Weekly Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/740AxPbCJFtipTV2HD3c9V?si=IcO4bxaIQhqWZdNxFiELMw 

Jacob’s picks 

1. Protomartyr – “Modern Business Hymns” 
2. Horrendous – “Prescience” 
3. Chromatics & Glass Candy – “Ceremony” 
4. Mortician – “Drowned in Your Blood” 
5. Sanguisugabogg – “Felching Filth”
6. Travis Scott feat. Toro y Moi – “Flying High” 

With the weekend just within reach, I couldn’t pick a better song to represent that than “Modern Business Hymns” by post-punk standout Protomartyr. The track is a clear throwback to pre-2000 punk, but far more focused. Vocalist Joe Casey is exceptional here, and the track makes the listener feel like there’s something in their life worth celebrating. 

“Prescience” is a remarkable and eerie soundscape from death metal band Horrendous. Faint atmospherics and an unforgettable bass line from bassist Alex Kulick make this track very easy to fall in love with the craft of instrumentation. 

“Ceremony” by Chromatics & Glass Candy could easily end up on any of these weekly playlists. The track is very melancholic through its layered synths, intimate vocals and meditative guitar chords. 

The first of the two brutal death metal tracks in my section, Mortician’s “Drowned in Your Blood” is a mammoth of a track. Heavy distortion, monstrous riffs and grizzly vocals all capture the essence of the horror movies their songs are inspired by. New brutal death metal goodies are supplied by Sanguisugabogg on their grimy “Felching Filth.” If someone were to find themselves swimming through sewage, this would be the track to accompany that endeavor. The drums and guitar tone are so damn good. 

From a production standpoint, Travis Scott and Toro y Moi were a match made in heaven. It’s impossible to not have a good time with this track, Scott provides great verses while Toro y Moi brings in a sun-soaked vibe to the track.  

Brandon’s picks

1. Heavenward – “MJ-12”
2. Bluetile Lounge – “Concrete/Tunnels
3. Great Grandpa – “Dark Green Water” 
4. Oso Oso – “Charlie”
5. Shakewell – “5 Ways”
6. Arlo Parks – “Green Eyes”

Heavenward is the solo grunge-shoegaze project of former Teenage Wrist front man, Kamtin Mohager. The band has been releasing single after single, its latest release being “MJ-12,” an enigmatic track with Mohager’s signature velvet soft vocals. 

The sole track on Spotify from nineties slowcore band Bluetile Lounge, “Concrete/Tunnels”, is a peaceful, slow paced track packed with nostalgia. Washed out melancholic lyrics coupled with an ethereal slide guitar create a wonderful listening experience. 

Since releasing their latest album “Four Arrows,” Seattle alternative indie group, Great Grandpa, has been killing it. The opening track from the 2019 project “Dark Green Water” is an impactful and emotional track. The bridge on this track will drown the listener in sounds from instruments and everyday life, sinking them into a daze. 

Everyone has a collection of records they consider perfect. One of these no skip albums for me comes from NY rock band Oso Oso, on their record “basking in the glow”. My favorite track from this project is the heartbreaking “Charlie.” The lovelorn track is about understanding that everyone is on their own journey and things come to an end. RIP Tavish Maloney, the band’s guitarist, who died earlier this week. 

“5 Ways” is a hip-hop trap track by Oakland rapper Shakewell. This track is the most recent release from the rapper and it will knock speakers with its booming 808.

UK singer and songwriter Arlo Parks recently released her album “Collapsed In Sunbeams” to much fanfare. Coming off that release is the track “Green Eyes” which is a dreamy lo-fi indie pop song that just feels like summer. “Green Eyes” is the perfect track to play on a nice day while driving with the windows down. 

Jamie’s picks

1. Goth Babe – “Laurelhurst”
2. Rod Wave – “Moving On”
3. Portugal. The Man – “Sleep Forever” 
4. G Herbo – “Sessions” 

The solo artist, Goth Babe, makes music from his travel van in which he lives, exploring the world with his dog. For the past two summers, Goth Babe has released singles which are nothing less than absolutely fitting for someone living in an indie dream, traveling the world, watching sunrises and making countless memories. Goth Babe does it again just in time this summer with “Laurelhurst,” an easy going and fun-loving song. For an artist who travels the world in a van, he definitely knows how to capture that in music and make someone feel as though they, too, are on the road to somewhere. 

“Moving On” by Rod Wave is a song off of the rapper’s most recent album “SoulFly.” As the weather changes, and the global pandemic sort of has an end in sight, life is changing; we have changed and it’s hard to imagine ourselves now resuming the life we lived before isolation. As we change, as life changes and perhaps as people leave this season of our lives, it’s time to move on. Do some spring cleaning in your head and listen to this song. 

“Sleep forever” came out in 2011, but the meaning has taken on a whole different role in a twenty-something’s life. Hearing this at age 11 definitely does not compare to hearing the lyrics now at 21. Portugal. The Man made an absolute masterpiece with this song, speaking on the way many young people don’t want to work forever, and would rather sleep forever, unfortunately. In the endless circle of labor we’re often forced into, we become our mothers, our fathers, and we just don’t want that. We want more out of life, and we should work to find it. 

“Sessions” dropped in 2019, but recently G Herbo has been making room for mental health education and resources for Black men specifically in Chicago, who might feel as though they need to bury their traumas, and who constantly have to protect themselves and choose a dangerous lifestyle in order to survive. I think this is extremely important, and goes to show you can look and be someone like G Herbo, but deal with your demons. So, in honor of that, I’ve been playing this repeatedly.