Epilefsy PlaylistPlus

Featured

PlaylistPlus#4

(Rock En Español – The Essentials)

For this edition of Epilefsy’s Playlist Plus I decided to pay homage to some of my favorite Spanish Rock songs. These are absolute bangers and I recommend checking them out even if you don’t speak Spanish, because good music is universal. The write up format for this playlist will be more condensed to allow you to focus on the music (and also lowkey because I don’t know much about most of these bands). Be sure to check out my super legit lyric translations. Some of these bands will be playing at the Tropicalia Festival this weekend, so be sure to check them out if you’re going!

Rock En Español Playlist

1. La Negra Tomasa by Caifanes is so good I’d place it on other playlists even if we removed the Rock en Espanol criteria. The instrumental ebbs and flows through the sound space like a slythrin(g) snake while the vocal melody weaves in and out just as hypnotically.

Favorite lyric: “Que cuando se va de casa triste me pongo”
Translation: “And when she leaves home, I get sad”

2. Enjambre reminds me a lot of The Strokes so by default I’m a big fan of theirs. They’re from Fresnillo, Zacatecas in Mexico, which is where my parents are from. Shout out to the fam and the motherland, arriba Los Nopaleros! Disfruten la Visita de establishments cancion!

Favorite lyric: “La semana me parte en dos de Viernes a Domingo”
Translation: “The week always splits me in half from Friday to Sunday”

3. I heard about this band back in the mid-2000’s when Incubus performed with Café Tacvba at the Latin Grammys. It was a weird and interesting collaboration that meshed the latter’s Que Pasara with the former’s Megalomaniac. Que Pasara? Lo que paso, paso.

Favorite lyric: “Que pasara si asi me sigo hoy gastando vidas como si fuera un felino”
Translation: “What will happen if I keep on keeping on wasting lives like I was a feline”

4. I’ll always have a soft spot for Hello Seahorse! because I saw them at my first Coachella back in 2012. For a 2pm daytime set in 98 degree weather, they got down with it. Check out their track Bestia.

Favorite lyric: “Desde que me presento no tengo que hablar para darme a entender”
Translation: “Ever since and with my presence I don’t have to speak to make myself understood”

5. Another band that hails from my parents’ home state of Zacatecas. Listen to Muchacha by Los Romanticos de Zacatecas.

Favorite lyric: “Me atrapas, no puedo estar sin ti”
Translation: “You trap me, I can’t be without you”

6. Back in the summer of 2003 I was in Mexico with my cousins and MTV was playing Peligroso Pop by Plastilina Mosh; it was just the most ridiculous music video we had ever seen at that point in our lives. It eventually became such a guilty pleasure (meme before memes existed?) song that we hated to hear, but wouldn’t change when it came on. Years later and the silliness has worn off to the point that it now sounds like Franz Ferdinand’s cool Mexican counterpart to me. Check out this dangerous pop.

Favorite lyric: “Porque duermes en Madrid y despiertas en Tokyo mientras el clima no puede estar mejor”
Translation: “Because you sleep in Madrid and wake up in Tokyo and the weather couldn’t be better”

7. Zoe is one of the bands on this list that I would recommend listeners to peep the entire discography of. They probably write my favorite lyrics out of anyone on this list by far. They’ve got an impressive body of overall work, but for now here’s Via Lactea.

Favorite lyric: “Llevo el prisma de tus ojos en mi casco de astronauta”
Translation: “I carry the prism of your eyes in my astronaut helmet”

8. I don’t know much about this song, except that it rocks. The punk/dance/disco vibe and feel of it make it seem like it could have been released by DFA Records, alongside the likes of LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip. Check out Cuarto Del Fondo by Bengala.

Favorite lyric: “Cuando intentas no mirar evitar el desvio, pretendes olvidar ese es el castigo”
Translation: “When you try not to see / avoid the detour, pretend to forget that’s the punishment

9. When I first heard this song it reminded me of two things: Two Door Cinema Club and FIFA soundtracks. Those are two very good things. Here’s a song that will have you asking Hay Mas by 60 Tigres.

Favorite lyric: “Abre los ojos al color que te escupe la realidad”
Translation: “Open your eyes to the color that reality spits”

10. Congratulations to the fantastic Enjambre for making it onto this playlist twice! Somos Ajenos is one of my favorite songs right now, I saw them play it live and they just absolutely shredded. Someone please get me free tickets to catch them melt minds at Tropicalia this weekend!

Favorite lyric: Duermo soñando se me ha vuelto absurdo, dispensa perdí mi descendía y perdí la consciencia
Translation: I sleep dreaming I’ve gone crazy, I’ve lost my descent and I’ve also lost my consciousness

11. I find it awesome that many of my friends get down with “that one” Mana song. They headline shows internationally and are one of the biggest names in music regardless of language barriers. Fun fact: I sang and acted out En El Muelle de San Blas back in high-school for my Spanish class and got an A+. Their studio recording is better though, so be sure to spin it.

Favorite lyric: “No se fuera equivocar los cangrejos le mordian su ropaje su tristeza y su illusion”
Translation: “Don’t get it twisted, the crabs would claw at her outfit her sadness and her illusions”

Follow me on Instagram @epilefsy to stay updated with the latest playlists and to submit songs.
Subscribe to me on here too.
Thanks for the support!

Featured

PlaylistPlus#2

Do you remember the first album that changed your life? The record you listened from front to back without skips that made you realize, “Fuck; I love music,” ?

For this edition of Epilefsy’s Playlist Plus, I wanted to do a full album write up for the first CD I ever bought, Make Yourself. This album was responsible for making me fall in love with one of my biggest inspirations, the band Incubus (NOT the thrash metal group lol).

-Incubus at the Greek Theatre was my first concert ever when I was 14 (thanks mom!)
-I have a tattoo of their Morning View disc artwork
-I have a tattoo of Brandon Boyd’s artwork
-I won a KROQ radio station “Breakfast with Incubus” contest and got to ask the band if they have ever made love with their own music playing in the background

But I digress.. Sometime between 2000-2001, I asked my mom to buy me their second full length album Make Yourself when I heard their single “Pardon Me” on KROQ. The whole record was lyrically, sonically, and aesthetically influential in almost every aspect of my life. Since Incubus is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Make Yourself by touring and playing it in its entirety this fall, I decided to reflect back on these tracks to see WHY they impacted me the way they did, and share my findings.
I’ll be catching Incubus at Ohana Festival, at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point on 9/28/19. shoot through?

MAKE YOURSELF
https://open.spotify.com/album/2i6nd4FV6y7K9fln6eelmR?si=Gf0li5MNT56Yv9zEGYshXA

1. Privilege
2. Nowhere Fast
3. Consequence
4. The Warmth
5. When It Comes
6. Stellar
7. Make Yourself
8. Drive
9. Clean
10. Battlestar Scratchalctica
11. I Miss You
12. Pardon Me
13. Out From Under

1. I love every song on this album. With that said, although Privilege is a strong ball-busting opener, I feel like it’s the weakest link of this album, and possibly my least favorite Incubus album opener ever. The heavy bar-chorded chorus definitely brought forth mosh pits back in the day, but musically, it’s the least interesting track on Make Yourself. It could totally make the cut on a solid rock gym workout playlist though!

Favorite lyric: “Isn’t it strange that a gift could be an enemy?”

2. Nowhere Fast was such a huge part of my angst-filled adolescence. I had never resonated with a song lyrically so much as this, with Brandon Boyd lamenting if he’d “ever get to where [he’s] going, and if [he’d] know when [he’s] there.” Throw in guitarist Michael Einziger’s unique electric sitar sounding bridge breakdown reminiscent of Steve Vai vibes (who I’m pretty sure was influential for this sound) and you’ve got a hell of a young me moodboard.

Favorite Lyric: “Yes it seems as if I’m going nowhere really fucking fast”

3. I have to be as unbiased as I possible can for the band that I have a tattoo of.. Consequence was another track that I’d group along with Privilege as contender for weakest song of the album. HOWEVER the more you listen to Incubus, the more you realize how capable they are of crafting a memorable, badass bridge that re-energizes the final chorus/ending of the song. Raucous guitar effects, strained yelling, and build-up drums intertwine to lead into and make the chorus sound better than it ever did before, and prevented it from taking the weakest link award from Privilege.

Favorite lyric: “Consequence you’ll see will be stranger than a gang of drunken mimes”

4. It changes ALL the time, but The Warmth is probably one of my all-time favorite songs in the Incubus discography. It does a beautiful job showcasing all five members’ attributes that combine to create a special type of euphoria only Incubus can bring. It has WHALE SOUND samples! This song creates an ambience, destroys it, and still makes it make sense. I can confirm I shed a single tear the first time I ever saw this live. If you’re down to cry check out one of my favorite live performances of this song at Incubus’s legendary Red Rocks show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX1fO-1iCa0

Favorite lyric: “Don’t let the world bring you down, not everyone here is that fucked up and cold”

5. When It Comes is probably one of my favorite sleeper Incubus tracks. I remember listening to this song a lot when I would visit Mexico because the verses made me feel like a tourist, while the chorus reminded me of home. To this day (TO THIS DAY!) I cannot distinguish the crazy sounds meshing between guitarist Mike Einziger and DJ Kilmore, but it just works so seamlessly here.

Favorite lyric: “It feels like a matador is taunting me with with his reddest red cloth and I am the bull”

6. I’m almost sure that Stellar was the first song I ever dedicated to a girl. The music video was stellar as well; women and outer-space are just a winning combination (Ellen Ripley anyone?). I remember trying to learn this song and f***ing up the sliding string bends every single time; so I decided to learn Drive (more on that in a bit). This song was personally eye-opening because even though I wasn’t crazy about the chorus, I realized as a whole it did a great job taking you through the journey anyway. It made me understand music sometimes had to cater to the whole song, and not just making every part extravagant.

Favorite lyric: “We could spend the night watch the Earth come up”

7. We get to the the self-titled track, Make Yourself. It is an anthem of self-autonomy and empowerment. It’s about choice; and I can see why Incubus chose this to be the album name after getting lumped with the NuMetal/Rap-Rock label back with their debut album S.C.I.E.N.C.E. This is the type of song that you can play by yourself at an open mic night and still have it rock out hard. Pay extra attention to some of my favorite Jose Pasillas drumming on that second verse.

Favorite lyric: “If I fuck me, I’ll fuck me in my own way”

8. If you’ve only heard one song by Incubus, I’d be willing to wager that it’s Drive. This is their breakout hit that brought them huge mainstream success. I remember old fans getting upset that Incubus had “sold out,” but damn if the rest of the world didn’t buy in. Built around an acoustic riff, it’s such a kickback song that can get away being played in your headphones, at a [vegetarian] Carne Asada, or at your (un)favorite bar. It was the first song I ever learned to play in its entirety and I’ll always have a soft spot for it. Fun fact: Vocalist Brandon Boyd and drummer Jose Pasilla’s ended up drawing half the music video themselves due to time and budget constraints; check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgT9zGkiLig

Favorite lyric: “Will I choose water over wine, and hold my own and drive?”

9. I bought a Djembe a couple years after learning it was the percussion that drove Clean. I was absolutely trash at it. Clean begins with a simple minute long instrumental that builds and layers to an apex only to disintegrate into a mild-mannered verse; and yet it just works. This song is solely responsible for making me occasionally appreciate long-winded introductions as long as they make a valid point.

Favorite lyric: “I need a map of your head translated into English so I can learn to not make you frown”

10. My favorite lyric for Battlestar Scratchalactica is kind of a joke because there are no true lyrics, just samples. It’s essentially a DJ battle among Incubus+DJ Kilmore, Cut Chemist, and DJ Nu-Mark. I remember I used to skip this song a lot when I’d listen to the CD because it just seemed like such an abrupt interruption transitioning between Clean and I Miss You. Eventually it’s infectious groove grew on me and when I was exposed to more hip-hop music, I appreciated the art of well-placed interludes way more.

Favorite lyric: “He cuts the music with so much class”

11. Even though I love Blink 182’s I Miss You, Incubus’s I Miss You will always be the OG IMY to me. Drop tune to D guitars give it a somber “should not send that text” mood and Brandon Boyd is just crying the whole time but I love it. It manages to evoke the powerful impact that those three words mean when they’re said. Still, it’s not as cool as Stellar and it’s not their best love song.

Favorite lyric: “To know that you feel the same as I do is a three-fold Utopian dream”

12. Pardon Me is single-handedly to blame for inciting my obsession of guitar pedal effects. Mike Einziger was my first huge influence in the world of guitar, and his delay/phaser/volume swelling that kicks off this song was always something I dreamed of playing in my adolescence. Initially this song didn’t do well as a single, but Los Angeles-based KROQ radio station played an acoustic version of this song that gained popularity around the world, and eventually the regular version skyrocketed into sport stadiums, award shows, etc.

Favorite lyric: “Lately I’ve been thinking of combustication as a welcome vacation from the burdens of the planet Earth”

13. Incubus closes this album with Out From Under, a rebellious tune about dismantling the status quo and speaking your mind. It’s the heaviest song on this album and has Brandon Boyd’s gnarliest scream since his S.C.I.E.N.C.E. days. Despite the nostalgia, this is my third weakest link of the album, and probably my least favorite closing to an Incubus album ever.

Favorite lyric: “Knowing this why do I defy? I guess my inner voice is yelling”

Featured

Epilefs y Dive

[This is why I’m writing publicly now]

Almost anyone who knows me knows how much I love music.

There’s a high chance that we:
A) met because of music
B) recently discussed music
C) know each other through music

while @peregrinedive is my primary recording project,

@epilefsy will talk about music, do beat/merch giveaways, drop Soundcloud bangers, and give less fucks in general:

Origin story: Friends often ask me for song recommendations and have sometimes asked WHY I like the track; so I got the idea to put out specially curated playlists featuring song reviews for your ears and eyes.
The write-ups will include some of my favorite lyrics from the track,
short stories about the artist/song, emotional connections to sound frequencies, peaking moments from festivals, etc.
I’ll cycle through different genres, but you can always hit me up if there’s any particular sound style or song suggestion you’d like me to dive into.

In the future there might be:
-concert reviews/artist interviews/pool views/
–guestlist contributions/wack ads/shameless promo/
NO ONE KNOWS [not even qotsa]

The review for “Waiting for new Strokes Indie Pop” Playlist will be out 9/12. The playlist is out now / follow it [see below]

[PeregrineDivewillforthemostpartstayPeregrineDive]

I know this whole conversation with you thing starts by just talking about the songs I like but I want it to be more than that, so what’s good

PlaylistPlus#3

(Wish These Bands Were At Desert Daze)

Most of my friends either:

–are attending Desert Daze next weekend
–have been waiting on Tame Impala to drop a follow up to the sensational record that was Currents

So for this playlist I wanted to put together some excellent psych-pop tunes to help us kope in the mean time. Some of these bands I’ve seen at Desert Daze, some of these bands I wish were at Desert Daze. Enjoy this playlist review because it’s a trip.

“Should’ve Been At Desert Daze”
Psych Pop Playlist

1. Das Kope is one of the freshest psychedelic artists coming out of Los Angeles right now (originally from Brazil). It was incredibly difficult picking only one of his songs for this playlist. He is rapidly crafting his own signature psych sound, and also does all the fantastic visual art for his work, similar to Tycho’s creative output. I saw Das Kope play at Echo Park Rising August 2019; it is definitely a project to keep your eye on. Listen for a Good Time!

Favorite lyric: “I’m gonna fly today and I’m gonna fly tonight; what else am I gonna do?”

2. I want to congratulate Inner Wave for being the first band to be featured in consecutive playlists (you can check out their inclusion in my previous “Waiting for New Strokes Indie Rock” playlist HERE. While they’ve always been great at scratching my itch for indie/garage rock, their latest EP, “WYA” delved into the experimental psych sound spectrum a bit more and I was a fan of the sonic direction they took for this record. The drop in this song just makes you wanna say Oof, so check it out. Be sure to catch them at Tropicalia Fest in November!

Favorite lyric: “One hand on the wheel, how does it feel?”

3. Kainalu makes the kind of music that makes you visualize strange shape movements when you close your eyes. The kind of music that makes you feel like you’re on mellow drugs even when you’re not (in a good way). That’s it, that’s the review. Find some peace of mind with Finding Peace of Mind.

Favorite lyric: “Sun seeps between the leaves, feel it touch you in the breeze”

4. I went to my first Desert Daze when it was still at the Joshua Tree Institute of Mental Physics back in 2017. After going hard as a motherfucker in the pit for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s raucous set, a kaleidoscope of lasers and laser-ish synth sounds escaping from a small tent began to summon me. I entered the epileptic dance party and was blessed with the lush soundscape that is Black Moth Super Rainbow. Everyone was peaking. It was awesome. With a song name as whimsical as the song itself, here’s Dreamsicle Bomb.

Favorite lyric: “Keep me close to your evil dipped in glitter, turns out you’re my dreamsicle”

5. Lately, psych music has been going into a pop/dance/funk direction and I am absolutely here for it. Going Down Slow by ExMag is a song you can appreciate not only while you’re casual summer poolside wyd convoing, but also while you’re chilling at the cool kickback with every flavored White Claw.

Favorite lyric: I could not understand any of the lyrics in this song lol

6. Blac Rabbit has openly expressed their Tame Impala influence in various interviews and paying tribute through cover songs, and it is definitely noticeable on this stellar track. Over the Rainbow legit sounds like it could have been a B-side from Tame’s debut Innerspeaker record. I like the very apparently influenced vibe, but hope that Blac Rabbit continues to grow into their own sound, and avoids the Greta Van Fleet being Led Zeppelin V2 path.

Favorite lyric: “I feel much closer to the Earth because I know just how the wind whips back and forth”

7. Now for the type of band that drops 5 albums in one year and has the best artist name by far. There is no way I could make a psych playlist without adding King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. They changed my life when I first saw them in 2015 at Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Cult fans favor their King Gizz overlords over Tame, but I am a testament that excessive appreciation for both artists exists. King Gizz has ridiculous creative output quantities and a diverse range of sounds from trippy delicate folk to psych space-pirate metal core. Let’s slow things down for a second with Slow Jam 1.

Favorite lyric: “I need to slow my mind down low”

8. Light or Night by The Holydrug Couple is a song that reminded me of Tame’s single Patience, if it was created within the Lonerism era. The prevalent piano chords sprinkled throughout Patience mirror the main synth progression that resonates throughout Light or Night. And like its namesake, it’s a track you can bump during the day, or at night to catch a vibe.

Favorite lyric: “Friday I came straight to death inside my bed”

9. If it’s a psych band, there is a high chance I’ve seen them at Desert Daze. The very excellent Pond is no exception. They were a shining (peaking) light in contrast to the evening lightning storm shit show that cancelled their affiliate band Tame Impala’s 2018 set. They have an extensive catalog you should scroll through, but listen to the gem that is Daisy and dance-cry having the time of your life when that heavenly synth lead drops.

Favorite lyric: “What about the halos, are the angels inside with the Xbox?”

10. There’s a lot of songs called Yesterday, but this is the most rad of them all (where’s that angry Beatles mob at?). I’m kinda bummed that Swim Mountain hasn’t been active or releasing more music, which is a feeling I usually reserve for The Strokes. This sound sorta reminds me of early Toro y Moi vibes/what Toro would sound like if he pursued a more traditional psych sound; aka pretty sweet.

Favorite lyric: “Cause in love there’s always one who suffers and one who’s done”

11. Many know Melody’s Echo Chamber due to Kevin Parker from Tame Impala having produced her debut album, but she has proven she can hold her own with her sophomore album Bon Voyage. This was one of my favorite albums of 2018, and I highly recommend a listen from front to back. I was fortunate enough to see Melody perform at Coachella 2016 and her set was beautifully mind-melting (please play live soon!). I picked her song Shirim to spotlight because it glimmers and floats around space so effortlessly; every instrument on this song shows up to work and kick ass and it’s a great way to conclude the stellar 7-track journey that is her album.

Favorite lyric: “I’ve listened to your song, I wish I enjoyed it ‘til it reached my soul”

12. Fly Low by Peregrine Dive started off as a 30 second instrumental trip-hop beat I put together back sometime around 2014. I’d loop it over and over and it was always a clip that most people would vibe to before I’d even approach mixing it or doing anything more with it, so I knew there was always potential there. After I returned home from a trip I took to South America in 2018, I was inspired to finish the track and it ended up being this massive/weird three-headed behemoth song about my love of travel; and definitely my strangest song to date. It has no choruses, but it does have a trap drop!

Favorite lyric: “Your eyes sharp knives to mine; to align wrinkles in time I had to find a way to find another way”

Follow me on Instagram @epilefsy to stay updated with the Latest playlists and to submit songs.
Subscribe to me on here too.
Thanks for the support!
Love you all.

PlaylistPlus#1

(WAITING FOR NEW STROKES MUSIC..)

This is Epilefsy’s Playlist Plus debut.
This is the Indie Rock Pop edition.
So who else is waiting for The Strokes to drop something? Anything? I read they’re supposedly done with the album and are in the mixing process, but at this point I’d even settle for studio recordings of them all yelling at each other.

If you need some nostalgia-induced tunes to keep you busy while you wait, here are some indie-guitar-picked summer-turnt-fall vibes along with some choice review words on the songs following the playlist.

“Waiting For New Strokes”
Indie Rock Pop Playlist

1. Los Angeles-based Inner Wave is easily one of my favorite bands right now. Their recent EP “WYA” showed their ability to diversify their sound, but it was their classic indie garage rock feel that initially made me a big fan. Bower is the kind of song that wears ripped 511 Levi’s nostalgia (ultra) on its sonic sleeve every single time you play it.

Favorite lyric: “Yeah you make me say it I am done waiting”

2. So many people were complaining when The Growlers switched up their signature “Beach Goth” sound to a “more commercial indie-core” sound. I was the opposite, loving the at the time new City Club record, and then going back and exploring their earlier work. I still insist City Club is amongst their best, so put that in your pipe and smoke some Dope On A Rope.

Favorite lyric: “Generations change, in a blink the fad’s extinct”

3. Ariel Pink definitely knows how to write some catchy songs. In a different universe I could see this guy writing hit after hit for pop stars like Ariana Grande. Though he is usually bunched in with other indie rock artists, I think he truly can be on the borderline of what pop should or can be, at least according to Julian Casablancas. Even though these days everyone is all about the DM game, check out Put Your Number In My Phone.

Favorite lyric: “Talk to me, it’s now or never babe”

4. I think my first introduction to Twin Peaks was through a KEXP live video session they had while] touring their first self-titled EP. Their songs immediately made me feel like I was trapped in a sweaty festival mosh pit and I loved it. I eventually met the band at an Echoplex show in Los Angeles, got to play drums briefly with them at an after-party, and got kicked out by the host for playing too loudly. Check out Telephone, which showcases some of the more laid-back sounds they can get down with.

Favorite lyric: “I went out to the wasteland, I had no means or end”

5. Her’s was a UK band who tragically passed away while touring the United States in a fatal car accident. Harvey is one of the melodic earworms I wish could’ve written, and it’s surreal listening to the energy and talent they brought in the wake of their recent death. Pour one up for Her’s, yo.

Favorite lyric: “Some people think I’m acting worse for wear, suffice to say this is a quaint affair”

6. There is a version of this song that was supposed to be released on my Falcon Punch EP from 2017, but it did not end up making the cut. You’re Never Gonna Know went through heavy plastic surgery and was altered to fit more naturally with Peregrine Dive’s 2019 sound. This ended up being one of my favorite songs I’ve ever reworked; it’s almost like a remix to me that sounded better than the original track. The music video was filmed at University of California, Santa Barbara; check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81-PKlMpmvQ

Favorite lyric: “Alarm in the morning, alarm in the streets; Eccentric synapsis / interpretative dances”

7. The Voidz have been making some noise. They have definitely been doing impressive work to separate themselves from merely being a “Strokes/Julian Casablancas” affiliate by exploring new themes, and refusing to stagnate their genre and culture. The Eternal Tau is a Mac DeMarco produced track born in a random jam recording session gone right; the result is one of The Voidz bounciest bops yet.

Favorite lyric: “Honesty without tact is cruelty, nothing turns me on like what you say”

8. I first heard The Rapture when they were the soundtrack to one of the party scenes in 2008’s classic [coming-of-age] film, Superbad. Fast-forward to my first Coachella in 2012 where Frank Ocean was having technical difficulties and his band was struggling through songs; I left to the neighboring tent that was an absolutely bonkers party led by The Rapture and was blessed with high doses of cowbell. The Rapture would go on to break up shortly after that set, and I eventually caught Frank again at FYF 2017 where he redeemed himself with what is one of the most important shows I’ve ever seen in my life. Hear is Echoes (echoes).

Favorite lyric: “The conversating this place is heaven, I put on lipstick the price is what?”

9. Parquet Courts is a band that I’ve fallen in love with over the years. They’re a band I can always count on to deliver not just a solid single, but also a great album. The raw vocals and instrumentation on Borrowed Time go hand in hand with the sassy, introspective, and observative lyrics frontmen Andrew Savage and Austin Brown spew out. At bare minimum, I highly recommend checking out their Light Up Gold album.

Favorite lyric: “I was up to my neck in motivation neglect when I felt soft waves of purpose crashing onto the surface”

10. This could not be an indie rock playlist without The fucking Strokes, you know this. If you know me, you understand how difficult it was for me to pick one song from these guys. I went with Razorblade because I will always associate this vulnerable confession from Jules with summer time, and it has one of the most beautiful solos ever.

Favorite lyric: “Oh the razorblade that’s what I call love, I bet you’d pick it up and mess around with it if I put it down”

11. Now copy and paste what I said about The Strokes for Phoenix. These guys are amongst the top 5 of my all time favorite bands, and it is always nearly impossible to filter through their nearly impeccable discography. I wanted to pick a song that was released prior to their breakout album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, so check out Rally, which bears a sincere yet naive nature that makes it a perfect fit and ending for this playlist.

Favorite lyric: “Remember the time we talked about everlastings, don’t you know we’ll both fall to pieces too?”