begin to lose hope. However, music—and especially jazz, the most particularly American music—never seems to lo… → Read More
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, in the Saturday Essay, Philip Roughton translates Icelandic writer Oddný Eir’s mirage-filled meditation on coming-of-age. Eir describes haunting images that float beneath her conscious… → Read More
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, in the Saturday Interview, Helga Schimkat talks to author Eden Robinson about silencing the inner voice of criticism. Robinson, whose award-winning novel Monkey Beach is set in British Colum… → Read More
Song of the Day: “Burn the Witch”
Radiohead is no stranger to anxiety. A tense tone—like a taut cord reverberating—runs through the high-energy opener “Burn the Witch,” from their latest record, A Moon Shaped Pool. Thom… → Read More