I had favorite songs before Smash Mouth, but until them, I didn’t have a favorite band.
I was from San Jose, so our alt-rock station was one of the first to pick up “Walkin’ On The Sun,” and I was hooked. Not only did I think their retro-cartoon version of cool rock dudes was fly as hell – a 4th graders’ version of what a rock band should look like – and even better, they were local! Yes, they were already signed to Interscope, but it was a band I wanted to root for. I bought their debut LP, and inhaled the album’s deeply uncool mix of bar rock, ska, and punk. Case in point:
But really, if your first favorite band isn’t embarrassing, did you ever love a band? I didn’t know any better that this record wasn’t cool – it was just so fun having a band that felt like they were my own. It was so thrilling to pore over an extremely mid major label rock record at 11, and I don’t know if I’ll ever love an album more than I did at that point.
Also: My aunt worked at a Chili’s in San Jose in the 90s, where they were regulars. It’s a story that I thought was cool as shit as a kid, then became depressing in my 20s, then became cool again. Whatever you think about Smash Mouth, those were just a handful of dudes in San Jose slamming margs at Chili’s dreaming of writing pop hits – and they fucking did it.
As always, you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter.
Tirzah – their Love
Amidst the distorted 909s and beats of Tirzah’s surprise album trip9love…???, “their Love” is a stripped-down beacon of melancholy. Again produced by collaborator Mica Levi, the record’s lo-fi bounce feels immediate and casual, and “their Love” is the simplest arrangement on the record, with just a chorused piano and a single plaintive vocal. I could take an album of this every year.
Jeff Rosenstock – FUTURE IS DUMB
The people’s champ of power pop-punk returns with HELLMODE on Polyvinyl. I’ve loved Jeff’s music since 2018’s POST-, and HELLMODE is another sprint through the last 30 years of your favorite pop-punk choruses thrown into a blender then regurgitated with maximum conviction and precision – “I WANNA BE WRONG” careens around its title phrase like a car around a hairpoint turn. “FUTURE IS DUMB” feels particularly appropriate considering how precarious the world feels, but every track stings with the same urgency. Also – check his Twitter thread calling out venues taking huge cuts of artist merch sales. Buy his record, fuck LiveNation.
Marem Ladson – Idontcare
“Idontcare” is anchored by a lo-fi samba loop that Brooklyn’s Marem Ladson uses to build a blooming, minimal dream pop ballad. The entire track moves slowly, with a creaky shuffle throughout the whole track that suggests half-empty rooms and fading evening light.
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom – Gettin’ to the Point Dub (Adrian Sherwood Version) // Hollie Cook – Dub My Way
Two excellent album dub edits – one from Adrian Sherwood, who proves Panda Bear sounds extremely good over dubbed-out rhythms, and another from the Slits’ Hollie Cook, who reworks her own album with producer Ben Mckone. Sherwood’s mixes are closer to King Tubby grit and splice, whereas Cook’s edits retain her original tracks’ focus and muscle. Both find new wide-open spaces in the source material, and are perfect songs for a too-hot September week.
Olivia Rodrigo – bad idea right?
I bet against Olivia Rodrigo’s second record, and felt extremely validated by the lead single “Vampire” and its heavy-handed theatricality and forced intimacy. “bad idea right?” however trades SOUR’s Paramore palette for a smart reworking of the Breeders, Elastica and Delta 5, while never losing the whipsmart sugar-pop of her debut’s vocal melodies. It’s shockingly smart but disarmingly dumb, and now I can’t wait to hear the rest of the record.
throwww w ww wbackkkkk
Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville (in D Minor)
The halo of capitalism around Jimmy Buffett can diminish a really incredible body of work that’s consistently tuneful, memorable, and detail-rich. Not convinced? Listen to this version of “Margaritaville” shifted to a minor key, and notice how soul-crushing his eye for specifics become when recast as a sad, brutal picture of being stuck in paradise. RIP.
that’s all for this week – hopefully we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming next tuesday!!