I’m off to the airport around 5:45 AM Friday for my weekend trip to Austin and I’ve got a busy day ahead of me as I prep, so I’ll post this 20-something hours early to avoid either forgetting to send it or messing up the scheduling options in WordPress.

“Alley Light” – Squirrel Flower
Ella Williams’ songs are often slow burners that crest and break near the end. I like how this one is carried by that crunchy guitar riff from start to finish.

“Conductors” – The Rural Alberta Advantage
Every song from this band is just a little better than their last. Which, over time, is a pretty good trend.

“Poor Boy” – Lydia Loveless
Loveless’ newest album dropped last week. Overall, it is really solid, with just enough tracks that crackle like this one to make it worth repeated listens.

“Midnight Sun” – RVG
I discovered this Aussie band back during the dark, early days of the pandemic. The songs on their latest album stretches back to that time as well. This one was inspired by the wild fires that devastated parts of Australia in 2019-20, and how politicians and the political media focused on divisive issues that riled up the electorate rather than address the causes of the disaster that was literally burning the country down. That sounds familiar for some reason…

“God’s Eyes” – Spookyland
The lead singer of RVG reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t make the connection. I woke up from a nap yesterday with this 2016 song in my head and realized it was the one I was trying to come up with. Both singers have that rough, Aussie vocal style that has been around for decades.

“Gimme Something” – LABRYS
You know those moments each day when it feels like our devices are monitoring everything we do and say? Like when you talk about someone and all of a sudden Facebook recommends them as a friend? Or if you mention dog food and start getting ads for dog food even though you don’t own a dog?

Last Sunday I began season two of Reservation Dogs. The next day this song was in my Discovery Weekly playlist. Tuesday night, as I watched episode nine, this song was used in a key moment. I should point out that I was not watching the latest season, season three, but rather season two, which was released a year ago. Kind of wild.

“Lone Star Song” – Grant Lee Buffalo
Somewhat along those same lines, this was in last week’s Discovery playlist. As if Spotify knew I was off to Texas for football and friends this weekend. I remember these guys having a moment during the Alternative Rock Revolution in the early ’90s. I think this and one of their other songs got a fair amount of airplay on KLZR back in Lawrence. Neither of my KU buddies I’m seeing this weekend were as into the alt rock culture as I was, so I don’t think we’ll be driving around listening to this and other forgotten gems from that era. Maybe Devin Neal will have a Tony Sands-like day, though?

“Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns” – Mother Love Bone
Still no word on a rescheduled Pearl Jam show. My buddy who got our tickets checked with his contact and heard there are still plans to reschedule, but no guidance on when. Makes me think it could be spring rather than this fall. Bummer. I’ve kept the Sirius Pearl Jam station in my favorites and heard both this original grunge classic and one of PJ’s takes on it this week.

“If I Can’t Have You” – Bee Gees
I went back and read a few of Tom Breihan’s older The Number Ones recently, including his entry about Yvonne Elliman’s classic from Saturday Night Fever I forgot he didn’t like it nearly as much as I do. I also forgot that in his post he included the Bee Gees’ version of the song, which was originally slated for the movie. He likes it better. Which, I get. It is Imperial Era Bee Gees awesomeness. But it sounds super strange to my ears. Yvonne’s version is my favorite song on that album, so I’m not without bias.

Have a good weekend.