Okay, here it is, we did the March make-up, now it’s April time! Let’s get crazy with it!

April 11th was my birthday. I turned 25. I’ve been really struggling with this feeling of being out of step with how long I’ve been alive and where I’m at in my life. Maybe that’s a little bit apparent in the songs I was listening to… I haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to do about that yet, but at least for the time being I have these songs to bring me comfort.

Lowkey I went a little overboard adding songs to the April playlist, so I’ve decided I’m only going to write about the couple of them I have a lot to say about. Other than that, just enjoy the vibes.

I had never heard this song before this March but somehow it’s become so nostalgic to me. It’s such a sweet song and it makes me think about those people who've become such integral parts of my life through sheer happenstance. Sometimes you look back at the arcs of your most important relationships and marvel at how amazing it is your two lives managed to get entangled so closely.

Absolute banger band name. In this age of AI and monetized, incentivized perfection at all times, I’ve found myself more and more drawn to bands that have a raw creativity and punk defiance. Bonus points if the sound quality is ass.

I can’t believe underscores invented music. My fav off the new album, but I highly recommend checking the whole thing out.

I remember back in 2021 when the “Second hand embarrassment” single came out, I sent it to a close friend I share all my best music finds with.

He said, “I don’t get it, so everything is just 100 gecs now?”

And I said “Yeah, man. It’s the New Wave of the future.”

It sucks to watch other people live out your dreams…

I cry a lot these days. I don’t know if it’s my mental state, the way the world is right now, or the liters of estrogen now coursing through my body, but I cry at the drop of a hat. At least I have this song to affirm my gender every time I do.

I grew up a Cure hater because my dad fed me the narrative that they were whiny and depressing, but as an adult I’ve now realized that actually the Cure’s music is pretty upbeat and fun if you ignore the lyrics. And Dad, Robert Smith’s voice isn’t whiny. He’s just British, that’s what they sound like.

I absolutely adore the new Gladie record. Super well-crafted power pop instrumentals and personal, relatable, but specific, lyrics. The best parts of this new record remind me of the Weakerthans, one of my favorite bands of all time. This song especially carries a lot of their DNA forward in my eyes, which is great because they don’t make music anymore.

It’s me, I’m little bubble. I don’t really know where I’m going yet. I hope when I figure it out it sounds like this.

I love this song, and it’s really carried me through a lot recently in a weird way. I’ve just tried to put it into words a couple times and I can’t really. Candy got it. A hard part of the trans experience is never really knowing how you’re being perceived, or where you really stand in any given moment or situation. It would be nice to escape that, to step outside of yourself and the circumstances arisen from being “trans” and just get to experience things honestly.

I finished reading Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me in the Bathroom in April so there was a lot of Strokes in heavy rotation.

Obsessed with chlothegod these days. I really enjoyed her 2025 album I Feel Different Every Day and went back to check out Nearly Straight from 2023 in April. She’s an extremely talented vocalist and songwriter, and I can’t wait for whatever she puts out next!

A great reinterpretation of a great song by the Strokes, emphasizing the more tender aspects of the song. This song really tapped into my psyche for April. I also feel both out of control and under control these days. I too don’t wanna watch it go by. But what do we do about it Rostam? What do we do?

I didn’t take notice of this song when I first listened to Sharp Pins’ Radio DDR, but one morning on my drive to work I decided to take the album for a spin again and it just leapt right out at me. It goes to show that sometimes the best things come from retracing your steps.

I discovered that if you ask people what they consider to be “preppy” music, most will instantly answer Vampire Weekend, and then fail to come up with any other examples. This is so strange to me. What do you mean Vampire Weekend is “prep” music. “Prep” is not a genre, you sound insane. And yet, it also makes perfect sense. Maybe it’s just because they sing about the Oxford comma and Cape Cod, but somehow these boys are absolutely prep music.

I need the third Desaparecidos album STAT! Conor Oberst writing punk songs is soooo good. It’s funny because you can still hear the musical DNA of Bright Eyes in the way the riffs are composed but it still works! And while some Bright Eyes songs have a punk feel to them (try “Falling Out of Love at This Volume” for the curious), I want more of the heavy production to go with Oberst’s talent for observation and commentary.

I have a soft spot for songs with xylophone where there shouldn’t logically be xylophone. This sounds like emo music for people with too many stuffed animals in their room.

Just a certified good time absolute BANGER. Little Joe Jonas’ squeaky voiced harmonies are the glue that holds this song together, it wouldn’t be as good as it is without him and honestly that’s true of their whole first album.

You may be familiar with Ween only when singing about nautical life or genitalia but did you know they can also absolutely shred? I’ve been trying to learn the lead guitar parts from this on guitar and let me tell ya… it’s not easy!

Me putting this song on the playlist is actually just part of a marketing psyop. I got paid $5 in Applebee’s gift cards to put this song in here!

This post was finished at the end of May but then I just didn’t write anything for this song??? I have no idea why I let this delay me for so long. It’s a good song! I wasn’t crazy about New Abnormal when it first came out but it’s really grown on me. If you know me in real life you’ve probably heard the story about the “Drums please, Fab” line at least ten times and if not please ask me about it, I love to tell it!

Kind of my theme song for April. Upbeat and determined, yet introspective. I keep getting older, and with that I worry that I’m wasting what little amount of time I have. The only thing to do about it is to stick to my guns and keep trying at the stuff that’s actually worthwhile. Try not to judge other people for how they spend their time, focus on my own. Hold the precious people close. Put one foot in front of the other. Listen to some music.

Every song is a comeback. Every moment’s a little bit later.

Albums I Liked This Month:

“KUNTOLOGY 101” by Aliyah’s Interlude, “No Need to Be Lonely” by Gladie, “SWAGGOT! (B SIDE)” by ISSBROKIE, “Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Pt. 1” by the Kinks, “If Only You Knew” by And Beyond, “Juno” by Remi Wolf, “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” by Wilco, “black british music (2025)” by Jim Legxacy,