Friday Playlist

“Radio” – Junior Varsity
Back in my music podcast days, I liked to begin each transmission with a song that referenced either radio or political struggle, to represent my fight against corporate radio. This song would obviously be a track one if I was still podcasting.

“The World Is Fucked And I Love You” – Spencer Thomas
Sometimes songs come along and sum up the moment perfectly.

“Same Kids” – Girl Scout
This was the first single off GS’ album last fall, yet somehow I missed it. At least on my playlists.

“Partners In Crime” – Social Distortion
Still not peak level Social D, but now two singles from their upcoming album that are pretty good.

“Knock ‘Em Out” – Jon Spencer
No Blues Explosion with Spencer here, but doesn’t sound a whole lot different.

“Love Like Glue” – TVAM
Oh this is nice. Hints of Eighties Goth, Industrial, and I can even hear some hip hop and freestyle in the percussion.

“Sidestep” – World News
WN made my Favorite Songs of 2025 list with “Everything Is Coming Up Roses.” This could not sound more different. Am I getting mid–80s David + David vibes?

“Doing Donuts” – Matti Jasu
Lyrically this is about being on a treadmill, both personally and as a society. Musically, it is much lighter and makes you think of summer nights, doing donuts with your friends in an abandoned parking lot.

“April Skies” – The Jesus And Mary Chain
Last playlist of April and almost forgot to include this.

“We Just Disagree” – Dave Mason
Mason passed away this week at age 79. He began his career in the band Traffic, with Steve Winwood, was a member of Fleetwood Mac in the 1990s, but if you’re my age you mostly likely know him for this, his biggest solo hit. It is a gorgeous slice of AM Radio Gold.

Angine de Poitrine KEXP performance

Well, this week’s video is something very different. One of my brothers in music sent this performance to me last week. I guess it’s been tearing up the Internet for a while, but I had not heard of it. He wanted my thoughts, saying he had tried to get into it but just couldn’t.

I started the performance and lasted about 30 seconds before I bailed. No, nope, naw, this was not for me.

However, I did not close that tab. Later in the day I thought I should give it another shot. I paid more attention to what was going on musically and was soon entranced by how the guitar player built the songs with loops. And if you stuck with it, 3–4 minutes in, these weirdoes really started cooking once they had built all the layers of each song.

I’ve been watching their performances throughout the week. I wouldn’t say I am totally on board; I love melody and words to you can sing along with which this band totally lacks. They are so bizarre, though, that they are mesmerizing to watch. You can not ignore the skill it takes to perform live this way, in insane costumes to boot! And, again, if you have the patience to get through each song’s construction, once they come together, they are super groovy.

Your mileage may vary.