Friday Playlist

Perhaps a bit of an edge to this week’s playlist thanks to the general theme of a few songs.

“American Dream” – Alabama Shakes
Brittany is letting people know!

“Heatin Park” – DMA’S
As if these Aussies haven’t already pushed the Manchester sound enough through their first four albums, now the lead single for LP5 is about a park in Manchester. I salute them for being completely committed to the bit!

“Yip Yip Yow” – Caroline Rose
This track rips! And yips!

“Should’ve Known Better” – The Beaches
More perfect, timeless pop from these ladies.

“The Standard Model” – MORN
(Beavis and Butthead bang heads) “YES! YES! YES!” Some IDLES via Wales vibes here.

“Big Stick” – MUNA
Well this is something completely different for MUNA. I like it.

“Hercules” – Tracey Nelson
If you’re catching MJ Lenderman feels on this one, that might be because Lenderman produced and played on this album for his pal Nelson. I don’t love any of the songs I’ve listened to, but felt compelled to share it since Nelson drew the artwork for the album cover himself. And it references something I love very much from his hometown in Kansas.

“Statue Down” – Alex Cameron
I read a preview of Cameron’s upcoming album this week that referred to him as an “Australian smart ass,” which I found both fitting and hilarious. Depending on your point of view, here he’s either making fun of people who want to tear down statues of people they disagree with, or noting how so many of the people we’ve put up statues for were actually awful. Since he’s a smart ass, I think there are elements of each point of view, but it leans more towards the later.

“Spring summer” – Smerz
Ahh the middle season in the Midwest. We’ve bounced between nice days in the 70s to others where it is only around 60° with winds that make it feel 10° cooler.

“1–2–3–4” – Feist
This week’s 60 Songs That Explain The ‘90s: The 2000s covered this classic. I had forgotten how Feist went from being a kind of odd, underground artist to this monster hit that also became one of the iconic iPod ads of that era nearly overnight. And how it sort of fucked her up and made her never want to have a song this big again.

As a bonus, Rob Harvilla played part of her appearance on Sesame Street, so let’s take a look at that, too.

The penguins are awesome. And I love how Feist has said people stop her in the airport and talk more about her appearance on Sesame Street than anything else she’s done. In an odd way that might be exactly what she needed.