Just a reminder that one of the little rules I have for these playlists is that I only add one track from each artist (not counting features). And that’s for the whole year. So if you’re wondering, “Where’s my band’s new single?” or, “Where’s that great song I heard the other day?” that might be the reason for the omission.
However, when I make my end of the year playlist, I reserve the right to sub in a song I like more by any artist.
Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s do 20 new songs this month, since I’ve been lazy.
Local Picks
Joe Bartel, “Toxic Air”
Freaked out by wildfire smoke and a zero bank balance and just “cause this world is really fucked up,” Bartel plunges into an acoustic singalong adorned occasionally with a scrawl of electric guitar. “But I’ll never let them lead us to despair”—that’s the spirit.
Bizhiki (feat. Mike Sullivan), “Gigawaabamin (Come Through)”
I’m cheating a little here with this made-in-Wisconsin product from Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, Joe Rainey, and S. Carey. But the trio debuted the music from the full-length, Unbound, at the Parkway recently, Rainey was raised in Minneapolis, and I reject the concept of borders. So there.
Dragnet, “Five Days”
“What a decent little punky throwback,” I thought when I stumbled across this on Bandcamp. And no wonder—this was first released in 1988, on the now digitally available Life in General. A reminder how many decent little punky bands have slipped through the cracks over time.
Fend, “Let It Eat”
Surprisingly mathy moments catch you up without undercutting Josie Villano’s wistful musing. The band’s debut album, Disc, is out next week.
Guante/Big Cats (feat. b ferguson), “I Didn’t Believe in the Fight; the Fight Made Me a Believer”
This was one of the key tracks that came up when I spoke with these guys about their new album, All Dressed Up, No Funeral. “What can one person do about the climate crisis?” Guante asks. The answer is nothing, and that’s the point—real problems require collective action.
Jenny Matrix, “Jenny”
On the lead track from their new EP, Enter the Matrix, this pop-punk band slows it down a bit for a catchy little narrative of trans melancholy: “Jenny was supposed to be a girl/But nothing ever works out like it should.”
Motion City Soundtrack, “Stop Talking”
Nobody ever said these guys didn’t know how to do pop-punk. From the new coming of age movie Dìdi, which is fittingly set in 2008.
Pyrrhic Victories, “BYOB”
On the lead track from his (their?) new EP Tunnel of Love, that lackadaisical but never sluggish beat justifies their (his?) “sappy sloppy slacker rock” tag.
Rosie feat. Caleb Dee, “SYRINGA”
There’s just so much happening on the title track from Rosie Castano’s new album. Her Auto-Tune-tweedled voice. A busy bassline that glitches out unexpectedly. A light little strummed melody busted open by a heavy beat that bursts in and out. A delight.
SYM1 and Glam Toyota, “I Don’t Have to Pay For This”
“Everybody makes mistakes, just not me,” boasts SYM1 with somehow even more attitude than usual, while producer Glam Toyota keeps the squelches and thumps going underneath. The best shoplifting song since Jane’s Addiction’s.
Non-Local Picks
Bright Eyes (feat. Alex Orange Drink), “Rainbow Overpass”
What if “Chimes of Freedom” was about being super-bummed? “I can’t be what you need me to be” is just the Oberst-est line. Except maybe for “I’m not shutting down I’m shutting up.” Or a half-dozen other lines here.
Geordie Greep, “Holy Holy”
Just when you thought he couldn’t get any Greepier, the voice of the late lamented Black Midi remakes himself as a pseudo-operatic Donald Fagen as a louche seducer. Somebody had to.
Mickey Guyton, “My Side of the Country”
The DNC participant boasts about her home in the same language a white country star would, claiming it for herself and Black people without making a point of it. Which is kind of the point.
JPEGMAFIA, “SIN MIEDO”
For all I know, Peggy might take this as an insult, but his new album, I Lay Down My Life For You, is surprisingly… well, musical. Here he cuts 2 Live Crew with some power chords like he was inventing rap-rock. Fearless indeed.
Killer Mike, “Humble Me”
Without getting all fancy about it, Mr. Render offers a sociocultural defense of Black self-aggrandizement that’s been the subtext of hip-hop boasts since before the genre even had a name.
Victoria Monet feat. Usher, “S.O.S. (Sex On Sight)”
“Wonder which one of my lips gon' be your first kiss/Doesn't matter 'cause they both gon' fit you perfect.” Victoria!
Peter Perrett, “I Wanna Go With Dignity”
The Only Ones’ only one has lived a rough life beset by drug-induced COPD, and here he mourns Irish rock critic Fay Wolftree while voicing thoughts of suicide—“don’t wanna overstay my welcome,” after all. But tunefully. Always tunefully.
Rema, “Hehehe”
The Nigerian Afrobeats star mocks your obsession with him with a sinister little laugh I can’t get out of my head.
Sugarland, "There Goes The Neighborhood"
I didn’t even know I needed a good country song about gentrification, and in any case I wouldn’t have expected it from these folks. Density bros, beware.
Jamila Woods (feat. oddCouple), “Teach Me”
Spiritual questers don’t often come more down to earth than Woods, who turns her sharp eye and big heart to climate justice here.
Worst New Track
Yung Gravy feat. Zac Brown, “My Garage”
Damn, they’ll let anyone make a country record these days—if you don’t believe me, check out MGK’s recent Dixie Chicks cover. (Actually, don’t.) The garage is where the Rochester-bred Gravy keeps his girls, who he catalogs less crassly than Mick Jagger on “Some Girls” and less lyrically than the Beach Boys on “California Girls.” (Dumber than both goes without saying, I hope.) This is what you have to settle for when mom says you’ve got Post Malone at home.
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.)
