What I’m listening to the week of October 21, 2024. Listen along on Spotify.

1. Bells Are Ringing – Tim Heidecker

Gotta break up the band now, everybody is on their own
The party was fun for a while, but now you gotta do it alone

Heidecker’s latest has a weary, apocalyptic thread running through it that builds to a hypnotic finish in this final track. A (wisely) sparing use of a child’s vocals at the end brings the album’s secondary themes of fatherhood and legacy full circle; a song written by a man who needs to have hope for the future because his children will live there.¹

2. Holy Holy – Geordie Greep

I could tell you were lonely
From the moment you walked in

Welcome back Steely Dan. This song is bonkers, but I think it’s perfect. I like how Greep sets up this character who seems like one kind of detestable man, only to subvert everything in the final verse with the reveal that this entire experience has been curated and paid for. It also captures the conflicting things that men expect from women — to be too good for them but want them desperately, to be unsure and in need of saving but sexually confident, to kneel so they can look taller. I also like how Greep’s vocals go into a Fagen-esque nasal when he pleads.

3. Into the Groovey – Ciccone Youth

4. Wristwatch – MJ Lenderman

I got a beach home up in Buffalo
And a wristwatch that’s
A compass and a cell phone
And a wristwatch that
Tells me you’re all alone

I resisted out of some weird sense of contrarianism, but I finally caught MJ Lenderman fever. I’m only human, especially when it comes to rock music. There’s a dark tone to the guitar in this track that I just want to sink into. I like how he writes about the smartwatch in this abstract, kind of surreal way. I always appreciate when art can awaken me to the strangeness of anything I consider ubiquitous.

5. Heaven Knows – Gavin Turek

Heaven knows your heart, though you feel so far

I could have put almost any song from Turek’s wildly underrated Diva Of The People on this list, but this one has a special place in my heart. A refreshing nu-disco track about grief, vulnerable and sweet without ever losing its groove. Would make a good pairing with “Together Again” by Janet Jackson.

6. 8 Ball (Demo) – Waxahatchee

I’ll dream
Embarrassing reverie
I’m all detached feeling like myself
I’ll drink too much, I’ll cause a big scene

“8 Ball” is a powerful embrace of the freedom that can come from failure, especially in the context of leaving a controlling and disapproving partner. I’ve gotten into the demo version specifically because of how it foregrounds the bass, giving it a sparse, almost Young Marble Giants sound. The scratchy authenticity also calls to mind Crutchfield’s earlier albums.

7. Doing Really Well, Thanks – Ellie Bleach

I’ve done awful things for money, but you’ve all done worse for free

Bleach writes with the confidence of an old master penning her tenth big hit. There’s shades of Billy Joel’s jauntier work in this catchy track about a young woman living the high life but feeling low. As Bleach herself puts it, “The reality of being a cold-hearted girlboss type is a lot more depressing than you’d think. Literally everyone is winging it.”

The big imagery in the lyrics (spiral staircases, chandeliers, limousines) creates an almost dream sequence-y effect, or maybe like a child’s idea of what success in the big city looks like. I also like the compressed vocals in the background, as if a jeering “in crowd” is just off-screen.

8. I’m Goin’ Down – Bruce Springsteen

I pull you close now, baby
But when we kiss, I can feel a doubt
I remember back when we started
My kisses used to turn you inside out

Repetitive to a fault (the word “down” is sang 80+ times) and hardly one of the best songs on Born To Run, but something about this one just speaks to me. The lyrics capture the frustrations of a waning relationship with deceptive simplicity. And for a song about the death of passion, there’s no lack of it in that sax solo from Clemens.

9. Everything is romantic (remix) – Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek

It’s like you’re living the dream but you’re not living your life

Sometimes a song just hits you at the exact perfect time. This is one of those songs for me.

10. The End – David Holmes and Brian Irvine

One day scientists will finally discover how this Trump biopic from 2024 ended up being pretty good, and I think they’ll find the score² is no small part of the equation. This sick-ass guitar solo plays over the ending credits.

1. When listening on streaming, there’s a bit of a dark punchline to how this song closes with the message of “love underground” that could bring our salvation, only for the opening track “Well’s Running Dry” to start up. ↩︎
2. The soundtrack rules too. If you ever wanted to see Trump walk in on Roy Cohn getting fucked while Ghost Rider by Suicide plays in the background, get thee to a cinema. ↩︎