Steve Stebbing

Songs Of A Fortnight #18

stevestebbing

September 23, 2024

This playlist ends the weekend before a big moment for my oldest daughter and me as we head down to the Vancouver International Film Festival for a bunch of movies. That said, this marks the first break I’ve taken since bringing this new blog of daily song selections and I have to say, I went a little bit mellower. Sure, we start with Deftones but it is one of their swankier songs and I’ve got turn-of-the-millennium nu-metalers Cold here but this was a radio song as well. Also mixed in here I have the Canadian selections of one of the greatest ever, I Mother Earth, Brave Shores and even, the Victoria queen on the verge of a comeback, Nelly Furtado to bring the list to a close. I should mention that I’ve peppered in some classics here with a 90s Ice Cube anthem and a couple from some childhood favorites. Rock along to the list and I’ll update you with more in a couple weeks!

Track #1: Deftones – Digital Bath – White Pony (2000)

We’re not messing around anymore when it comes to the kickoffs of these playlists because I’m coming through with an all time favorite song off of one of my favorite records ever made. The first song I brought to the playlist from the Deftones, one of my top groups ever, was a cover song but now I’m bringing a track that I feel also oozes sex appeal in a genre that would appear to be unable to convey that. Upon further digging into the lyrics, you find that the track is about luring a girl into a bathtub, killing her with an electrical device, and then dressing her back up which makes the song infinitely less sexy but I guess it’s all about the packaging to give it that initial feel. Chino clearly had some dark thoughts and mixed emotions while writing this one.

“You move like I want to
To see like your eyes do
We are downstairs
Where no one can see
New life break away”

Track #2: Sponge – Wax Ecstatic (To Sell Angelina) – Wax Ecstatic (1996)

I remember first hearing this song on the radio and becoming obsessed with it. It was an earworm that wouldn’t go away and I would tape it off the next playings of it, always missing that beginning guitar riff. Then I saw the video, directed by George Vale, the man behind some great Canadian music videos like The Tea Party’s The Bazaar and Our Lady Peace’s Starseed, and I was hooked. I save up my allowance and bought the CD immediately. Coming off the Detroit, Michigan bands second album, this was the first single and what I think was the defining one for their sound. Still to this day, I love this track.

“Angelina, it’ll fix your hunchback
Angelina, it’ll help your time pass
Angelina, here’s a forecast
Angelina, it’s science, we never laugh”

Track #3: Foreigner – Juke Box Hero – 4 (1981)

Ever since I was a kid, first enjoying music, I have had a deep love for Foreigner. Stemming from songs like Hot Blooded, Cold As Ice and then to ballads like I Wanna Know What Love Is and Waiting For A Girl Like You, I really found my love for them with the sax solo infused Urgent, a song I kind of became obsessed with. This track in particular was one that picked up in popularity with me as an adult and I turn it up loud every time that it comes on. The pulsing bass and drum that starts the song is truly delicious. That said, I didn’t opt to see them in concert when they passed through a few months ago. I feel like the ship has sailed on enjoying them live.

“Bought a beat up six string, in a secondhand store
Didn’t know how to play it, but he knew for sure
That one guitar, felt good in his hands
Didn’t take long, to understand
Just one guitar, slung way down low
Was a one way ticket, only one way to go
So he started rockin’, ain’t never gonna stop
Gotta keep on rockin’, someday gonna make it to the top”

Track #4: The Hunna – Trash – The Hunna (2022)

The Hunna returns to the playlist with another song off of their self titled record, an album that I consistently go back to and rock out to. This song is a quick little blip on a track at just over two minutes long but they do a hell of a job being memorable with that short amount of time. The song feels like a ferocious attack on social media trends, vapid attitudes, fleeting fandom and the old adage that you need money to make money and unless you have it, you will never get that radio single you strive for. It’s cynical, yes, but rightfully so and it rocks oh so hard at the same time. I love The Hunna and I hope they see a rise because they deserve it.

“Well, look at me, look at me, I’m the boss
I know everybody, I can take you to the top
TikTok, TikTok, or else you get dropped
I can’t dance to your song, that’s not hot
I bet you’ll never hear this on the radio, it’s crazy, though
I guess I need to start handin’ out some fellatio
Say that, do this, but don’t do that
Just don’t be yourself, ’cause that is whack”

Track #5: I Mother Earth – Used To Be Alright – Scenery & Fish (1996)

The first Canadian content of this playlist and it’s one of the greatest bands to ever release in our beautiful country, along with Our Lady Peace, who have already made an appearance. It should be noted that this is my favorite incarnation of this Toronto, Ontario band, with the original lead singer Edwin, who was like a Canuck music god to me at the time and afterward with his solo record. This song in particular was a MuchMusic favorite of mine and I used to wait so I could tape this song and their other Scenery & Fish single Another Sunday on an old VCR. That brings me back to a lot simpler times for sure because, apparently, I love the year 1996 a lot according to some of these song picks.

“Remembering the laughs, the time
We got high for seven days down
In New Orleans and it seemed like
No one else knew we were just
The moon and sun in fog before the
Heat burned it away and took
The sleep from tired heads on
Beds of reaching hands, of road trip
Breath and long tall freedom”

Track #6: Brave Shores – Never Come Down – Brave Shores (2014)

This is another track that played on our local indie rock station The Peak in Vancouver and it was a song that didn’t really have an affect on me at first but after a bunch of listens, I changed my tune. This Toronto, Ontario pop group adds more Canadian content to this eighteenth playlist and also continues to show off my adoration of bands that only consist of a duo. The main drive of this song is so catchy that I’m surprised it took so long for it to catch one with me. Now that I love it, I know the song is a summer party slam dunk.

“So sorry, I’ve missed you
Hair always whipping round
So high up, got my chin up
I don’t care if I never come down
I don’t care if I never come down”

Track #7: Cold – Just Got Wicked – 13 Ways To Die Onstage (2000)

I think my still burning love for turn of the millennium rock and metal is still very obvious because, in the case of this song, this metal band from Jacksonville, Florida didn’t really have the resonance like some of the other bands of the era. That said, I really enjoyed this record a lot and spun it pretty often and this was the first single off of the record. I remember seeing the music video debut on MuchMusic’s Loud and was totally pumped for it as I only knew about them because they opened up for and were affiliated with Limp Bizkit as lead singer Fred Durst appeared on a bonus track from their self titled debut record. Yes, there’s a Limp Bizkit connection here.

“Everyone got twisted up
Everyone got behind my back and broke it
Cause it’s my world
Everyone got twisted up
All your friends got behind my back and broke it
Cause it’s my world
Everyone got twisted up
Everyone got behind my back and broke it
Cause it’s my world
Everyone got twisted up!
Everyone got behind my back and broke it!
Cause it’s my world!”

Track #8: GAYLE – abcdefu (angrier) – abcdefu (angrier) (2021)

This is a song that I have to attribute to my wife’s TikTok feed for getting me on board as it’s one that I kept hearing over and over again as she scrolled through her feed a couple of years ago. Albeit, this is a different version than what appears on her album, hello this is the setlist for my tour, released just last year, but I kind of like the angstier or, in this case, angrier version much more. Hailing from Plano, Texas and at just twenty years old, GAYLE is a rising star who was even featured on the Barbie soundtrack with a cool use of Crazy Town’s Butterflies for her own frenetic version and I think she has a really bright future ahead of her. Plus, this track is the ultimate middle finger song as well and sometimes we all need to feel that.

“A-B-C-D-E, fuck you
And your mom and your sister and your job
And your craigslist couch and the way your voice sounds
Fuck you and your friends that I’ll never see again
Everybody but your dog, you can all fuck off”

Track #9: Ice Cube – It Was A Good Day – The Predator (1992)

This is one of those all-time hip-hop tracks and while it feels like it might not fit into this list at all, I believe the vibe at its center really does lend to the same sort of chill style I have going on here. The song has the legendary rapper Ice Cube rolling through what’s in the title, a good day. He lays out the day from the beginning, a pork-free breakfast, Yo MTV Raps!, gambling, a sexual encounter to keep the blood flowing, and, most importantly, no murders in his neighborhood. This feels like a song, when it comes on my randomizer, that is unskippable. It is a piece of serotonin that exists in a genre that focuses a little more on the other side of the coin, especially in the last twenty years, and is a reminder of the hip hop that shaped generations. It also makes your head bop immediately and thats fantastic.

“Went to Short Dog’s house, they was watchin’ Yo! MTV Raps
What’s the haps on the craps?
Shake ’em up, shake ’em up, shake ’em up, shake ’em”

Track #10: The Police – Message In A Bottle – Reggatta De Blanc (1979)

One of the greatest trios of all time makes a return to the playlist and a track off the same album I brought last time too. This is arguably one of their biggest songs of all time and that bassline that Sting rolls out with that subtle drumming from Stewart Copeland is absolutely delicious. The single ends up winning a Grammy and dives headlong into the themes of being trapped on a deserted island with themes of isolation, loneliness and desperation before ending with the downer note that all of his pleas for help that he sent away came right back to him, unread. It’s dark themes for a song with such a bop at its heart. Keep it up, indeed, eh, Sting? Man, I wish these guys could have gotten along better, they’re so genius. Also, Machinhead’s cover of this song is awesome.

“A year has passed since I wrote my note
I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life, but love can break your heart”

Track #11: The Vines – Outtathaway – Highly Evolved (2002)

There’s something about the chaoticness of The Vines that really spoke to me the first time I heard their debut track, Get Free, and I was kind of hooked into their sound ever since. Released against the backdrop of a throwback rock sound, spearheaded by bands like Sweden’s The Hives, this Aussie rock band really fit in with their own signature sound. More than Get Free, the second single released of the debut record, which I feel is the song people know more, Outtathaway is the single that charted the highest for the band and is their biggest success to date. I still listen to the album regularly and crank the volume when this madness comes on.

“Gotta get outtathaway
No time for me to say
When I speak out of line
I don’t believe in time”

Track #12: Days Of The New – Face Of The Earth – Days Of The New (1997)

This is what should have been a landmark record that sent this band into super stardom but instead revealed the ego of the lead singer and songwriter and exposed the very real notion that fame and youth can sometimes lead to an artist’s destruction. With singles like Touch, Peel And Stand and Shelf In A Room, Charlestown, Indiana’s own Days Of The New had us eating out of the palm of their hand on MuchMusic and it led to them getting that coveted opener position for Metallica on their latest tour at the time, one I had the privilege of checking out at UBC Thunderbird Stadium. They were captivating and this was my favorite track off the record, The dark melody and Travis Meeks vocals still to this day have me mesmerized and for newer generations, I feel like this song has aged really well and can make new fans all over again, even if the band has imploded time and time again.

“I’m the one receiving the pain from you
Break me down, so shove me in a shoe
You put it on and walk on me all day
Me, it wouldn’t surprise
It’s something you would do
I watch you”

Track #13: Deadsy – Mansion World – Commencement (1999)

Another turn of the millennium track finds its way to this playlist but the difference here is I never really even knew who Deadsy was at the time of the release and I’m only just discovering them now, albeit way too late and arguably when the founder of the band is in some mental distress. I feel like maybe Orgy filled this void at the time as the two bands feel very similar in sound but the emo electronic vibe is something that I’ve really picked up on and this and their song The Keys To Grammercy Park have become my obsolete go tos when it comes to this Los Angeles band. The frontman, Elijah Blue Allman, is the son of the legendary Cher and the legal battles between the two have been really heartbreaking to read.

“Now and then it comes to mind
I draw upon a long lost time
So don’t ask me why the angels won’t cry, ’cause you know what I’ve already told you
Memories of Urantia girls, they race around my brain in swirls
You never ask me why the change is in the sky bring you up which to the hole that you go through
And now you’re off you’ve done the time
Prepare for divine invasion
As the spirit climbs Morontia minds
Ascend to the cosmic nation”

Track #14: Nelly Furtado – Say It Right – Loose (2006)

And just before I leave you for a two-week hiatus to cover the Vancouver International Film Festival, I finish this playlist dropping a fantastic single from a Canadian pop queen who is hopefully gearing up for a comeback. Now, admittedly I was not too high on her work with Timbaland as I thought Promiscuous Girl was a departure from her previous image but I have come around on it, mostly because he is such a good producer and a lot of these songs are phenomenal. Yes, my tastes in pop have definitely evolved over the years, thanks to my wife mostly. The beat to this song is great and gets stuck in your head and I really love Nelly’s voice a lot.

“In the day, in the night
Say it right, say it all
You either got it, or you don’t
You either stand, or you fall
When your will is broken
When it slips from your hand
When there’s no time for jokin’
There’s a hole in the plan”

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Sep 20

stevestebbing

no comments

September 20, 2024

It’s a special episode this week as it is the last one before a little break while Chloe and I attend the Vancouver International Film Festival! On the show, I have thoughts about the remake of the “cinema trauma” known as Speak No Evil and Chloe has some harsh words for the original film as well. I got to check out the first few episodes of the WandaVision follow-up, Agatha All Along, and I dedicated three hours of my life to Kevin Costner’s passion project, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, now available on 4K and Blu-Ray. All this plus a couple of fresh reviews from Chloe to end the episode!

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Sep 13

stevestebbing

no comments

September 13, 2024

This week we have an episode thirty-six years in the making, twelve years more than Chloe has been alive, as I got my eyeballs on Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I also got to take in one of the best indie dramas of the year, His Three Daughters, a week before it lands on Netflix. James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action comedy True Lies got the 4K treatment earlier this year and I watched it for the first time since VHS and I have a whole crazy list of new additions to the library. All this plus two of the best TV shows currently streaming.

Songs OF A Fortnight #17

stevestebbing

no comments

September 9, 2024

With a handful of days delay, I present to you another eclectic list of songs that made up a two-week period of my life and there is some interesting stuff to behold on it. I start by leaning into some classic hip hop with the Beasties and also the current leader of the genre in my opinion, Kendrick Lamar later on the list. I include some all time favorites like the math metal of Mudvayne, possibly my top blink singles ever released and one of the tracks that put Thrice on my radar. I have this, some classic rock tracks from Zepplin and Golden Earring and I even end it all with something absurdly fun.

Track #1: Beastie Boys – Sure Shot – Ill Communication (1994)

It was only a matter of time before the most iconic three MCs and a DJ hit the playlist and, I’ll admit, I had it set up to post in an almost cocky way. Truth be told, I was ready to post this after I passed my driver’s test but, embarrassingly, I failed, making this an ironic post. That aside, this song is still incredible until this very day and it brightens my spirits every time I hear it. Especially after a failure day, this kick-off to one of the greatest rap albums of all time hits just right.

“I’ve got the brand new doo-doo, guaranteed like Yoo-hoo
I’m on like Dr. John, yeah, Mr. Zu Zu
I’m a newlywed, not a divorcee (yeah)
And everything I do is funky like Lee Dorsey
Well it’s the taking of the Pelham 1, 2, 3
If you want a doo-doo rhyme, then come see me
I’ve got the savoir faire with the unique rhymin’
I keep it on and on, it’s never quitting time, and
Strictly handheld is the style I go
Never rock the mic with the pantyhose
I strap on my ear goggles, and I’m ready to go
‘Cause at the boards is the man they call the Mario
You pull up at the function, and you know I Kojak
To all the party people that are on my Bozac
I’ve got more action than my man, John Woo
And I’ve got mad hits like I was Rod Carew (yeah)”

Track #2: Silverstein featuring Aaron Gillespie – Infinite – A Beautiful Place To Drown (2020)

It’s about time that one of my favorite Canadian metal bands makes their first appearance on the playlist as I listen to them daily at this point. Formed in Burlington, Ontario, this five-piece has been kicking ass since their first album, over twenty years ago, and has been melting faces ever since. This record in particular is one of my favorite pandemic-era releases and this song is the second single released from it, making its debut right in the first week of that fateful year. Aaron Gillespie has also been a regular follow for me, with his band Underoath, and even more now that they denounced their religious affiliation. This song rules so click on it and turn it up LOUD!

“I gotta find some way to relate
I drew a line just so I could see straight
Erase every lie and half truth
Anything I have to”

Track #3: Hannah Georgas – Enemies – Hannah Georgas (2012)

Let’s get some more Canadian content going here and this is not just CanCon but British Columbia local and one of the most gifted singers and songwriters in the last fifteen years in my opinion. Coming from Vancouver, Hannah’s music first hooked me when I heard it playing regularly on our local indie rock radio station, The Peak, and it led me to pick up the album. Once I did, I fell in love with this other track on the album, the fourth song, and it still sticks in my brain as my favorite. It feels like an easy single that never got the chance to shine and I’m happy to share it here.

“We’re in a sea full of sharks
Just swimming around and around
If we get caught, they’re gonna taste our blood
You leave a trail and the word will get out
That we’re all lost and ready to kill
That we’re all lost and ready to kill”

Track #4: Glass Animals – Heat Waves – Dreamland (2020)

This is one of those artists that I was really late to and now, I really look forward to their music as well as the remixes that they do. If you haven’t heard their work on Florence + The Machine’s My Love, you need to fix that immediately. It’s so good! This song was floating into my ears for a while before I figured out who it was and added it to my favorites and it is all down to that main groove. It’s a “chilling on the beach” song in so many ways and it’s crazy that a pop band from Oxford, England were the ones to bring it out. Despite having a sort of sad drive of the main music, the song is about remaining strong through vulnerable moments in your life and embracing your vulnerability, which is a message I can definitely get behind.

“Sometimes, all I think about is you
Late nights in the middle of June
Heat waves been fakin’ me out
Can’t make you happier now
Sometimes, all I think about is you
Late nights in the middle of June
Heat waves been fakin’ me out
Can’t make you happier now”

Track #5: Led Zeppelin – Houses Of The Holy – Physical Graffiti (1975)

The second song from the legendary Tolkien fans, Led Zeppelin, makes its appearance this time around and it is a song that is always rooted deep in my brain for weeks after I hear it. The song’s history is a little confusing as the title was also used for an album released two years prior and this track doesn’t appear on it. There was a time when the song was going to be included but it was decided that the tone of it didn’t really fit with the record. The song was recorded at the same time as The Rover, and refers to the auditoriums and arenas in which Zeppelin performed, as if there was a sort of holy feel to the air at those venues for Plant, Page, Jones and Bonham.

“Let me take you to the movie
Can I take you to the show?
Let me be yours ever truly
Can I make your garden grow?”

Track #6: Kendrick Lamar – DNA. – DAMN. (2017)

Now that it seems the dust has settled on the war between Nobel Prize-winning artist Kendrick Lamar and Canadian whiner Drake with, I think, Kenny coming out as the clear winner, I’m adding another one of his tracks to the playlist and one with a little bit of a movie connection. The song was part of one of the greatest records in 2017, an album with track after track that you want to play at the loudest decibel but this song being used in the trailer for the Rocky franchise boxing sequel, Creed II, does what was intended and that’s to hype the audience up. The track’s title is what is at the heart of it, as Lamar celebrates, critiques, and explores his black heritage and culture, doing it from multiple viewpoints and the music video, featuring Don Cheadle, debuts his slightly comedic alter ego, Kung Fu Kenny. It’s really worth checking out, as is the whole DAMN. album.

“You ain’t shit without a body on your belt
You ain’t shit without a ticket on your plate
You ain’t sick enough to pull it on yourself
You ain’t rich enough to hit the lot and skate”

Track #7: Golden Earring – Twilight Zone – Cut (1982)

I’m going really classic for this song, an early eighties rock track that I loved when I first heard it as a kid. I’m honestly surprised I did because the song clocks in at almost eight minutes and I know I was nowhere near my later-found patience with music in the longest form as Tool wouldn’t be formed nor hit my eardrums for years. A Dutch band formed in The Hauge, Netherlands as The Tornados in 1961 and finally disbanded in 2021, Golden Earring is mostly known for Radar Love but this song always rose above that, for me. Interestingly enough the song wasn’t inspired by the legendary TV series but by a sort of throwaway line in the Robert Ludlum-written novel, The Bourne Identity.

“Help, I’m steppin’ into the Twilight Zone
Place is a madhouse, feels like being cloned
My beacon’s been moved under moon and star
Where am I to go now that I’ve gone too far?”

Track #8: Thrice – Deadbolt – The Illusion Of Safety (2002)

Thrice makes another appearance on the playlist, one of my favorite bands of all time and have an album that means a lot to me in their discography. I go back to their second album for this choice, a single that was released during their heavier and more punk-influenced beginnings. This track is considered the song that established the band on the scene and is a heavily metaphorical examination of addiction, adultery and the regret that follows, you know, if you’re not a sociopath. It’s a killer song and it definitely led to my love of this band.

“I just close my eyes and I’m already here
It’s already too late
I know it’s nothing but lies
But they sound so sincere
I find them too hard to hate”

Track #9: blink-182 – I Miss You – blink-182 (2003)

I have to acknowledge at the top here, the legendary status of this trio, one that I’ve been enjoying since the Dude Ranch days and the first time I saw them, on the Warped Tour in Vancouver at a time when Travis Barker wasn’t the drummer. Usually known for kind of sophomoric little punk ditties, this song took me by surprise, a song just brimming with emotion. Like Adam’s Song, this track feels like it has an emotional depth that we usually don’t expect out of Mark, Tom and Travis but it always manages to hit me in the feels and maybe my favorite song they’ve ever done. At its heart, the song is a meditation on the effect depression can have on a relationship and its subsequent fallout, which feels like something that is vastly relatable. No matter who you are and how much money you have, depression will always lurk.

“Where are you? And I’m so sorry
I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight
I need somebody and always
This sick, strange darkness
Comes creeping on, so haunting every time
And as I stare, I counted
The webs from all the spiders
Catching things and eating their insides
Like indecision to call you
And hear your voice of treason
Will you come home and stop this pain tonight?
Stop this pain tonight”

Track #10: Metric – All Comes Crashing – Formentera (2022)

It’s once again time for the Canadian rock goddess known as Emily Haines to bless this playlist with another absolute banger and this time I’m pulling something from the first of album of a double whammy they gave us back in 2022. Their eighth record in a long and fantastic career dates back to their formation in Toronto in 1998, both of these records have the group really leaning into their iconic sound, including the kick-off to the record, an almost eight-minute track called Doomscroller. This is the next on the record and has a great hook along with those flighty Emily vocals we know and love. I love Metric and that just grows daily.

“Starting over when the story’s got an astounding twist
You better turn that page
When push it comes to shove we do not fall out of love
We double down, we do not fade”

Track #11: Mudvayne – Nothing To Gein – L.D. 50 (2000)

This is a record that changed how I looked at metal as a genre, a landmark piece in what formed me as a fan of this type of music. The first time I heard Dig, I felt like my mind was blown apart and rewritten in thundering guitar, almost mathematical drumming, wicked slap bass and roaring vocals, When I finally got the album, I fell in love with the whole thing, even the weird and haunting interludes but this track would constantly get the replay once I heard it. As implied by the title, yes, the song is about serial killer Ed Gein, the inspiration for film characters Norman Bates (Psycho), Jame Gumb (The Silence of the Lambs) and Leatherface (Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

“Cold and silent, soiled face I will wash it all away
With my love, that’s all she’s ever needed from me
It’s my time, to mother
One of my own, in my life
I am so alone, left with no one
In my life, I’m so alone”

Track #12: White Lies – Getting Even – Big TV (2013)

If it weren’t for my listening to Arcade Fire Rado on Spotify at work one day, I never would have come across this band, classified as post-punk revival, a movement of indie rock that emerged in the early 2000s which is more stripped down and low-fi than the rock that dominated the previous decade. Formed in Ealing, London, England in 2007, their sound is the perfect one to break through my tastes as it is dark and broody with synth tones and a deep and almost Morissey-like vocal lilt. This track comes from their third record and was the teaser song released just over three months before the album release but was never considered one of the singles attributed to it so I consider it an underrated b-side that should have been bigger in my opinion.

“So listen to some reason, there’s nothing in your dreams!
But if you’re getting even, you’re getting even
Trying to get even? Better start believing
I can forgive, and we can forget
Even after all this love and other nonsense we’ve made”

Track #13: Big Sugar – Diggin’ A Hole – Hemi-Vision (1996)

Adding some more Canadian content to join Hannah Georgas and Metric, this is a band that commanded radio play in the second half of the nineties with an album filled with hit singles and catchy songs to rock out to. They were also a band that commanded a really loud sound when you saw them play live. Formed in the rock mecca of Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1988, Gordie Johnson, Kelly Hoppe, Gary Lowe and Paul Brennan really landed with the Hemi-Vision record, their third record and first platinum seller. This comes after a record that Jack White has since called the best record to come out of Canada. This was the first of the four Hemi-Vision singles and it got the ball rolling big time. Plus, Gordie’s guitar? Canadian iconic stuff in my opinion.

“Got my head in a haze
Feel like a cat in a cage
I’ve been crying for days and I’m falling apart
Digging a hole in my heart
Give me the lies on page
I’m feelin’ twice my age
I’ve been crying for days and I’m falling apart
Digging a hole in my heart”

Track #14: Andrew WK – Party Hard – I Get Wet (2001)

Way to end the playlist with something absurd, right? Ruins the whole esthetic of the jumble I was going for! AAAAAAARGH!!! Oh, well, the reality is I’m a late comer to the musical art of Andrew W.K., out of Ann Arbor, Michigan by way of Stanford, California, and when he debuted, I’ll be honest, I thought it was a joke. What I didn’t see was his inclusivity, his kind nature, his drive to unite an audience and this all rises above the dirty white clothes and bloody noses. The guy was an avant garde artist and I didn’t notice that until I matured more myself. As for the song? It just rules.

“When it’s time to party, we will party hard”

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Sep 6

stevestebbing

no comments

September 6, 2024

This week’s episode has some thrillers for your eyes as Zoe Kravitz lands as a writer/director and puts her beau, Channing Tatum, in the position to deliver the performance of his career and Chloe and I examine Brandy’s new A24 chiller The Front Room from the Eggers brothers to varying results. Lee Daniels has some exorcism to do on Netflix and has Glenn Close uttering some complete madness, Jeremy Saulnier also returns to the platform with some slow-burn action and my Greek Mythology love gets tickled by the new series Kaos. All of this plus I started a rewatch of the Ocean’s trilogy for my latest Movie Journey.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Aug 30

stevestebbing

no comments

August 30, 2024

It’s a mixed bag this week to kick it all off, as the long gestated reboot of The Crow completely offended this uber fan of the original 1994 film! We correct course as both Chloe and I have nothing but big love and amazement for the new horror thriller, Strange Darling, a film Chloe says is the best of 2024! Only Murders In The Building and Solar Opposites have new seasons on Disney+, some bullriding American arrives on blu-ray from Well Go USA and I watched a quartet of film legends fall in love throughout Paris. All this and more on an all new episode!

Songs Of A Fortnight #16

stevestebbing

no comments

August 26, 2024

I feel almost apologetic every time I release these as, at first, I feel like I’m setting up a vibe but as the weeks progress, my feeling at the time changes and my days evolve to the point that I ruin the whole soul of what I was going for by including Catch Your Breath. You can argue the scale was starting to tip with Chevelle but I feel that song in my very soul so I can’t really be faulted on it. This time, I got some favorites with Childish Gambino and CKY, a movie-related track from Kavinsky and two artists making their threepeat on the list. Dig in and enjoy the ride with a good rap kickoff then a solid thriple threat of rock.

Track #1: Childish Gambino – I.Crawl – Because The Internet (2013)

Going back to the Gambino discography to kick off this playlist and I’m picking a track from one of the landmark records of hip hop in the 2010s. There is a lot going on in a song written by Donald Glover and this, the kick-off to the record, is a complex odyssey that we have come to expect from the gifted musician. A great beat with some fast and furious lyrics, trying to keep up with the flow of it makes you almost dizzy. For obvious reasons as a white guy, I don’t even try to rap along with Gambino, I just appreciate it.

“(Who am I?)
Rec League, I ain’t paying to ball
Y’all B-string like a broke guitar
And I still put it down like the family dog
Yeah, I murder some, murder one
Explain it all, Ferguson
We ain’t gotta sing the same old love song
Cut a white girl with the same black gloves on
Yeah, what you saying to it?
Old money look, no money don’t do it
Make ’em turn around in their lane like a U-ie
And I’m only looking back if I’m looking at her booty
(At her booty) What’s the rationale?
They wanna smoke **** when they Black and mild
So we act it out—okay, cool“

Track #2: Jane’s Addiction – True Nature – Strays (2003)

It’s easy for me to say that I didn’t appreciate Perry Farrell and his legendary Los Angeles, California band mates, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins and Chris Chaney, during their heyday but now, in my mature retrospect, I find myself listening to them a lot. This song, the kick-off to Strays, is so hard not to rock out to. As soon as Perry sings “Here we go!” you really just want to cruise along with Navarro’s crunchy guitar rift. This is also the kick-off of a reunion sparked by Farrell’s side project Porno For Pyros contribution to the Dark Blue soundtrack that brought him and drummer Perkins back together. So, we can thank Kurt Russell for this record in a way.

“Please believe, we live and breathe
Through native tongue and poetry
All these years, man, we believed, yeah”

Track #3: Our Lady Peace – Starseed – Naveed (1994)

This is a cool one for a few reasons. First, I’m adding some Canadian content and, secondly, it is a band that means a lot to us Canucks, one responsible for hit after hit after hit. This song is one of those first hits, leading me to the third reason this pick rocks as it is off an album that was one of the first CDs I ever bought for myself. Naveed as an album is one of the pivotal records in my music appreciating life but it was seeing the music video for this track that put me on the path. A tight group out of Toronto, Ontario, many of their songs are on my liked songs list, so many will appear right here on a later playlist. Also, Jeremy Taggert is one of Canada’s greatest drummers ever. No question.

“When I find out what went on
I’ll bring it back, but it won’t be easy
They won’t believe how a man, he could drown
In a starseed, starseed
Oh-oh, oh-oh”

Track #4: Chevelle – So Long, Mother Earth – NIRATIAS (2021)

If there was an album that was responsible for bringing me back to life in a music-based emotion, it would be Taylor Swift’s Folklore and this record, one that I spun every day since it came out for at least one track. That one song would usually be this one, the first one after the intro, Verruckt. The guitar along with Pete’s incredible vocals keep this song as a beautiful earworm in my head probably for the rest of my life and I have zero problems with that. And his scream on the “so long” at the end of the song? One of my favorite ends to a song ever and that’s not hyperbole.

“So with miles and miles to go
You never left or found your purpose
Get up, you can and you will
Time is so vast and risky as hell”

Track #5: Kavinsky – Nightcall – Nightcall (2010)

My love for movies and music blends right here because I wouldn’t have known about this killer synth track by this Seine-Saint-Denis, France-born DJ if it wasn’t for this song’s use in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. Without this being the soundtrack to RyanGosling’s cruise around Los Angeles, I wouldn’t have been immersed in his discography and those like him and I am grateful for all the suggestions that have come from it. I also love that Childish Gambino uses it for “R.I.P” with Bun B and it was beautifully covered by London Grammer who makes it their own. Thanks to my friend Leanne for the recommendation on the cover song.

“I’m giving you a night call to tell you how I feel
(We’ll go all, all, all night long)
I want to drive you through the night, down the hills
(We’ll go all, all, all night long)
I’m gonna tell you something you don’t want to hear
(We’ll go all, all, all night long)
I’m gonna show you where it’s dark, but have no fear
(We’ll go all, all, all night long)”

Track #6: Fozzy – Nowhere To Run – Boombox (2022)

It’s really funny to follow Kavinsky with this because there is a movie-related reason for this song being on the list too. The reason is band founder and lead singer Chris Jericho is the producer on a new film called The Death Tour and I am trying to secure an interview with the wrestling god, a huge figure in my pro wrestling fandom. As a result, I have been playing Fozzy tracks all day and his song simply stood out as my favorite of the day. It was the first track released off of the Boombox record, which, right now, is the last album they put out.

“Where do I go, go from here?
Hold my ground or disappear
Nowhere to run, nowhere to run, oh
Now that I’m all out of time
One last stand to make it right
Nowhere to run, nowhere to run
Nowhere to run
Staring at the barrel of a gun
Nowhere to run, nowhere to run
I can feel it burning in my lungs
Nowhere to run, nowhere to run
Nowhere to run”

Track #7: Catch Your Breath – Deadly – Shame On Me (2023)

I really have to thank Spotify for putting me on the path of this metalcore band out of Austin, Texas. I know it totally dispels the vibe of this playlist so far with some metal crunch and dreams but, you know me, I can’t resist. There’s a well-roundedness to the sound of this band, including full synth, that really gets me going and when it comes on my stereo, I really blast it. This song is one that I go to all the time, a track that might be my favorite off of this album, their debut arrival on the scene. I can’t wait to hear what’s next.

“Oh, let me die in your arms tonight
Crashing down ’til we both collide
Under the knife, barely alive
I had a vision of how I would die
From a kiss so deadly”

Track #8: Dead Sara – Weatherman – Dead Sara (2012)

The first time I heard this track on Vancouver radio I was absolutely blown away by it. A good opening riff and some great sultry singing from lead singer Emily Armstrong drew me in and then she unleashed a roar in that chorus and I knew this Los Angeles band would stick in my ear for a while. A really kicking three-piece band, it’s crazy to think that they’ve only released three records including this debut from 2012 and that none of the songs have reached the success of Weatherman but it’s a solid start for anyone that needs a good rock band with some crunch to them.

“I sing for the melody and I sing for reason
And I’ll sing as the neglect for all that un-American”

Track #9: Kasabian – Club Foot – Kasabian (2004)

This one is really cool as it is a classic Brit rock song that is going to be hitting the milestone of twenty years on my birthday this year at the beginning of September. Hailing from Leicester, England, Kasabian arrived with energy and originality and never seemed to make the same song or record twice. This track in particular is a great pump-up song and has been used by European football clubs regularly to get them psyched for their upcoming battles. It feels like the perfect song to use over a video of action-packed highlights in my opinion.

“One, take control of me?
You’re messing with the enemy
Said it’s two, it’s another trick
Messing with my mind, I wake up
Chase down an empty street
Blindly snap the broken beats
Said it’s gone, with the dirty trick
It’s taken all these days to find ya”

Track #10: Atreyu – Bleeding Mascara – The Curse (2004)

Clearly, I have a deep love for Atreyu as this is the third time they have appeared on a playlist and they are the first artist to do so thus far. This was the first song I ever heard by Atreyu and it’s the lead track off of this record, a roar of a beginning that follows the intro, Blood Children. It was the tipping point to a fandom that exists today and an introduction to an album that I still listen to regularly. If you don’t want to hear more from this band after listening to this track, you won’t be into them at all.

“Look how pretty she is
When she falls down
Now, there’s no beauty in
Bleeding mascara
Lips are quivering
Like a withering rose
She’s back again”

Track #11: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Gold Lion – Show Your Bones (2006)

The goddess Karen O graces the list for her second time with a song off of the second album so it looks like I’m going in succession with their discography. The difference between this song and the last one is that this song was the first single released off the record, just the day before the album was. It is also the song that kicks off the record, a noticeable next step in the evolution of sound that this incredible New York three-piece is capable of. I also love the high-pitched Karen O choruses and Gold Lion has a great one.

“Now, tell me what you saw
Tell me what you saw
There was a crowd of seeds
Inside, outside
I must have done a dozen each
It was the height I grew
The weight, the shell was crushing you
I’ve been around a few”

Track #12: CKY – 96 Quite Bitter Beings – Camp Kill Yourself, Vol. 1 (1999)

Just like my inclusion of H.I.M. on a playlist a while back, I have to credit Bam Margera’s skate and Jackass predecessor CKY or Camp Kill Yourself videos from the early 2000s for me bringing his brother Jess’s alt-metal band. He plays the drums for those who don’t know. This song in particular is the lone single released from it but exits, for me, in a vacuum of fantastic songs off this debut record. It’s also the first part in the “Hellview trilogy” which tells of a deranged town and its inhabitants, the second and third piece being “Escape from Hellview” and “Hellions on Parade.” I may be biased, but the simplicity of these songs and the catchiness of the tunes always have me revisiting it, right up until now.

“At the fork turn left, a store, but on the right stay free from sight
Cause 96 quite bitter beings like to stack the bodies high
The only way to ever leave is overflooded by the storm
And entanglement in Hellview brings you fear in fifty forms
They’ve deleted all the tourists at the bottom of the lake
And not one supports the cause to leave the blood stay in the veins”

Track #13: Nicki Minaj – Last Time I Saw You – Pink Friday 2 (2023)

Starting out my thoughts on this track, I will say that as a human being, fom what I know, it’s hard to be supportive of Nicki Minaj. Her husband is beyond problematic and some of her own documented actions have been just as suspect, including a recent public feud with Megan Thee Stallion which got embarrassing and left the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago rapper and singer in the dust. Professionally, she is an incredible talent that is included at the top of her genre and has an argument for being included in the best of all time and this song is another jewel in that crown in my opinion. The song itself has Nicki reflecting on a past relationship and what she could have done better during it. It’s this kind of inner soul searching that might help her personally, rather than just for music hits.

“Listen
So close, but we were so distant
Wish I’da known in that instant
Ignored the hints or I missed it
I killed it
You’d always be in attendance
No flights, but always attendant
Handwritten letter, you penned it
Them nights we wish never ended
Those rules that we wish we bended
Heartbreak that we never mended
Those messages we unsended
Best friends we somehow unfriended
Ain’t care ’bout who we offended
Parties they wish we attended
Got drunk and laughed, it was splendid”

Track #14: Tegan And Sara – Walking With A Ghost – So Jealous (2004)

There’s something special and unique towards the end of this playlist as the final song is another threepeat artist with Canadian twins Tegan and Sara Quin bringing this grouping of songs to a close with the first single off of their fourth record and a song that was also covered by The White Stripes. I just found out about Stripes cover and it has such a different edge to it, I recommend checking it out after the original. I think it just showcases how great they are as songwriters that it translates so well between signature sounds. It’s also a solid song to go out on, I think. I love that hook.

“I was walking with a ghost
I said please, please don’t insist
I was walking with a ghost
I said please, please don’t insist”

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Aug 23

stevestebbing

no comments

August 23, 2024

Another anticipated film of 2024 and the last big movie of 2024, I have my thoughts on the new installment in the Alien universe, Alien: Romulus and, to balance it out, I head into a review of the sweetheart animal film, My Penguin Friend. Jason Swartzman and Carol Kane bring all of the chemistry for a great comedy in Between The Temples, Mark Wahlberg has something new and mediocre on Netflix and John Cena and Awkwafina team up to stay alive. All this and more on an all new episode.

What The Hell Should I Watch? – Aug 16

stevestebbing

no comments

August 16, 2024

Are we being punished by the movies? It looks that way as I took in Eli Roth’s attempt to bring Borderlands to the big screen. I even it out with a fantastic and quiet little indie film and also got to check out the new collaboration between Matt Damon and the other Affleck, Casey. Lots of new television to talk about with Ted Lasso’s main man Bill Lawrence teaming up with Vince Vaughn in Bad Monkey and the return of an HBO dark horse, Industry, for its third season. All this and more on this new episode!

Songs Of A Fortnight #15

stevestebbing

no comments

August 12, 2024

I had a really great thing going on here, great vibes and nothing to displace the mood. Sure, we got a little rocky occasionally, but it was all heading in the right direction. That is until I had a hell of a day and the mood got dark. Really dark. So dark that Lamb Of God had to come out and dispel that aura with its pure driven metal from Virginia. Yes, I put a big cleaver in the who nice times feeling but I still have some great off-the-path acts like The KVB and Editors, legends in their own respects, like Pink Floyd and Robyn and proven hit makers in Rise Against and Cage The Elephant. So, come on, kick off your shoes and enjoy that chillness until the guillotine.

Track #1: The KVB – Always Then – Always Then (2012)

Do you know those goth kids on South Park who have those dance breaks where they just kind of sway back and forth with their bangs hanging in their faces? Well, that’s kind of what I’m starting the playlist off with this time but in the best possible way. An audio-visual driven post-punk duo originally formed in London, England, their lean into the electro sound with this song really nabbed me and it really has to stem from my love for She Wants Revenge, an American goth rock band that I think really sounds British, kind of like how The Bravery does too. I’m still new to their discography but I now really want to see them live if their music is more based around a visual story as well. Sadly, I can’t see that they’ve ever toured North America before.

“Well you ran against the grain
And there’s only you to blame
And this life takes its toll
When you’re a face that no one knows”

Track #2: Rise Against – Satellite – Endgame (2011)

Rise Against has been a favorite of mine for a really long time and will always have a place in my heart for being the first concert I brought my oldest daughter Chloe to. Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, this punk rock band has always given themes of fighting back against oppression and championing what’s right and that comes down to the conviction of lead singer and guitarist Tim McIlrath’s always poignant and powerful lyrics. This song raises the album’s message high, released as the third single, and is all about inspiring the next generation to stand up and take action against an oppressive and unjust government. Given their political views, I would say this song works as an anthem against the MAGA movement as well.

“You can’t feel the heat until you hold your hand over the flame
You have to cross the line just to remember where it lays
You won’t know your worth now, son, until you take a hit
And you won’t find the beat until you lose yourself in it”

Track #3: Robyn – Show Me Love – Robyn Is Here (1995)

Sadly, Robyn is an artist that I arrived to fandom woefully late on but my catch-up with her entire incredible discography was a quick read. Given the time of the release of this single, one of the four released off of her debut record, I definitely wasn’t listening to international pop music but thanks to my wife giving me more of an appreciation of the genre in retrospect, I have found her to be a favorite. By way of Stockholm, Sweden, Robyn is an artist who will continually show up on his list and the fact that this record was produced by mega music god Max Martin makes this connection even more fascinating.

“Show me love (Yeah, yeah), show me life (Alright)
Baby, show me what it’s all about (Me what it’s all about)
You’re the one that I ever needed (Show me love)
Show me love and what it’s all about, alright (Hey, hey, oh)
Show me love, show me life (Alright)
Baby, show me what it’s all about
You’re the one that I ever needed
Show me love and what it’s all about, alright”

Track #4: Billie Eilish – my strange addiction – WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? (2019)

You have to have a love for a song that starts out with a classic quote from The Office and this is how we knew that Billie was a mega fan of the long-running series. It’s been so endearing to see her use her stardom to have moments with each of the cast members and even guest on the Office Ladies podcast with Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer. I’ve allowed that to derail this entire section about this being a great song on the playlist but the track is pretty self-explanatory in how fantastic it is. Billie’s voice is incredible and the beats that Finneas lay underneath it is impeccable as always. There’s a real palpable reason why they left with an armload of Grammys for this record.

“Deadly fever, please don’t ever break
Be my reliever ’cause I don’t self medicate
And it burns like a gin and I like it
Put your lips on my skin and you might ignite it
Hurts, but I know how to hide it, kinda like it (Teh)”

Track #5: Editors – Papillon – In This Light And On This Evening (2009)

I feel like this song would’ve fit better on the last playlist with the inclusion of the classic Bigmouth by The Smiths but with The KVB kicking off this one, this Moseley, Birmingham, England indie rock band still very much fits the mould. The leading single off of their third record, the track feels like the definition of the term “darkwave music” as it has that “bangs swinging in your face” feel that I was talking about with Always Then but with a bigger more well-rounded sound of the four-piece band. Editors were a late development with me but they are definitely here to stay now. Expect more of their tracks to appear here.

“Darling
Just don’t put down your guns yet
If there really was a God here
He’d have raised a hand by now
Now darling
You’re born, get old and die here
Well that’s quite enough for me
We’ll find our own way home somehow”

Track #6: Tate McRae – grave – THINK LATER (2023)

Calgary’s own brand new pop star, I got hooked on this album really quickly due to Spotify suggesting it and have it playing pretty regularly now. Since the release of the record, there is definitely some Tate hate on the net that I can’t get behind, people hating on her live show. I haven’t seen it personally but she had some great performances on Jimmy Kimmel as well as an appearance at this year’s NHL All-Star game. Anyways, to go on about this banger off the record, the song is about trying to change a person to salvage a relationship and then coming to terms with the ending of it. Tate’s vocals are beautiful in it as always.

“I could never make you want me like I wanted to be wanted
I could never really change you like I thought that I could
I was tryna make us somethin’ out of nothin’, we were nothin’ at all
You can only dig the grave so deep
You can only try to save somethin’ that’s not already gone”

Track #7: Weezer – Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Weezer (Teal Album) (2019)

I don’t bring the cover songs all that often but some squeak through that are undeniable and Rivers and the gang covering a track from one of the greatest new wave acts to come out of the eighties is kind of perfect. The Teal Album is a fantastic collection of all cover songs that really show the legendary alt-rockers’ sources of inspiration and the coolest thing is they all sound really close to the original songs which shows how chameleon-like Weezer could be without us even really thinking about it. Tears For Fears is a favorite of mine so expect them to show up on the list eventually but this is a really neat conduit to present them I think.

“Welcome to your life
There’s no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you”

Track #8: Pink Floyd – Have A Cigar – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Time to get classic and by classic I mean a real classic with this track off of one of the greatest records of all time, made by one of the greatest bands of all time. Floyd is a band that has meant something to me since a really young age, with this record, Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall being on the record player often as I was growing up, so I had a deep love for each track for a long time. This one, in particular, is one I absolutely love because it is essentially about selling out to the record companies, ones who only see you as dollar signs and don’t even really know your name. It is a self-proclaimed assault on the greasy side of music production and I love its swanky guitar sound. Roger Waters was really cooking with this one.

“Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar
You’re gonna go far
You’re gonna fly high
You’re never gonna die
You’re gonna make it if you try
They’re gonna love you
Well, I’ve always had a deep respect and I mean that most sincerely
The band is just fantastic
That is really what I think
Oh, by the way, which one’s Pink?”

Track #9: The Offspring – Gone Away – Ixnay On The Hombre (1997)

I find it really interesting that the first two Offspring songs on the playlist are songs that mean the most to me out of their large discography. Gotta Get Away is special for the energy and time when it came out and this track was the defining piece of this landmark release of theirs, the fourth album from the legendary Garden Grove, California punk rock band. Dexter Holland wrote the song after a near-death experience in which he was in a diner and got shot up during a gang fight. I never would have guessed that by listening to the track.

“And it feels, and it feels like
Heaven is so far away
And it feels, yeah, it feels like
The world has grown cold
Now that you’ve gone away”

Track #10: Lamb Of God – Again We Rise – Sacrament (2006)

I know, I know, I’m killing the vibe of this playlist just after midway through with some screaming thrash metal but you have to understand that I was having a bad day and really needed a pick me up. There is no better way to do that than to have Randy Blythe growl “RISE” after that singular guitar riff intro. Believe me, it is so deliciously soothing to a group of raw nerves and it brings me back to the many times I have seen them live. What a metal assault this song is, another awesome track in an arsenal of many, plus, this is another of their pointed political songs, from the era of the second Bush administration, a time that feels so long ago now.

“Blood and fire used to fill the night
Burned and drowned by our very lives
You missed a sinking boat by years
Dollar signs, crocodile tears
It’s over now and long has been
Those days are gone, won’t come again
Another name crossed off the list
The real thing would kill you quick”

Track #11: Temple Of The Dog – Say Hello 2 Heaven – Temple Of The Dog (1990)

The emotions hit very hard just moments into this song with those first chords in this tribute song to Mother Love Bone’s Andrew Wood. Now, we live in a world without the singer of this track, Chris Cornell, a hole left in rock music that is felt every day. The second single off the supergroup’s self-titled record after the massive success of Hunger Strike, this is my favorite song off the album and if the moment hits me right, I can feel the tears building which I think shows how special this song is. Music is timeless and sometimes, just for a special space in imaginative time, it can resurrect legends.

“New like a baby, and lost like a prayer
The sky was your playground, but the cold ground was your bed
Ooh, I said, poor Stargazer, she’s got no tears in her eyes
But fool like a whisper, she knows that love heals all wounds with time
Now it seem like too much love is never enough
Yeah, you better seek out another road, ’cause this one has ended abrupt, oh!”

Track #12: Marshmello and Khalid – Numb – Numb (2022)

Sometimes you just need a boppy single to get back on track mentally and Numb is one that I generally wouldn’t gravitate to but it really is so damn catchy. The second collaboration between the producer and R&B singer, it marks nearly a five-year stretch since their first hit together, “Silence”, a track that leads into Khalid’s sensibilities more, I think Numb’s style made it more destined to be a chart-topper. I also contend that any song with a whistle in its main chorus will always catch on with a mainstream audience. It’s almost scientific at this point to increase your serotonin when hearing it.

“I, I wanna get numb
And forget where I’m from
‘Cause lookin’ in your eyes
Like lookin’ at the sun
I feel like you’re the moon
I feel like I’m the one
I wanna get numb, numb, numb, numb
I, I wanna get numb
And forget where I’m from
‘Cause lookin’ in your eyes
Like lookin’ at the sun
I feel like you’re the moon
I feel like I’m the one
I wanna get numb, numb, numb, numb”

Track #13: The Black Keys – Shine A Little Light – “Let’s Rock” (2019)

When you’re looking for an old-school sounding rock band in the modern age, you really can’t go wrong with the duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, together known as Akron, Ohio’s own The Black Keys. Taking the first track off of their ninth studio album, this song sets a tone for the rest of the record and with that crunchy opening, it is the perfect sound for getting shit done, rolling on a road trip or just playing some serious air guitar. The song is about reaching out to the spirits of those who have left us to ease our times for the living. All this is done in the style that the Keys have really made their own.

“No one really knows
Where it goes from here
But we all decompose
And slowly disappear”

Track #14: Cage The Elephant – Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked – Cage The Elephant (2008)

There’s something about an outlaw-sounding storytelling song that really ropes me in and this Bowling Green, Kentucky alt-rock band has a sound that they’ve cultivated beautifully for themselves. I was shocked to discover that this was the third single released off of the record, which surprises me as this and Back Against The Wall, the fourth single released, are my favorite tracks off the album. This song was also used in the opening cutscene to the video game Borderlands which is relevant with the terrible film adaptation now playing in theaters.

“Not even fifteen minutes later I’m still walking down the street
When I saw the shadow of a man creep out out of sight
And then he swept up from behind, he put a gun up to my head
He made it clear he wasn’t looking for a fight
He said, “Give me all you’ve got, I want your money, not your life
But if you try to make a move, I won’t think twice”
I told him, “You can have my cash, but first you know I gotta ask
What made you want to live this kind of life?””