Emo bands love a few things: weed, guitar tapping, and (apparently) the FX sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Fittingly, the first time I noticed this trend came from one of Philly's strongest warriors, The Wonder Years, when the pop-punk band named a song on their second album “It’s Never Sunny in South Philadelphia.” The first time I actually heard the show name-dropped in a song was Macseal’s tap-happy early hit “Cats,” then “Pepe Silvia” from the now-defunct Perspective, A Lovely Hand To Hold. By the time I heard “Fight Milk” by Riley! I realized this was a real trend unfolding right before my ears. While normies have an inexplicable draw to The Office, it seems that Midwest Emo bands can’t get enough of the Paddy’s Pub gang. I decided to do the only logical thing and throw all these songs in a playlist that continues to grow to this day, up to and including the closer from this year’s Home Is Where album. 

If I told you that there are dozens of emo songs that mention the Pokémon franchise, would you believe me? Because it’s true, and since 2019 I’ve been painstakingly collecting them in this playlist. I don’t know what it is about Pokémon that proves to be such a good pairing with inward lyrics and guitar tapping. Maybe it’s just a timing thing, after all, the franchise is so pervasive, it’s basically been unavoidable for the last 30-ish years. Maybe something about the obsessive collecting is a natural fit for people who would rather stay inside than go out and socialize, maybe the audience for each is primarily comprised of dork-ass nerds. Whatever the case, this playlist collects every midwest emo song I’ve heard that either mentions Pokémon directly in the lyrics or is simply titled after something in the game. Happy hunting.

So, this is the new year. I’m writing this on January 5th, but so far, it feels like things have still been drudging along, suspended in limbo and carried over from the last year. Even though I think resolutions are a bit silly, I’m still changing behaviors to try and be a better, happier, more productive, and helpful human. In an effort to shake off the doldrums of January, I present my New Year's Mixtape, a one-hour collection of songs I listen to at the beginning of every new year from albums I also find myself drawn to every time we turn the page on a year. It’s full of energy and optimism and aspiration and nostalgia. I hope you find some drive and inspiration in these songs. 

Happy Halloween to all the boys and ghouls reading this. Despite my predilection towards the holiday season, I love this creepy time of the year that precedes it. Maybe it was my parents showing me Signs at a formative age or watching dozens of B-rate horror movies on an early iteration of Netflix throughout high school, but whatever the case, I love the black-orange-purple affectations of Halloween. I love the candy, I love the movies, and I love dressing up as some esoteric character that reflects some inner part of yourself. 

Like any good music dork, I have a Halloween playlist ranging from all the classics, like “Thriller” and “Werewolves of London,” to absolute stretches like “Counting Worms” and songs that happen to mention vampires, even if they’re metaphors. There are full releases here, like All Hallows Eve, Famous Monsters, and The Devil Wears Prada’s Zombie EP. This is all to say my Halloween playlist is wide-ranging and includes every vaguely spooky song I’ve encountered since 2019, and I hope you enjoy.

God save the animals, literally. Ever since hearing TTNG’s Animals in college, I’ve always been fascinated with songs named after animals. In the case of the UK math rock band’s debut album, each song attempted to capture and embody the energy of each respective critter, and they did a great job. Outside of TTNG, the trend of naming a track after an animal is a surprisingly pervasive approach to song titling. In this playlist, I attempt to collect any instance I stumble across, resulting in a sprawling, genre-less collection of songs with nothing more than a superficial connection to the animal kingdom. 

Hope you’ve got a beer in-hand and a few more on-deck. One of my most prized playlists, Porch Beer Albums™ was conceived one spring day in 2019 when I was listening to Alex G, Trace Mountains, and Wild Pink in excess. I feel like the title is pretty self-explanatory, but this playlist is filled with over a hundred hours of lightly twangy indie rock that has a sweeping, naturalistic quality that makes this music feel like a breeze on your neck. Because it’s a full-album mix, you could shuffle it for literal days or just scroll until you find an album to your liking. Ultimately, the hope is that this playlist offers a collection of records that would sound good if you were kicking back on a porch during a hot summer day. I’ll leave you with my fake words of wisdom: Give a man a beer, and he’ll be happy. Give a man a porch, and he’ll be content. Give him both, and he needs nothing more.