It’s a lean week but I did manage to check out the first piece of the new Strangers trilogy and Guy Ritchie’s big and fun new WWII action flick with Henry Cavill and Reacher. Chloe and I both give our thoughts on Caitlin Cronenberg’s debut feature starring a few Canadian legends and Peter Gallager and, of course, I have some thoughts on the new Star Wars series The Acolyte. All this and more on this new episode!
We’ve now arrived in the double digits of playlists and, yes, there are still some jarring shifts in tone here and there but some themes still break through here and there and this one is definitely no different. A couple things become noticeable and nostalgia is a glaring one as the list kicks off with some top-tier Stone Temple Pilots and then features a Pixies side project, a leading Green Day single, some original and iconic Zombie and more. With a Big Shiny piece of Canadian nostalgia, I bring the CanCon in with Holly McNarland and two BC local groups and give some love to new discoveries for myself like We Were Promised Jetpacks and 3TEETH.
Track #1: Stone Temple Pilots – Still Remains – Purple (1994)
It took the tenth playlist for one of the greatest albums ever made to make its first appearance on one of my playlists and you better believe it’s the kick-off to it! I was instantly obsessed with this record that doesn’t feature a bad track on it and I still listen to it very regularly. This song, in particular, maybe my favorite on the album, a track about being so infatuated with someone that you will accompany them past death. It seems creepy but it’s really beautiful.
“Pick a song and sing a yellow nectarine
Take a bath, I’ll drink the water that you leave
If you should die before me
Ask if you can bring a friend
Pick a flower, hold your breath
And drift away”
Track #2: Atreyu – Insomnia – The Beautiful Dark Of Life (2023)
My second repeat artist on the playlists after Tegan And Sara and it is almost a no brainer with how much I adore this band. The first track I hear off of their new album, this song features all the sensibilities I love about their songwriting plus has a hook that gets caught up in my head as a lovely earworm. The latest album of theirs absolutely rips but this song’s ramping up in the opening just invigorates me and I love the rising vocals of singer Brandon Saller in the chorus. For lack of a better word, it’s beautiful.
“I’m taking my chances
I’m leaving my sanity
Buried it down in this hole in me (Buried it down)
I’m losing the battle
I start to unravel
Until there is nothing that’s left in me”
Track #3: White Zombie – Thunder Kiss ‘65 – La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume 1 (1992)
Getting really classic three songs in here and it isn’t a solo Rob Zombie track that makes its debut here on the playlist but a song from the original group, the great White Zombie off their third album. A leading single, this song was the return after an album that did far less business than they wanted it to. This song is explosive, instantly iconic and contains all of the sounds that we have come to know and love from one of the absolute icons of heavy metal. With three different lyric versions out there, take your pick at which is the best but, even so, this song always rules.
“Well, sweet little sister’s high in hell cheating on a halo
Grind in a odyssey holocaust heart kick on tomorrow
Breakdown—agony, I said “ecstacy” in overdrive
Well, riding on the world, thunder kissing
1965 yeah, wow
Five, wow
Demon-warp is coming alive
In 1965, five five”
Track #4: Interpol – Barricade – Interpol (2010)
Whenever these second songs from artists and bands I’ve already posted here before start to reappear, it is a clear indication of how much I listen to them. The other factor with Paul Banks and his New York City band being back on the list with another song is that it even comes off the same album that the last one did. This has to be because, besides the Rock Band and Guitar Hero tracks, this album was the one that got me really on board with their sound, and it was the album that was on constantly at the beginning of the relationship with my wife and I. This happened to be the first released single and when it came on the radio, we made sure it was playing loud.
“It starts to feel like a barricade
To keep us away, to keep us away
And it kinda does
Starts to feel like a barricade
To keep us away, keep us away”
Track #5: Rammstein – Ich will – Mutter (2001)
More German techno metal and not just any band from that era but one of the greatest on stage shows you’re going to see, straight out of Berlin. Another track appearing on my playlist from Til Lindemann and his army of “ Neue Deutsche Härte” warriors, off the same album, Mutter, even, Ich will’s drive always gets my head rocking and the energy up. Their songs are so anthemic and catchy, you want to pump your fist along to anything without even understanding the lyrics. Rammstein may be out of a certain time in music, a discovery I made watching David Lynch’s Lost Highway, but those who are in the know still throw this on all the time.
“Can you hear me?
(We hear you)
Can you see me?
(We see you)
Can you feel me?
(We feel you)
I don’t understand you”*
*Translated from German
Track #6: We Were Promised Jetpacks – Quiet Little Voices – These Four Walls (2005)
The leading single off of this Scottish indie band’s debut record, there’s something beautiful about the simplicity of this song and its rising distortion to the finish that envelops me. Any song that brings the band together with a chorus harmony really gets me and this one has a great one that resonates to the rafters. I don’t have any deep thoughts on this band’s work as this is just the beginning of a love I’m really late to but I know that, given the company that this band rolls with, like, the giants of Scottish indie rock, Frightened Rabbit and Biffy Clyro. After rocking through this record, I’m definitely on to the sophomore follow-up, In the Pit of the Stomach.
“Quiet little voices creep into my head
I’m young again, I’m young again
I’m young again, I’m young again
Quiet little monsters creep into my bedroom wall
I’ll fall for you, I’ll fall for you
I’ll fall for you
Quiet words of wisdom creep into your victim’s ears
I’ll die for you, I’ll die for you
I’ll die for you
In any which direction, call me
I will run for you, I’ll come for you
I’ll die for you, I’ll come for you
Quiet little voices creep into my head
I’m young again, I’m young again
I’m young again, I’m young again
Quiet little monsters creep into my head
I’ll fall for you, I’ll fall for you
I’ll fall for you, I’ll fall”
Track #7: Holly McNarland – Numb – Stuff (1997)
Making her way from Winnipeg, Manitoba, I was a fan of Holly as soon as I heard this track and then when Elmo, it was sealed, I love her. The love has gone so far that we even found this album at our local record store and picked it up immediately for our car. Yes, at this point we still have a CD player. This track is also the eighth track on the second Big Shiny Tunes compilation, a collection of songs released by MuchMusic yearly in the nineties. That was definitely where I spun this over and over again in the late nineties, sandwiched between Marilyn Manson and Bush. Or Bush X if you’re Canadian.
“Chase distraction of your own existance
Keep it clean, clean enough to stab
Lick your own wounds, anxious for the next one
Cry for more pain, heal what you have”
Track #8: ASHES dIVIDE – The Stone – Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright (2008)
Being a big fan of A Perfect Circle and everything they’ve done as, really, a supergroup, I have to admit that this Billy Howerdel solo side project completely missed my ears but I am so happy to catch up with it recently. This is an album featuring something I love, big sound that resonates to the rafters, and this is a perfect example, starting with that beautiful intro. I also have a deep love for those echoey guitar riffs from Billy after the chorus, really great stuff and recommended for any APC fan. He actually wrote it during a writing session with the group and their instrumental Army, an unreleased track that was supposed to appear on Mer De Noms.
“We survive what we can’t change
So let it fade
Just let it go
We pretend so nothing does change
We’re flowers never breaking through the stone”
Track #9: 3TEETH – Drift – EndEx (2023)
I have had a deep love for industrial, as far back as my discovery on Nine Inch Nails and how it guided me through high school and really informed some of my musical tastes. Now, with a new record released in 2023, that fire still burns and it burns brightly with this Los Angeles-formed five-piece. This was the first thing I heard by them, the intro, and it’s a solid and darkly grinding song with dark and sinister lyrics and, when it comes to my industrial, I eat that shit up. It does hinge towards the metal side of the genre and that, honestly, works for me even better. Can’t wait for more from these guys.
“Abandoned like the American dream
Begging you to govern thee
Celebrate moral vanity
With a permawar for eternity
Cut my tongue like an amputee
With phantom love that used to be
Fading like my illusion of free
Soon there’ll be nothing left of me”
Track #10: Mother Mother – Simply Simple – Eureka (2011)
With beautiful and energetic harmonies, this Quadra Island, British Columbia band has always been a provincial favorite of mine especially with that three-headed hydra of Ryan Guldemond, Molly Guldemond and Jasmin Parkin. This song has such a flowing lilt to it that I can’t get enough of and it may be my favorite off their album which is a big thing to say because the lead single was the infinitely singable track, The Stand. I feel like, at its core, this is about a toxic relationship but a dependability threaded within that is simply unable to disconnect without ruining both of them. This interpretation might be way off but I’ll leave the songwriters to tell me I’m wrong.
“Rock me, baby
Until my eyes are closed and I’m asleep
And then it’s safe for you to leave
Call me lazy
For I have yet to let my soul free
It’s still very much in my reach, oh”
Track #11: The Breeders – Cannonball – The Last Splash (1993)
It’s really mind-blowing to me that the first thing Pixies related to land on this playlist is not something from the Black Francis-fronted legendary group but instead something off of the side project of founding member Kim Deal, a band formed in 1989. As soon as this song came on a mix, I was transported back to listening to all-request radio in the hopes that this track would be played. It also sets us back in time with the fax machine noise in the beginning, which would be totally foreign to a lot of music listeners these days. The Breeders still rule, The Last Splash is a landmark record and it all begs to be rediscovered. Just play this song for anyone looking for “new” music.
“Spitting in a wishing well
Blown to hell, crash
I’m the last splash
I know you, little libertine
I know you’re a real cuckoo”
Track #12: Green Day – Hitchin’ A Ride – Nimrod (1997)
For a first Green Day track appearing on one of my playlists, fro my money, I would have thought that it would have been of their landmark record Dookie but this song came on and gave me a good groove and I knew this had to be it. I know that this is a song about an alcoholic having trouble staying sober but if the drive into Billy Joe’s guitar solo as he says “SHIT” doesn’t kick you up full of energy then I don’t know what to tell you, you may have heart problems. This famed trio is definitely a part of my music evolution in the nineties and this song was definitely a good piece of it as I turned up the volume everytime it cme on the radio or MuchMusic.
“Hey, mister, where you headed?
Are you in a hurry?
Need a lift to happy hour
Say oh no
Do you brake for distilled spirits?
I need a break as well
The well that inebriates the guilt
One, two, one, two, three, four”
Track #13: Asking Alexandria – Into The Fire – Asking Alexandria (2017)
I will completely admit that this song only came onto my radar because it was one of the theme songs for NXT Takeover: Philadelphia but it was enough to make me immediately pick up the self titled record and devour it. This track was the leading single off of what was their fifth album but it was also the return of original lead singer Danny Worsnop, as he left in 2015 to focus on rock music with his new band, We Are Harlot. This is a fantastic song with killer melodies but the bridge to this song is a facemelter that I can never NOT headbang to. Heck, even my youngest daughter loves this song a lot.
“I’m a paranoid sycophant, masochistic dilettante
Narcissistic elephant in the room
I’m the end of the world thinning the herd
The all-around outta my mind, fucking absurd
I am gone, I am gone”
Track #14: Default – Sick And Tired – The Fallout (2001)
The recurring theme for playlist ten at the end of it is definitely a good pushing of Canadian content as Default makes their second appearance in these listings of my favorite and it’s the more angrier and aggressive song on the record. This also happens to be the kick-off of The Fallout and has a great little lead in with a tasty bass lick on the way in via Dave Benedict. I may have already stated that this was a fantastic live band and if Dallas Smith wanted to step away from the country scene for a little tour, it’d be amazing to see a run that celebrated this fantastic album. It’d be cool to see it played in order too but this is all my dream.
“You swore I’d regret it
Now thanks to you I can’t forget it
Cost of this constant battle
Won’t even miss you at all
Free from this life that you call…“
We go to the Wasteland this week as George Miller has gifted us something truly cinematic to feast our eyes on! Glen Powell proves his star charisma in another team-up with Richard Linklater and Boby Cannavale stars in a comedy-drama that hit really close to home for me. I decided to give an Oscar-nominated film I hated another shot on 4K, a childhood favorite creator gets his flowers in a new documentary and we give our full season two thoughts on a Robert Kirkman masterpiece. All this and more on this all-new episode! WITNESS US!!!
This week I got in touch with my imagination once again, but from the family film side with Ryan Reynolds, I got to check out the latest Ivan Sen flick and devoured the latest Nicolas Cage post-apocalyptic thriller. I finally checked out a classic Edward James Olmos film on a new blu-ray edition, got an early look at a new documentary about one of the most pivotal bands in music history as well as rewatched the greatest recorded concert in history (in my opinion). All this and so much more on a brand new episode!
It only took nine playlists to get to this point but I think I have finally made a playlist that is largely accessible and without any metal or hardcore rap to dispell any good energy I had earlier cultivated. Heck, this is a playlist my mom could listen to. Hear that, Mom! Just press play! Keep in mind, the opening track is me getting a little close to metal to start as my WWE love go the best of me and Code Orange is a solid band but after that, it’s clear sailing!
Track #1: Code Orange – Shatter – Bray Wyatt Entrance Theme (2022)
This is a cool and sort of bittersweet one to start off this new playlist with because when I first heard this song I was absolutely freaking out (or “marking out”) about the return of superstar Bray Wyatt to the WWE. Sadly, Wyatt, real name Windham Rotunda, passed away last year but this song, so full of atmosphere and wonder, still remains on my shuffled favorite songs and I give it a spin pretty regularly. Code Orange is such a cool and inventive band.
“Die for me brother
(Know not what you’ve seen)
Love one another
(Know not where you’ve been)
Lie for me brother
(Know not what you’vе said)
Use me for cover
(Whеn things break, things shatter)”
Track #2: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Get On Top – Californication (1999)
A track off of one of their greatest albums, for me the last front-to-back masterpiece, I’ve always loved the sound of the Chilis but mostly their guitar and bass combos. John Frusciante and Flea work like fire in this fast and funky track that is reminiscent of something they would have made in the Blood Suger Sex Magic days. I also love it when they do a flighty bridge and this song definitely has one. This is what I call an energy bringer and the track was inspired by Public Enemy which I think is so cool.
“I’mma linger on your block and
Give the finger to a cop and
Pick a lock before I knock and
Set you up to get on top”
Track #3: Metric – Speed The Collapse – Synthetica (2012)
Emily Haines and Company are one of my favorite Canadian music makers and this track totally envelopes me in atmospheric sound, echoey guitar and beautiful vocals from one of our home and native land’s greatest poets. While not released as the first single off of Synthetica, this song was part of the tease for the new record at the time and I was drooling for the complete record afterwards. Upon a deeper look at the subject matter and inspiration, the song draws close parallels to the US involvement in World War I and II, from their neutrality at the beginning of the war to the end which I think is kind of wild for a rock song from a band out of Toronto.
“Pushed away, I’m pulled toward
A comedown of revolving doors
Every warning we ignored
Drifting in from distant shores
The wind presents a change of course
A second reckoning of sorts
We were wasted, waiting for
A comedown of revolving doors”
Track #4: The Rolling Stones – Can’t You Hear Me Knocking – Sticky Fingers (1971)
There are a few classic songs that are appearing on this playlist that have direct relations to cinema and this one is the first as The Stones are clearly a go-to for a legendary director like Martin Scorsese, this track appears in Casino. Featured again six years later in the George Jung biopic Blow and a decade later in David O. Russell’s The Fighter and Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain, this track has that iconic opening on it and always adds a beautiful atmosphere every time it’s used. An all-time great song.
“Can’t you hear me knockin’? Ah, are you safe asleep?
Can’t you hear me knockin’? Yeah, down the gas light street, now
Can’t you hear me knockin’? Yeah, throw me down the keys
Alright now”
Track #5: Deftones – The Chauffer – B-Sides & Rarities (2005)
Yes, with the Deftones being one of my all-time favorite bands, it’s definitely weird of me to pick a cover song as the first that I post from their catalogue and one that isn’t on one of their standard studio records. That said, frontman Chino Moreno’s love for new wave music of the 1980s as well as this being an iconic song from Duran Duran made it an easy choice when it popped on randomly during the work day. I will never not headbang to that heavy stylist outro with that patented Deftones crunch on it from Steph, Chi and Abe. So damn great.
“And the sun drips down, bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress, all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time
With your beating heart”
Track #6: AC/DC – Shoot To Thrill – Back In Black (1980)
Is there any better evidence of the fact that I’m slowly moving through the Marvel Cinematic Universe again than me posting this driving track from the second Iron Man film? This song suits Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark like a Black Sabbath t-shirt and the build in the beginning can almost be timed as the suit forms around the billionaire playboy philanthropist. Being an overtly sexual song makes it a bit questionable in its use in Iron Man 2 as singer Brian Johnson utilizes the metaphor of a gun to describe his own junk, in which his climaxing is referred to as “pulling the trigger”. Actually, maybe it really is a Tony Stark song but more to the comics version of him. Like the MAX side of him. Comic term, don’t worry about it.
“Shoot to thrill, play to kill
Too many women with too many pills, said
Shoot to thrill, play to kill
I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will
‘Cause I shoot to thrill, and I’m ready to kill
I can’t get enough and I can’t get my fill
I shoot to thrill, play to kill
Yeah”
Track #7: Garbage – Push It – Version 2.0 (1998)
On Mother’s Day, I definitely had to pick the Scottish Mommy, Shirley Manson, and her group and, yeah, I, without a doubt, had a number one crush on her in my teen years. The first single off of their second album, I saw the video premiere for Push It on MuchMusic and my love for the group was reinvigorated. I picked up the CD on release day and probably played this song until there was an etched groove in the disc. The full allure of Shirley is definitely on display in this song.
“This is the noise that keeps me awake
My head explodes and my body aches”
Track #8: Opeth – Harvest – Blackwater Park (2001)
The black metal minstrels finally made their way onto a playlist and it was merely a matter of time as they are a favorite of mine, especially this record in particular. Funny enough, the first song I chose was one that is more palatable for listeners and doesn’t feature frontman and lead guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt’s death metal roar or any heavy riffs for that matter. Instead, Harvest is a beautifully crafted ballad that deals with the immediate arrival of mortality from a first-person perspective. This is one of my favorite bands to see live and seeing them do this song was a life memory for sure. I recommend finding their live DVD Lamentations and you’ll see what I mean.
“Into the orchard I walk, peering way past the gate
Wilted scenes for us who couldn’t wait
Drained by the coldest caress, stalking shadows ahead
Halo of death, all I see is departure
Mourner’s lament, but it’s me who’s the martyr”
Track #9: Post Malone – Wrapped Around Your Finger – Twelve Carat Toothache (2022)
This album definitely got it’s play in my household when it came out, a definite best-of-2022 record in my opinion, so, really, any track off of it would be a welcome addition to a playlist. I opted for this fun and light-sounding track that shows off Posty’s range so beautifully, one of my favorite current singers in popular music. There is something really universal about his music, the current generation absolutely vibes with him as well as their wine-drinking moms just looking for a fun groove to bop to. Twelve Carat Toothache is the album to bop along with and I think I’ve given a solid first cut from it if you’re unfamiliar.
“When we met, you ain’t know I was a singer
You weren’t impressed by all the ice on my fingers (So icy)
I had your mom and daddy’s house on my pinky (My pinky)
If I’da known what it’d be like now
I wouldn’t be in misery right now
Look in the mirror, I don’t see myself
Being with me has gotta be like hell
So tell the devil I’ma be right down”
Track #10: Kaiser Chiefs – Wait – Duck (2019)
With a clicky little beat and a whole horn section, the fact that this wasn’t a single off of their 2019 record is kind of crazy to me because it has radio play written all over it. Making their way from Leeds, England, the indie rock band once known as Runston Parva or simply Parva has always had a penchant for churning out energetic rock hits as Ruby was a favorite even before it was on Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock. The chorus of this track also has a reference to drinking Diet Coke so I know it has an immediate fanbase in my house with my wife and daughter.
“Laughin’ all the time, singin’ as they go
Lookin’ like an ad, drinkin’ Diet Coke
Everybody dance, let’s breakdown tonight
Making up the lies, keeping up the show
Checkin’ out the boys, wearin’ summer clothes
Get it while you can
Let’s breakdown tonight
I’ll just wait”
Track #11: Lee Ranaldo – Waiting On A Dream – Between The Tides And The Times (2012)
Being a guy who became a teen in the mid-nineties, I know exactly who Sonic Youth is but my focus was limited to Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon generally. So, when Spotify popped this track into my recommendations from Ranaldo, a co-founder of the legendary New York City rock band, a track off of his ninth album, it led me on a journey through his solo work. Surprisingly, like the last song on this playlist, this wasn’t a track released as a single, the honor of the first single falling to the song that appears after this one, the opening track on the record. Though, at over six minutes, I can understand why it wasn’t shopped to radio stations.
“Hanging around with saints and sinners, losers, winners, I try to pay no mind
I can see thru all that shakes and quivers, every loveless soul strung out on the line
There’s a golden light in the sky tonight, where 10,000 soldiers stand with feet of clay
Secrets to be told will keep for the night and we will soon be on our way”
Track #12 – Thom Yorke – Black Swan – The Eraser (2006)
Another incredible track off of a fantastic album that was never released as a single and should have been. At four minutes and fifty seconds, this song may clock in as too long for radio but it’s so damn catchy in its execution and it could be anthemic but with a bit of bleeping on the cuss words. On the outside of this pick, it’s a little crazy that I didn’t present a Radiohead song first, a band that was a part of the evolution of my musical palate but to include a sort of lo-fi song from Yorke is almost more fitting because it is the side of him I appreciate a lot. The pops of the drums and his low vocals make this easily one of my favorite songs he has ever written.
“You cannot kick-start a dead horse
You just cross yourself and walk away
I don’t care what the future holds
‘Cause I’m right here, and I’m today
With your fingers you can touch me”
Track #13: Kings Of Leon – Waste A Moment – WALLS (2016)
It may just be the May long weekend as I’m writing this but there is something about the resonance of this Mount Juliet, Tennessee band’s sound that makes the sun hit a bit sweeter, the wind has a bit of warmth and the atmosphere really bringing the season home for you. This song kicks off with that big-time feel and it really is a no-brainer as to why this was the leading single to tease the album and also why it is what starts off this fantastic album. No matter where you are or how you’re feeling, Caleb and the rest of the Followills always have a way of making the sun break over the horizon for you in your musical landscape.
“Tex, he was her boyfriend with no kin always running from the law
Every other weekend, the week ends with his back in her claw
He’s a livewire, wired, shooting sparks in the night
He’s a gun for a hire, hired with a bead in his sights”
Track #14: Tegan And Sara – Closer – Heartthrob (2013)
The first two time artist on one of my playlists arrives to finish off this week and they’re Canadian as well! This also makes this playlist, the ninth in, the most accessible and sort of mellow since I started this journey. Hell, my mom could listen to it and enjoy it! Maybe I’ll call it that! Anyways, this is one of the more accessible and commercial tracks from the Quin sisters but I really love the poppiness to it as they lean into the catchy hooks that really started getting them radio popular. This song was just more icing on the mainstream cake in my opinion.
“The lights are off and the sun is finally setting
The night sky is changing overhead”
This week we see what the landscape of a post-Matt Reeves Planet Of The Apes looks like, I finally got my eyeballs on Godzilla Minus One and a heartbreaking drama out of Cabrini Green. I also gush about a 4K update to the movie that sparked my film obsession, the “Silent Space” version of a Oscar-winning film and Chloe is excited to talk about a returning horror series to Prime Video. All this and much more on an all-new episode!
We celebrate the stuntman on this week’s episode with Ryan Gosling stepping into the boots of The Fall Guy with Emily Blunt, a fun ripper of a movie. I’ve got two indie queer movies that I really enjoyed, including one produced by Telefilm Canada now playing in limited release, Peter Jackson remastering the theatrical angle on the Get Back sessions and Colin Farrell bringing all his charm and likeability to AppleTV+. All of this plus We’ve got a little surprise for you viewers.
The OCTOLIST is upon us and it all kicks off with a band that just announced a twenty-fifth anniversary tour complete with original masks and jumpsuits! The metal doesn’t end there, as I’ve peppered in some Sevendust, Canadian legends Alexisonfire and the all-woman powerhouse Conquer Divide, angry love and lust songs from Gambino and Meg Myers, catchy tunes from Barns Courtney and TV On The Radio and some good nostalgia songs too. Start out with a heavy blast, courtesy of Corey Taylor and the gang.
Track #1: Slipknot – I Am Hated – Iowa (2001)
One of my favorite bands of all time, a nine-member assault out of Des Moines, I was in complete awe when I saw this band for the first time on the smaller stage at Ozzfest ‘99 at UBC Thunderbird Stadium. I would have originally thought that I would have posted a song of their debut record, one that I listened to over and over again, front to back, but then this short ripper off their sophomore follow-up came on and I knew this would be a killer way to kick off this new list. The decibels are loud, the drums are flying and the adrenaline flows.
“Now I’m not pretty, and I’m not cool
But I’m fat, and I’m ugly and proud, so fuck you
Standing out is the new pretension
Streamline the (sic)ness, half-assed aggression
You gotta see it to believe it, we all got conned
All the mediocre sacred cows we spawned
Put your trust in the mission
We will not repent, this is our religion”
Track #2: Childish Gambino – Heartbeat – Camp (2011)
Ever since my good friend Tyler introduced me to the YouTube troupe, Derrick Comedy, I’ve been interested in the writing of Donald Glover. Of course, Community came next and the love for Troy and Abed In The Morning and so on but it took a while for me to realize that Donald had moved on to creating music and this track was the first that made it into my ears. A jealous spiteful venom of a song directed at an ex-lover, Gambino gives weight to all the feelings we might have experienced ourselves after a nasty break-up where there’s still a little bit of longing or lust at the edges of it.
“I wanted you to know
That I am ready to go, heartbeat
My heartbeat
I wanted you to know
Whenever you are around, can’t speak
I can’t speak
I wanted you to know
That I am ready to go, heartbeat
My heartbeat
I wanted you to know
Whenever you are around, can’t speak
I can’t speak”
Track #3: Soundgarden – The Day I Tried To Live – Superunknown (1994)
It was only a matter of time before these grunge rock legends made their first appearance on a playlist I put together and, of course, it had to come from one of the greatest recorded records ever. The second single off the album, sandwiched in between Spoonman and Black Hole Sun, it has been described as a fatalistic song about trying to do one’s best and failing, despite having the best intentions, something that the late and very missed lead singer and writer Chris Cornell wrote so beautifully. I will also say that the metal band Sevendust did a pretty solid cover of this recently too. I think Lajon Witherspoon’s voice is a good conduit for Chris’s voice.
“I woke the same as any other day
Except a voice was in my head
It said, “Seize the day, pull the trigger
Drop the blade and watch the rolling heads”
The day I tried to live
I stole a thousand beggars’ change
And gave it to the rich, yeah
The day I tried to win
I dangled from the power lines
And let the martyrs stretch, yeah”
Track #4: Sevendust – Waffle – Home (1999)
Speaking of that glorious cover version, ever since I first heard the vocals of lead singer Lajon Witherspoon on the track Black from their debut self-titled record I loved Sevendust but this first single off of their follow-up record solidified them as one of my favorite groups of all time. Formed in Atlanta, Georgia, Sevendust became synonymous with heavy metal as I knew it in the late nineties and early 2000s, almost like the measuring stick for anything heavy and melodic in the nu-metal scene. You better believe that I sing along to drummer Morgan Rose’s baking vocals screaming “Whatever you saaaaaay”. Yeah, I eat that stuff up.
“Bring me your light
Make my life worth something more
Show me the light
Bring the light”
Track #5: MEG MYERS – Desire – Sorry (2015)
The raw energy and drive of this song made me take immediate notice when I first heard this song on the radio and I said “Who is this? I need more in my life!” Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Meg hooks into an inner sexual monster that threatens to not only use up her lover but to devour them completely amid a heavy strum and darkly plucked guitar chorus that gets stuck in my head like a delicious earworm. Plus, that solo after the bridge is so unexpectedly awesome and I definitely air guitar my way through it. Do yourself a favor and watch the music video, it’s really great.
“Honey, I wanna break you
I wanna throw you to the hounds
Yeah, I gotta hurt you
I gotta hear it from your mouth
Boy, I wanna taste you
I wanna skin you with my tongue
I’m gonna kill you
I’m gonna lay you in the ground”
Track #6: Barns Courtney – Fun Never Ends – 404 (2019)
If you haven’t had the pleasure of listening to a Barns Courtney album in its entirety, then I suggest you do it immediately because this alt-rock singer and songwriter out of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England is incredibly gifted at making great songs with catchy hooks to them. The mainstream is probably more familiar with big singles of his like 99 or Glitter and Gold but this song is an exhilarating out for a drive rocker that has an anthemic chorus to it and a hard-hitting beat that keeps your head bopping. Barns is deserving of a high level of praise and this song, for me, is one of my favorites he has in his arsenal.
“Put on your sneakers
Blow up the speakers
Oh, you pleasure seekers
Well, what do they know?
Your ears are burnin’
They’ve got you squirming”
Track #7: JENNIE – You & Me – JENNIE Special Single
Not only a pop song but a K-POP group from a member of one of the biggest K-POP groups of all time, Blackpink, and yeah, there probably won’t be a lot of them on this playlist but this one was too catchy to not play. The second solo single from JENNIE, this film has all those electro beats that kind of draw me a bit into the genre and I really like how deep that bassline goes. Like I said, I’m not a K-pop stan, as they say, but I really like this track.
“You know I gotcha
You know that I got you like that
Ain’t nobody gonna have your back like the way I do
You love it, just say you do
You know you got me
Everything you do, everything you did
Everything I wish I was with, makes me feel alright
I’m just saying, so”
Track #8: The Luka State – Feel It – Fall In Fall Out (2021)
A pandemic discovery I found through Spotify in looking for something new, I heard this ripping track first from this Winsford, Cheshire, England indie rock band and I loved it. From the moment frontman Conrad Ellis sings “Won’t you let me rest my head?”, I was so hooked in. The build into this track and the drive of the song spurred me to take in the rest of the album and it is still one that I throw on pretty often. These guys are keeping rock in England alive for sure.
“It’s cold outside
I’m drunk again
Let me through the front door, l just wanna see you
I’ll apologize about before
I can be a real dick without knowing
And
Won’t you let me rest my head?
In the morning we’ll be fine
Won’t you let me rest my head?”
Track #9: Ciara featuring Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot – 1,2 Step – Goodies (2004)
Oooooooh weeeeeeee! Yeah, this song is super catchy and Ciara arrived on the scene as a total star. The beat is great, and makes you want to move and I always sing along with this track, especially all the parts with Missy, an all-time rap icon in my opinion. This song also really reminds me of my Rogers Videos days and a trailer for a Canadian dance movie called How She Move that my co-worker Michaela and I would obsess over and hilariously riff about. I guess you really had to be there but this classic song will always have a place in my heart and it makes this playlist even weirder.
“Automatic, supersonic, hypnotic, funky fresh (Ha!)
Work my body, so melodic, this beat rolls right through my chest (Yup)
Everybody, ma and papi, came to party, grab somebody
Work ya body, work ya body
Let me see you one, two step (Here we go!)”
Track #10: TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me – Return To Cookie Mountain (2006)
I don’t know how everybody else discovered this incredible Brooklyn, New York five-piece but for me, it was when this song was a playable track on Guitar Hero 5 and I played the hell out of it. Remember that game? I miss those times. Anyways, now, through my Spotify recommendations, this group has become an easy favorite and I feel like I’m discovering new tracks all the time.
“Dream me, oh, dreamer, down to the floor
Open my hands and let them weave onto yours
Feel me, completer, down to my core
Open my heart and let it bleed onto yours
Feeding on fever, down on all fours
Show you what all the howling is for”
Track #11: Alexisonfire – Side Walk When She Walks – “Watch out!” (2004)
This is easily one of my favorite records of all time and, while I could have gone with singles like Accidents or No Transitory, there’s something about the mix of vocals that made me opt for this song first. Hailing from St. Catharines, Ontario, this band is part of the defining pillars of post-hardcore, at least in my music tastes and a song like this just drives home my point.
“Now I’m afraid of open water
But I often bathe in sin
Let’s be honest
You know you shouldn’t bother
Cause with me, it’s impossible to win”
Track #12: Collective Soul – Gel – Collective Soul (1995)
This is a song that goes way back to my days in the 90s creating mixtapes out of songs I taped off of the radio. Young Steve listened to this track over and over again and even celebrated the Jerky Boys movie when it came out because the song was on the soundtrack. Is it a comedy that holds up? I have no idea because it isn’t available anywhere but I digress. This is one of many great tracks off of one of the best albums, front to back, of the nineties.
“Well let’s bungle (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
And live to tell (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
How we came together (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Yeah, how we gelled”
Track #13: Conquer Divide – wide awake – Slow Burn (2023)
This song making it to my playlist is a testament to making sure you add music to your liked songs list all the time. Most likely due to my love and appreciation for bands like Eyes Set To Kill, In This Moment and Within Temptation, my recommended music list put me onto this Michigan metalcore band with ties to the U.K., Canada and Serbia. An all woman five piece, I really got into their work with this second record, one that came eight years after their 2015 self titled debut and it was this song that started the journey into their sound. Kiarely Castillo and Janel Duarte’s voices in clean and unclean tandem are beautiful together. Huge fan of these ladies and hopefully the next album isn’t an eight year journey again.
“If I stay away (Away)
Would you only suffocate?
Bleed me out until I break?
I’m wide awake (Awake)
It’s getting harder to pretend
It’s you I won’t resent”
Track #14: Harry Styles – Matilda – Harry’s House (2022)
A beautiful and emotional song from, not only one of the the best albums of 2022, but one of the best albums of the past decade, this song is Styles flexing his skills at writing a touching ballad that resonates. Ninities girls will pick up and love the song if they had a childhood attachment to the Roald Dahl adaptation Matilda because that is the source that Harry pulls from. Harry’s House is a special record that doesn’t have a skippable track but this one really is a total showstopper and I love that it can do it with some quiet simplicity.
“You’re just in time, make your tea and your toast
You framed all your posters and dyed your clothes, ooh
You don’t have to go
You don’t have to go home
Oh, there’s a long way to go
I don’t believe that time will change your mind
In other words, I know they won’t hurt you anymore
As long as you can let them go”
On a solo mission this week with Chloe sitting out but I run into a dilemma as I now have four films vying for number one of 2024 as I took in both Challengers and Love Lies Bleeding. I have an absolute blast with the gory action flick Boy Kills World, dig into a couple of Canadian films, one of them filmed and set in my neck of the woods and hit some television, including two shows with Jeff Daniels. All this and more on your weekly list of what to watch!
This week I got to sink my teeth into Radio Silence’s new vampire flick and give my thoughts on a one-woman thriller starring the monster mommy from Evil Dead Rises and George Mackay’s chilling portrait of an incel psychopath. I finally got to check out my 4K of a James Cameron aquatic masterpiece, Robert Downey Jr., Park Chan Wook and Don McKellar have cooked up something I’m in total love with and so much more!
Steve Stebbing 