Second installment of Pack Rat’s Rat Trap: Online Edition! Let’s do this!!! We’ve got kind of an emo/punk thing going on this week. Sometimes it’s just like that y’know? I’m also gonna try something new for this week where instead of occasional images I’ll put the music video for a song if it has one. Let me know which one you like better! Playlist is here, thoughts below!
VeggieHammerr - More Distortion
Kicking things off with a really fun song featuring a very reasonable amount of distortion! I love how the slightly misaligned backing vocals and the very loud messy mix. It gives the impression of a group of friends kind of half making a song up as they go along. Feels like everyone had a little piece of the vision they brought to the table and they just had a great time banging this track out. The breakdown halfway through really hammers it home. Someone wanted to do some Weezer oohs and someone else wanted to scream like they’re on a hardcore song and you know what? It works!
Modern Baseball - Two Good Things
Oh Modern Baseball, we’re really in it now. I kind of wonder if you’re able to get into MoBo once you’ve graduated high school. I feel like if you miss your chance to have them worm their way into your angsty teen heart, they might have less of an appeal. They’re one of the classic emo bands that I can actually enjoy. Not going to name names but the tambor of the vocals in a lot of prominent emo acts makes me want to throw up. It’s like when someone else starts dry heaving and then you start doing it too you know? Anyway, but not Modern Baseball. I think their lyrics have a little bit more to dig into than a lot of other groups, and the outro to this song is just gorgeous. Maybe I’m biased because I found them when I was just a sappy little teenager who was susceptible to moping around in my feelings. But maybe sometimes you just need to do that!
Also, stop calling them Midwest emo. They’re from Philly. That’s Mid-Atlantic emo if anything.
Mogwai - Lion Rumpus
Mogwai is another band that’s been with me since high school, and I’m glad to see them still putting out quality stuff! These Scottish post-punkers put out a new record “The Bad Fire” earlier this year, which has the band going in and out of their comfort zone, and taking their usual sounds to some pretty cool new places! They also continue their tradition of having some of the best song titles around, with this album featuring “Fanzine Made of Flesh”, “Pale Vegan Hip Pain” and “If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some Of The Others”. Their records have always been my secret sauce for when I need background music for writing, and I thank them for continuing to make more fodder for my writing playlists. The whole album is great, but I mostly chose this song because of all the dogs in the music video.
Backhand - Be Nice ‘Cause
Another song that has the markings of a group of friends having fun, and the lead singer kind of sounds like Adam Sandler in some of the verses? Plus, I feel like a lot of us could use this reminder.
Faerybabyy - darlin’
I’ve been obsessed with faerybabyy for maybe two years now and the obsession only grows with every release. The songs all have this feeling of retro goth rock stuff but with some 2000s indie influences (think the Strokes in their prime) thrown on top. The whole thing is held together by the lead singer Payton Morse’s vocals. She sings predominantly in her lower register like she’s doing a sultry Ian Curtis impression, and adds these heavenly background vocals that float along in the background. It just makes for an awesome vibe, can’t recommend this band enough.
I read from Morse somewhere that when she started making songs she prioritized time efficiency above all else. So if a song took her more than a few hours to start and feel like it’s finished, she’d make herself scrap it and start a new one. I think this is a really good lesson for artists in any discipline, especially beginners. A lot of us get caught up in trying to make the thing as perfect as possible before putting anything out, and we just work forever on the same thing, until it loses the immediacy and spark that made it special in the first place, and we never even show it to anyone. Remember: done is beautiful. Finished is perfection. Just do the damn thing.
Eyas - Something In Between
Slowing things down now with a comfy folk ballad from Eyas. While the lyrics here are a fairly standard tale of longing for someone who doesn’t feel the same way you do; the vocals are gorgeous and sickly sweet, and by god is the production LUSH. Just so many little background details you’re bound to miss most of them on first listen. I’m especially a fan of the ambient noise that sounds like a far off conversation at the beginning of the track, the little horn flutters throughout, and the thump and hum that comes with the guitar reentering the track towards the end. Bartees Strange did the production for it, which makes sense. (I think he also has a new record out which I need to check out.) Good stuff! Perfect for some summer longing.
idialedyournumber - Bunny Goes 2 Business School
I guess idialedyournumber is something of an up-and-comer in the indie music scene currently and I’m really excited to see what their output continues to be like. Combining glimmery Midwest emo-inspired riffs with chiptune melodies and lofi vocals, it sounds like if my Gameboy and my DS made a band to tell me how sad they are that I still haven’t beaten the Metroid (it’s really hard okay?). Anyway, I love their sound. Combines the intimacy of weird bedroom rock with the energy of a live band. Good!
Lychee Juice - Blue
I think this got recommended to me on YouTube when it had first gotten uploaded, as one of those automatic release videos that DistroKid puts up when you send your music to streaming. It had like 17 views. It’s not doing anything to reinvent the dream pop genre it’s comfortably inhabiting, and that works in it’s favor! Dreamy synths and vocals combined with acoustic guitars and dead drums that keep things moving. What more could you ask for?
Alex Vile - Kobayashi
I like indie grunge bands with girl lead singers. If there’s a band that has distorted guitars and simple angsty lyrics sung by a woman I’m probably going to be a little bit into it. Sorry! This song is also just really good. It doesn’t overstay it’s welcome (it’s not even two minutes long) and it knows exactly what it is. It doesn’t try to be too clever or overly relatable and thus become obnoxious. The lyrics are specific enough that they clearly come from a personal place but fun and catchy in just the right way. I will definitely keep an eye on what Alex Vile + crew do in the future! Also, their producer helped with the score on Saw (2004) which is an awesome movie so that’s even cooler!
Fountains of Wayne - I’ll Do The Driving
I warned you last week that I really like Fountains of Wayne. You were warned. This song was a B-Side to one of their more popular singles and is soft and kind of cute until you listen to the lyrics. It’s a funny and weird song lyrically because he’s kind of calling the girl he likes stupid? But it’s not actually done in a resentful or cruel way so it’s still kind of cute, and the chorus makes it clear that he really likes her and enjoys the funny confused stuff she says. Still, maybe don’t read into it too much. You could choose to interpret it as fucked up that he likes a girl for being kinda spacy but I choose to think otherwise. Either way, from a songwriting perspective it is a really sweet pleasant song.
Cameron Winter - Vines
I need to stop using the word “really”. I went to start this section off with it and then I realized I’ve used it so many times already. I just counted and there’s literally 11 “really”s in this whole thing already. That’s like one per song. Anyway this song is a very somber reflection on a relationship that has clearly reached it’s end. The lyrics are strong and evocative, and I like the way Winter sings. (Almost Rufus Wainwright-esque?) I just wish the album art was different. Stop staring at me dude.
Joyce Manor - Beach Community
In a few short months, I’m going to be moving away from my beloved Santa Cruz. I’ve lived hear a total of five years (jesus christ) and it definitely feels like the end of an era. Seeing this huge shift in my living situation makes me reflect on how much I’ve changed since I first came here, and something about this song feels reflective of that. It helps that it has this driving tempo to it. Like things are different in ways I’m maybe not totally clear on, but at least I’m moving forward. I also got to see Joyce Manor live at the Catalyst here and I was right against the stage when they played this song and that was sick! Good memories.
Bomb the Music Industry! - Slumlord
Another aspect of an impending move is I’m thinking a lot about landlords. More than I care to. Santa Cruz landlords are some of the worst you’ll find anywhere, and this song has always been kind of my anthem for dealing with their bullshit. I will tell my slumlord to get out of my face. Hopefully when I move it will be to a place with better housing management but that seems unlikely. I do not really believe such a thing exists. But still, I’ll wield this song as a litany against landlords. I get the world! You get nothing!
Okay nothing more to say! Let me know what you think of any of these songs or others stuff I should check out! End of transmission!
