I took a week off for Labor Day, which means I’ve got a backlog of great music to get to. Why bother with a long-winded intro then. Let’s just get to it.
Local Picks
OK, this is cheating. Hardly a new song—this Mankato band hit No. 1 on the Twin Cities charts in 1964, back when local charts were still a thing and some kids jamming in their garage could top them. It even landed on Lenny Kaye's original Nuggets comp. But a Gestures album is getting a new vinyl release and I thought it was a good reason to revisit this song's peculiar surfy froth, jabbing forward thrust, and creepy harmony. Who's gonna stop me? You?
When I was staggering through my 30 shows in 30 days stunt this summer, I caught Lana Leone at Pilllar and liked what I heard; their (not her) new EP Meadowlark proves I wasn't just in a good mood. Singer/songwriter Alana Christen is dreamy but no pushover, and there's a chord change here I just can't get enough of.
Self-described "starving middle school math teacher" floats Death Cabbily through a rousing synth-pop track that won me over even before I read that his son died last year, and this was his favorite song.
Symptones, “Take a Look Around”
This guitar band power-chords around on the more accessible side of what we used to call alt-rock (and now call _____?); the standout track for me from their new self-titled album is one of their brawniest, with some rousing "woo-hoo-hoo"s, which never hurt.
Every so often, someone asks if we feature local music videos on Racket, the way CP used to with Local Frames. The answer is not really—I’m trying to cast my net a little wider with this column. But that doesn’t mean I can’t highlight a video when the song it visualizes features such a wonderful low guitar scraping. Or when the band members went way out west to Death Valley to shoot it—and found themselves trapped in an historic heat wave. Click the link above to watch the Catties endure the elements.
Non-Local Picks
Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion, “Bongos”
Yes, it’s no “WAP”—what is? Who else but Cardi could come up with “My pussy tight like a nun”? Well, maybe Meg, who contributes “Y'all hoes broke, pussy took more turns than a keyhole.”
Tyler Childers, “Rustlin’ in the Rain”
Unofficially branded as "the country guy it’s OK to love" (and unexpected bestowee of TikTok-generated fame) Childers is an ambitious guy, even on this seven-track EP. Yet somehow I like the modest title track most. Must be the fiddling.
JID & BabyTron feat. Lil Yachty, “Half Doin’ Dope”
What a mix of MCs—alt-by-association J. Cole signee and Spillage Villager JID, Detroit joker BabyTron, and eccentric with increased psych tendencies Lil Yachty. Does it work? Friends, it works.
Romy, “She’s on My Mind”
On her first solo album, Mid Air, the wispy female voice from the XX emerges as a full-fledged human with active desires, including carnal ones, and nowhere more so than on this closing track.
The indie guitar virtuoso returns, as arithmetically adept as ever.
Wanna get a local song considered for the playlist? To make things easy on both of us, email keith@racketmn.com with MONDAY PLAYLIST in the subject header. (Don’t, as in do NOT, DM or text: If I’m in a good mood, I’ll just ask you to send an email; if I’m in a bad mood I’ll just ignore it.)
