Monday Mix: Favorites of 2023

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As we dive into 2024, it also means we start closing the books on 2023. Here's a nice long playlist of some of my favorite tracks of the year. Best consumed via shuffle.

On Repeat...

Die Spitz - "Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry for the Delay)"

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Photo by Anatheme Austin's Die Spitz have a new single out, and despite it being called "Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry for the Delay)," don't expect this one to be pop punk at all. This new song starts out as a moody alt-rock song, maybe a little too heavy to be slowcore but along those lines. But then it kicks in, and Die Spitz's grunge and metal influences come rocketing to the front. This is a loud and noisy song reminiscent of bands like Mudhoney and PJ Harvey. Besides the driving and fuzzed out guitars is one of the greatest rock growls of this decade. "Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry for the Delay)" barrels straight outta your speakers with such a fury that you'll wonder if Die Spitz were truly in control of the song when it was recorded. Ava Schrobilgen says of the band's latest single: “It may sound like a love song at first, but when the beat kicks in it’s the obsession that takes over. The words ‘you’re a part of me’ sound loving but it can be an insan...
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The Boy Detective - "I Renounce Verdukianism!"

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Maybe because it's because I went to a bunch of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Hometown Throwdowns, but I oddly associate ska-punk with Christmas and New Year's Eve. The Boy Detective are here to help me out with their latest holiday single, "I Renounce Verdukianism!" The song gets it's title from a made up religion from 30 Rock , and it's a fast and funny track about the chaos that comes with the holidays. It's definitely leaning into the punk side of ska-punk, and is just a fun song about Christmas. If you grew up in the midst of third wave ska, "I Renounce Verdukianism!" is going to resonate with you. Lead vocalist Benny Capaul says that his band's new song is "...  our nod to the holidays gone wrong, packed with all the regrets and frosty mishaps one could hope for.” You can watch the lyric video for "I Renounce Verdukianism!" below. The single is out now on Punkerton Records. For more on The Boy Detective, check out the ...
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TORRES - "I got the fear"

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Photo by Ebru Yildiz Somehow TORRES keeps surprising us with her music. The musical project of Mackenzie Scott has released a new single that features her vocals and acoustic guitar that would feel at home in a neo-folk song over a pre-programmed drum beat with sounds that at times are either a light squall of guitar feedback and electronic noises. The song has this haunting and unsettling feeling to it, despite sounding like it's trying to be upbeat. I'd say art doesn't always have to be a pleasant experience, but "I got the fear" can be a pleasant listening experience, except for the times it's not. Mackenzie Scott says of her latest single: “A collective dread has been mounting. Everyone I know is having a brawl with the universe, with themselves…wars, climate catastrophe, a pandemic, the worldwide regression on human rights, the political hellscape — it affects everybody, and I know we’re all feeling it in waves of varying degree all the time. I think it’s...
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