Mix # 8 Tracks 16 – 18

Theme: An Ode to My 20’s

16.  New England — Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers

Jeff and I took our first “weekend away” together as a couple in the Spring of 2008.  We went up to Portland, Maine and it was so much fun!  Jeff had never been to Maine before, and I was so happy to show him around.  This song reminds me of that trip.  We’ve visited several times since (including on our honeymoon) and always have a wonderful time.  It’s the way life should be.

17.  Good Not Great — Mission of Burma

In the Summer of 2008 we went to the Pitchfork Music Festival as part of our first “long vacation away”.  We fell in love with the city (and fell even deeper in love with each other) and heard some great bands.  Boston’s own MoB was one of my favorites of the weekend.  Another really great music-related memory.


18.  Ex-Lion Tamer — Wire

I am a HUGE fan of Wire.  Because Jeff was such an amazing boyfriend, he surprised me on my 26th birthday with a dinner with all my friends at the Parish Cafe, AND got me Pink Flag on vinyl WITH tickets to see them live at the Middle East!  What a guy!!  Seeing Wire live was a fantastic experience.  Sure they didn’t play of ton of the old hits and stuck with mostly newer stuff, but they sounded great and the crowd was really fun and having a blast the whole time.  

—Caitlin

Source: Spotify

Tracks 10-16 : Super Sunday Edition

Since I’m kinda just building content and testing this out as a “demo” version before I actually run a regular week or ask anyone to contribute, and since I started this on Thursday, I’m going to add a lot of songs today and tomorrow, more than the typical three. Also, it’s a beautiful day, so I’m going to write minimally about these tracks so I can get outside and enjoy some sunshine.

10. The House That Heaven Built —- Japandroids

My favorite song of the year so far. I just can’t help but fall under the spell of its sincerity, its passion, its relentlessness. It’s the type of song that you crank in a car when you’re feeling miserable, roll the windows down and force everyone you pass to witness your mood improve as you shout along with the “oh oh oh’s” and “and if they try to slow you down, tell them all to go to hell’s.” 

11. My Sunshine —- Ty Segall

The perfect garage punk song, this song moves away from the Japandroid optimism and has Segall literally sneering at the beginning and he doesn’t stop for a second. I’ll be honest, I put this on because I’m sitting on my porch and it’s sunny, and I wanted a crunchy punky tune to compliment where the mix is at the moment, but sometime tells me that Segall is being just a wee bit sarcastic here, but when he bellows that he wants hope in his hand, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to give him any.

12. Scrapple —- Kudgel

Kudgel is a fairly obscure “chimp rock” Boston based band from the 90’s. The sound of desperation, which I think builds off of My Sunshine perfectly. I know the shredded vocals means this won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but I like to challenge listeners with songs they might not usually listen to. And I love the sentiment of the song; we can all relate to moments where all we want to do is sit around listening to music, not wanting to get up. 

13. Boxcar —- Jawbreaker

The friend who introduced me to Kudgel compared their desperation to some Jawbreaker songs, and I thought that made sense. I was going to go with a different Jawbreaker song that my wife recommended (Chesterfield King) but Spotify didn’t have it (boo!) so I went with one of their pop-punk hits to move the mix in a slightly more accessible direction.  

14. Bill Baily —- The Gun Club

I like having The Gun Club in this section for a couple of different reasons. For one, when I saw Japandroids live recently, they performed a cover of a Gun Club song (For The Love of Ivy, which will be on their upcoming album). Also, more people should know about The Gun Club, they were a terrific post-punk band with southern roots and country influences. This song is a leg-stomping good time.

15. Hard To Be Human Again —- Mekons

More post-punk with a country twinge, that bridges the country elements of Bill Baily with the more straight-up post-punk of the next song. I love that moment in the middle of the song where everything feels like it’s about to break down. It sounds like a robot ready to explode, but then that beautiful strumming rhythm guitar kicks its ass back into gear again.

16. Outdoor Miner —- Wire

If there ever was an accessible Wire song, this is it. Stunningly beautiful and simple, but with a gorgeous refrain with that repeated chorus that asks, “He lies on his side, is he trying to hide a fantasy earth that he’s known since birth?” Several Wire songs sound like nightmares, but this one sounds downright dreamy. 

Source: Spotify