Apologies for missing Friday. I had the double-whammy of watching my 22-month nephew and having to head downtown to watch L march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. And when I got home there were hoops to be watched. So there was no time for blogging activities.

“M.A.H.” – U.S. Girls. A political song with a twist. This track, which channels turn of the decade Blondie, definitely comes from the political left. But it’s target is unexpected: Barack Obama. Megan Remy takes the former president to task for accelerating the use of drones to carry out US foreign policy, and for, in her view, doing more to reinforce the patriarchy that shift away from it. That all seems a little heavy for an utterly fantastic pop song, but it’s great to listen to whether you get into the lyrical content or not.

“Pain Killer” – Iceage featuring Sky Ferreira. Just a wonderful change of pace from this Danish band that normally stays in the darkest areas of post punk. Those roots are evidence in the vocals of this track, but the horn section takes their music in a totally different direction than anything they’ve done before.

“Blue Field” – The Luxembourg Signal. This song is both timeless and placeless. It could have dropped any year between 1994 and right now. And the band could come from anywhere between California and Scotland. That vagueness could pose a problem, but on this track they hit all the right notes.

“Across the Room” – ODESZA featuring Leon Bridges. Bridges released the first two songs from his new album last week. I heard this song, which is from ODESZA’s late 2017 album, on the same day. At least at first listen, this one struck me a little harder. 

“I Did It!” – Kitten. Some more glamorous, retro pop to close out the playlist.